The Whisperer in Darkness Episode 8

## Synopsis

Can Heawood stop a ritual from happening in Rendlesham Forest which involves Kennedy?

## Plot

Following on from the end of the previous episode, Kennedy Fisher is tied up in a dark room with Henry Akeley. To Kennedy's confusion, Henry reassures her that he is unharmed and is here freely. He explains that she is being kept here because she's important to the Babalon Working, and that she will participate in the ritual, willingly or otherwise. Henry claims that the ritual will 'transform' her, which Kennedy views as going insane. Suddenly Henry changes demeanour and begs her to help him, and claims that this isn't him. When Henry snaps back to his former, calm self, she realises that whatever she is talking to is not Henry Akeley, although it continues to claim as such. Henry again changes personality and begs her to stop the ritual, before it reasserts control. Eventually, fed up with Kennedy's continued refusal to help it, 'Henry' leaves to start the ritual, telling April Marston to guard her. She too, tries to convince Kennedy to help them, but Kennedy, having secretly untied herself during the conversation, overpowers her and turns on the lights in the room. She see a glass jar filled with a 'dark liquid' containing Henry Akeley's severed face.

Matthew Heawood narrates to the audience that this, the final part of *The Whisperer in Darkness*, is difficult to listen to, but reassures the audience that all of the audio is real. He then continues with himself and Parker arriving at the Church of the Holy Cross in Rendlesham, and meeting with Albert Wilmarth and Dean Perry to discuss what to do. They collectively realise that their goal is to stop Kennedy from reaching the ritual site, but that since they don't know where April and Isabelle Marston took her, they cannot do anything. Matt receives a phone call from Kennedy and despite the reception causing problems she tell them that the ritual is happening and she's going towards it, to the horror of the others. The call cuts out before Matt can tell her to come to the church, so they decide to split up with Matt and Dean heading into Rendlesham Forest to look for Kennedy, while Parker and Albert head to the vicarage to call for help on the landline. What follows are recordings of Kennedy's and Matt's perspectives of that night, stitched together to form one story. They are presented here as two separate accounts for readability.

After emerging from what turned out to be the Akeley House, Kennedy heads into the forest alone. She crosses a ditch and then psyches herself up into scaling a fence, all the while trying not to panic. She continues on, trying not to think about the lack of phone signal, and is startled by the sudden appearance of a girl, who laughs at her. She recognises her from her voice as being the child she's heard on the radio. The girl runs into the woods and Kennedy gives chase attempting to get her to safety, but loses sight of her. She then is ambushed by a large black dog, and Kennedy, frightened, begins backing away from it. However, she notices that its growls sound more like static than real noise, and that it is flickering in and out of vision. Before she has a chance to investigate 'Henry' reappears, this time 'without his face'. Kennedy lets loose a bloodcurdling scream at the sight, drops her recorder, and her audio cuts out. The next section of Kennedy's audio is from a phone call Kennedy makes to Matt in a clearing where the ritual is taking place, having been brought there by 'Henry'. A now conscious April is with her, armed with a kitchen knife. Kennedy is dismissive of the rituals effects until a large rumbling starts happening. 'Henry' orders Kennedy be brought forward, and April tires to threaten Kennedy into moving. They both see figures coming towards them, which Kennedy cannot describe, but Kennedy hits April and runs. As a static hissing sound grows louder on her recording, Kennedy sharply screams, and her audio ends.

