The Immortals (plot extras)

[djmystro]

The Immortals' Script which can be found in AWOP's Immortal's Shack is a big reference to a show I have been writing for ages.

The first episode script can be read on one of the Shack's terminals along with lots of other bits of random info about the gang and how they react to the Fallout world.

 

Here’s the people I had in mind when I wrote the first episode plus a list of other characters who currently do not feature but have been vaguely planned for future episodes (and a load of background/plot info).

 

Characters/Cast:

STEVE MASTERS - Vampire & unsuccessful Hardcore DJ.

Ideal star: Tony Burgess, Simon Pegg, Julian Baratt

Frustrated & pessimistic. Probably a virgin despite various boasts to the contrary and his relative age. Feels both freed and trapped by the situation of becoming a vampire but is mostly oblivious to everything but his music.

He gets blood from Mlix for the first few episodes.

ANTONY CLEMENT - Scientist time-traveller trapped in the present.

Ideal star: Matt Berry, Greg Davies, Peter Serafinowicz

Loud and considers himself the boss and brains of the group. Hates everything that he feels is standing in the way of our/his future which is pretty much just everything as he is awaiting the time the technology is available so he can build a new time machine and go home.

He invents all sorts of strange and sometimes useful objects.

Hates being referred to as being like ‘Dr Who’ (especially a crap/failed Dr Who) but will make an exception if he is flirting with a woman (probably using the reference himself).

He’s also a semi-successful part-time sci-fi writer (or future non-fiction/FNF as he maybe calls it) and has visited many different time periods which ended when his time machine was blown up by a Tank during the second World War.

CHARLIE SKEGGS - Angel of Retribution & alcoholic.

Ideal Star: Dylan Moran, Richard Ayoade, Darren Boyd

Charlie is the one who is frequently imposed upon and has to do the bulk of the hard work. Something which he is both aware of and trying to ignore at the same time, occasionally leading to large bursts of pent up aggression. He spends most of his time getting drunk or trying to sober up enough to drive somewhere. God contacts Charlie whenever he needs a task accomplished and other members of the Group (Tony and Mlix) do not even believe a God exists so Charlie often has to do his work alone.

MLIX – Obsessive alien shapeshifter who is repulsed by physical contact.

Ideal star: Tamsin Greig, Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes

Mlix is the mediator and most rational of the group despite her background, mostly just due to her higher tolerances to chemicals and such. She can change her entire appearance to suit her moods.

She comes from a hedonistic sex obsessed planet but in typical rebel fashion wanted to get away from all that and headed to Earth instead. She feels actively repulsed by most physical contact with humans which she regards as a purging or learning experience.

Though she can look like anyone ideally the actress should have a good vocal range and so she has a somewhat recognisable voice throughout but can put on dumb or sometimes very accurate accents for spying roles and such. They do not have to be all accurate coz she’s an alien after all and will not know all the complex dialects (though she may learn fast).

MATT HASTINGS - Ghost of Steve's best friend.

Ideal star: Johnny Vegas, Nick Frost

Failed MC and part-time zombie (some evidence that he may have inadvertently held Steve’s success back some and vice versa). He’s grown quiet and more contemplative since becoming a ghost and often drifts around ignored by the others but listening in and reacting all the same. When eventually he gets brought back to life he returns in an infectious undead state and needs to frequently be killed again.

DANNY (DANCU000232.1 BETA) - Botched Super Soldier.

Ideal star: Seymour Mace, Peter Baynham, Bill Bailey

A very non-threatening hippy-like invincible trained assassin who needs to wear glasses to see properly. He reacts somewhat impartially, if not favourably to everything, considering all things to just be a learning experience though the others often try to get him to distinguish between right and wrong and so distil a certain set of strange but good values within him. He would be both the most naive and also potentially the most intelligent and could spark many philosophical debates as disposable “just wondering about this?” questions.

GOD - God

Ideal star: Kevin Eldon, Chris Morris, Craig Charles

In your face, bossy, not used to being questioned but otherwise just strange and eccentric man with powers not unlike “Q” out of Star Trek. Often refers to other ‘God mates’ who come round and watch films or take bets on Earth/otherworldly events.

 

Not in Episode 1:

NOVA - Tony's robot assistant. (reference only in episode 1)

Ideal star: Daisy Haggard, Julia Davies, Sarah Alexander

Nova is initially an AI robot interface from Tony’s Time Machine which he programmed with the personality of a woman he once loved. She is also the only main character not appearing in the first episode.

At first she looks like humorously pathetic latex covered crash test dummy to which the others joke Tony does unspeakable things but eventually he brings her to life and she looks predictably perfect. However it does not take many words from Steve to persuade her that all her years of servitude have been for nothing and she sleeps with Steve to rebel against Tony sparking another fight between those two (ended by Zombie Matt going on a rampage).

MLIX’S PARENTS – Highly extrovert overbearingly sexual and strange alien couple. The male actor is probably the mother. Rich Fulcher would be good as the male/mother for lots of random confusing loud noise.

