Line #152 Podcast/TheSpringheelSaga


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/springheel_saga_series_1_teaser_image_by_jamie_egerton_5.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"It's the story of a legend... [[TitleDrop the legend of Springheel'd Jack!]]" – '''James M. Rymer''']]
3
4
5	->''"The Devil doesn't walk the streets of London... and he never has."''
6	-->-- '''Jonah Smith.'''
7
8	''The Springheel Saga'' is a fantasy-adventure audio series which follows the exploits of Victorian policeman, Jonah Smith, in his lifelong quest to capture the infamous bogeyman, Spring-Heeled Jack. Released between 2011 and 2016, it was written by Jack Bowman and Robert Valentine, and produced by The Wireless Theatre Company.
9
10	The first three-part series, ''The Strange Case of Springheel'd Jack'' (2011), is set during the Winter of 1837 and concerns [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers Constable]] Jonah Smith's investigation into the mysterious phantom attacker.
11
12	The second series, ''The Legend of Springheel'd Jack'' (2013), is set in 1845 and sees Smith – now a Detective Inspector with UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard – pursuing Spring-Heeled Jack through the demi-monde of Victorian showbusiness.
13
14	The third and final series, ''The Secret of Springheel'd Jack'' (released over 2015 and 2016), follows Smith – by now a retired and reclusive alcoholic – as he's dragged by Her Majesty's Government into a final, deadly hunt for the legendary monster.
15
16	The entire nine-episode saga can be found here: http://www.wirelesstheatrecompany.co.uk/product-category/the-springheel-saga/
17
18	----
19	!! The Springheel Saga contains examples of:
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21	[[folder:A -- F]]
22	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The sewers beneath Scratch Row even include a risky jump over the subterranean River Effra.
23	* AccentRelapse: Hopcraft, who affects an RP accent for most of the story, briefly slips back into a South London accent not unlike Smith's.
24	* ActionGirl: Aristocratic adventuress, Charlotte Fitzrandolph; criminal gang-leader and magician's assistant, Lizzie Coombe; and Prussian spymistress, the Countess de Sadesky.
25	* ActionPrologue: Series 1 opens with Young Jonah getting rescued by his father from a huge tenement fire. Series 3 kicks off with Springheel Jack making a daring raid on Aldershot Barracks.
26	* AffablyEvil: Hopcraft... at least where Smith is concerned. He's FauxAffablyEvil with absolutely everyone else.
27	* AgeCut: The opening FlashbackNightmare cuts from Young Jonah crying out for his lost parents to the adult Jonah waking up.
28	* TheAlcoholic: Mr Peewit is an unhelpful witness until a glass or two of sherry loosens his tongue. By Series 3, Smith has developed a serious drinking problem.
29	* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler: Charlotte]]. She lives just long enough to give Smith a DyingClue.
30	* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Hooks in Series 1. Charlotte's murder is the {{Cliffhanger}} at the end of the first episode of Series 2.]]
31	* AristocratsAreEvil: Lord Wayland and the Countess de Sadesky are both prime examples. Averted in the case of UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington, who's just a silly old blowhard.
32	* TheAtoner: Hopcraft becomes this in the final episode of Series 3 [[spoiler: as a direct result of his transformative encounter with Springheel Jack, the previously psychopathic Hopcraft develops empathy and a conscience. Wracked with remorse, he waits twenty-seven years for Smith to return in Springheel Jack's spaceship]].
33	* AuctionOfEvil: Sadesky and Jaeger's primary scheme is to hold one of these between Russia, Germany and Britain.
34	* BadGuyBar: The Morgan Arms public house is at the centre of Wayland's frame-up job on Thomas Millbank, and the Fighting Cocks Inn is an extremely rough dive where a BarBrawl breaks out.
35	* TheBaroness: The Countess de Sadesky.
36	* BarBrawl: Lizzie instigates one in the Fighting Cocks Inn by punching an unruly patron when he interrupts the magic act.
37	* BattleButler: Wayland's manservant, Blackaby.
38	* BigBad: Lord Wayland in Series 1, Hopcraft in Series 2, and the Countess de Sadesky in Series 3.
39	* BookcasePassage: Smith, Charlotte and Hooks discover a variant of this trope in the Scratch Row church. By pressing the eye of a stone grotesque, a SecretUndergroundPassage is revealed, leading to the crypt.
40	* TheBrute: D'Urberville.
41	* BulletCatch: Cuthbert and Lizzie perform the bullet-catch trick at Bartholomew Fair. Oscar later attempts to use Lizzie's pistol against Springheel Jack, only to realise it's loaded with blanks.
