Monday, January 1, 2018

WHO'S ON FIRTH?




According to Wikipedia, "Firth is a word in the Scots and English languages used to denote various coastal waters in Scotland and England. In mainland Scotland, it is used to refer to a large sea bay, or even a strait. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet."

Also from Wikipedia:
'Shetland' is a BBC Scotland crime drama television series starring Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez. The story takes place largely on the Scottish archipelago of Shetland, though much of the filming is done on the Scottish mainland, with some on location in Shetland.  It is largely based on the novels by Ann Cleeves.

So as this post will be about the series and how it can be linked to 'Doctor Who', I couldn't resist the pun.  I don't need your forgiveness......

'SHETLAND'
"BLUE LIGHTNING"

A scientist is found dead in the bird observatory on Fair Isle, Perez's childhood home, so he takes Tosh and makes his way across to the island, where he is greeted by his father – just before flights are grounded by incoming storms. Working alone and without a forensic team, the detectives talk to the victim's friends, family and colleagues – and as tensions run high, the storm forces Perez and the suspects to remain together under a single roof.
[Wikipedia]

In 2014, the fifth episode of the second season got some added publicity with the announcement that Peter Capaldi was going to make an uncredited audio cameo as a weather presenter on the radio.  This scene happened in the first ten minutes of the episode as Detective Jimmy Perez was waiting for a plane to take him and his assistant Tosh to Fair Isle.

Here's is the transcript of his radio report:

"- overnight to storm force ten that will be accompanied 'by heavy driving rain.
Due to the conditions, the airport is expected to shut down within the hour.
'This will make travel between the Mainland and Fair Isle impossible for the next 24 hours."


As I said, Capaldi didn't get any billing for the snippet; he probably did it as a favor to his wife Elaine Collins, who is the producer of 'Shetland'.  But in the IMDb, he is listed as "Weather Presenter".

I don't see why we can't claim that he was the Doctor, giving the weather report as a necessity to prevent some kind of catastrophe over the radio waves.

What kind of catastrophe?  Well, that would be up to you, Team Toobworld; I'm just the Fanficcer's Friend.  I only suggest story ideas.

But here's one idea.....

Since the fanfic would most likely be of the written word, the author need not be hampered by dealing only with 'Doctor Who' lore to be found in the Television Universe.  You could bring in plot lines and characters from other fictional universes, like BookWorld or the Cineverse, the Comic Book Universe, the Tooniverse, or even... the Audioverse.

There is an audio drama of 'Doctor Who entitled "Dead Air".  Here is the description of the major threat to be found in that story:

The Hush was a weapon built to destroy anything that made sound. It was originally used in war, but since it was attracted by sound, it got into Radio Bravo because the transmitter was beaming its signal in the wrong direction. It had no physical appearance, according to the Tenth Doctor. The Doctor indicated it had been invented by the Time Lords. The Doctor trapped it in an audio recording, but the Hush escaped when the recording was recovered.
[TARDIS DATA CORE WIKIA]

But that's only one possibility.  I'm sure you could find some other reason why the Doctor was on the radio giving weather reports.  One last idea - perhaps it was the return of the Wire - after all, you can't keep a good nemesis down!  She tried once to take over the planet using a television broadcast; maybe this time she tried via radio waves.

As always when I offer up a suggestion as the Fanficcer's Friend, I beseech you.  If this idea does intrigue you and you decide to run with it, please send me a copy of the story you create.  I'm keen to read what you came up with!

Allons-y!

PS:
Do you know what was the hardest thing to do for this article?  Finding of Doug Henshall and Peter Capaldi together.  You would think two well-known Scottish actors would be seen in publicity pictures together at some function or another.

What wasn't difficult was getting the picture of Henshall's character of Jimmy Perez with the TARDIS in the background.  Fellow researcher into fictional universes Caeric J. Arclight has always been a savior for Toobworld Central.  He's come up with some great Who-related mash-ups in the past and he didn't fail this time either!

No comments: