Synopsis
George is a young boy who likes to
solve mysteries, such as the mystery of the monster living in his bedroom, the
mystery of the absent father, and the mystery of the strange man in the white
suit at the bottom of the garden.
At St John's Children's Hospital
something greatly disturbing is happening, something which dares to question
the fabric of reality... but what's that in the mirror? or the corner of your
eye? What's that footstep following, never passing by? perhaps its something
waiting until we're all dead... out they'll come the monster from underneath
the bed!
Writers Notes
Christopher Cribb: "Coming up with a story idea is never
easy. I think it's down to knowing what you think makes a story good and what
doesn't and then relaying that in your script. In the case of 'Collateral' it
was interesting because it's a doctor who story where the doctor is one of
the undermined characters in it. He's hardly in it at all. The
main character in 'Collateral' is George and his story. I thought that was
very important that Steve and I made sure that the listener's focus was on
George at all times.
It was a lot of fun to write
for George, for a one off he's a very interesting and complicated boy to write
into a story based on what we've come up with. I think what me and Steve tried
to do in a deliberate attempt to diverge from the more scary aspects of the
threat in the story 'the monster' was to add in light humour and make the
listener want to laugh with George rather then laugh at him.
We used other characters like The
Doctor and Dad and Mum to show how George reacts to other people and vice
versa. It's very much like the Capaldi doctor's interaction with child
characters like Courtney or Neve in Series 8. It's that kind of interaction
we wanted to not exactly coy because there's not much point to that, but
more relate to.
We decided quite early on that we
were going to have the children's hospital in it, and it was going to have a
creepy monster in it.
We rather intentionally wanted to
create an impulse in the listener providing the power of suggestion into
the concept of cultural anxieties and nightmares... what better to do
than 'The Monster under the bed' it's a classic story that lots of
children believe or the boogy man or whatever.
I think either we've done
our idea any justice, we'll have to see when the story airs. But I for one am
very proud of it."
CHRISTOPHER CRIBB, 16th of MARCH
2015.
Stephen Hynes: "Chris
and I always had brief ten minute discussions every day about concepts for
potential stories. Stuff like story concepts, story propositions not plots but
just ideas; things that would get our brains in gear.
The idea or should I say ideas
that eventually became 'Collateral' were a concept from me and a proposition
from Chris. Chris had the idea of the curios little boy very much like if not
exactly like 'Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time'. My idea was a
ghost story and it was set in a children's hospital and it was based on
the reading of Robert Westall's - 'The Scarecrows' and 'The Turn of the Screw'
by Henry James and I remember thinking 'Oh yeah! that's a good idea'.
Trouble was neither of these ideas
had enough story in them to succeed on their own, they'd be fine as short
stories but we realised that by combining both ideas together we could
have Chris's balance of comedy and my balance of Horror'. That's why we work so
well together, we both have ideas and we're good at compromising.
I know there will some people
out there who won't like the story. It's inevitable. If everyone
liked the same concepts that me and Chris like it would be very boring. I
personally like it when people are confused or don't get the concept,
because then it leaves things open for debate and people can talk about
it. I personally like the sort of drama's with a strange plot that no one quite
gets and go 'Oh no it's too confusing I don't like it'. those are the ones that
sort of drive my influences forward and I think any thing that I write would
eventually revert back to that... but not without Chris's help.
STEPHEN HYNES, 16th of MARCH 2015
Technical Details
Written
By : Christopher Cribb & Stephen Hynes
Directed
By : Daniel Bury
Episode : 11 out of 13
Air Date : Friday the 20th of March 2015
Sound Design : Colin Jackson
Episode : 11 out of 13
Air Date : Friday the 20th of March 2015
Sound Design : Colin Jackson
Music
By : Helen Fitzgerald
Duration: 30 mins approx
Duration: 30 mins approx
ISBN
: DWS1EP10-1-78180-323
Production Code: F20Mar15