Friday 3 July 2009

TW- The Dead Line BBC R4 Drama Full Report/synopsis

At 2.15 today, BBC Radio 4 transmitted Torchwood The Dead Line Audio Drama by Phil Ford. It is a play, starring the cast, NOT just a reading of a story!

Spoiler warning - An abbreviated synopsis of the story follows, you may like to stop reading now.

Ianto Jones makes a phone call, he says Jack Harkness is dying. Jack is in a Cardiff hospital, he has something Gwen calls worse than death!

Time flashes back - A Cardiff hospital starts being inundated with patients who have fallen into coma-like trances, Torchwood start to investigate, and it seems to be caused by recieving a strange phonecall.

They work out the number that has called all the people in a coma, 2059, Jack calls it, but its dead, then it calls him back! Jack answers the phone and falls into a coma.

Back to today - Gwen calls Rhys and warns him not to answer the phone. Ianto stays with Jack in hospital, Rhys helps Gwen.

They find where the calls originate from, Maddock House, now standing empty. Rhys breaks in, there is a terrible smell inside, athough the building is disconnected, the phones start ringing. They find a rotting dead body, the origin of the smell!

In hospital Ianto is telling Jack how he feels about him, but it doesnt do anything, Jack doesn't move.

Gwen and Rhys investage further, they find the owner of Maddock House, Mr Turner, he takes them to a private nursing home, full of people in comas. These people all fell into comas in Maddock House. Turner blames a thunder-storm in 1976 for all this, the house was struck by lightning, it made the lightbulbs blow, but the phones rang, and it all started! This date also marked the end of a national drought.

It appears its an organic computer-style virus, that attacks peoples brains, spread by the telephone system. The virus starts calling all phones, trying to spread further, but Gwen and Rhys stop it, Jack comes round and its all over.

Typed as I listened, yeah I can do better, as can you (and I invite you to), but its just a synopsis! I will have this episode as an MP3 for download shortly :)

http://lifetheuniverseandcombom.blogspot.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lg4vz

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