'Short Trips': 'Taken for Granted' (1 Part) by Ian Hidewell

On her way to lunch with her uncle at the Chertenhall village hotel, Jo Grant is followed by a black Jaguar. When she attempts to slip away in a taxi cab, the black Jaguar tries forcing her ride off the road. The cabbie manages to evade their pursuers, but to Jo’s annoyance the unhappy driver drops her at a picnic spot while he fetches the police. Seeing the black Jaguar returning Jo hides in the woods, where she is engulfed in a strange orange mist. Using her compass Jo makes her way through the foggy woods, and soon encounters humanoid soldiers with grasshopper-like heads. She is saved by a tall man dressed in a velvet suit and a cloak, who holds off with the insectoids while Jo runs for help. Reaching a road, Jo encounters a woman, Eleanor, stuck in a broken-down yellow sports car; she offers to repair the engine, but is attacked by Eleanor. After dealing with her assailant, Jo is pleased to see the cabbie return in his taxi - but to Jo’s dismay, the man takes her prisoner and drives her to the Chertenhall Arms hotel to meet his boss. The cabbie transfers custody of his prisoner to the Maître D’, whose voice Jo recognises as belonging to one of the ‘insectoids’; using a lockpick, Jo frees herself from her handcuffs and takes the Maître D’ captive with is gun, forcing him to take her to his master. She is escorted to the hotel office, and is surprised to find her uncle waiting for her. He explains to Jo how her whole experience was a test for admission to UNIT: that the aliens were soldiers in masks, and the cloaked man was one Sergeant Benton, standing in for UNIT’s scientific advisor, her new boss. Having passed her text, Jo is told to report to Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, and presented with her new pass, made out to 'Agent Josephine Grant'.

Stephen Critchlow (Narrator)

Release Date:
June 2018

Notes:

*Introducing Jo Grant, and featuring Sergeant Benton and the Third Doctor

*A Big Finish Audio Production