First SiF Wales 2008 Meeting Video Released
Yes, we have finally completed that feat and released the first of the Wales videos for 2008. Two of us have had a bit of a hold up getting footage to the rest of the group, but this seems to finally be coming to an end at long last. The first one released was the Friday video which saw us all arriving at Arthog, near Fairbourne to enter into our big house for the week, and features the antics of Rhys and Rhodri as they make their way there. It also sees me receiving a special gift which my wonderful staff team had bought for me as gratitude for my work on the forum - a crew member's vest from the Series 6 shoot of Thomas. I was and am so chuffed with it, not because of it's links with Thomas or the set at Shepperton, but the fact that the guys cared so much and wanted to express it in such a nice way.
First Crossover Adventure Episodes FINALLY Released
Probably the best recieved SiF Audio Adventure of all so far. The change in tone from humorous to a darker, more dramatic piece has done very well in terms of the feedback we've got, and Loey's scoring has gone down a storm with the listeners. In spite of the hold-ups, difficulties and shit that has been encountered throughout, we're both delighted with it and look forward to releasing the remainder of the series throughout November and finalising it all with Episode 6 in December for our third / sixth anniversaries.
British Railway Series Site
For those who don't know, Sodor Island Fansite will soon be playing host to The British Railway Series' latest venture - a Mini-Site. I've teamed up with SimerskiUK to create a special new information and resource site for Sodor Island Productions. Downloads are still under debate, considering that The British Railway Series is subject to copyright. So far, it's looking great and we cannot wait to launch it.
More SiF Crossover Adventure Blogs Due
Expect more Crossover Blogs as the series unfolds - we have profile histories for most of the SiFiverse characters which will come to be in the next few weeks.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Thursday, 16 October 2008
The SiF Audio Adventures
This week sees the launch of the fifth SiF Audio Adventure - A Very SiF Crossover Adventure - so to mark the milestone, the SiF Blog is profiling the four previous SiF Audio Adventures, and explaining a bit more about them, and what went on behind the scenes and influenced the progression of things that happened.
About the SiF Audio Adventures
Since 2005 when SiF relaunched on Proboards, we've rolled out member-based adventures since December of that year. The idea is simple - members of the forum are represented as caricatures of themselves in the course of a audio play, which can either take the form of a serialised drama or a full block presentation. The first two audios were written as original pieces, often diverging into random gags rather than following a set plot line. The follow ups set in Victorian and Edwardian England have been adapted from classic fiction, but with original material and creative liscence placed upon them to boost the levels of interest.
The Quest For The Missing Christmas Presents
The Quest For The Missing Christmas Presents was Alaric's idea, who saw potential in writing a storyline for audio production featuring a concentration of popular and active members as the core character base. 2005 saw a great deal of Christmas related productions, and this one was one of the highlights of the year, which introduced Alaric and Jimbobdunnie as the main villains of the piece - stealing Christmas presents from the other members.
The original cast included Ryan, Christopher, The Old Bean, Eliot (Then Skarloey), Kate669, Chris, Alaric, Jimbobdunnie and Jim522, as well as a token appearance by Ciremi as a world renowned superhero with Chris The Xelent narrating. They ventured, they arrived, they were captured, they were rescued, they saved the day, they lived happily ever after and all the way there and back, they kept a sense of composure and class by cracking random gags and winding up in bizarre situations - and finding their co-stars in similarly odd occupations. The Old Bean drove an Ice Cream Van primarily in Winter, Kate669 was the Wise Woman of Wickington and Chris was the Mayor of Macksingsong - a town with a population of zero...
Needless to say - it was odd, it was random, but it was a success and it paved the way forward! :)
A Very SiF Summer Holiday
A Very SiF Summer Holiday was only intended to be an hour long, but subsequently over-ran time limits and ended up becoming a series of four 25 minute adventures, with a fifth 40 minute one. Following up Christmas Presents was something I wanted to do mainly because I felt the idea was good, and it would be a poor show to waste the potential. The creative process for Summer Holiday wasn't well thought out, nor was it entirely well structured. Originally, I had intended to write it alongside Alaric, but considering I had no solid idea of where we were going, he couldn't do much. The rest of the cast were encouraged to write material to bulk up the piece, most of which went in and got used, adding to the mish-mash that eventually became the final product. Added to the main cast were TheHalford, Gonzorelli, Jarrah White and Old Square Wheels, with Truro as the irate Mayor, trying to guide the town through the major crisis.
