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Shakedown
Written by Gary Phillips

Download Part 1 - 4.8mb, MP3 Download Part 2 - 5.2mb, MP3 "Production Notes" Gary Phillips wrote Shakedown at the same time that I was producing the first story. Little did I realise the pain I was going to go through over the next year trying to turn it into a complete adventure. The first hurdle was finding a new Doctor after Adrian Hudson became unavailable. I offered the role to Joe Binks after being impressed by his voice in the first story and knowing that he'd been playing a similar part in his own Doctor Trek series. The next problem was getting enough people together at the same time to record the script, a script which some people had severe reservations about. Slowly, I began recording groups of people together, in some cases taping people individually. Looking back I'm amazed that I was able to edit it all together only using the four track and an old cassette recorder. Somewhere along the way I began to lose sight of the storyline and there remain some strangled pieces of logic and unclear motivations. Gary drew ideas from the business course he was on at the time, Coronation Street and The Sunmakers. The original cut of this story was just over an hour but when it came to making the CD version I cut it back to about 50 minutes, which I think improves the pace of the story no end. Production-wise, this story features our first race of aliens and their voices were achieved with the reverb and chorus functions on Joe's own mixer. It also features a superb specially written soundtrack by James Leatherbarrow, who also played the part of Julian Pilbeam. I was so impressed with the music I released it separately as an album which is still available if anyone is interested. Shakedown remains our oddest story and I have various feelings about it. It was a valuable learning experience for us about what could be achieved and also what pitfalls to avoid. Gareth Preston "Writers Notes" My debut script came about simply because Gareth asked me if I would like to have a go at writing a script. Despite being a prolific writer of articles and reviews for smaller fanzines I hadn't written anything resembling a script since primary school days, so it was quite a challenge. The question was, what to write about? Taking the advice of writing about what you know, I had just completed a series of exams for the ICCI Executive Secretary's Diploma which included the module 'Structure of business'. I had undertaken some intense revision which simply wouldn't leave me, hence I decided upon an industrial colony in space being the victim of a hostile take-over by an alien race. The first problem I faced was the role of the Doctor. I had discussed what was needed with Gareth and created the part for Adrian Hudson who is a superb actor with a background in amateur dramatics. When circumstances forced a change of actor, I had to rewrite the part for Joe Binks and rather like Pip and Jane Baker in writing Time And The Rani I was rather writing 'blind'. So I just wrote the character the best way I could. Joe added his own dimension to the role, fleshing out the rather bland dialogue I had given him and making the part his own, which he has continued to do so and thus will be much easier to write for now I can truly see where he is coming from. Agatha Christie was quite right when she said it was the research that was fun and writing which was hard work. I slogged away, dogged by my academic pursuits and bouts of ill health for nearly 18 months, but slowly Shakedown as it became to be known took shape. The characters were quite easy to develop as there is, I think, something of my own character in all of them. The rather vain chairman which Lawrence Ahlemeyer played so beautifully, the character being nothing at all like him. The efficient secretary, Gerrell, played with quiet subtlety by Richard Taff, whereby I merely put my training into a character. Tictac I think, displays my more exuberant side. Paul Worth was an absolute revelation in this role. He gave exactly the performance I had envisaged. To this day, he is, I think, the only person I've ever known who has actually wasted his time doing a degree and should have gone to RADA! The Armadi display my more serious side, modulation did wonders in turning Andy Swinden's mellow voice and James Aldridge's into my cold, ruthless aliens. Andy also came up trumps in developing the character of Badell, giving him an effective Northern twang which I hadn't myself envisaged and which truly enriched the character gave him dimension. The portrayal of the nurses, Edie Pegg and Mavis Pilchard were my one disappointment with the whole production. They were meant to be good old fashioned Northern stereotypes ala Ena Sharples, or your archetypal CARRY ON matron types encapsulating my love of a good old chinwag. I was very fond of these ladies and enjoyed writing them, but alas, upon hearing the completed version of Shakedown, I was very disappointed. Pam Hope as Edie and Roslyn Robinson as Mavis, whilst very talented, spoke with very soft middle class accents and thus did not create in the mind of the listener the image of what one might call a pair of female sumo wrestlers in nurses uniforms. It is hard to say whether they were not clearly directed as to what I was trying to achieve or didn't fully understand the script (but then again, neither did I and I wrote the damn thing!) That said their voices are perfect for the right roles and I would love to write something which is truly worthy of their obvious talent. The other problem was the investigator character. Originally this was to have been another down-to-earth woman posing as a cleaner known simply as 'Doris'. Unfortunately, the character just wasn't working and for a long time Shakedown hit an impasse. Then I met, became, and remain, great friends with James Leatherbarrow. I knew James was a talented musician (is my cheque in the post?) but it was not until we discussed our favourite comedians and found a mutual liking for Victoria Wood and Julian Clary that I also learnt that James was a great mimic. I couldn't get home quick enough to create the role of Julian Pilbeam especially for him! James didn't let me down and Julian became a big hit with cast and crew and Fine Line listeners alike and all due to James's great sense of fun and outstanding talent. It is sad indeed that as James is now living in America the work he can do for us is restricted. It occurred to me that Pilbeam might be taken as a gay stereotype which I didn't intend him to be. I decided that the camp side of Pilbeam's persona should be just a cover and his real personality should come over as rather over-confident of his own limited abilities and Colonel Blimpish! This would not only defuse any criticism but also test James's talent for mimicry. As I say, Pilbeam became a big hit and I very much look forward to re-using him in a future script which will I know, be of great delight to his legions of fans. Despite the long slog, Shakedown was enormous fun to write and I know that everyone had fun recording it. That to me, is the key to a successful production, if your cast and production team can enjoy performing what you've written then you're on to a winner! Added to which, Gareth and the cast (mostly) knew what I wanted from my characters and not only gave it to me, but added dimensions in layers! So what of the future? Well, I only ever write this sort of thing when I have at least a germ of an idea. I am working on a new script called The Wreck of the Valarue with the hook of a couple of characters I devised a good few years ago. Whether Pilbeam will return, I don't yet know, but the new script does have a plethora of eccentrics which should keep Julian's fans and Fine Line listeners in general, happy. Gary Phillips (January 2002) To order Shakedown on high quality CD, please click here. Contact Us Latest News Links Film Reviews Site Credits Profiles Green Room