"This is nothing new. Given enough time, everything becomes a part of something great. A part of something noble. A part of something terrible."
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Strangers across London find themselves wrapped up in each others' lives as they battle for the very fate of humanity in this parody of popular hero-based TV shows. A four-part series written between all the RED-JAY writers, this is my contribution; a mix between prose and screenplay, inspired in part by Ben's form for his WARRIORS and KNIGHTFALL series. Keep your eyes peeled for Joe Regan's York City Jazz Police as well as Ben and ?'s own series.
This is a kind of mix between prose and script; I wanted the "effect" of a filmic piece (since that's what we're parodying) with cuts, voiceovers, and flashes of images, but with the leisurely description of a prose work. Since screenplays don't have camera directions or extraneous information written into them, it really can't be considered a script anyway! Anyway, PATK can basically be summed up as a collaborative effort on the part of the whole RED-JAY team to parody popular "super-hero" TV shows, movies, even certain comics, manga and other forms of fiction.
Each of us took a cast of around thirteen characters from the same world, with which we are to model a first "season". How the different seasons relate to one another is at this moment completely spontaneous and improvised. For a visual representation of what my plot involves, click here. Each line is a character (there is a white line running through it which you probably can't really see); believe it or not, I drew this plan out at random, and have built the plot up around it, rather than the other way around. There are improbable and impossible character crossovers, as per usual in these sorts of shows.
UPDATE: Episode Eight is now available!
EPISODE LIST
Below is a small description of each episode. Clicking on the titles will download individual episodes.
Episode 1: Pilot
In the first Episode of Pigeons Are The Key, we are introduced to our first set of main characters including an ex-olympic athlete and a beaming Irishman. What does the future hold in store for these strangers? Read on to find out!
Episode 2: Forget What You Think You Know Because You Don't
Taken ruthlessly through a second set of heroes, the viewer should, by now, have met most of our stars. Will these broken friendships ever repair themselves? Will Chief Constable Mick Hervey ever retire? Only time will tell!
Episode 3: Red Pigeon
In this episode we finally meet our "Bad Guy", Manus. How will his presence now affect our heroes? Or has his presence already been affecting them from the very beginning? Find out next time in Pigeons Are The Key!
Episode 4: Theory And Practice
Featuring the first gratuitous sex scene of the series, Episode Four introduces the last of the heroes into the mix. But who was the stranger left un-named at the end? Will we ever know?
Episode 5-6: It All Falls Down
A special bumper double episode that ends the first half of the series. Contravened human rights! Gathering criminals! Unnecessary explosions! This double-episode will leave you breathless!
Episode 7: The Inevitable
The inevitable flash-back episode that the writers use to postpone ending the series. Find out what the characters were up to one year ago! You could find out where their powers came from - or maybe you won't!
Further filler-material that combines both flashback and the oft-used backwards told story. Has anyone ever progressed so far backwards before? Only tonight's episode answers that question!
STARRING
These are our recurring characters; each is represented by a line on the plot web. I won't tell you who is represented by which colour - that's for you to figure out! Presented in order of appearance...(beware: spoilers below!)
OMNI - our narrator, not much is known about Omni other than the fact that he claims to know everything and exist everywhere and everywhen. He opens and closes each episode with some form of mystical comment a'la Heroes' Mohinder Suresh...
LILY - Lily lost her olympic titles due to suspicion of drug abuse in her record-setting jumping competitions. It hit her hard, and she fell apart, losing her memories and landing herself in a mental asylum...
THE DARK AND SHADOWY MAN - inexplicably follows people around, though no one else appears to be able to see him. His past is as shadowy as he himself...
CALUM - friends with Officer Michelle Wae, Calum starts his journey waking up on a sofa. He has no idea what lies ahead for him...
EDGAR - a glum and utterly miserable man, Edgar seems to prefer to stay at home and avoid all human contact. His power is less a blessing than a curse...
TRILL - the complete opposite of Edgar, Trill is a constantly cheerful Irishman who runs an internet cafe. How is he able to offer such low, low prices...?
THE PEBBLEDASHER - a stranger in the distance who inadvertedly sets everything in motion, this man is the best Pebble-Dasher in the world to date. How will he react to the situation into which he is thrown...?
OFFICER MICHELLE WAE - a female police officer for the York City Jazz Police: London Branch of Chinese descent. To discover the origins of the York City Jazz Police, check out Joe Regan's landmark series here. What is her involvement...?
JASPER - forever nervous and sweaty, Jasper doesn't like getting agitated; "I don't want to be me when I'm angry!" His soured friendship with Jean-Pierre has long-reaching consequences...
JEAN-PIERRE - a failed French jewell thief, Jean-Pierre has started to build his thieving career up again from scratch, starting with a bank in the middle of London...
DRAKE - the cowardly owner of a dingy bar in central London, Drake doesn't like getting his hands dirty. How ironic...
MANUS - the late-arriving antagonist of our story appears to have a strange obsession with his gloves. Or do they, rather, have a strange obsession with him...?
IRA - a blind Japanese man who seems to know what the future holds. What is his role in the expanding and twisting plot?
STARRING
These are our recurring characters; each is represented by a line on the plot web. I won't tell you who is represented by which colour - that's for you to figure out! Presented in order of appearance...(beware: spoilers below!)
OMNI - our narrator, not much is known about Omni other than the fact that he claims to know everything and exist everywhere and everywhen. He opens and closes each episode with some form of mystical comment a'la Heroes' Mohinder Suresh...
LILY - Lily lost her olympic titles due to suspicion of drug abuse in her record-setting jumping competitions. It hit her hard, and she fell apart, losing her memories and landing herself in a mental asylum...
THE DARK AND SHADOWY MAN - inexplicably follows people around, though no one else appears to be able to see him. His past is as shadowy as he himself...
CALUM - friends with Officer Michelle Wae, Calum starts his journey waking up on a sofa. He has no idea what lies ahead for him...
EDGAR - a glum and utterly miserable man, Edgar seems to prefer to stay at home and avoid all human contact. His power is less a blessing than a curse...
TRILL - the complete opposite of Edgar, Trill is a constantly cheerful Irishman who runs an internet cafe. How is he able to offer such low, low prices...?
THE PEBBLEDASHER - a stranger in the distance who inadvertedly sets everything in motion, this man is the best Pebble-Dasher in the world to date. How will he react to the situation into which he is thrown...?
OFFICER MICHELLE WAE - a female police officer for the York City Jazz Police: London Branch of Chinese descent. To discover the origins of the York City Jazz Police, check out Joe Regan's landmark series here. What is her involvement...?
JASPER - forever nervous and sweaty, Jasper doesn't like getting agitated; "I don't want to be me when I'm angry!" His soured friendship with Jean-Pierre has long-reaching consequences...
JEAN-PIERRE - a failed French jewell thief, Jean-Pierre has started to build his thieving career up again from scratch, starting with a bank in the middle of London...
DRAKE - the cowardly owner of a dingy bar in central London, Drake doesn't like getting his hands dirty. How ironic...
MANUS - the late-arriving antagonist of our story appears to have a strange obsession with his gloves. Or do they, rather, have a strange obsession with him...?
IRA - a blind Japanese man who seems to know what the future holds. What is his role in the expanding and twisting plot?