After three months in writing, Summer Holiday was released in June of 2006, charting the adventures of the SiF members from Christmas Presents as they moved to the sleepy seaside town of Beachingtown on Sea. Unknown to them, Jim522 has assumed control of the Evil Empire and wants to keep Ryan and Christopher in Beachingtown on Sea, while he and his cronies destroy it and turn it into an Australian themed holiday resort - Aussie World UK. He attempts to do this through keeping a Monster in the water near the town, and capturing Eliot and The Old Bean to conquer it completely by becoming The Bean Ranger...
How and ever, Ciremi, who now has Alaric in a giant tube as a floating head and Jimbobdunnie as a robot operative in his Command Base, makes a return and creates his own team, Power Rangers: Sodor Island Force, which take on The Old Bean and capture Old Square Wheels and Gonzorelli. This leads to a battle of wits when the team board the Submarine base to win their freedom in a gameshow called Who Doesn't Want To Get Blown 60,000 Feet Into The Air? hosted by SillyEvan, which Jim rigs to obliterate the opposing team by blowing up his own submarine. However, through devine intervention, they escape, take on the monster and win. Roll on a horrendous singalong to wind things up...
Summer Holiday was relatively well received, but The Old Bean wasn't as keen to follow up the epic writing scale - considering the randomness of the script, which I admit now was more or less pieced together "on the fly" over a period of months with no proper structure to go by. I'll admit myself, listening back to it, the lack of structure really lets the piece down. Chris The Xelent also felt type-cast in the narrative role, so the decision was taken for the next one to make major changes to carry on the legacy and make sure Summer Holiday and Missing Christmas Presents weren't simply the remnants of a failed enterprise.
A Very SiF Christmas Carol
Before Christmas, Alaric and I both had seperate ideas on how to follow Summer Holiday up - but found we both had one that could work together - an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. We both agreed to abandon the characters of the modern day SiFiverse and to adapt the Dickens characters to suit - thus, memorable entities like Ebeanezer Scrooge and Jimbob Cratchit were born. To subsidise the storyline also, Alaric and I felt there was a need to include original characters, giving Scrooge added irritation in his life such as a Business rival across the road - Ryan Acrosstherode - and an irritating neighbour who thought he was wonderful - Chris Mastree, which took Chris The Xelent out of the narrative role and into a more active and animated one, which he excelled at. It also allowed for The Old Bean's original character from The Twin Engines audio series, Deirdre, to make a comeback and to be subsequently adopted for the SiF Audios!
Other elements of the story were changed to have people prominent in Scrooge's life portray the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future - taking the form of his former employer, his nephew and his irritating next door neighbour in sequence. The storyline followed the original much to the letter, with a few odd changes and original scenes here and there to add humour by myself and Alaric. It was a success and even impressed Bean enough to agree to do more, but most importantly, ensured the future of the SiF Audios in at least ONE capacity.
Crisis On Infinite Sodors
This was due to be followed up in the Summer of 2007 with Sodor Island Power Rangers: Crisis on Infinite Sodors, which never finished writing in time for script dispatch, owing to Loey Machan - the writer and originator - having an extensive University workload. It would have seen the Christmas Presents / Summer Holiday characters return again in 2007, but it was agreed on the basis of this delay that this be put back further to accomodate a further adventure to be written for Summer 2008.
In spite of it's delay - Infinite Sodors has played a major role in shaping the future audios, partiuclarly A Very SiF Crossover Adventure, which will be used to fill in a number of gaps and plotholes that Loey Machan's production had, which will be more thoroughly explained prior to Infinite Sodors going into production in Summer 2009. Thanks to the work Loey Machan had planned - future SiF Audios will be more storyline driven and withdraw from the random, gag-driven plots from the 2005/06 productions.
The SiF In The Willows
The SiF in the Willows was another adaptation, this time of Kenneth Graeme's The Wind in the Willows, which a number of the members had a real affection for. The original plan was to create new characters and seperate the universes again. But throughout the course of the writing in the early stages, it was clear that the Christmas Carol characters could thrive in a new setting and help to boost the standard of the audio play. So Scrooge and Acrosstherode were brought back with the Cratchit clan in tow, pursued by Jacob Malaric and Chris Mastree. The only one failing to make a comeback was Eliot, who had other commitments at the time of the audio - his disappearance is not explained in the course of the production. Scrooge and Acrosstherode were reinvented as car salesmen, selling the outlandish Mr Toad the Xelent a range of new motor vehicles, which ultimately led to his downfall, while Malaric popped up every now and again looking for Mr Ryan to get his pay cheque for his appearance in the audio!
