SYNOPSIS: A mysterious light in the sky, an unnatural glow in the ocean and a
thick fog bring terror to the night watch keepers of Brighton Rock. When the
Doctor and Pip arrive, a murder has caused doubt on the safety of the
night watch tower. But the Doctor soon discovers something more terrifying and
evil than even he could have imagined.
NOTES: Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" is widely considered by many to be her masterpiece. Her best selling novel and the most acclaimed Murder Mystery story of all time. I watched a televised version of "And Then There Were None" over Christmas and I was absolutely fascinated by how clever it was, but the problem was after I had discovered the answer as to whodunnit; the story is not the same for you again when you watch it since.
Murder Mystery stories are only at their most effective to viewers listening or watching them for the first time. After that they seem to be useless. Speaking as a massive Agatha Christie fan I wanted to do Doctor Who does And Then There Were None. I wanted to do a proper murder mystery in the style that Agatha Christie would have done it. Not like Terror of the Vervoids which is far too confusing but its set up in the format like Murder on the Orient Express, everyone's a suspect, anyone potentially could have done the murder.
In my story you have the basic base under siege set up, its a secluded place, you can't get away from it, you're trapped and guess what someone is coming to get you... In my story we have all the necessary ingredients for a base under siege storyline. Ten people, one is not what all they seem to be, one is a blood thirsty murdering alien who won't stop until it kills everyone in the night watch tower.
Other influences included "Horror of Fang Rock" one of my favourite Doctor Who stories, it sort of has that light humour of the Graham William's era but still has that Gothic Horror darkness to the Phillip Hinchcliffe Era. But the chances are the script was a combination between Robert Holmes, Graham Williams and Terrance Dicks (The Writer) so that's probably the reason why its so good. It has the same set up, people trapped in the lighthouse and somethings coming to get them and they don't know what it is or where it is. I wanted to put the characters in proper peril in order to make the drama of the story seem real. It starts off with everyone not really knowing one another, and everything is all very much like a Hitchcock movie where you get to know the characters and you invest in them before the real action starts and the story only properly starts when the first one dies... and then it all takes off from there. This is one of the best stories I think I've ever written and you won't want to miss it...
HORROR ON BRIGHTON ROCK WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM THE 11TH OF MARCH 2O16
Daniel Bury, 27th of February 2016.
