Thursday 20 November 2014

Operation: ANTIQUARIAN, part one

Our broadcast this evening is a dramatised reading from the archives of the Special Operations Executive. The mission identified as ANTIQUARIAN is being reconstructed from archival materials by Arthur at a dedicated website. Selected highlights will be presented here for the interest of the general public.

For convenience, a brief summary of prior events is presented here. For the detailed account, please visit the archive.

Skip to the link.

The mission begins

Network N was a branch of the Special Operations Executive, dedicated to the extraordinary. In the war against the Hun, no stone could be left unturned. Uncanny events must be investigated, strange rumours put to rest, and Jerry's obsession with the occult exploited at every turn. Their commanding officer, known only as N, recruited agents with unusual talents from all sections of society.

The primary agents of Operation: ANTIQUARIAN are Emile Dubois, a French inventor; Patricia Wilberforce, a professional medium; and Douglas Hemsbrook, military doctor. All are experienced in mundane and paranormal operations.

In May 1941, Dubois, Hemsbrook and Wilberforce are despatched to the village of Saint-Cerneuf-du-Bois in occupied France, where they will form the core of an intelligence network codenamed ANTIQUARIAN. They are also tasked with investigating the sudden disappearance of one Lionel Malo, a German opponent of the Nazi regime who fled to exile in France, and a correspondent of N regarding certain unusual aspects of the district.

Parachuting into France, the agents rendezvous with the Resistance and quickly establish cover identities. Tensions are high in the occupied village, and the agents must tread carefully. Though several strange facts emerge, the most prominent is the repeated impression of odd events connected with the woodland.

After experiencing a peculiar sonic phenomenon and discovering hooved footprints, the agents dine with Raimond Decharette, owner of the village mine. They learn that Decharette knew Malo, and his own wife was a member of a pagan cult. Suspecting that his daughter has also been drawn into the cult, the agents prepare to follow her as she leaves the house that night.

You can listen to character creation here, and the first episode here.

The series theme is The British Grenadiers (Go Mad), remixed for the occasion by Librarians and Leviathans.

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