The SiF in the Willows also righted something from the SiF Christmas Carol - in the fact that it wasn't created as one big audio, but split into three forty-five to fifty minute pieces, serialising the play over a three week release pattern.
In Retrospect
The progression of the audio series owes a lot to the input the cast give, influencing the way the audios go and the way in which they develop and grow accordingly. Without the reservations and requests of The Old Bean and Chris The Xelent particularly, the audios would never have gone the way they have and brought in some interesting and worthwhile new angles.
We move forward this week with the progression into the merging of the two SiFiverses, bringing them together for the most dramatic and storyline driven plot so far, as well as reintroducing some old favourites and bringing forth some new characters to join the fold. We look forward to sharing it with you!
Friday, 10 October 2008
SiF Open House Future
Over the past two days, we have been conducting an experiment and study as to the future of our Open House events and how we would like to structure them. From Wednesday to Friday of this week (Beginning 6th of October) we have been monitoring the latest Open House Event to see what results could be drawn, and here, we'll be explaining as to why we've come to the conclusions we have:
Reasons Behind the Study
We felt from last time round, when we conducted a similar Open House Event in August, that the numbers and participants were less than they once were six months previously in February.
The idea behind the initial one in February was to celebrate 1 Million Hits on Sodor Island Fansite, and see the forum open for two weeks in celebration. On the wave of success of this, we decided we would do it every six months to say thanks and use it as a membership drive to allow new people a look at what SiF had to offer, believing we'd manage to attract the same numbers as we did before.
However, we didn't attact as many as we had previously hoped for, which could be attributed to the Anti-SiF backlash we were receiving on YouTube, but we cannot be sure of this. The backlash and animosity felt toward SiF was another factor in our decision to open up for a third time as an experiment, as was a factor which we weren't too keen on such as people pleading with the staff to get into the forum.
Findings and Decision
This third one was decided at the 11th hour on Wednesday, and really, didn't receive as much prior warning as the previous two, which could attribute to it's slightly less successful run, which is down significantly on the first and the second.
The decision has been made now to discontinue the idea of doing these Open Events religiously every six months. Instead, the forum will now only open on special occasions or moments of significance within the Thomas or SiF calendar, such as reaching another milestone with the fansite or the forum. Doing it for the sake of doing it doesn't seem like a good enough reason, and although there are those who frequent and enjoy the events when they come about, we feel that we'd all get more out of it if these things working on an "As and When" basis, primarily when there is a justifiable reason for doing so.
We'd all like to thank everyone who's supported the forum's endeavours into opening up to Non-Members, and it will continue in future, but not on a scheduled basis.
Yours,
The SiF Staff Team!
Reasons Behind the Study
We felt from last time round, when we conducted a similar Open House Event in August, that the numbers and participants were less than they once were six months previously in February.
The idea behind the initial one in February was to celebrate 1 Million Hits on Sodor Island Fansite, and see the forum open for two weeks in celebration. On the wave of success of this, we decided we would do it every six months to say thanks and use it as a membership drive to allow new people a look at what SiF had to offer, believing we'd manage to attract the same numbers as we did before.
However, we didn't attact as many as we had previously hoped for, which could be attributed to the Anti-SiF backlash we were receiving on YouTube, but we cannot be sure of this. The backlash and animosity felt toward SiF was another factor in our decision to open up for a third time as an experiment, as was a factor which we weren't too keen on such as people pleading with the staff to get into the forum.
Findings and Decision
This third one was decided at the 11th hour on Wednesday, and really, didn't receive as much prior warning as the previous two, which could attribute to it's slightly less successful run, which is down significantly on the first and the second.
The decision has been made now to discontinue the idea of doing these Open Events religiously every six months. Instead, the forum will now only open on special occasions or moments of significance within the Thomas or SiF calendar, such as reaching another milestone with the fansite or the forum. Doing it for the sake of doing it doesn't seem like a good enough reason, and although there are those who frequent and enjoy the events when they come about, we feel that we'd all get more out of it if these things working on an "As and When" basis, primarily when there is a justifiable reason for doing so.
We'd all like to thank everyone who's supported the forum's endeavours into opening up to Non-Members, and it will continue in future, but not on a scheduled basis.
Yours,
The SiF Staff Team!
A Very SiF Crossover Adventure
A VERY SiF CROSSOVER ADVENTURE BLOG
Written By Ryan
After months of preparation, we are finally able to launch the 5th SiF Audio Adventure this month - combining the two universes of past and present.