42	* ByTheBookCop: Jonah Smith starts out as an idealistic, straight-arrow Police Constable who doesn't drink on duty. [[spoiler: By Series 2 he's swigging from a hip-flask at crime scenes]].
43	* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Smith turns down spymaster Anstruther's request for help, and promptly gets kidnapped by the Prussians. Ironically, Anstruther did warn him he was probably already a target whether he liked it or not.
44	* TheCameo:
45	** Queen Victoria briefly appears, played by former Series/DoctorWho companion, Creator/KatyManning.
46	** The distinctive voice of 'Mission Control' in the 1977 epilogue belongs to Shane Rimmer, who is most famous for voicing Scott Tracy in {{Series/Thunderbirds}}, playing B-52 co-pilot, Capt. Ace Owens, in Stanley Kubrick's Film/DrStrangelove and appearing in several early Film/JamesBond films, most notably Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe.
47	* CargoCult: Hopcraft directly invokes this trope when discussing the Box of Emet:
48	--> '''Hopcraft:''' When a ship's compass washes up on the shore of a tropical island, a primitive savage – not understanding its guiding principles – will assume that the object is magic. An intelligent savage, however, will go in search of the object's owner... and ask him how it works.
49	* CharacterDevelopment: Over the course of the three series, Smith evolves from an idealistic 25-year-old PC to an obsessed, hard-drinking DI in his mid-thirties, to a despondent and tubercular 65-year-old man given one last shot at redemption. His greatest single moment of character development occurs in Series 2 when [[spoiler: he is confronted by Springheel Jack in his attic lair and realises that the strange being is friendly and frightened rather than hostile. From that moment, Smith becomes his ally instead of his hunter.]]
50	* ClearMyName: Smith's primary goal for most of Series 2.
51	* {{Cliffhanger}}: The Springheel Saga boasts multiple examples:
52	** Series 1, Episode 1: [[spoiler: D'Urberville chokes Smith with his garrote]].
53	** Series 1, Episode 2: [[spoiler: A huge stone door blocks off the heroes' escape from the crypt, seemingly crushing Smith]].
54	** Series 2, Episode 1: [[spoiler: Shot by a mystery assailant, Charlotte dies in Smith's arms and he is mistaken for her killer]].
55	** Series 2, Episode 2: [[spoiler: Cornered by the police on London Bridge, Smith leaps over the edge and plunges into the Thames]].
56	** Series 3, Episode 1: [[spoiler: Captured by the Prussians and tied to a chair, Vecht bids Smith goodbye and someone gets stabbed]].
57	** Series 3, Episode 2: [[spoiler: Trapped underground, surrounded by enemies, and with only one bullet left in his pistol, Smith causes a cave-in that buries them all together]].
58	* CliffhangerCopout: The resolution to the Series 1, Episode 2 cliffhanger is something of a cheat. [[spoiler: Although the cliffhanger makes it sound like Smith is crushed by the giant stone door right before their eyes, the resolution has Hooks and Charlotte pull him clear in time]].
59	* CodeName: Anstruther is fond of issuing [[Creator/LewisCarroll Lewis Carroll]]-themed code-names: Hopcraft is 'Cheshire Cat', Sadesky is 'The Queen of Hearts' and Springheel Jack is 'The Jabberwock'. Smith, however, refuses to answer to his given code-name of 'Dormhouse'.
60	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Smith and Hopcraft share one [[spoiler: but Hopcraft is too deranged from the experience to realise that there's anything dark or troubled about it.]]
61	* DimeNovel: The young Rymer is the author of penny dreadfuls ''Ada the Betrayed'', ''The Black Monk'' and ''Varney the Vampire'' (which Smith has heard of but not actually read). During the events of Series 2, he tells Smith he's working on a new book, ''The Leaping Shadow, or The Adventures of Spring-Heeled Jack'', but decides to abandons it after the experience of their real-life adventure. However, Rymer doesn't leave the story empty-handed: while taking shelter with the other good guys in a nearby pub, he's inspired to write the tale which the Old Rymer says would finally make his fortune: ''Literature/TheStringOfPearls'', or the tale of DerivativeWorks/SweeneyTodd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.
62	* DoomyDoomsofDoom: The final episode of Series 2 is ''The Engine of Doom''.
63	* TheDragon: Jaeger.
64	* TheDreaded: The memory of seeing Springheel Jack as a child haunts Jonah Smith's dreams, with Jack being indirectly responsible for Smith's parents deaths in the Scratch Row fire. Smith's realisation that Springheel Jack is more than a mere figment of his imagination is what drives his obsession to capture him.
