The Listener

## Synopsis

The Listener (2008) is a 1 hour radio play dealing with false memories. The BBC describes it as follows: Julian Simpson's fast-paced psychological thriller about a man trying to uncover his true identity, set against the backdrop of a war on terror.

## Plot

The play starts with an intense scene on a railway platform, with the police chasing after a terrorist suspect. Just as a bomb is about to go off, we cut to Dr. Annika Gruber, who is telling the protagonist, Martin Willis, that he has been dreaming again and that this is not supposed to happen. She wants to bring him in for a scan but Martin declines, saying he is on assignment and asking her to take the matter up with his superior, Commander Sampson.

Martin calls his colleague Yuri Kerchenko, who is staking out a terrorist cell. We cut to another scene on the platform, then to Dr. Annika Gruber, who reveals that we are now at a private medical facility in Switzerland. Dr. Gruber tells him that he was injured in the line of duty and has been in a coma for 13 months. His commanding officer then reveals that the part of Martin's brain that stores memories has been replaced by a piece of hardware - a neurological data storage and retrieval device which records all sensory information as it comes in. Martin has lost every memory he had, but he is able to make new ones with the device and will be able to recall all of them in perfect detail.

Martin goes back to his assignment and relieves Yuri at the stakeout. The two suspects they are observing in the building across the street have been talking about a woman called Mia. Yuri leaves and Martin settles in when a phone call from Mia comes in. Martin is trying to match the voiceprint when Mia starts talking directly to him, addressing him as Jamie and saying he needs to remember who he really is. He informs Sampson, who tells him that Mia is high up in the terrorist organisation and that three deep cover operators have tried to get close to her but died. He is very interested in what she has to say and encourages Martin to pursue the relationship.

The next day, Martin talks to Yuri at their shift relief. Martin is puzzled as to why Mia claims to know him. Since he has lost all his memories, he has been through his personnel file, but has been unable to find any information about him having contact with a woman named Mia. Halfway through their conversation, Yuri figures out that the surveillance tape they have been watching is a loop from the previous day. They call in a tactical team, who find out that the two suspects have been killed. A transmitter has been fitted to the microphone, which starts playing a signal from Mia, again calling Martin Jamie and saying they need to talk.

After this disaster, Yuri uploads Mia's last signal to Martin's brain implant. He then manages to manipulate the audio so that it leads them to Mia's location. Martin enters the building and is overwhelmed by one of Mia's gang. With Mia's help, he finally manages to remember that he was the terrorist in the scenario he has been remembering, not a police officer. He also remembers that his name is Jamie Warren and that he was married to Mia. Mia tells him that Sampson lied to him. In order to make them untraceable, she wants to disable the device in Martin's brain. Martin refuses, saying he doesn't want to be a monster like Jamie Warren, who was prepared to kill innocent people. It's at this point that a tactical team reaches the building, capturing Mia and freeing Martin.

In the debriefing at the police station, Sampson tells Martin that the police put the artificial flashbacks in Martin's head so he would be convinced that he was Jamie Warren. He also reveals that both Jamie Warren and Martin Willis died in the explosion and that Martin, thanks to his implant, can become whoever Sampson needs him to be, and that he doesn't recall how many times they have had this conversation. He then asks Yuri to switch Martin off.

In the final scene, Martin wakes up again to prompts from Dr. Annika Gruber, and Sampson tells him that his name is David Gibson, he is a member of the Union parliament, and that he was involved in a car accident on his way to Barcelona. The play ends with Martin saying he doesn't remember.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Mark Bazeley as Martin Willis
* Nicola Walker as Dr. Annika Gruber
* Mark Lewis Jones as Commander Sampson
* Indira Varma as Mia
* Nicholas Bolton as Yuri Kerchenko
* Jimmy Akingbola as Charlie and Carter
* Paul Panting as Lenny and Control

* Writer & Director: Julian Simpson
* Broadcast Assistant: Sarah Tombling
* Sound Engineer: David Chilton
* Producer: Karen Rose
* Composers: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown

## Music

* Anxiety Swarm by Jones
* Declaration Of Slam by Saba/Winter
* Timecrash by Saba/Winter
* Crime Scene Psychic by Lemelle
* Decision by Gabriel
* Mechawar by Jones
* Violent Engagement by Morales
* Labyrinth Of Clues by Lemelle
* Adagio by Bach (performed by Arthur Grumiaux)
* Fuga by Bach (performed by Arthur Grumiaux)

## Notes and Trivia

* Mia Warren's location is determined by the background of an audio recording that includes the confluence of a train and the ringing of a church bell on the hour. This plot point would be used again in "Episode 6" of The Whisperer in Darkness when Kennedy Fisher employs the services of Charlotte Davenport to locate Henry Akeley.
* This story marks the first appearance of Mark Bazeley in the Pleasant Green Universe.

## External Links

* Sweet Talk Productions: The Listener
* Julian Simpson's SoundCloud: The Listener
* BBC: The Listener