A Very SiF Crossover Adventure takes place in both 2008 and 1903, when the most imfamous super-villain of all, The Evil (Played by the excellent Dmman33) decides to extract revenge for the defeat at Beachingtown on Sea by going back in time to cut off the problem at the source, and stealing the very power source that thwarted Jim522 and the Evil Aussies - the five SiF Crystals held by Ciremi, Kate669, Christopher, Chris and Ryan... and two more lying in wait to form the last two members of the Sodor Island Force: Power Rangers team.But Ciremi and his team are hot on his tracks, and with the help of Chris The Xelent, aka The Knight Rider, they set off back in time to 1903 to stop him. However, their attempts to prevent the alteration of the timeline could well come to nothing thanks to the secret pact Toad has made with Louie Madman, and the impending split of business partners - Scrooge and Acrosstherode when a love triangle with an old flame sparks divisions between the old pals...
It's a giant roller-coaster of a series which will promises to blow you away with action, drama, comedy and adventure packed in to six half-hour audio installments, following on from the previous four SiF Adventure audios.
Behind the Scenes
This audio has been a bit more of a labour and burden to carry. From earlier this year when initial writings were begun, the sacrifices and pushes we have had to go for have been immense in order to meet and more often, miss deadlines we had set ourselves. When Loey and I finished writing Episode 6, I think we both sighed a huge sigh of relief in having created a worthy fifth SiF Audio Adventure - and a truly epic audio script, as well as the fact that it was now done and dusted at long last!
However, in pre-production, it's been nothing short of a nightmare with lost lines on more than one occasion - and unforseen difficulties with one of the cast members who was unable to turn in all his lines on time, which led to a rewrite, that later proved un-necessary. However, it's given us a wonderful new last minute character in the form of new original creation, Igor, played by Knuckles, who will be providing further comic relief as a loyal and trusted servant of The Evil.
We may have overshot our deadline of hoped for release by over two months, but we remain optimistic for the future of this audio series, which develops the role of Chris The Xelent into a physical character rather than narrator, with Professor Vengeance taking over that part in his place. It also introduces a number of newer and lesser used voiceovers to the fold such as Fox and Dmman33, both of whom excel in their respective roles and ooze talent and power to devestating effect.
Production hasn't the easiest process either with new SFX and ambience to be found and added accordingly, as well as lengthy episodes requiring a great deal of voice dubbing before they were ready to take the aforementioned SFX and ambiences required to bring them to life. However, the hard work seems to have paid off with some extraodrinary new tricks to distinugish some of our larger than life machine characters by making them sound like talking machines, and some crazy new techniques to liven things up a bit. Production values have taken an upward turn to help develop the SiFiverse and take it forward from where it was in 2006 and 07.
However, when it came to the final stretch of the production, it came clear that I needed a bit of help to finish everything. Loey Machan kindly offered to help out by working on Episodes 2, 4 and 6 to finish the series sooner.
And For The Future...
Sadly, this will be the last one I will be Writing, Producing and Directing until 2010, in the meantime I plan to take time out to work on more new TUGS Audios in the 20th Anniversary year of 2009, and developing new scripts for Ryhalis Productions and Sodor Studios - as well as my all important final year of University. Collaborator, Loey Machan, will be taking over production of the SiF Audios with his first outing, The SiF Ghost Train launching this Christmas, to be followed up by the series, Sodor Island Power Rangers: Crisis on Infinite Sodors, next summer. Both promise to pack a punch and have influenced the writing of Crossover Adventure heavily to incorporate greater levels of depth in the original writing. I would like to thank Loey at this point for his creative contributions and edits he's made to the scripts for the series, without which the project may well have faltered or been of a lesser standard than I had previously hoped for.
A VERY SIF CROSSOVER ADVENTURE
Written, Produced & Directed by Ryan
Editing by Ryan and Loey Machan
Additional Material / Script Editing by Loey Machan
Musical Score by Loey Machan
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Beachingtown On Sea
This is the first of several special blogs connected with our upcoming audio series, A Very SiF Crossover Adventure, which will be launching some time this month.
We start off by discussing SiF's premier Seaside resort, and giving a bit of a further insight into the somewhat less than wonderful Beachingtown On Sea...!
The Real Life Influences...
The Seaside Town in Britain is generally typified by trying to be bright, appealing and cosy in order to attract the tourists in for a cheap holiday. Usually, you're only ever found to go there when they're "in season", and it remains a mystery as to what they are like when you're not there or when winter rolls around and no-one sees the attraction of going for a paddle next to the town's sewage pipe which is pouring gallon upon gallon of gunk into the sea.