65	* DrowningMySorrows: Smith is quite deliberately drinking himself to death at the start of Series 3.
66	* DyingClue: Charlotte's final words to Smith are a particularly cryptic clue to the mystery.
67	* TheEndOrIsIt: In a post-credits epilogue set on Barnes Common in 1977, [[spoiler: Springheel Jack (or another member of the same alien species) attacks a pair of hapless SpiesInAVan.]]
68	* EnemyMine: Smith reluctantly joins forces with a decidedly enthusiastic Hopcraft, purely because the Countess de Sadesky presents a far greater threat. Nevertheless, it does lead to him gaining a better understanding of – and even generate some sympathy for – his bitterest enemy.
69	* EvilCounterpart: Hopcraft frequently takes great delight in telling Smith how alike they are. Also, the fire-breathing, spring-booted Copycat Jack is an insane and homicidal mockery of Springheel Jack.
70	* EvilPlan: The Countess de Sadesky's plan to [[spoiler: weaponize Springheel Jack's technology]] threatens the entire world.
71	* FauxAffablyEvil: Lord Wayland. He's initially charming to Smith on their first meeting, and a fine host to his guests at the masquerade ball, but as soon as he's alone the facade drops and he's revealed to be a cruel and heartless monster, more than happy to frame, intimidate or eliminate anyone who gets in his way. On top of that, he's the high priest of a Satanic cult that ritually decimates its new intake of acolytes to give the Devil his due.
72	* FlashbackNightmare: The ActionPrologue of Series 1.
73	* FramedClue: The framed group painting of the Harlequin Players leads Lizzie to realise that [[spoiler: the Copycat Jack who murdered Maria must be one of the troupe]].
74	* FramingDevice: Series 2 begins and ends (and is occasionally interrupted by) the old James M. Rymer, recalling the events of his 'one true story' from the cosy fireside of a London pub.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:G -- R]]
78	* GiantMook: D'Urberville, aka "The Bermondsey Lurker" is a garrote-wielding mook of giant proportions.
79	* GodGuise: The devil-worshipping Lord Wayland believes Springheel Jack to be Lucifer himself.
80	* HangingJudge: Mr. Hardwick, the magistrate at Lambeth Street Court, threatens to have Tom Millbank hanged for contempt of court.
81	* TheHero: Jonah Smith.
82	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Cuthbert in Series 2.]]
83	* HighDiveEscape:
84	** Smith's plunge from London Bridge into the Thames.
85	** Hopcraft's leap from the RunawayTrain into Slough Weir.
86	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Numerous instances appear in ''The Springheel Saga''. Some are extremely well-known personages, including UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington, UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli and UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, while others are more obscure figures who were all involved in the actual Spring-Heeled Jack case, including victims Lucy Scales, Jane Alsop and Mary Stevens, main suspect Thomas Millbank and magistrate, Mr. Hardwick. Series 2's UnreliableNarrator and {{Sidekick}}, James Malcolm Rymer, was the real-life creator of ''Literature/VarneyTheVampire'' and ''Theatre/SweeneyTodd''.
87	* HistoricalFantasy: ''The Springheel Saga'' takes place largely between 1837 and 1904 (spanning the entire [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian]] era) and deals with the real-life Spring-Heeled Jack phenomenon, as well as the apocryphal reports and speculative theories associated with his urban legend.
88	* HostageForMacGuffin: Lord Wayland makes Charlotte an offer to trade the captive Smith for the Burning Truth.
89	* HumanSacrifice: In this case, the willing self-sacrifice of an acolyte at a Satanic black mass.
90	* TheIlluminati: The Countess de Sadesky and Jaeger reveal themselves to be the leaders of a secret society called the Order of Perfectibilists – better known as the Bavarian Illuminati.
91	* InnocentAliens: Springheel Jack turns out to be just that.
92	* KarmicDeath: The Countess de Sadesky is disintegrated by a DeathRay aboard Springheel Jack's spaceship, a victim of the very technology she hoped to weaponize.
93	* LivingMacGuffin: Springheel Jack himself.
94	* LovelyAssistant: "Lovely Lizzie" Coombe is magical assistant to The Great Majesto, but as magical assistants go she's more pugnaciously pugilistic than most.
95	* {{MacGuffin}}: The Burning Truth (a mystical pendant) and the Box of Emet (a box with magical properties), which both also happen to be [[spoiler: misidentified pieces of alien technology.]]
