February 10, 2011

"Tale of the Tay - Update 1"

First up, some news on Tale of the Tay, the eighteenth episode of The British Railway Series, numerically. Scripting is almost finished, with a run through in the next week or so in storyboard form, and currently I am piecing together designs for the sets (there are a significant number of one-off sets to be made!), and the character list has been finalized.

The engines appearing with speaking roles will be Tavish, Clan Stewart, Ben Alder and D6130, whose name will be revealed closer to the episode's airing.

The story is set at Dundee Tay Bridge MPD in early 1960, with Tavish complaining of always being interrupted before finishing a story. In that respect, it follows on from his role in Fowler's Ghost. Tavish then tells the literal tale of the Tay, and the disastrous consequences of the night of December 28th, 1879.

It promises to be an absolute thriller, as well as being wholly respectful and historical with regards the Tay Bridge disaster itself. Reading the book The High Girders by John Prebble gave me a significant insight as to the depth of feeling of the event, and unlike Fowler's Ghost, I plan a followup short documentary to explore the event further.

Finally, partially related to Episode 18, I have decided to postpone the next BRWS Competition indefinitely. Time and money are an issue, and whilst putting on another competition, I am sure, would be a success in the short term, my ultimate goal is to make at least three to four episodes over the course of this year, and it would hinder that to say the least.

My apologies to all those disappointed by this news - but I am planning on a mini-competition, related to my new series of Hornby VS Bachmann reviews. Watch this space...!

Until next time.

1 comment:

Jonathan said...

I like your idea for the episode's storyline, but what type of engine is Ben Alder? I'm asking because I honestly never heard of an engine named Ben Alder before.