Line #7 Radio/TheScarifyers


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dunning_Crow_and_Lionheart_trope_8327.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Professor Edward P. Dunning, Harry "Thumper" Crow and Inspector Lionheart]]
3
4	->''"It may be from another dimension, but it doesn't like the taste of hot steel!"''
5	-->-- '''Inspector Lionheart'''
6
7	A series of [[DirectToVideo straight-to-CD]] plays by [[http://www.bafflegab.co.uk/ Bafflegab Productions]] (formerly Cosmic Hobo), created by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris. They are set in the [[TheThirties mid-1930s]] and chronicle the exploits of academic and ghost story author Professor Edward P. Dunning, and old-school policeman Inspector Lionheart as they investigate "the out of the ordinary, the unexplained. The downright weird." The plays are a heady mix of supernatural horror and comedy, recalling a sort of cosy world of 1930s adventure.
8
9	There have been nine CD releases so far, and three short episodes for free download from the Bafflegab website. They star Series/DoctorWho regulars [[Creator/TerryMolloy Terry "Davros" Molloy]] as Dunning and the late Creator/NicholasCourtney, AKA TheBrigadier as Lionheart. In the sixth release, following Courtney's sad death, a new character, Harry "Thumper" Crow was introduced, played by Creator/DavidWarner. Other characters have included an exceptionally camp Creator/AleisterCrowley, a Great Old One, and rubbish explorer Sir Basil Champion, whilst guest stars such as Creator/LesliePhillips, Nigel Havers and Creator/BrianBlessed have popped up.
10
11	The ten so far released are:
12	* ''The Nazad Conspiracy'' - 2006
13	* ''The Devil of Denge Marsh'' - 2007
14	* ''For King and Country'' - 2008
15	* ''The Curse of the Black Comet'' - 2009
16	* ''The Secret Weapon of Doom'' - 2010
17	* ''The Magic Circle'' - 2011
18	* ''The Horror of Loch Ness'' - 2012
19	* ''The Thirteen Hallows'' - 2012
20	* ''The King of Winter'' - 2014
21	* ''The Gnomes of Death'' - 2017
22	The three "specials" are:
23	* ''The Curse of the Cult of Thoth'' - Hallowe'en Special
24	* ''The Yule Lads'' - Christmas Special
25	* ''Mr. Crowley's Christmas'' - Christmas Special
26
27	Creator/TerryMolloy himself has described it as "Franchise/{{Tintin}} and Dick Barton [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] Series/TheXFiles". A comic adaptation of ''The Nazad Conspiracy'' has also been produced.
28
29	!!Can I tempt you to some tropes?
30
31	* AbhorrentAdmirer: Mrs. Willow for Professor Dunning.
32	* AlmaMaterSong: Sir Basil Champion delights in singing the song for his Private School, Bumsworth's. It's to the tune of "Jerusalem", and it's hilarious.
33	** Dunning and his old friend Professor Penfold sing "The Mallard Song", a favourite from their University days, in ''For King and Country''.
34	* AsYouKnow: In ''The King of Winter'', the radio commentator describing a theatrical production featuring [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Prince George, Duke of Kent]] mentions that it is being attended by King George VI. The commentator takes great pains to point out that the two men are brothers, despite both being called George, and that it is the Duke's real name, but only the King's regnal name, as he was christened Albert. Any radio audience of the 1930s would probably be aware of this, but in 2014 it would seem a little odd, hence the explanation.
35	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Happens offstage with the coronation of [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor George VI]]. The Archbishop walks off to it and all that is heard is a door opening and "Zadok the Priest" at full volume.
36	* BadassLongcoat: Lionheart is always drawn wearing his flowing overcoat.
37	* BerserkButton: Do not call Lionheart an "old man". He will punch you in the face. Very hard.
38	** Trying to kill Lionheart is a bad idea, too. The first time someone tried it, Dunning came after them with a pistol. The second, he came after them with an alien spaceship. That he failed both times doesn't negate the fact that those are the only occasions on which he's wielded a weapon with intent to use it.
39	* BrawnHilda: Alexander Caulfield-Browne's (unseen) mother, who is described as having teeth the colour of mahogany and very large hands. She rejoices in the name of Eideltrout.
40	* BritsLoveTea: As Dunning says in ''The Nazad Conspiracy'', "Murder, Black magic, I don't know. Still, nothing that can't be solved with a nice cup of tea!" Later on, when Lionheart is kidnapped, the first thing he is asked by his interrogators is whether he will take milk or lemon with his tea.
41	* CanonWelding: Dunning's fellow author A. K. "Bunny" Cheesewright is mentioned in a ''Series/DoctorWho'' short story written by the creators of ''The Scarifyers''.