In all, Beachingtown on Sea is very much a generic representation of a seaside town in Britain. During our holiday to Wales this summer, we were on our way to Aberystwyth to ride on the Vale of Rheidol railway. A road traffic accident had occured on the main road to the town, and we had to take a detour through a seaside town called Borth. As we passed through it in the car, we couldn't help but feel that it came across as being Beachingtown on Sea in spades. Generally being slightly run down and a little shabby also, but with brightly coloured buildings and as we've mentioned before, typical seaside town paraphinalia. In all, Borth is not to be immediately linked or thought of as being the real life Beachingtown on Sea, but more to be considered as a very close cosmetic "look" - which we will hopefully nip down to do some filming in 2009.
However, it's not a slight on Borth or any generic seaside town in Britain, as I'm sure we've all been to the seaside in Britain for a holiday at least once, and loved it, and taken away a number of happy memories from the experiences. Hence the trips to Wales in the summer - if we can get down onto the beach, we'll do it without hesitation. So it's more of a tribute to the Great British Summer Holiday more than anything - with it's bad weather, donkey rides, freezing cold sea water, awkward landladies at your Guesthouse and greasy chip shops!
Beachingtown On Sea And SiF
Incomers and the New "Locals"
Beachingtown on Sea basically is a sleepy seaside town, which owing to the plummeting price of property in the area owing to some bad business decisions, saw some members of SiF move in to buy up the cheap shops and hotels. Chris, having opened his own chip shop previously decided to move there as a means of obtaining fish quicker and cheaper - only problem being that the potatoes picked in the fields close to the town are prone to being less than savoury...
Kate669 gave up her job as the Wise Woman of Wikington in order to raise some extra cash by taking on a Boarding House in Beachingtown On Sea. More money was forthcoming from this venture than what had been previously hoped for dishing out advice or wisdom to people who didn't really know better. In 2008, following the events of Crossover Adventure, she has bought over the Beachingtown on Sea Caravan Park, which she has allowed long term associate, Eliot run, and has become something of a property mogul in the area, co-owning the town's premier Pub in her own Guest House with Ryan - The Swagger Inn. Both Kate669's Boarding House, and Chris's Fish and Chip Shop - The Frying Kipper - can be found on the sea front at Beachingtown On Sea just across the road from the beach.
Ryan and Christopher have been forced to move to Beachingtown on Sea following the events of Summer Holiday in 2006, with Ryan having taken money from Kate's safe which he insisted he would pay back to her at a later date to go gambling with Christopher and Old Square Wheels in Las Vegas. Consequently, he lost it all on rigged gambling machines, and boldly accused the management of the Casino of cheating people out of their hard earned cash. This led to a very nasty confrontation with the local Mafia head, Don Alduck, who vowed to hunt down Ryan, Christopher and Old Square Wheels to have them dealt with accordingly. Luckily for them, Kate was on the hunt for them too and wouldn't let anyone else have them - she wanted her own revenge. She got her way and even the hardened criminal Alduck was shell-shocked. Ryan and Christopher have worked in Beachingtown on Sea ever since.
Mayor Truro suddenly vanished in mysterious circumstances in the midst of 2007, following yet another scandal, this time over the huge depletion of funds from the town's Treasuary, which had been earmarked for repair work, decontamination and disposal of the monster carcus. To this day, the question as to where the money went has largely gone unanswered. However, after a hard day at the office, he told his aides he'd be heading out to get some ice cream. After days of searching, no-one could appear to find him, and an election was soon called with local ice cream propietor, The Old Bean, being the only one credible enough or willing to do the job. Prior to his departure, Mayor Truro had a giant statue of himself boared into the Beachingtown Cliffs, which were altered more recently to resemble Mayor Bean's figure and pose. This statue has been sadly destroyed and during the events of Crossover Adventure. More recently, and coincidentally, during the events of Crossover Adventure, it was claimed by local busy-body, Mrs Smith, that she had seen and spoken with Mayor Truro, who claimed he had been incarcerated by the new Mayor Bean. Whether or not these rumours carry any weight appear to be largely unfounded by the local authorities.
Invasions
2006 - The Australians and their Monster
Local resident, Mrs Marjorie Smith comments that Beachingtown on Sea saw out two World Wars without even as much as the batting of an eyelid, however, since 2006 life has never quite been the same. A yellow submarine was spotted off the coast of the town in early June, however, this proved to be a problem much later in the proceedings toward July when the submarine was found to be carrying five Australian individuals who were plotting to take over Beachingtown on Sea and turn it into Aussie World UK - an Australian Theme Park based in the United Kingdom.