At the same time as Kennedy enters the forest, Matt and Dean park up near to it. Dean orientates Matt on the way back to the jeep and synchronises his watch to Matt's, which reads 11:33pm. They walk into the forest and eventually hear Kennedy's first scream. Matt calls out to her but Dean tells him to keep quiet so as to remain undetected. At which point, the Mystery Woman comes towards them. Matt asks her if Parker called her but she explains that she was already here. She tells Matt that everything is under control, and he should leave and let The Department carry on and stop the ritual. Matt however, is unconvinced and remains concerned for Kennedy's safety. He threatens to expose the Mystery Woman's identity if she tries to stop him, and pushes past her and carries on moving. He attempts to talk with Dean about her but Dean doesn't recognise what he's talking about, and notes that his watch is now two minutes slower than Matt's. They hear something fast moving through the air, and they both race towards the sound. Eventually they come to a section of the forest that Dean thinks is wrong. Dean explains that the ancient trees that surround them were destroyed in the Great Storm of 1987, so there should only be young trees here. He suspects that they aren't in 2019 anymore. Something comes out of the trees towards them and they run. A horrible static howling is then heard before Matt's audio cuts out. When it returns, Matt and Dean are parking up near the forest, having the same conversation they had at the start of Matt's recording. Suddenly, they feel strange and stop, and note that Matt's watch now reads 00:30am. Kennedy then emerges from the forest, shaken but unharmed, and the three head back to the church. They watch strange lights, and listen to strange noises, coming from the woods, until Kennedy asks to return to London. Matt drops her off at her flat and then searches the internet for any news on what was happening at Rendlesham Forest but finds nothing, not even on the more obscure sections of the web.

The following morning, Matt and Kennedy break down their experience. They can only describe the entities they encountered as 'not people', and Kennedy believes that they were the things trying to get into Henry's house. Kennedy explains that her second scream was because she was grabbed by someone. However, when she opened her eyes afterwards, she was unharmed and her recorder was back by her side. They conclude that neither of them have a good picture of what happened, and that Dean doesn't remember most of it either. They do work out, by comparing Matt's conversation with the Mystery Woman with Kennedy's interviews, that Isabelle Marston was the Mystery Woman, presumably undercover for the Department. Isabelle, April, and Henry are all missing. Kennedy, now knowing about Matt's investigation into her, has become convinced that her ancestors were involved in this cult and wants to investigate them, and her time in Iraq, for the next season. She has found out that the Mrs. Fisher that had the carriage accident in 1869 was a relative of hers, and Kennedy wants to investigate their hometown for answers: a fishing village called Innsmouth, Massachusetts.

Before leaving for the U.S., Kennedy goes back to the vicarage to see Albert, believing that he was the one who rescued her in Rendlesham Forest. She knocks on the door and is surprised when an old man answers it. The man, who addresses himself as Albert Wilmarth, explains that he's only just returned from a four-week holiday in Tuscany, the result of a competition he doesn't remember entering. Kennedy asks about a replacement vicar, but Albert tells her that the congregation was too small to warrant it. As she leaves him, she finds Parker waiting for her. Parker confirms that 'Albert' was a Department agent, and that 'Isabelle' has been sent elsewhere. When Parker finds out that Kennedy is going to Innsmouth, she comments that it probably won't be nice. As Kennedy attempts to leave, Parker warns her that she could have a normal life if she doesn't go there. Kennedy asks Parker if she killed Barbara Sayers, and Parker asks her if she's sure she wants to know. When Kennedy decides that she doesn't want to know, Parker wishes her a good flight and leaves.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Jana Carpenter as Kennedy Fisher
* Barnaby Kay as Matthew Heawood
* Mark Bazeley as Albert Wilmarth
* Rebekah Staton as April Marston
* Phoebe Fox as Parker
* Robert Glenister as Dean Perry
* Nicola Stephenson as Mystery Woman
* David Calder as Henry Akeley
* Karl Johnson as Old Man
* Edie Simpson as Child's voice

* Writer & Director: Julian Simpson
* Production Coordinators: Sarah Tombling and Holly Slater
* Sound Recordist and Designer: David Thomas
* Composer: Tim Elsenburg
* Producer: Karen Rose

## Notes and Trivia

* Henry Akeley, while being possessed, refers to knowing Kennedy Fisher's great-grandmother. This is likely a reference to Edith Fisher.