96	* MacGuffinMelee: At Bartholomew Fair, both Springheel Jack and the fire-breathing Copycat are drawn to the Box of Emet at the same moment, and chaos ensues.
97	* MeaningfulName:
98	** Jonah Smith is a stand-in for real-life Victorian detective and former Bow Street Runner, James Lea. Lea's name in some sources is erroneously recorded as ''Jonas'' Lea, hence ''Jonah'' ''S''(mith).
99	** The war-loving Countess de Sadesky shares her name with the Soviet ambassador Alexei de Sadesky in UsefulNotes/ColdWar black comedy, ''Film/DrStrangelove''.
100	* AMinorKidroduction: We're first introduced to Jonah Smith as a child on the night he first encountered Springheel Jack.
101	* MistakenForMurderer: This happens to Smith in Series 2, sending him on a mission to ClearMyName.
102	* MuggedForDisguise. Hopcraft does this to the Train Guard in Series 2 in order to hijack to locomotive. Considering Smith refuses to explain to Rymer why he himself is dressed like a docker, it's likely Smith has done the same thing.
103	* TheMunchausen: Rymer. He's made his career as a spinner of tall tales, but he claims that ''The Legend of Springheel'd Jack'' is his "one true story". Despite this, some of the events that take place are at odds with his narration of them.
104	* NewEraSpeech: The Countess de Sadesky and Jaeger give one of these between them.
105	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
106	** Lord Wayland is an EvilCounterpart of the real-life 'Mad' Marquis of Waterford. In-universe, Waterford makes a brief appearance at Wayland's masquerade ball where it's acknowledged that he is Wayland's distant cousin, "several times removed".
107	** Jeremey Stockwell, who plays theatre impresario Oscar Snitterfield, based his vocal performance on cult actor/writer/director Ken Campbell.
108	* NostalgicNarrator: Rymer is a prime example of this trope.
109	* OccultDetective: Jonah Smith. Charlotte and Hopcraft also qualify.
110	* OddCouple: Smith and Hopcraft when [[spoiler: they join forces.]]
111	* OldFashionedCopper: As the Metropolitan Police Force was a new invention when Smith and all his colleagues become officers, they are all unavoidably examples of this trope. Smith is the most competent but he's nevertheless fits the profile.
112	* OminousLatinChanting: During Wayland's black mass, although the chant of "''Ave Satana!''" is certainly both ominous and Latin (meaning 'Hail Satan'), the rest of the incantation - "''B'mal elttil a'dah y'ram!''" - is actually just 'Mary had a little lamb' intoned backwards.
113	* PlotTriggeringDeath: The murder of Maria Davis at Folly Ditch.
114	* PsychoForHire: Hopcraft, in his role as British secret agent '[[CheshireCatGrin Cheshire Cat]]', claims that Her Majesty's Goverment employ him because "a talent for languages and a healthy disregard for the law are qualities they look for, apparently".
115	* ReligionOfEvil: Lord Wayland and his Satanic followers are a blatantly evil cult, fully aware of their own wickedness.
116	* RetiredBadass: Smith at the start of Series 3.
117	* RunawayTrain: The climax of Series 2 takes place aboard one.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:S -- Z]]
121	* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler: Hooks and Charlotte.]]
122	* SapientShip: Springheel Jack's spaceship seems to be able to communicate telepathically with Smith.
123	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When they realise the game is up at the end of Series 1, Chough and D'Urberville flee the scene and never return to the story again.
124	* SecretCircleOfSecrets: The Satanists in Series 1, and the Bavarian Illuminati in Series 3.
125	* SecretGovernmentWarehouse: The Box of Emet is commandeered by the military and taken to Aldershot barracks where it's locked away forever... [[spoiler: until Springheel Jack smashes his way inside to reclaim it.]]
126	* SecretIdentity: As well as being a magician's assistant, Lizzie is also [[spoiler:'Dreadful Penny', the leader of London's most infamous gang of pickpockets]].
127	* ShadowArchetype: Hopcraft not only fits this archetype perfectly in relation to Smith, but he's GenreSavvy enough to be fully aware of the fact.
128	* ShoutOut:
129	** The opening scene of Series 3, where sentries Private Bernard and Private Francis await a visitation by the ghostly 'Night Terror', is directly lifted from Act 1, Scene 1 of {{Theatre/Hamlet}}.
130	** Wayland's black mass incantation name-checks Lucifer's 'dark angels' Mocata (the villain in Film/TheDevilRidesOut) and Azal (the ancient alien menace in Recap/DoctorWhoS8E5TheDaemons).