This was not done through conventional means and included the use of a space ship and a large monster which settled in the water close to Beachingtown on Sea, and later went on the rampage after initial sightings cleared the town days before. The Monster is said to have been slayed by a team of Power Rangers, who call themselves the Sodor Island Force...
2008 - Another Giant Monster Attack
In 2008, yet another Monster attack took place in Beachingtown on Sea, with many local residents perturbed at being ushered out of their homes by a giant talking Fox in the process, and asked to leave the town for their own safety. Once again, giant robots took to the streets of Beachingtown on Sea in order to battle a giant monster, and a giant Zeppelin, which was later blown to pieces.
Things To Do In Beachingtown On Sea
The Beach
Major attractions in the town include the Beachingtown Beach, which won the award for Best British Beach 2005, but lost out owing to the high levels of contamination in 2006, lost out on the highly coveted prize, however, thanks to Mayor Bean's selective tour with the judging panel, won the prize in 2007 and narrowly lost out in 2008.
The Beachingtown on Sea Miniature Railway
Other attractions in Beachingtown on Sea include the miniature railway, which has been constructed by the sea front and runs along the coast to the cleaner end of the beach. The line is worked by minature replicas of famous steam locomotives, which ferry passengers to and fro on a daily basis throughout the summer months.
Effects Caused By The Monster Attack Of 2006
Part of the line was obscured sadly by the monster attack of 2006, which left the town heavily contaminated and required an evacuation process, whereby Mayor Truro declared, "If no-one wants to help with the clearing up, you can bugger off out of here then!" A heavy industrial clean and subsequent repair work masterminded by Mayor Bean, who has also arranged fund raising to do so, saw the town back on it's way to it's former glory by early 2007, with repair work still ongoing and further means of fundraising in place. "The Beachingtown Beast" as it came to be known remained submerged on the beach until July of 2008, when a funeral service was carried out in it's honour as another means of fundraising by Mayor Bean to attract tourism to the area for what was described as "A Monster Of A Funeral". Previous plans to dispose of the carcus included dumping it in the sea, which Animal Rights campaigners objected to with intensity. Mayor Bean instead chose to bury the body several hundred feet underground and seal off the area for 100 years, owing to the risk of contamination to humans, and the overpowering smell of rotting flesh.
Observatory
In 2009, Dr Ciremi and his team intend to open the Beachingtown Observatory, which will be placed above the Beachingtown Cliffs, commanding spectacular views of the town and the sea, as well as the surrounding area, in order to allow for visitors to fully appreciate the beauty in the town of Beachingtown on Sea.
The Town Hall
Guided tours of the town hall are provided on a weekly basis every Thursday, where you can also meet Mayor Bean in his office. Here, you can indluge in the rich history of Beachingtown on Sea, and see numerous items and exhibits related to the town's development and growth over the past few years.
Or, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a Detective, then why not take part in the Mayor Truro - Where Are You? Tour which is run in conjunction with the ongoing Police investigation to find the former Mayor of Beachingtown on Sea. The tour attempts to trace Mayor Truro's final steps until he mysteriously vanished back in 2007, and will test your wits and knoweldge of crime fighting to decifer whether Mayor Truro was killed, did a runner or has been stuffed in a cupboard in the Town Hall? So far, no-one has claimed the £25 cash prize/reward for finding him, however, a number of people who claimed they were coming close have mysteriously vanished themselves whilst on the tour... so be sure to be vigilant at all times, it's a jungle out there!
And Finally!
We hope that this provides a deeper insight into Beachingtown On Sea, and the adventures we're having there. In 2008, we return yet again to the sleepy seaside town to revisit the SiF members as they go about their business. We hope to see you soon!
We start off by discussing SiF's premier Seaside resort, and giving a bit of a further insight into the somewhat less than wonderful Beachingtown On Sea...!
The Real Life Influences...
The Seaside Town in Britain is generally typified by trying to be bright, appealing and cosy in order to attract the tourists in for a cheap holiday. Usually, you're only ever found to go there when they're "in season", and it remains a mystery as to what they are like when you're not there or when winter rolls around and no-one sees the attraction of going for a paddle next to the town's sewage pipe which is pouring gallon upon gallon of gunk into the sea.
