The Dalby Spook

What Lies Inside? #2

Released: 2 November 2022

Listened: 1/24/23

This short one-parter is a bit odd. The TARDIS arrives in 1933 on the Isle of Man, following a call for help on the psychic paper. It would take a rather formidable psychic to do that, which isn’t likely to be found here. Except there’s no shortage of candidates: A music-hall psychic who’s pretty clearly a fake…or is he? And a teenage girl who claims to possess a…talking mongoose named Gef? Which happens to be a true story, and has also drawn the attention of real-life psychic debunker Harry Price. The family dynamics, as well as the harshness of Mr. Price’s interrogation techniques, triggers some bad memories for Helen, and that’s some deftly done character work. But Harry Myers as Gef totally steals the show. He’s outrageous, rude, and even has some technobabble to work with. Felicity Cant also deserves special mention, because she sounds just like a teenage girl, although she isn’t one. So this box ends up with a couple of stand-alone stories, which is a real novelty for Liv and especially Helen, and it’s nice to see.