Pilgrim is a series of audio stories that has completed seven seasons, and was written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz for BBC Radio 4. They tell the story of William Palmer, or 'Pilgrim', a man cursed with immortality by the king of the Grey Folk, or Fairie, who is tired of his long existence and wants to die. During his wanderings, he encounters others who have had the fortune or misfortune to encounter the Grey Folk.
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Pilgrim contains examples of:
- The Ageless: Palmer is one. In this world, an immortal person like Palmer can only be killed by another. Several episodes involves the King of the Greyfolk asking Palmer for his help in return for finally ending his curse of immortality.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: In Season 2 Episode 4, Puck sets up a Xanatos Gambit to marry Doris, Pilgrim's daughter. To pull it off, he needs to either (1) convince Doris to marry him in exchange for preventing Pilgrim being tortured and to save her from her own impeding death, (2) convince Pilgrim to allow him to marry Doris over her objection in return for saving him from torture, or (3) have his minion steal the Wedding Crown, a magical artifact which can nullify everybody's objections and force Doris to marry him.
- Big Bad: Several of these.
- In the very first episode, everybody concerned is terrified of The Lady Ursula, a dragon who terrifies even the Greyfolk.
- In Season 3, Birdie a.k.a. Mrs. Pleasance, with a Special Appearance by the King of the Greyfolk.
- In Season 4, Birdie again, although she's shifted from directly forcing Pilgrim to do her bidding to feeding him directions to.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Several during the series. The Greyfolk can be a nasty combination of creative and vindictive.
- Don't Wake the Sleeper: Comes up a LOT. Pilgrim's travels usually involve him trying to solve magic.
- In Season 3 Episode 3, a religious retreat/cult that worships "the Dreamer" has become established near a sleeping, dreaming, buried giant. Turns out the cult founder — who's been imprisoned for the past 150 years — has been working with the current cult leader to try to wake the Dreamer.
- Season 3 ends with Pilgrim being given a powerful magical object that is pursued by several powerful entities. Season 4 consists of those entities trying to affect whether or not Pilgrim will use the object to wake the Drowned Mage, a.k.a. Merlin - yes, THE Merlin.
- Fantastic Slurs: "Hotbloods" as a term for humanity used by the Greyfolk; generally mildly demeaningly.
- Halloween Episode: "The Timbermoor Imp", a two-part story where Pilgrim visits a village with strange Halloween rituals, originally broadcast 23rd and 30th October 2020.
- Homeless Hero: Palmer doesn't have a home that we ever get to see; he stays with friends or is found at book fairs.
- The Fair Folk: Both helpful and antagonistic Greyfolk encounter Pilgrim. Mostly antagonistic.
- The Final Temptation: Caudley Fair.
- Flying Dutchman: Palmer is the Wandering Jew version.
- Genius Loci: Kingsley in Season 4 Episode 2 turns out to be one, although of the traditional "patron spirit" variety rather than the more modern "living place" one.
- I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Subverted: All things considered, Palmer has a pretty healthy relationship with Doris, his daughter. Since she ages normally until she marries Puck, she looks a lot older than him.
- Meaningful Name: 'Palmer' isn't his real surname. Back when he was born most people didn't have surnames, but William had a palm leaf tattooed on his hand as a sign that he'd walked on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem - hence to those in the know it identifies him as a pilgrim.
- Present Absence: The King of the Greyfolk never appears directly, but regularly sends his minions and ambassadors with tasks for Palmer. His name is enough to invoke terror.
- In Season 3 Episode 4, the voice we hear channeled by Pilgrim's friend *might* be the King himself, speaking for himself if not in his own voice.
- Really 700 Years Old: Palmer hasn't aged a day since receiving his curse in the late Twelfth Century while on a pilgrimage to Canterbury.
- Saying Too Much: Palmer has a habit of conversationally revealing details about the history of an area he could only have known by being there decades or centuries ago. These are generally ignored or taken as jokes.
- Urban Fantasy: Although the stories are mostly set in English country villages, a lot of the themes of urban fantasy are there.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Palmer is certainly tired of his immortality.