In all, Beachingtown on Sea is very much a generic representation of a seaside town in Britain. During our holiday to Wales this summer, we were on our way to Aberystwyth to ride on the Vale of Rheidol railway. A road traffic accident had occured on the main road to the town, and we had to take a detour through a seaside town called Borth. As we passed through it in the car, we couldn't help but feel that it came across as being Beachingtown on Sea in spades. Generally being slightly run down and a little shabby also, but with brightly coloured buildings and as we've mentioned before, typical seaside town paraphinalia. In all, Borth is not to be immediately linked or thought of as being the real life Beachingtown on Sea, but more to be considered as a very close cosmetic "look" - which we will hopefully nip down to do some filming in 2009.
However, it's not a slight on Borth or any generic seaside town in Britain, as I'm sure we've all been to the seaside in Britain for a holiday at least once, and loved it, and taken away a number of happy memories from the experiences. Hence the trips to Wales in the summer - if we can get down onto the beach, we'll do it without hesitation. So it's more of a tribute to the Great British Summer Holiday more than anything - with it's bad weather, donkey rides, freezing cold sea water, awkward landladies at your Guesthouse and greasy chip shops!
Beachingtown On Sea And SiF
Incomers and the New "Locals"
Beachingtown on Sea basically is a sleepy seaside town, which owing to the plummeting price of property in the area owing to some bad business decisions, saw some members of SiF move in to buy up the cheap shops and hotels. Chris, having opened his own chip shop previously decided to move there as a means of obtaining fish quicker and cheaper - only problem being that the potatoes picked in the fields close to the town are prone to being less than savoury...
Kate669 gave up her job as the Wise Woman of Wikington in order to raise some extra cash by taking on a Boarding House in Beachingtown On Sea. More money was forthcoming from this venture than what had been previously hoped for dishing out advice or wisdom to people who didn't really know better. In 2008, following the events of Crossover Adventure, she has bought over the Beachingtown on Sea Caravan Park, which she has allowed long term associate, Eliot run, and has become something of a property mogul in the area, co-owning the town's premier Pub in her own Guest House with Ryan - The Swagger Inn. Both Kate669's Boarding House, and Chris's Fish and Chip Shop - The Frying Kipper - can be found on the sea front at Beachingtown On Sea just across the road from the beach.
Ryan and Christopher have been forced to move to Beachingtown on Sea following the events of Summer Holiday in 2006, with Ryan having taken money from Kate's safe which he insisted he would pay back to her at a later date to go gambling with Christopher and Old Square Wheels in Las Vegas. Consequently, he lost it all on rigged gambling machines, and boldly accused the management of the Casino of cheating people out of their hard earned cash. This led to a very nasty confrontation with the local Mafia head, Don Alduck, who vowed to hunt down Ryan, Christopher and Old Square Wheels to have them dealt with accordingly. Luckily for them, Kate was on the hunt for them too and wouldn't let anyone else have them - she wanted her own revenge. She got her way and even the hardened criminal Alduck was shell-shocked. Ryan and Christopher have worked in Beachingtown on Sea ever since.
Mayor Truro suddenly vanished in mysterious circumstances in the midst of 2007, following yet another scandal, this time over the huge depletion of funds from the town's Treasuary, which had been earmarked for repair work, decontamination and disposal of the monster carcus. To this day, the question as to where the money went has largely gone unanswered. However, after a hard day at the office, he told his aides he'd be heading out to get some ice cream. After days of searching, no-one could appear to find him, and an election was soon called with local ice cream propietor, The Old Bean, being the only one credible enough or willing to do the job. Prior to his departure, Mayor Truro had a giant statue of himself boared into the Beachingtown Cliffs, which were altered more recently to resemble Mayor Bean's figure and pose. This statue has been sadly destroyed and during the events of Crossover Adventure. More recently, and coincidentally, during the events of Crossover Adventure, it was claimed by local busy-body, Mrs Smith, that she had seen and spoken with Mayor Truro, who claimed he had been incarcerated by the new Mayor Bean. Whether or not these rumours carry any weight appear to be largely unfounded by the local authorities.
Invasions
2006 - The Australians and their Monster
Local resident, Mrs Marjorie Smith comments that Beachingtown on Sea saw out two World Wars without even as much as the batting of an eyelid, however, since 2006 life has never quite been the same. A yellow submarine was spotted off the coast of the town in early June, however, this proved to be a problem much later in the proceedings toward July when the submarine was found to be carrying five Australian individuals who were plotting to take over Beachingtown on Sea and turn it into Aussie World UK - an Australian Theme Park based in the United Kingdom.