COWBOY WARLOCK: Western throwback magician who crops up from time to time selling stuff such as potions, genies, guns, drugs etc... Simon Munnery would be great.

THE GIRL WHO WORKS NIGHTS AT THE PETROL STATION: Short-term love interest for Steve before he scares her off or something.

THE VILLAN: Rich business tycoon who wants to be the only immortal (is human at first). Unnamed as of yet. He has a height complex being relatively a bit short, he then accidentally makes himself just a bit shorter but fatter at in a failed lab experiment to increase his size.

Has an army of useless clones of his staff.

THE LONDON IMMORTALS: Wealthier, smarter, more successful and better looking mirror group to the main bunch. Probably all get killed in first series (maybe room for one or two survivors though). American counterparts show up for the second series.

THE VAMP THAT TURNED STEVE: Female vampire with a punky/hardcore edge that Steve finds very appealing. A bit of a mystery for a long time. Maybe Steve’s connection to whatever Vampire groups are living local.

SLIXX: Mlix’s sister who (like most of her kind and in contrast to her sister) is pretty much sex obsessed. She turns up later and may buy a prison so she can own all the inmates or something similar and make porn with ‘em (making money and having near endless sex in the process). Mlix and Slixx argue all the time (especially about the profile Slixx is building for herself) but Slixx only came to Earth to annoy Mlix in the first place and she may also have brought a few more of her kind along with her.

GENIE: Temporary wish granting plot device.

WITCHES: A coven of witches who live nearby. They look very mundane and ordinary but only on the surface (and are not immortal like many other characters).

 

 

Vague Plot Ideas:

 

 

Episode 2: History

The gang get to know new member Danny better by describing how they all came to live in the house and pool their intellects to try and come up with a plan to earn more money.

-Steve’s history:

Bitten by a vampire after one of his more popular performances. He thought he was gonna get laid. Spends a week trying to survive on blood from fresh meat and black pudding before eventually seeing Matt as dinner after a non-starting performance at the same venue he got bit at (he wanted to keep his DJ rep up by performing and also to try and find the vamp who turned him).

-Matt’s death:

Though Steve bites Matt in a nightclub toilet this is not what kills him, as this is the moment Charlie shows up. Charlie and Steve try to get the semi-conscious and very drunk Matt out of the nightclub but end up arguing and accidentally dropping Matt down some stairs where he breaks his neck.

-Mlix history:

Mlix used to work (briefly and among other things) for a circus. Nothing else for that yet but the possibilities are numerous.

-Tony’s rescue:

Tony became a depressed, whisky-comatose, half clothed and semi-popular sci-fi writer before he was “rescued” by Charlie. The general incompetence of the others snaps him out of his depression and turns him back into the driven bitter loudmouth that he used to be.

-Charlie’s debriefing:

A fairly controversial scene where Charlie meets a “representative representation” of God in a small dark office where Charlie is informed of his new role in society.

He gets the job originally coz Gods previous choices were “a bit too keen on the killing” (good examples would be dead mean politicians or war-tyrants or maybe the Pope).

Charlie used to work in a hospital (specifics unknown but helping people I guess) so does not take well to being an ‘Angel of Retribution’ so god assigns him the task of finding and looking after the other local Immortals (presumably hiring a new Retribution Angel about the same time).

-Danny’s background:

Not very funny in many contexts so this will prob be skipped over with a few lines of obvious dialogue rather than represented by a flashback sequence or similar. Reference to the most horrible and shocking part being “just a bit of fun really” being the gag.

-At some point Mlix grows weary of Steve draining her (why she is eating much more than normal) and insists on an alternative way to feed him.

-Tony is able to synthesize blood by isolating the blood restoratitive nanobots in his bloodsteam and setting them to work in a separate environment. They multiply to fill the space provided (referred to technically as “some kind of barrel”) and periodically fill it with blood so Steve is sustained.

-Blood beer is referenced as a new invention but as someone points out there is no potential market (yet).

 

 

Episode 3: Hobbies

The gang try and invent new ways to pass the time, including games with dice, lighters and firearms. Meanwhile Steve tries to think of ways to impress the girl who works in the local late night petrol station.

-Initially Steve finds the vamp who turned him online and starts talking to her and finding they have a lot in common (though has a partner already). Pretty soon he is marketing Blood Beer to the local vamps. This boosts his confidence a little so he tries his luck with the Petrol Station Lady too when getting supplies later and does well there too.

This leads to his insistence that the others be more spontaneous, accusing them of being boring because they want him to maintain a low profile.

-The Dice Game:

Pick six possible outcomes, write them down and roll a dice to decide which you will choose. This is the simple premise behind the bulk of stupid situations they will get into in Episode 3. The same dice system can be used to determine from a list of mad ideas which ones actually make it in the episode (or not).

