Manchester (webcast)

Manchester was a video diary webcast released by BBV Productions on their YouTube channel in 2021. It was part of a series called P.R.O.B.E. Online and was later incorporated into the P.R.O.B.E. Case Files - Volume 1 DVD release.

Summary
On 7 November 2018, a distraught Giles recalls how, a week earlier, his organisation, P.R.O.B.E., lost "one of [their] own": his "most trusted friend", Archie MacTavish, alongside whom he had once been one of Haggard's invincible "Golden Boys". Archie died during P.R.O.B.E.'s mission to Manchester, an initially simple endeavour to close a dimensional tear. The ritual someone was using to create it "got out of hand", resulting in Archie's death, with Giles blaming himself that he didn't see what was happening in time.

Heartbroken, Giles went to every psychic, medium and witch-doctor in the city, but they all told him that "Death doesn't pander to the likes of mortals" and refused to bring Archie back. The rest of the team have taken it easier, with Tasha and Maxie taking turns to buy Giles breakfast to make sure he's eating, and Agamya making him tea "every five minutes". Thinking back to how eager Sir Andrew Williams was to start looking for a replacement, Giles bemoans the lack of closure for any of the team that resulted from the lack of a body to bury, and asserts that he will block any attempt to replace his friend, deeming that four member sis plenty enough for P.R.O.B.E..

Cast

 * Bill Baggs - Giles

Characters

 * Archie MacTavish
 * Patricia Haggard
 * Tasha Williams
 * Maxie Masters
 * Agamya
 * Sir Andrew Williams
 * Liz Haggard

Crew

 * Writer - James Hornby
 * Script editor - Lucy Wood-Ives
 * Art - Warren Lewis
 * Theme - Mark Ayres
 * Logo - Lucas Kovacs
 * Editing and Post-production - Callum Brown and Bill Baggs
 * With special thanks to Hunter O'Connell and James Wylder at Arcbeatle Press

Worldbuilding

 * Archie joined P.R.O.B.E. in Giles's second year, with the two becoming friends "the moment he walked through the door" and subsequently tackling Banshees, Valsheeth and Cyberons.

Story notes

 * The YouTube video title calls the story Giles Case File - Manchester, but the title card in the video calls it Case File - Manchester.

Continuity

 * Giles and Archive tackled Cyberons. (PROSE: A Worthy Successor)
 * The events in Manchester were elaborated on in AUDIO: What Happened in Manchester.
 * Giles notes that "whatever dark entity" the occultists were trying to summon is "gone… at least for now". It would subsequently rear its head again in 2019, revealing itself to be the Yssgaroth hive-mind. (PROSE: Preternatural Nights)