The Ripper, Script by Arthur Wyatt, © Arthur Wyatt 2001
Page 1:

Panel 1: Portrait shot of Polly Nichols, Victorian prostitute and first victim of the ripper. If she was going to be historically accurate she'd be rather old looking and wretched, but instead she's a pretty young woman. She wears shabby period clothing, the only new item of clothing she has is a black bonnet. In the background we see what looks like a foggy Victorian street.

Caption: "POLLY NICHOLS: THE FIRST VICTIM".

Polly: SEE WHAT A JOLLY BONNET I'VE GOT NOW. I'LL SOON HAVE ME DOSS MONEY

Caption: "THOSE ARE HER ACTUAL FINAL WORDS"

Panel 2: Large Panel. A snarling maniac advancing upon us menacingly, a huge knife raised. He's wearing a Victorian great coat and a top hat, and has mad staring eyes and a snarl. Its Jack the Ripper. Again the background is what looks like a Victorian street.

Caption: "HERES OUR GUY, JACK THE RIPPER. ISN'T HE GREAT? LOOK AT THAT SNARL, THAT KNIFE!"

Title: THE RIPPER

Panel 3: From Behind we see The Ripper attacking Mary Kelly in a frenzied stabbing attack. We can't see most of it, because the ripper is in the way, but from what we can see its pretty gory. The rippers knife is high in the air ready for another stab and blood is splattered all over the place.

Caption: "HE SLITS HER THROAT, AND THEN CUTS HER OPEN, REMOVING INTERNAL ORGANS."

"THE BLOODS AN ORGANIC SYNTHETIC THAT CAN BE WASHED OFF IN SECONDS. WE CAN HAVE POLLYS ORGANS BACK IN READY FOR THE NEXT SHOW IN UNDER FIVE MINUTES"

Panel 4: A hand holding a remote control while another finger presses a button.

Voice (offpanel, up): OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH.

Sfx: KLICK

Panel 5: A large wide panel, taking up the full width of the bottom of the page. In the foreground is Reeves, a business man in a sharp suit. From his expression you can tell that he's a bit of a sneering prick. In the background is a line up of actors in period costume. Theres about half a dozen, including Victorian vagabonds, prostitutes, a policeman and a judge. Also in the line-up is Musson, a rather sombre man dressed like an undertaker. Reeves addresses the actors while gesticulating with the remote control.

Reeves: THAT'S WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS. ROBOTS KILLING EACH OTHER! BLOOD AND GORE! NOT A BUNCH OF FAILED SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS TELLING THEM HOW MISERABLE THINGS WERE IN VICTORIAN TIMES.


Page 2:

Panel 1: Reeves continues talking. Besides him is Igor, a huge hulking brute dressed up like a mad scientists lab assistant. Igor is carrying some cardboard boxes.

Reeves: THE LONDON DEATHTRAP IS NOW A ROBOTIC OPERATION, AND YOU'RE ALL FIRED.

IGOR HERE WILL GIVE YOU A CARDBOARD BOX TO PUT YOUR BELONGINGS IN. HE'LL BE STAYING ON AS CHIEF OF SECURITY SO IF YOU'RE STILL HERE BY NOON HE'LL THROW YOU OUT.

Panel 2: Musson pleads with Reeves, but Reeves holds up a hand to silence him.

Musson: BUT MR. REEVES, YOU'RE MAKING THE RIPPER EXPERIENCE INTO A ROBOT FREAKSHOW! WHAT ABOUT OUR MISSION TO INFORM AS WELL AS ENTERTAIN?

Reeves: SHUT IT, MUSSON. I'M KEEPING YOU ON, OLD MAN MOORE INSISTS THAT WE HAVE A HISTORICAL EXPERT.

Panel 3: Reeves is glancing down at his watch. This is all becoming a bit of a bore for him.

Reeves: YOUR JOB IS SAFE UNTIL THE SENILE OLD FART RELINQUISHES OWNERSHIP OF THIS PLACE.

FOR NOW HELP IGOR TIDY THIS PLACE UP. I'M HAVING A PARTY FOR INVESTORS TONIGHT AND IF IT GOES WELL WE'RE GETTING FUNDING FOR THE NEW PLAGUE YEARS SECTION.