-The Lighter Game:

In a homage to a homage Tony bets Steve he can do something ten times (in the film “Four Rooms” it was spark a lighter fully without a fail but in Tony’s case may relate to a new invention or dice decision) with failure resulting in the severing of a limb and success resulting in minor monetary reward (through overconfidence Tony agrees). Tense scene ensues with lots of slow camera panning from Tony’s wrist cut to his sweaty forehead, Steve’s maniacal grin, his cleaver and the lighter/object in question. Tony succeeds (unlike in previous incarnations of this bit) but Steve chops his hand off anyway resulting in another fight. Show ends with them having severed too many of each other’s limbs to fight anymore and just shouting at each other in frustration until Mlix comes in and says “it’s time you two boys went to bed or similar and starts dragging body parts up the stairs under the end credits.

 

 

Episode 4: Curry

Steve cooks a curry for everyone with some extra special mushroom ingredients, meanwhile Mlix’s parents have chosen to pay an impromptu visit.

Mushrooms = a lot of magic mushrooms so everyone can trip in a variety of strange ways depending on their physiology with lots of strange camera angles and subject matter discussed. Episode should start very subtle and build up to a vomit-inducing train crash with Mlix’s parents also having some of “this local curry cuisine” before it all goes mental. Can be 90% improv potentially unlike most of the others.

 

 

Episode 5: Film

Tony makes a documentary disproving the existence of God which achieves critical acclaim and as a result of a drop-off in belief God decides to move in with the gang in order to plan his next move, a panel show to re-prove his own existence.

Tony’s film is his breakthrough as a writer, this time tackling non-fiction in a very fictional manner (the parameters defined by The Immortals concept world where random stuff just happens sometimes). We never actually see the film itself, just the effects it has on the audience. The results of the whole world giving up a belief in God are very unusual and irrational and annoy Tony as much as when they believed in God.

One scene has people parading down a street singing a peaceful unity song like something out of “High School Musical” or whatever. Tony is watching very glum from a local balcony. Another character wanders up and asks him why he is watching given that he hates musicals and he admits that he has set up a tear gas bomb at the end of the street and is merely awaiting the results.

God gets very stressed by everyone’s lack of belief and comes down to Earth to personally “sort his s*** out”. This involves him moving in with the gang.

When God appears on a TV talk show to prove his own existence he does so mostly like an angry child with a very vivid imagination, manifesting guns and animals along with killing and resurrecting them along with certain members of the audience. In any case it works enough that he sets a PR company to work marketing him as “the vengeful god has returned” or similar and goes back home.

As a peace offering and thank you to the gang he gives them a new car. It’s probably a Hearse or Ice Cream Truck or something else big and conspicuous. Main gag is;

“it has a beast for an engine” and when Charlie opens it something inside grabs him, goes blurrrghh and is a bit sick on him.

Engine Beast becomes a small recurring character who functions much like Scotty in Star Trek only with a scatological demon-like personality response (voice like Sgt Throat from The Goons), frequently useless but occasionally very useful.

 

 

Episode 6: Life

Tony’s human-synthesis device is completed with which he can bring his assistant Nova to life. After some persuasion he agrees to modify the machine to give Matt a new body, with disastrous flesh-eating consequences.

Matt comes back as the undead. He can still talk but is confused and sluggish and starts degenerating fast and they lock him up until they can decide what to do with him.

Meanwhile Steve persuades Nova to sleep with him which infuriates Tony so they end up having another fight during which time Matt escapes and starts chewing on the locals with obvious consequences. The gang have to stop the infection before it spreads to any nearby cities (not so difficult in the middle of no-where with a Demon Engine that can smell rotting meat). Matt is frequently killed and comes back as a ghost so they try the resurrect sequence again a few times (if not just to see if they can save some infected too). Eventually Tony figures out how to block Matt’s hunger instincts and degeneration but cannot solve the undead situation entirely blaming the state of the technology.

Theoretically the process worked for Nova because she never truly died in any sense though this concept annoys Tony as it implies God is interfering. However as Nova points out to him later it is in fact more likely that it is because she never actually lived making her biomechanical rather than a standard resurrected human and he just has not recalibrated correctly and that it is impossible with the tech he has.

 

 

Episode 7: Contract

Steve and Matt’s new record actually makes the big time on the underground Rave scene and the duo are offered a contract on a major label, but both have to be present at the signing, can they manage to turn up on time and give a good impression without accidentally killing anyone?

Steve’s a vamp so has a great deal of difficulty operating under daylight and Matt has to avoid contact with everyone on account of him being highly infectious. Both will prob end up trapped without food somewhere for a prolonged period.

 

 

Episode 8: Enemy

Immortals are disappearing all over the world, in many cases turning up inexplicably dead. The best have already fallen, can the worst figure out who’s responsible and stop them in time?

This is where The Villan comes into the plot (though he may be hinted at on TV broadcasts & similar beforehand) and the London mob are wiped out.

The crew are forced to arm up and face a near never-ending series of ineffectual clones of various unusual members of The Villans staff (legal team, secretaries and the like) as they were the only people dumb enough to sign his contacts.

The Villan always escapes but maybe one day (third series?) he will find they all have another common enemy.

 

 

If anyone is interested I can always post the first ep script plus the terminal logs online here also. Just let me know if you would like to see that.