131	* ShroudedInMyth: No two descriptions of Springheel Jack are alike, and all the characters have their own theories and beliefs about his true nature and the veracity of his exploits. Smith becomes mythologised by association with him, leading Anstruther to remark:
132	--> '''Anstruther''': It's not every former police officer whose file gets stored in the [[MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual Black Museum]].
133	* {{Sidekick}}: Toby Hooks in Series 1, James Malcolm Rymer in Series 2, [[spoiler: Hopcraft in Series 3.]]
134	* SinisterSubway: The abandoned Scratch Row tube station is a particularly sinister section of UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground.
135	* TheSociopath: Hopcraft, although he describes himself as a 'principled amoralist'. Whatever the hell his principles are he never actually explains.
136	* SpringHeeledJack: The focus of the series details the exploits of Jonah Smith, a Victorian policeman, hunting for the creature over the course of his career. Some of the events in the series are in fact based on "real" historical sightings of Spring-heeled Jack.
137	* StageMagician: Cuthbert Leach, aka "The Great Majesto" is the Harlequin Players' doddery illusionist.
138	* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: Springheel Jack is sufficiently advanced to [[spoiler: cure Hopcraft of his psychopathy]] with a single touch.
139	* SwordCane: Hopcraft wields a sword-cane in Series 3, and in Series 2 he carries one that's actually a high-powered air-gun.
140	* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Although Inspector Garrick is determined to capture Smith, he takes absolutely no pleasure in the task whatsoever.
141	* TimeDilation: Hopcraft waits 27 years for Smith to return in Springheel Jack's spaceship, and when he does he hasn't aged, having only been gone for a month from his point of view. Smith then does his best to explain the concept of space-time to Hopcraft:
142	-->'''Smith:''' Think of it like whisky and women; you spend more on one, you get less of the other.
143	* TitleDrop: Rymer drops the title of Series 2 in the very final moments of his closing narration:
144	-->'''Rymer:''' The world moves ever onward, and every day there's less and less wonder in it – so revel in its mysteries while you can. That's why, for me at least, when all is said and done, the important thing is not the truth... but the '''legend of Springheel'd Jack'''!
145	* TortureTechnician: For a diplomat, Vecht is highly confident that with a little knife-work he will extract all the information the villains need from Smith 'in a matter of minutes'.
146	* TunnelNetwork: Smith and Hopcraft brave one of these in the middle episode of Series 3, ''The Tunnels of Death''.
147	* UnreliableNarrator: Although Rymer assures us that his story is true, he is not present during many of the events he relays, and even when he is he often exaggerates his own importance and/or bravery in the proceedings.
148	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Although highly fictionalised and given a science-fantasy twist, most of the key events of the story are based on historical fact.
149	* VictorianLondon: ''The Springheel Saga'' takes place earlier in the 19th century than we're used to seeing it in many comparable works, making it closer in tone to ''Literature/OliverTwist'' than 'Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' or UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.
150	* VillainousBreakdown: Lord Wayland suffers one of these after he's tempted to use the Burning Truth against Springheel Jack, his supposed 'master'. When the ploy fails, the usually coolly authoritative villain is so overcome with shame that he ignites his vat of boiling oil, causing the entire place to explode.
151	* WarForFunAndProfit: Sadesky and Jaeger's scheme is entirely this trope. They plan to [[spoiler:weaponize Springheel Jack's extraterrestrial technology and hold an AuctionOfEvil to the highest bidder. If the Great Powers don't cooperate they will arm all sides equally and allow them to destroy each other, creating a OneWorldOrder out of the ashes]].
152	* WickedCultured: Lord Wayland is an aristocratic example, fond of quoting mystical English poet Creator/WilliamBlake. Hopcraft is a working-class, auto-didactic variant who favours quoting Montaigne and showing off to Smith how far he has travelled in his quest for knowledge.
153	* WilhelmScream: In the carriage chase following Smith's rescue from the German embassy, Hopcraft causes the pursuing carriage of German mooks to crash into the Serpentine River. The crash is accompanied by two variants of the Wilhelm Scream.
154	* WorthyOpponent: Jaeger and Sadesky both expect Smith to be a worthy opponent but are highly disappointed when they finally meet him. He quickly proves himself to be one, however, and both villains relish the challenge... at first.
155	* WronglyAccused. Smith in Series 2.
156	* TheXOfY: Not only do each of the three series titles employ variants of the 'X of Y' structure, but so do all nine episode titles as well.

Context Podcast / TheSpringheelSaga