The Prime Time of your Life

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***The Prime Time of your Life*** is the ninth episode of the sixth series of *The Dark Railway Series*. It is also the Halloween Special of 2016.

## Plot

The morning after Repulse's encounter with the Purple Man, Owen discovers her at the Junction covered in blood. She is confused and frightened, and she says she does not remember the events of the previous night. After being spoken to by Mr. Dark, Theo and Otto offer to take a blood sample off her bufferbeam to determine what she hit as there is no sign of a body. Hannah becomes suspicious about the circumstances behind the accident, and Dave wonders whether or not the Purple Man could be behind it. Hannah remains convinced that something isn't right about the situation, and vows to find out what it is. When she tries to speak to Theo and Otto about the blood sample at Soma, the twins reveal that some of their equipment and some dynamite have gone missing, but neither of them are particularly bothered about it.

Although Repulse becomes distant with Hannah over the next few days, she eventually comes over to apologise and asks her to meet her at the Junction that evening in private, claiming she has found out something. Hannah finds this deeply suspicious, and continues to be so when Brian reveals that Repulse has already been skulking around at the Junction that day, but she heads off to meet her regardless. Meanwhile, Cammer, Colin, and Owen are already at the Junction discussing the matter of Repulse. They discuss how Repulse has been taking various trains she shouldn't be and that she has been talking to herself, while Owen expresses his frustration at not finding any body. Colin suddenly smells diesel fuel before noticing Hannah coming towards the sheds. Just as he starts calling out to her, however, the shed suddenly erupts into flames, much to Hannah's horror! She tries to help, but her crew hold her back, not wanting her to risk her life. Hannah can only watch as the shed continues to burn, listening to the screams of the three engines inside.

The following morning, Mr. Dark solemnly breaks the news to the other engines that Colin, Cammer, and Owen were all lost in the fire, leaving the engines distraught. They all break down in tears, but Hannah notices that Repulse's tears don't appear to be genuine. Mr. Dark tells them that the blaze was caused by a leaking diesel tanker, which was likely ignited by the ashes of Colin's fire, and that access to the site has been banned until the mess is cleared up. He leaves them to grieve, but Hannah is horrified to see Repulse make an impulsive movement when he crosses in front of her. Realising how she only avoided the blaze by being held up, she begins to wonder if it was truly an accident. A few days afterwards, the Soma engines prepare to leave, but before they do, Leno asks Hannah to meet him at the Junction at sunrise the next morning as he wants to find some answers. Although she is initially reluctant, Hannah agrees to do so.

When she arrives at the Junction, she finds Theo, Otto, and Leno waiting for her. The twins reveal that the results of the blood test have come back, and that their missing equipement was found at Merecombe, where Repulse had been moments earlier. They theorise that she stole it to slow them down, as the test has revealed that the blood belonged to a human, and that some purple material was found mixed in with it. As they realise that she must have killed the Purple Man, Leno suddenly discovers scorch marks implying impact points, theorising that the blaze was actually caused by the missing dynamite from Soma. As Hannah reveals that she had been asked to come to the Junction, she wonders if she was the intended target, when a voice suddenly interrupts them.

Repulse stands before them, but as she appears to refer to herself in the third person and tells Hannah to remember her final words before she died, the engines realise that, somehow, the engine talking to them is not Repulse, but Leanne! Leanne admits that she is indeed dead, but before she can do anything else, Otto pulls a weapon on her, demanding that she explain everything. Suddenly, Repulse's entire demeanour changes, and the real Repulse starts telling them that Leanne is taking over her body when Leanne regains control. As the two fight for control, Leanne explains that she was able to prevent her spirit being taken by Pogo, for when she kidnapped Repulse she weakened her soul so that she could transfer her own soul into her body if she ever died. On the day that she died in the tunnel, she avoided Pogo by entering Repulse's body, remaining there ever since. She reveals that she was the one who killed the Purple Man, much to Repulse's horror, and that Hannah was indeed the intended target in the shed fire, with the others simply being caught in the crossfire. Leanne explains that by killing Hannah, she would weaken Dave sufficently before killing him too. In a moment of control, Repulse begs Otto to kill her to put an end to Leanne, and despite Hannah's pleas, Otto prepares to fire the weapon.

Before Otto can fire, however, a fog rolls in and Pogo appears in front of the Jubilee. Enraged, Leanne declares that she cannot be taken, but Pogo summons three very familiar looking "allies", who all try to take her on. She is too strong for them, however, so Pogo asks Otto to use his Tau Cannon on her to damage her soul. Screaming how it is vengeance for Owen, Otto fires the cannon at Leanne's ghost, which finally disappears with one final shriek. The ghosts of Colin, Cammer, and Owen appear in front of the engines, all asking them to speak to the others for them and how they will be alright before they disappear, moving onto the afterlife. As the fog lifts, the engines notice Repulse, who has broken down entirely, and take her back to the shed, worried about who will believe their story.

When they return to Merecombe, they explain everything, but Mr. Dark simply turns and walks away once they have finished. Repulse is laid up in the shed, and Mr. Dark eventually comes to see her. He informs her that she will not be remaining on the railway and that she will be returned to Mr. Smash's yard immediately and sold. As she pleads with him to let her explain, Mr. Dark furiously blames her for the loss of his engines and the Purple Man's death, not believing that she was possessed. He storms away, not wishing to speak to her anymore. Hannah eventually pulls up alongside her, and agrees that it is for the best that Repulse leaves the railway, as the other engines all despise her for her role in their friends' deaths, even if she was not in control of her body at the time. Hannah reveals that many of them want her dead, and that even she still sees Repulse as partly responsible for everything that has happened. She leaves Repulse alone, as the Jubilee wonders if she would be better off elsewhere after all.

## Characters

* Dave
* Brian
* Theo and Otto
* Colin
* Leno
* Hannah
* Repulse
* Owen
* Cammer
* Leanne
* Pogo
* Mr. Dark
* Raymond (*does not speak*)
* Eddie (*does not speak*)
* Sid (*does not speak*)
* Ryan (*does not speak*)
* Allan (*does not speak*)
* Turbo (*does not speak*)
* Abomination (*cameo*)
* Ed (*mentioned*)
* Jason (*mentioned*)
* Mr. Smash (*mentioned*)
* The Purple Man (*mentioned*)

## Locations

* Galen Junction
* Galen Junction Shed
* Axley
* Soma
* Merecombe Shed
* Caracus Smash Ltd (*mentioned*)

## Trivia

* The title is a reference to the song of the same name by Daft Punk.
* This episode marks the final appearance of Leanne and the final regular appearances of Colin, Cammer and Owen. It is also the first episode to feature the permanent deaths of regular characters in the series.
* This episode was built up to by a special Halloween "Livescream", and was followed after it first aired by a discussion on the episode in the same livestream. Rhys Davies of Angry Welshman Productions also made a video reacting to the episode in December 2016.