42	* {{Catchphrase}}: Whenever he gets into bother, Dunning exclaims "Oh ''crumbs''!"
43	* CoolOldGuy: Cool Gentleman of Mature Years, Inspector Lionheart, who is either 74 or 76 (he can't remember). He should have retired, but didn't.
44	* [[DeepSouth Deep South (of England)]]: Denge Marsh fits this description, with its collection of inbred villagers and their mistrust of outsiders.
45	* DemBones: The skeletons of long-dead Roundheads are reanimated to lead an attack on the coronation in ''For King and Country''. [[spoiler: Later on, an army of Cavaliers is similarly reanimated to defend it from them.]]
46	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In ''The Devil of Denge Marsh'', Lionheart attacks Shub-Niggurath with a gatling gun. From an airplane. Then drops some powdered acid on it and melts it to death.
47	* DuelToTheDeath: Dunning ends up called out on a duel by General Warlock in ''The Nazad Conspiracy''. Lionheart acts as his second.
48	** Lionheart and [[spoiler:Matthew Hopkins, in the rafters of Westminster Abbey]] in ''For King and Country''.
49	* {{Eagleland}}: D. D. Denham and Kitty in ''The Curse of the Black Comet''. Denham is a mixture of flavour 1 and 2. He has obscene amounts of money that he spends buying works of art depicting Icarus. He then defaces them by having his own face painted onto the body of Icarus. But he's ultimately on the side of good. Kitty is more flavour 2. She's bubbly, hyperactive and very stupid, spouting incomprehensible American slang of the time period. She's so over the top, that Dunning doesn't realise she's American until it's pointed out to him. Until then, he'd just assumed that she was mentally ill.
50	* EldritchAbomination: [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Shub-Niggurath]] in ''The Devil of Denge Marsh''.
51	* EmbarrassingFirstName: Lionheart has one, although it is never revealed. Dunning sees it written down and wonders what the Inspector's parents can have been thinking.
52	* {{Expy}}:
53	** Sir Basil Champion in ''The Curse of the Black Comet'' is an intentionally rubbish version of Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's creation Literature/ProfessorChallenger.
54	** [[MoralGuardians Primula Manningtree]] in ''The Secret Weapon of Doom'' is clearly based on [[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who's]] arch-enemy in RealLife, Mrs. Mary Whitehouse.
55	** Professor Dunning himself seems to be inspired by ghost story author Creator/MRJames. Albeit it less talented than James. He's even named after the main character in James' story ''Casting the Runes''.
56	** Dunning creates his own for Lionheart in one of his stories in the form of a character called "Braveheart".
57	** While Dunning's friends "The Fantatsists", a group of fantasy authors who meet one a month, seem to be inspired by "The Inklings", a literary group in Oxford in the [[TheThirties 1930s]] who included Creator/CSLewis and Creator/JRRTolkien among their number. One member, who writes an interminably long series of HighFantasy novels, having created an entire world and language for them, is based on Tolkien. [[spoiler: When he is killed in ''The Secret Weapon of Doom'', his son takes on the task of finishing his work, very much in the manner of Christopher Tolkien.]]
58	** [[spoiler: In ''The Horror of Loch Ness'', Creator/AleisterCrowley {{Expy}} Oliver Haddo from W. Somerset Maugham's novel ''The Magician'' appears. Crowley is familiar with him and does not like him.]]
59	* EyeScream: The ghost of Matthew Hopkins encounters a couple in a cinema and puts out their eyes for "looking on the profane".
60	* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The first play begins on Boxing Day 1936.
61	* GrammarNazi: Creator/AleisterCrowley.
62	--->'''Aleister Crowley''': I've come to [[spoiler: save Mr. Lionheart]].
63	--->'''Henchman''': What?
64	--->'''Aleister Crowley''': It's ''pardon''! Now take that, you ruffian!
65	--->Crowley then punches the henchman out.
66	* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: Dunning and Lionheart work for MI-13. No, not [[ComicBook/{{Excalibur}} that one]].
67	* HamToHamCombat: Crops up frequently.
68	* HenpeckedHusband: Harry Crow is one of these.
69	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Lionheart and Dunning.
70	* HilariousOuttakes: There was a Behind-the-Scenes documentary for ''The Curse of the Black Comet'' (currently offline) on the download page of the website featuring outtakes of Creator/BrianBlessed trying to sing the Bumsworth's School Song. It also has him describing his apparent sexual attraction for Creator/NicholasCourtney in rather graphic terms. The [[ContentWarnings warning]] on the website actually read "Warning: Contains language that might offend. Particularly from Mr Blessed."
71	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Creator/AleisterCrowley, [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] {{continuity announce\|ment}}r Leslie Mitchell, Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, Archbishop Cosmo Lang, UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell, [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Rasputin]] and many others pop up as characters.