Panel 4: Large panel. The investors party. A large group of posh and trendy people are enjoying champagne and party snacks in the Victorian set. In the foreground Igor, Reeves and Lady Farringdon, are walking along together. Lady farrigdon is one of the guests; she wears a posh evening gown and is drinking from a martini glass while chatting with Reeves. Igor is pushing a wheelchair containing Old Man Moore. The wheelchair has all kinds of drips and life support equipment attached to the back of it. Little can be seen of Old Man Moore: A blanket covers the lower half of his body, and all but his eyes and nose are concealed by a huge white beard and mane of white hair. We can see that he's sleeping.

Crowd (small, no tail): CANAPÉS SHAPED LIKE EYEBALLS, HOW DELIGHTFUL.

Crowd (small, no tail): THAT'S OLD MAN MOORE. HE OWNS THE PLACE, BUT HE'S ONLY AWAKE FOR HALF AN HOUR A DAY NOW DUE TO HIS AGE.

Reeves: I'M AFRAID WE'RE NOT ALLOWING GUESTS TO USE THE IRON MAIDEN, WE DON'T WANT A REPEAT OF LAST TIME.

Panel 5: Small panel. Reeves and Lady Farringdon are shocked by the sound of a scream. There is a look of surprise on their faces as they whip around, their drinks spilling.

Scream (offpanel, jagged edge): ARRRRRGH!


Page 3:

Panel 1: From above we see the crowd gathers around the murdered body of a partygoer. He is trendily dressed, with a ponytail and a sharp suit. His throat has been cut and he has severere wounds to the torso.

Crowd member 1: ITS CUTHBERT DACHIS, CEO OF STONEFISH DOT COM - DEAD!

Crowd member 2 (shouting): MURDER!

Panel 2: A crowd member looking onto the scene. From off panel the hand of the ripper plunges a huge knife into his/her back.

Crowd member 3: HOW FRIGHTFUL. I HOPE IT DOESN'T AFFECT SHARE PRICES - URK!

Panel 3: The ripper standing over the body of the crowd member, his knife dripping blood. In the foreground is are Lady Farringdon and Reeves. The Lady Farringdon is pointing towards the ripper and shouting, Reeves is gesticulating towards it madly with the remote control, but its doing no good.

Lady Farringdon: OH MY GOD, ITS GONE CRAZY! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!

Reeves: I'M TRYING. THE REMOTE CONTROL DOESN'T SEEM TO BE WORKING.

Panel 4: Small panel. A tanoy speaker, up on the wall above the crowd.

Voice from speaker (jagged radio edge): HA HA HA HA!

THAT'S RIGHT REEVES, YOU UGLY LITTLE SCROTE, I CONTROL THE RIPPER NOW!

Panel 5: Musson sitting at a control desk in a dark little room. He is surrounded by banks of controls and switches, and in front of him is a microphone, which he is speaking into. His face has taken on an unpleasant gloating sneer which wasn't there before.

Musson: YOU WORMED YOUR WAY IN HERE WITH YOUR MBA AND YOUR SLIMY MARKETING WAYS, UNDERMINING THE WORK WE'VE DONE OVER THE YEARS, REPLACING FEAR AND SUSPENSE WITH CHEAP FLASHY GORE, KEEPING ME ON AS "HISTORICAL EXPERT" WHILE YOU UNDERMINE EVERYTHING THE LONDON DEATHTRAP HAS EVER DONE TO MAINTAIN REALISM.

WELL NOW YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A VERY REAL RIPPER EXPERIENCE.... YOUR MACHINE WILL MURDER EVER LAST ONE OF YOU!

Panel 6: Another section of the London Deathtrap. A narrow alleyway of burning timber-frame houses. Jets of flame are spraying out all over the place. A partygoer runs towards us, screaming, hair on fire. Perhaps in the background we see a few others, engulfed by flame. A sign in the foreground reads "THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON EXPERIENCE".

Musson (offpanel, jagged edge): THERE'S NO WAY OUT, I CAN CONTROL THE SIDE DOORS FROM HERE AND I'VE TURNED UP THE HEAT ON THE FIRE OF LONDON SO YOU CAN'T GET OUT THAT WAY.

Partygoer: AAAAIIIEEE!


