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Sapphire & Steel
"Cruel Immortality" Part 1
Audio drama
Big Finish Productions
Written by Nigel Fairs
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
January 2007 |
After Sapphire goes missing, Steel finds himself in a
time-trapped retirement home.
Notes from the Sapphire & Steel chronology
This story takes place in "current day", probably 2007, but the
retirement home in which it takes place is stuck in 1949. April
14, 1949 is the major date of the story, though a revelation
later in the story says that time stopped at the
retirement home on December 31, 1949...515 years ago.
Didja Know?
The title of the story is derived from the 1859 poem "Tithonus"
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, about a figure in Greek mythology who
is blessed with immortality, but not eternal youth, and so
becomes a decrepit husk of his old self, unable to move.
Portions of the poem are recited by Enid throughout this
episode. The relevant part of the poem relating to the episode
title goes:
"The woods decay, the woods decay and fall,
The vapours weep their burthen to the ground,
Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath,
And after many a summer dies the swan.
Me only cruel immortality
Consumes: I wither slowly in thine arms,
Here at the quiet limit of the world,
A white-hair'd shadow roaming like a dream..." |
Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode
Enid
Mrs. P
male carer (unnamed)
Ted (mentioned only)
female carer (unnamed)
Stanley (mentioned only)
Music Man
Harry
Steel
Sapphire (as Mrs P)
Beastie
W (mentioned only)
music man
Didja Notice?
Mrs. P remarks to Steel on getting old, "Sometimes you can't
even remember your own name." This is a foreshadowing that
Mrs. P is actually a decrepit Sapphire, trapped so long in
the retirement home she's grown feeble, and forgotten her
true identity as later revealed in
"Cruel Immortality" Part 3.
When Steel questions whether it's really 1949 to the
retirement home staff, he says it could be any number of
years, including 2006. Presumably that is the "current time"
for him, but is it? This episode was recorded in 2006.
However, the previous episode ("Water Like a Stone" Part 4)
was said to take place in January 2007.
Memorable Dialog
you could say that.mp3
like chalk and cheese.mp3
working alone.mp3
never done this before.mp3
how do you live with it?.mp3
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