72	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: In ''For King and Country'', Lionheart tries this when he is swordfighting with the Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, who has possessed the body of [[spoiler: his rival, Inspector Natterjack. It doesn't work, as Natterjack briefly surfaces to inform Lionheart that he "doesn't like you either".]]
73	* ImAHumanitarian: In a flashback to one of Sir Basil Champion's expeditions, the party play cards to decide who's going to go outside and shoot themselves so the others can cook and eat him. Sir Basil is surprisingly keen on eating the deceased, insisting on a slice of rump because he "always had a nice juicy arse!"
74	** [[spoiler: By the end of ''The Curse of the Black Comet'', Sir Basil, Dunning, Lionheart and D. D. Denham are marooned in a dinghy in the middle of the ocean. Within a few hours, Sir Basil, feeling hungry, wants to start eating someone.]]
75	* ImMrFuturePopCultureReference: Sort of. There's no time-travel involved, but the Grand Master of the Freemasons in ''The King of Winter'' turns out to be Lord Flash, First Lord of the Admiralty. He seems to have been named as such so that Harry Crow can disparagingly call him [[Music/TheMessage Grand Master Flash]] for the rest of his scenes.
76	* InsistentTerminology: In ''The Curse of the Black Comet'', Dunning constantly corrects D. D. Denham's American proncunciation of "Nazi". Every time Denham says "Nazzee", Dunning insistently replies "Nart-see".
77	* LargeHam:
78	** Creator/BrianBlessed in ''The Curse of the Black Comet''
79	** Leslie Phillips in ''The Secret Weapon of Doom''
80	** David Benson:
81	*** As Aleister Crowley.
82	*** As D. D. Denham in ''The Curse of the Black Comet''.
83	*** When he's playing the Invisible Man on a cinema screen being watched by other characters in ''For King and Country''.
84	* {{Manchild}}: Professor Dunning.
85	--->'''Professor Dunning''': ''(angry with Crow)'' I ''am'' a grown adult, you know. ''(giggles)'' Ooh look! A cow crossing a road!.
86	* MeaningfulName: General ''Warlock'' [[spoiler: is part of a black magic cult trying to resurrect [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Rasputin]].]]
87	* MinorInsultMeltdown: In ''The Nazad Conspiracy'', General Warlock asks Dunning if he likes Spanish women. Dunning replies that he believes a woman's mind to be more attractive than physical beauty. The General is insulted that Dunning apparently thinks he is frivolous for preferring loveliness, and that he must be married to a "moron". He works himself up into a fury, culminating in:
88	--->'''General Warlock''': You stand there, bold as brass, and declare my wife to be a chimpanzee!
89	** Lady Walsingham's resigned reaction when the General demands satisfaction and challenges Dunning to a duel makes it clear that this kind of thing happens quite often.
90	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Creator/AleisterCrowley is an occasional nudist. [[spoiler: When he is first re-introduced in ''The Horror of Loch Ness'' he is [[InvisibleStreaker capering around a restaurant naked in the mistaken belief that he has made himself invisible]]. He keeps moving things around so that people think the objects are floating. Everyone can see him, however. They don't want to disappoint him though, so they pretend that they can't.]]
91	* NewTechnologyIsEvil: Quite literally how it is seen by the ghost of Matthew Hopkins in ''For King and Country''. He believes television sets to be "spirit boxes", thus magical and the work of Satan. So he kills the people who use them.
92	--->'''Inspector Lionheart''': So, we're looking for someone who thinks that twentieth century know-how is the work of the Devil. Well that doesn't narrow it down much. I've often felt that way myself...
93	* OldFashionedCopper: Lionheart. He's been mixing with villains for so long, that he knows how to beat them all at cards. He's also pretty handy with his fists.
94	* OldSoldier: Harry Crow was in the Sudan prior to becoming a policeman.
95	** General Warlock in ''The Nazad Conspiracy''.
96	* PaperThinDisguise: Professor Dunning tries to bluff his way into Westminster Abbey during [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor George VI's]] coronation by claiming to be a milkman. He's dressed normally, but holding a bottle of milk. [[spoiler: He succeeds.]]
97	* PhonyPsychic: Madam Damnation in ''For King and Country''. She tries to convince Inspector Natterjack that she's been posessed by UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington by putting on a funny voice and saying that she's the Duke of Wellington.
98	** Harry Price is also pretty much a fraud. [[spoiler: At least to begin with.]]
99	* RunningGag: Whenever anyone buys a newspaper, the seller always says "Gawd bless yer, guv".
100	** People misreading "MI-13" as "mib".
101	* ShoutOut: Unsurprisingly, there are a lot to Series/DoctorWho, and Courtney's character TheBrigadier. These include Lionheart shouting "Sergeant! Chap with the fangs there, FiveRoundsRapid!"