This was not done through conventional means and included the use of a space ship and a large monster which settled in the water close to Beachingtown on Sea, and later went on the rampage after initial sightings cleared the town days before. The Monster is said to have been slayed by a team of Power Rangers, who call themselves the Sodor Island Force...
2008 - Another Giant Monster Attack
In 2008, yet another Monster attack took place in Beachingtown on Sea, with many local residents perturbed at being ushered out of their homes by a giant talking Fox in the process, and asked to leave the town for their own safety. Once again, giant robots took to the streets of Beachingtown on Sea in order to battle a giant monster, and a giant Zeppelin, which was later blown to pieces.
Things To Do In Beachingtown On Sea
The Beach
Major attractions in the town include the Beachingtown Beach, which won the award for Best British Beach 2005, but lost out owing to the high levels of contamination in 2006, lost out on the highly coveted prize, however, thanks to Mayor Bean's selective tour with the judging panel, won the prize in 2007 and narrowly lost out in 2008.
The Beachingtown on Sea Miniature Railway
Other attractions in Beachingtown on Sea include the miniature railway, which has been constructed by the sea front and runs along the coast to the cleaner end of the beach. The line is worked by minature replicas of famous steam locomotives, which ferry passengers to and fro on a daily basis throughout the summer months.
Effects Caused By The Monster Attack Of 2006
Part of the line was obscured sadly by the monster attack of 2006, which left the town heavily contaminated and required an evacuation process, whereby Mayor Truro declared, "If no-one wants to help with the clearing up, you can bugger off out of here then!" A heavy industrial clean and subsequent repair work masterminded by Mayor Bean, who has also arranged fund raising to do so, saw the town back on it's way to it's former glory by early 2007, with repair work still ongoing and further means of fundraising in place. "The Beachingtown Beast" as it came to be known remained submerged on the beach until July of 2008, when a funeral service was carried out in it's honour as another means of fundraising by Mayor Bean to attract tourism to the area for what was described as "A Monster Of A Funeral". Previous plans to dispose of the carcus included dumping it in the sea, which Animal Rights campaigners objected to with intensity. Mayor Bean instead chose to bury the body several hundred feet underground and seal off the area for 100 years, owing to the risk of contamination to humans, and the overpowering smell of rotting flesh.
Observatory
In 2009, Dr Ciremi and his team intend to open the Beachingtown Observatory, which will be placed above the Beachingtown Cliffs, commanding spectacular views of the town and the sea, as well as the surrounding area, in order to allow for visitors to fully appreciate the beauty in the town of Beachingtown on Sea.
The Town Hall
Guided tours of the town hall are provided on a weekly basis every Thursday, where you can also meet Mayor Bean in his office. Here, you can indluge in the rich history of Beachingtown on Sea, and see numerous items and exhibits related to the town's development and growth over the past few years.
Monster Tour and Exhibition
If you're feeling brave enough, you can take part in the Beachingtown Monster Tour, which takes visitors around all the places of historic and social significance in the area such as the Beachingtown Cliffs where the Beachingtown Beast was first spotted in 2006, the Beachingtown Beach where the monster was slayed in 2006. The tour will conclude with a trip to the Beachingtown Beast Memorial Exhibition where perfectly preserved items from the Monster such as it's teeth, skin samples, a preserved eyeball and heavily damaged items from buildings which it had a hand in destroying and significantly damaging. And don't forget to buy one of the many wonderful items available from the Monstrous Gift Shop. The Museum is currently restocking with dolls of the 2008 creature, which locals have dubbed The Evil, as well as a tie-in Blimp which was seen hovering over Beachingtown on Sea during the month of July at the same time as the recent attack. Further examples and samples are being gathered by the Museum staff to provide more exhibits of the 2008 Attack.
Or, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a Detective, then why not take part in the Mayor Truro - Where Are You? Tour which is run in conjunction with the ongoing Police investigation to find the former Mayor of Beachingtown on Sea. The tour attempts to trace Mayor Truro's final steps until he mysteriously vanished back in 2007, and will test your wits and knoweldge of crime fighting to decifer whether Mayor Truro was killed, did a runner or has been stuffed in a cupboard in the Town Hall? So far, no-one has claimed the £25 cash prize/reward for finding him, however, a number of people who claimed they were coming close have mysteriously vanished themselves whilst on the tour... so be sure to be vigilant at all times, it's a jungle out there!
And Finally!
We hope that this provides a deeper insight into Beachingtown On Sea, and the adventures we're having there. In 2008, we return yet again to the sleepy seaside town to revisit the SiF members as they go about their business. We hope to see you soon!
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