I really should push the back-catalogue, and I’ve got a few minutes, so let’s do a ‘deleted scenes’ on Jago & Litefoot: The Skeleton Quay. Written in February 2012 and released as part of series 6 in September 2013. What a long time ago. What can I recall?
Well, it turns out I still have the original brief sent by Justin Richards:
6.1 – Ghost Dance
In which Jago and Litefoot are sent on a secret mission
to an isolated fishing village…
Writer: Jonathan Morris
Main Cast: Jago, Litefoot
Guest Cast: 2 Characters TBD
Brief Appearances by: Ellie and Sergeant Quick
We start with a recap of the end of Series 5, with the
Colonel accosting our heroes on their return from 1968. He takes them to Palace and briefs them on
their mission (as described above).
When Jago and Litefoot arrive at the village they find
that secret Royal Navy tests are the least of their worries.
At the end of the story, Jago and Litefoot have dealt
with the unspeakable horrors they have uncovered. The Colonel appears – briefly – to
congratulate them on the ‘cover-up’. They’ve
done well, and he may have another task for them before too long.
But there is a side-effect. Jago is suffering from nightmares as a result
of what he’s been through. Are they just
nightmares, or is it something more sinister..?
Note that during the course of this episode we establish
that Jago and Litefoot’s memories of their time in 1968 are fading. We also need a couple of lines somewhere
early on to make it clear that Litefoot’s had the (now completely and
irrevocably broken) Time Cabinet put into storage. (At the end of Series 5 it’s just left on the
foggy street!)
(Note that Episode 4.1 – Jago in Love is a seaside ghost
story, so avoid overlapping with that. I’ll send you the script for it.)
So you can see how well I followed/expanded upon that.
My original synopsis is pretty much the same as the finished
story, except it was set in Cornwall (which is why I gave Camilla the surname
Trevelyan). Here’s the beginning, before I hit upon the brilliant title of The
Skeleton Quay.
Jago & Litefoot 6:1: The Skeleton Village
We join our heroes as they are
being taken to the Palace by a man known as ‘The Colonel’. Waiting in an
antechamber, he informs them that their adventures have caught the attention of
Her Majesty and she wishes them to investigate the ‘ghost village’ of Shingle
Cove in Cornwall. She wants them to make sure that the ‘ghosts’ have nothing to
do with a new secret warship that’s being tested nearby.
Jago and Litefoot take a
train to Cornwall. Jago dozes while Litefoot chats to a fellow passenger, Miss
Camilla Trevelyan (40s). She owns a commercial dockyard in Cornwall inherited
from her father. She asks Litefoot about his trip and he tells her about Shingle
Cove. Camilla has heard of it; it’s the village that was lost in a storm in
1859 (34 years ago). Litefoot observes that it seems to have come back!
Litefoot bids farewell to Camilla
as they arrive at St Austell. Jago awakes, having had a strange dream about travelling
to Venus, America and the 1960’s. Litefoot assures him that it wasn’t a dream –
but ever since he put the Time Cabinet into storage, their memories of those
voyages have been fading.
Litefoot and Jago take a horse-carriage
to the village nearest to Shingle Cove, Mevagissey, and book themselves into an
inn. Warming their cockles at the fire, their conversation attracts the
attention of a local, Isaac Pawley (or Old Isaac). He remembers the storm of
1859; terrible it was. He’s heard the tales of a supernatural fog where the
village once stood, and fishermen hearing the screams of those who died.
Litefoot engages his services to take them to the remains of Shingle Cove the
next day.
It’s a bleak, blustery day as
our heroes head to Shingle Cove. When the sea-wall collapsed, the sea destroyed
the village and everyone in it, leaving only the shells of the buildings. It
even washed away part of the graveyard at the cliff-top.
That’s where Jago becomes
separated from Litefoot, falling into a grave. He’s rescued by Camilla, who was
out walking to get some fresh air. Jago tells her that he’s here to investigate
the lost village.
Litefoot is looking for Jago
in the graveyard when an icy mist swirls in. And then, like a ghost, the lost village
materializes in the cove below them! Litefoot asks Isaac about it, but Isaac
has disappeared.
I also included a link to one of
the real-life inspirations for the story, which is, surprisingly, still active all
these years later!
http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/hallsands.html
Looking at the first draft, it’s
11617 words, far too long, so I cut about 1000 words of material for the second
and final draft. Always a good discipline to cut ten percent. Here’s some of
the bigger and more amusing chunks that got trimmed:
LITEFOOT:
Yes, Henry, I know. Quite the honour, what?
JAGO:
I’d say. To be granted a personal audience with her imperial Majesty in Buckingham Palace! Me, a lowly theatrical impresario, albeit one at the height of his profession - and you, a carver of questionable cadavers!
LITEFOOT:
Speak for yourself, Henry! Although I must admit I am somewhat bemused as
to what she might want with us.
--
JAGO:
Or maybe she wants to give us a tap on the shoulders with her shiniest paper-knife!
Just imagine it! Sir Henry Gordon Jago!
--
LITEFOOT:
And have you heard these... screams?
ISAAC:
No, but I don’t doubt it’s the truth. That place is haunted by all them
restless souls, and you’ll find no man in these parts who will tell you
otherwise.
JAGO:
Yes, well, it’s quite a story, it has to be said.
--
CAMILLA:
There was nothing else I could do.
SAILOR:
And that’s how I found her, floating in the ocean, close to drowning. She’s lucky I was passing, because if I wasn’t she wouldn’t have lasted another minute.
Rewritten to remove the ‘Sailor’ character:
CAMILLA:
What else could I do? It was either that or drown. It was only my good
fortune I was picked up by a passing fishing boat.
--
Cut this, as it’s funnier to be implied rather than spelt out:
LITEFOOT:
Don’t look up, for goodness’ sake!
JAGO:
What?
LITEFOOT:
A stray gust of wind might catch her dress and may cause her to knickerbockers
to become exposed!
--
LITEFOOT:
We’ll have to swim for it, old chap.
JAGO:
Ah. The thing is, you see, Professor, that I do not possess the necessary... natational know-how.
LITEFOOT:
What?
JAGO:
I can’t actually swim.
LITEFOOT:
Well you’ve chosen a fine time to share that information!
JAGO:
It’s never been pertinent to our predicament before. And I suppose it’s too late to learn, now that it’s nearly up to my waist...
But that’s about it. I attended the recording at the Moat Studios
in Ladbroke Grove but remember nothing about it (all the recordings with Christopher
Benjamin and Trevor Baxter were a joy). And I’ve not listened to it since it
was released, but I think it turned out pretty well, people seemed to like it
except for being grumpy about the amnesia storyline – which you’ll see was in
the brief, so not my fault!
I’ll do The Monstrous Menagerie next, but don’t hold your breath...