Page 4:

Panel 1: From a high angle we see the tannoy speaker and Reeeves, Igor and Old Man Moore standing underneath it, looking up. Other members of the crowd may also be visible.

Tanoy Speaker (jagged edge): YOU'LL ALL DIE, ALL OF YOU! THIS SHALL BE THE RIPPERS REVENGE!

Reeves: MUSSON! HE'S EVEN MORE DERANGED THAN I THOUGHT.

Panel 2: Reeves, pushing Old Man Moore, disappears down a corridor, followed by Lady Farringdon and a group of surviving partygoers. Igor remains in the foreground, not following, with a confused look on his face.

Reeves: WE'VE GOT TO GET TO THE CONTROL BOOTH AND STOP HIM BEFORE HE KILLS OFF ALL MY INVESTORS!

IGOR, YOU STAY HERE AND HOLD OFF THE ROBOT.

Igor: ?

Panel 3: Igor is jumped by the ripper, and they tumble over together, fighting. The ripper, still armed with a knife, is snarling Like some kind of rabid beast, clearly about to win this fight. Igor is confused and scared.

Ripper: RAARRRH!

Igor: mummy!

Panel 4: Reeves and the little crowd of people have reached a dead end. The decor is no longer faked up historical stuff, instead its simple concrete, we're obviously in a 'backstage' area here. One of the crowd is trying to force open a reinforced, high-tech looking door. Its labelled "CONTROL BOOTH". Reeves is crouched by some coffin-sized crates, examining the labels. Old Man Moore is parked off to one side, still asleep.

Lady Farringdon: ITS LOCKED! OH MR REEVES, I'M VERY MUCH AFRAID THIS WILL BE THE END OF US ALL!

Reeves: MAYBE NOT... I'VE JUST COME UP WITH A GENIUS PLAN. SOMEONE HELP ME GET THESE CRATES OPEN.

Panel 5: The ripper stooped over the body of Igor, blood dripping from its knife. Two shadows fall over the ground in front of him: One tall and thin and wearing a deerstalker hat, one short and more plump, wearing a bowler hat.

Caption: "THIS'LL GIVE MUSSON A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE..."

Ripper: HUH? WHO'RE YOU?


Page 5:

Panel 1: In the control booth Musson fiddles furiously with his controls. Something's happened: Obviously the ripper is losing.

Musson: NO! NO, NO, NO! THAT'S NOT FAIR! THEY'RE FICTIONAL! HOW DARE HE USE THEM!

Panel 2: from the inside we see the door to the control booth being smashed open, but we don't yet see who's done it.

SFX: WHAMM!

Panel 3: Large Panel. Two robots burst into the control room. The first is Sherlock Holmes, a little behind him is Watson. Like the ripper they are dressed in Victorian period clothing, and the only way you can tell they are robots are the injuries they have suffered: Holmes has one eye dangling out on wires and the rippers knife sticking out of the side of his head. Watson has had one arm ripped off and sparking wires hang out of the stump. With its remaining arm he has the Ripper in a headlock - clearly its had an even worse bashing than Holmes and Watson. Musson cowers at his desk as they burst in.

Watson: I SAY OLD CHAP YOU WERE RIGHT! THIS MANIAC MUST BE CONTROLLING THE MECHANICAL MADMAN FROM THIS ROOM.

Holmes: INPUDUITABLY, MY DEAR WATSON. AFTER SO MANY YEARS YOU EXPECT ANYTHING LESS FROM ME?

Caption: "AFTER THAT THEY SUBDUED MUSSON, TIED HIM UP WITH AN OLD POWER CORD AND KEPT WATCH OVER HIM UNTIL HELP ARRIVED" Panel 4: Long Shot. The exterior of The London Deathtrap. Uncannily it looks almost identical to the exterior of our own modern day London Dungeon. Reeves is talking to some police, probably plain clothes detectives, while the police drag away Musson towards the back of a van.

Reeves: BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THEM, IT WAS INCREDIBLE, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND WATSON IN A CLIMATIC FINAL BATTLE WITH THE RIPPER!

Panel 5: Musson, as he is thrown into the back of the van, shouting out in horror.

Reeves (offpanel): IN FACT I THINK I'LL MAKE THAT A PERMANENT PART OF EVERY SHOW.

Musson: NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

End.
 
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