Occam's Razor (audio story)

Occam's Razor was the first audio play in the Kaldor City series. Written by Alan Stevens and Jim Smith, it focused on the arrival of a mysterious figure called Kaston Iago and his insinuation into the confidence of Chairholder Uvanov.

Publisher's summary
"You are dealing with a professional. Probably a hired killer. Resourceful, highly intelligent. A computer specialist."

Kaldor: A city of robots on a world of robots. The Board runs the Company, and the Company runs the planet. Nothing happens in Kaldor City without the Board's approval. So how come its members are dying?

Company Chairholder Uvanov is faced with an escalating problem: political allies and enemies are being killed and nobody knows who will be next or why. Even Carnell, the ex-Federation psycho-strategist, is at a loss to provide an explanation.

One man may hold the answers-- a man who crossed the border into Kaldor City six hours ago: Kaston Iago, a man with a past and maybe an agenda. A man with the skills to set everything right.

Kaldor City - Occam's Razor uses characters and concepts from Chris Boucher's Doctor Who novel Corpse Marker to tell a dark, aggressive tale of ultraviolence and political intrigue.

Plot
to be added

Cast
(in order of appearance)
 * Iago - Paul Darrow
 * Voc Receptionist - Alistair Lock
 * Uvanov - Russell Hunter
 * Rull - Trevor Cooper
 * Cotton - Brian Croucher
 * Carnell - Scott Fredericks
 * Voc 31 - Robert Lock
 * Voice 1 - Alan Stevens
 * Pull Buggy Voc - Mark Christian
 * Justina - Patricia Merrick
 * Landerchild - Peter Miles
 * Kyle - David Bickerstaff
 * Voice 2 - Bruce McGilligan
 * Lift - Fiona Moore
 * Computer Voice - Tracy Russell
 * Devlin - Annabel Leventon
 * Security Man - Andy Hopkinson
 * Voc Server - Matt Symonds
 * Strecker - Peter Tuddenham
 * Guard - Robert Edwards

Individuals

 * Stenton Rull is operations supervisor for the Company.
 * Justina isn't a member of the Founding Families.
 * Iago's normal occupation is robot programmer.
 * Iago is apparently member of the assassins' guild.
 * Carnell is not part of the company board.

Objects

 * Justina owns a painting of a red pentagram by Wallbank.
 * A stun kill is an electro shock baton.
 * Iago recommends the walls in Uvanov's place of residence be reinforced with Herculaneum alloy.

Kaldor City

 * The Hotel Kolibri is located in the eastern sector of the Kaldor City..

The Outer Zones

 * Iago crossed the border into Kaldor City about 6 hours before Bibo Mechman's death.

Continuity

 * Uvanov became Firstmaster Chairholder in PROSE: Corpse Marker.
 * From an in-universe perspective, Carnell first appeared in PROSE: Corpse Marker.
 * Bibo Mechman, who is found dead in this story, appeared in PROSE: Corpse Marker.
 * Justina owns a painting of a red pentagram by Wallbank. This is foreshadowing the emergence of the Fendahl. This scene will be revisited in AUDIO: Checkmate. The portrait of the Fendahleen given to Uvanov in AUDIO: Taren Capel is also by Wallbank.
 * The scene in which Justina is left alone in the bitterly cold wind takes on a more sinister aspect in AUDIO: Checkmate in which, transformed into the Fendahl Core, she mentions the cold winter wind that blows in directly from the centre of the Blind Heart Desert.
 * Carnell's comment, "People like to see patterns in things, even when there not there." is reminiscent of a line spoken by the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 Doctor Who made-for-TV movie: "I love humans. Always seeing patterns in things that aren't there."
 * V31 is in the service of Carnell. V31 will next appear in AUDIO: Taren Capel, again voiced by Robert Lock.
 * As with TV: The Robots of Death this story revolves around a murder mystery.
 * Uvanov recently made a proposal to the company board concerning the opening up of trade links between Kaldor and other colony worlds. This helps reconcile the continuity of the Kaldor City series with AUDIO: Robophobia in which Kaldor City has a massive interstellar robot trade.
 * This story seeds the idea that Kaston Iago is actually from Blake's 7:
 * When Iago meets Psychostrategist Carnell (played by Scott Fredericks, reprising his role from Blake's 7), he already knows about the and what a psychostrategist is. Carnell remarks that Iago must be the only other person on the planet with this information.
 * Like Avon, Iago is skilled in robotic computer programming.
 * The sound effect of Iago's gun blaster is very similar to that used by Avon in the fourth and final series of Blake's 7.
 * Iago mentions Herculaneum alloy, which promised the 's hull in Blake's 7.