Taren Capel (audio story)

Taren Capel is the fourth audio play in the Kaldor City series. Written by Alan Stevens, it focuses on Iago's attempt to get to the bottom of a scheme apparently instigated by Taren Capel before his death.

Publisher's summary
"The man was a maniac. Now he's a dead maniac. How can a corpse be a threat?"

Strange times have come to Kaldor City. A long-vanished prophet speaks again; a plot is uncovered hinting at corruption among the Founding Families. Even the robots on which the city depends might hold secrets that no one dares imagine.

Carnell must pit himself against an unseen adversary in a game which may bring him face to face with the dead...

Kaldor City - Taren Capel uses characters and concepts from Chris Boucher's Doctor Who novel Corpse Marker to tell a sinister tale of awakening evil.

Plot
to be added

Cast
(in order of appearance)
 * Carnell - Scott Fredericks
 * Voc 31 - Robert Lock
 * Uvanov - Russell Hunter
 * Rull - Trevor Cooper
 * Taren Capel - David Bailie
 * Iago - Paul Darrow
 * Paullus - David Collings
 * Blayes - Tracy Russell
 * Justina - Patricia Merrick
 * Cotton - Brian Croucher
 * Landerchild - Peter Miles
 * Security Man - Bruce McGilligan
 * Tarenist 1 - William Johnston
 * Tarenist 2 - Alan Stevens
 * Tarenist 3 - Jim Smith
 * Yardley - Alistair Lock
 * Packard - Nicholas Courtney
 * Zala - Jasmine Breaks

Individuals

 * Carnell considers himself and Iago to be "con-men".
 * Landerchild is a senior member of a powerful founding family, and a prominent member of the Company board. He owns several properties.
 * Bextor was found dead at his place of residence.

Objects

 * Rull gives Uvanov a painting by an artist named Wallbank.
 * The Tarenists hardware comes from Waste Disposal.

Company Central

 * Over the last few weeks Iago has been going through the divisional archive.
 * Rull executes "Emergency Plan 4a" as the company central building is overrun by Tarenist rebels.

Storm Mine Four

 * Storm Mine Four was eight months into the tour of the desert. There were 9 crew members aboard at the time of the Storm Mine murders.
 * Only a select few know about the Storm Mine murders; the official story was they were attacked by ore raiders.

Taren Capel

 * Iago reviews Taren Capel's diary recordings. These concern:
 * Borg, who Capel describes as "small minded, obsessive and petty".
 * Uvanov's relationship with Zilda.
 * Poul's behaviour, how he suspects Poul of being an agent for the Company, and how Poul is showing early signs of robophobia.
 * Uvanov playing chess with V9, and how Chub was taunting Borg about a Voc therapist in Kaldor City.

Robots

 * Robophobia is endemic in all robot based societies, Kaldor City is no exception.
 * V31, associated with Carnell, is a fully programmed domestic Voc class robot with additional secretarial functions.

Chess

 * Chess boards are manufactured in Kaldor City.
 * Carnell plays chess with V31:
 * V31 has the white pieces, meaning he has the first move, which Carnell considers to be the advantage. As the game progresses Carnell deduces the pieces represent:
 * White King's Knight is Blayes.
 * Black King's Rook is Company Central.
 * Black King is Uvanov.
 * Black King's Knight is Rull.
 * Black King's Bishop is Carnell.
 * Black Queen's Knight is Iago.
 * Black Queen's Bishop is V31.
 * White King is Taren Capel.
 * V31 moves King's Knight to King's Knight 6. Carnell deduces this means the Tarenists are attacking "Company Central".

Continuity

 * Uvanov is given a painting of a Fendahleen painted by Wallbank, foreshadowing the emergence of the Fendahl in AUDIO: Checkmate. Justina's portrait of the red pentagram in AUDIO: Occam's Razor is also by Wallbank.
 * Carnell mentions Kaldor City is being manipulated and used by something very powerful that has existed for millions of years which has become part of them all. This also foreshadows the emergence of the Fendahl in AUDIO: Checkmate.
 * The bad dreams Justina has been having of "nothing that makes sense" forshadow her place as the Fendahl core in AUDIO: Checkmate.
 * The play closes with a grand piece of misdirection, with Iago managing to convince Uvanov of the danger of the killer robots, and with the killer robots being activated: this created expectations the following plays would deal with a robot-destroyed city. Instead, in AUDIO: Checkmate, this threat is neutralised relatively simply using extracts from Taren Capel's diaries.
 * The story saw the apparent departure of Carnell from the series, although the character may have possibly returned in the following play: it is likely, however, the version of Carnell in AUDIO: Checkmate was a projection of Iago's mind and/or the Fendahl rather than the actual psychostrategist.
 * The events of TV: The Robots of Death occurred "ten years ago".
 * Waiting for the best possible moment to make himself known in a disaster is a technique Uvanov also described in PROSE: Corpse Marker.
 * Paullus states how he met Taren Capel on Storm Mine Four. (TV: The Robots of Death)
 * The characters of Zilda, Borg and Chub are mentioned. (TV: The Robots of Death.)
 * Iago made the security suggestions for Uvanov's residence in AUDIO: Occam's Razor.
 * Iago and Justina's romantic relationship began in AUDIO: Occam's Razor.
 * The character of V31 previously appeared in AUDIO: Occam's Razor.
 * Uvanov's office was previously destroyed in AUDIO: Occam's Razor.
 * The Larson Project is revealed to have been Uvanov scheme to discredit Landerchild. (AUDIO: Hidden Persuaders)
 * The character of Bextor, who is announced to have died, previously appeared in AUDIO: Hidden Persuaders.
 * Carnell plays chess with a robot. As did Uvanov in TV: The Robots of Death, and as will Blayes in TV: Storm Mine. In the Blake's 7 episode Weapon, from which the character originates, Carnell boasts how he has beaten the best chess computer available 6 times in a row.
 * 'The Butcher of Zircaster' whom Iago is said to have killed refers to the Blake's 7 villain Travis. This name was given in the charity audio to the character, whom Avon shot dead in the television series. It suggests Kaston Iago is in fact  from Blake's 7 going for his own reasons under an assumed name. As do several other pieces of information given in AUDIO: Occam's Razor. Metafiction plays with the listener's expectation of this idea.