102	** Much of ''The Devil of Denge Marsh'' is a shout out to ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'', including Creator/{{Britt Ekland}}'s famous nude dance scene. However, this time around it's performed by an overweight, middle-aged and rather ugly landlord's wife. She's even called Mrs. Willow.
103	--->'''Professor Dunning''': Aargh! The hideous mermaid!
104	*** Entire lines of dialogue from the film are quoted in places. Then subverted. There's nothing quite as funny as hearing Willow's seductive song sung by an aging lady with a [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents country accent]] who can't carry a tune.
105	--->'''Mrs Willow''': Hey-hooooo, I am here.
106	---->[[BlatantLies Am I not young and]] [[LastNoteNightmare FAAAAAAAAAAAIR?]]
107	** There is the occasional shout to ''Series/DadsArmy''. Whenever there is a scene set in a church or cathedral, there is a Verger who sounds exactly like the Verger from ''Series/DadsArmy''.
108	** A lot of ''The Curse of the Black Comet'' could be a shout out to ''Franchise/IndianaJones''. [[spoiler: Right down to ThoseWackyNazis.]]
109	** The cover art for the [=CDs=] by [[http://www.garenewing.co.uk/rainboworchid/ Garen Ewing]] is very reminiscent of
110	Franchise/{{Tintin}}.
111	** In ''The Horror of Loch Ness'', Crow murmurs [[{{Film/Jaws}} "We're going to need a bigger boat"]]
112	*** While later on Dunning proclaims that [[spoiler: "We need to get Franchise/BackToTheFuture!" In fact, both Professor Dunning and Sir Malcolm Campbell find themselves travelling in time after reaching 88 miles per hour.]]
113	*** [[spoiler: And some of the plot is shout out to the Series/DoctorWho story [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]. Right down to Creator/PhilipMadoc playing the MadScientist role and the monster with a goldfish-bowl for a head.]]
114	** People constantly misreading "MI-13" as "MIB" (pronounced as the word "mib") may be a shout out to the Film/MenInBlack. Especially as Dunning, Crow and Lionheart could be seen as a [[TheThirties 1930s]] equivalent to that organisation.
115	** "[[Film/ANewHope You don't need to see our identification. These aren't the druids you're looking for. Move along.]]"
116	** The auctioneer, Vernon Preddy, in ''The Thirteen Hallows'' sounds exactly like Creator/HarryHCorbett.
117	*** It also features a Welshman called [[Film/LegallyBlonde Rhys Witherspoon]].
118	*** And Nazi Lieutenant [[Series/AlloAllo Klinkerhoffen]].
119	* StylisticSuck: Edward Dunning is not a very good author.
120	--->'''Dunning''': The noise seemed to last an eternity. But at last it faded, only to be replaced by a terrible sucking sound. Like a blancmange swirling down a plughole
121	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Averted when Harry Crow replaces Inspector Lionheart in ''The Magic Circle''. While Lionheart was a gruff and grumpy copper who liked playing cards and refused to retire, Crow is retired, somewhat henpecked and trying out a variety of new hobbies. While Lionheart didn't hesitate to punch someone in the face, Crow prefers to shout at them. And swear. And occasionally thump people.
122	* ThatsNoMoon: "That's no dish. That's Shub-Niggurath, the Great Old One!"
123	* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: The title of track one of ''The King of Winter'' is given in the liner notes as "They Call Him Mr. Tibbs". The chapter does indeed centre around a character called Harry Tibbs, but he's never actually referred to as "Mr. Tibbs". WordOfGod is that it's a reference to [[Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight the Trope Namer]].
124	* ThoseWackyNazis:
125	** Joachim von Ribbentrop appears in ''The Thirteen Hallows''. Playing crazy golf.
126	** [[spoiler:Nazis also turn out to be the top villains in ''The Curse of the Black Comet''.]]
127	* WholesomeCrossdresser: [[spoiler:Sir Basil Champion is revealed to be one of these. It comes in surprisingly useful when our heroes are looking for a way to fling an explosive over a large distance and need a sling or catapult of some kind.]]
128	--->[[spoiler:'''Sir Basil''': How about a ladies' brassiere?]]
129	--->[[spoiler:'''Lionheart''': A ladies' brassiere? Where the hell are we going to get a ladies' brassiere?]]
130	--->[[spoiler:'''Sir Basil''': I'm wearing one!]]
131	* WickedWitch: The Totleigh-in-the-Wold Women's Institute.
132	* YetAnotherChristmasCarol: ''Mr. Crowley's Christmas'' features the titular diabolist getting the Ebeneezer Scrooge treatment. It doesn't work out quite the same.

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