Loch Ness Monster spotted in the Thames!

[misterharry]

Has the Zygon invasion started in earnest? The video footage is very brief and shaky, but it appears to show a large object briefly surfacing next to the O2:

"Mysterious creature" spotted swimming in the River Thames

Could it be the Skarasen has turned up 40 years late?

[Catsmate]

Hmm could be a factional play in the Human-Zygon negotiations.

[grinch]

It does make you wonder whether the Skarasen is a hermaphrodite and as such capable of producing offspring.

[soultaker666212]

This could be the resurgence of that one large Thames creature featured in that Victorian episode in season 10 forgot its name

[Catsmate]

Aug 18, 2022 19:44:55 GMT grinch said:

It does make you wonder whether the Skarasen is a hermaphrodite and as such capable of producing offspring.

One of the EU novels, The Bodysnatchers, one of the Early Sam Jones stories, had Zygon ships carrying embryos.

OT, but every time I hear her name I think of this song. Somewhat apt for a Who companion.

[grinch]

Aug 19, 2022 8:28:28 GMT Catsmate said:

Aug 18, 2022 19:44:55 GMT grinch said:

It does make you wonder whether the Skarasen is a hermaphrodite and as such capable of producing offspring.

One of the EU novels, The Bodysnatchers, one of the Early Sam Jones stories, had Zygon ships carrying embryos.

OT, but every time I hear her name I think of this song. Somewhat apt for a Who companion.

Only makes sense I suppose that the Skarasen would be able to breed considering that the Zygons are apparently dependent on the lactic fluid they produce. 

Mind you, that’s something that appears to never have been brought up since. 

[Catsmate]

Aug 19, 2022 11:40:14 GMT grinch said:

Aug 19, 2022 8:28:28 GMT Catsmate said:

One of the EU novels, The Bodysnatchers, one of the Early Sam Jones stories, had Zygon ships carrying embryos.

OT, but every time I hear her name I think of this song. Somewhat apt for a Who companion.

Only makes sense I suppose that the Skarasen would be able to breed considering that the Zygons are apparently dependent on the lactic fluid they produce. 

Mind you, that’s something that appears to never have been brought up since. 

All too common with the EU. Lots of ideas, some of them good, but most never seen again.

[soultaker666212]

Aug 18, 2022 19:46:22 GMT soultaker666212 said:

This could be the resurgence of that one large Thames creature featured in that Victorian episode in season 10 forgot its name

tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Sea_creature_(Thin_Ice) Yeah it might be the resurgence of the Sea creature from Thin Ice as well coming back to one of its homes to live in there or to use the rivers as away to capture more food.

[Catsmate]

Aug 18, 2022 19:46:22 GMT soultaker666212 said:

This could be the resurgence of that one large Thames creature featured in that Victorian episode in season 10 forgot its name

That did leave things open for a sequel. In fact I have notes on one.....
More than a little off-topic but here you are.

A Week Later.
A sequel to ‘Thin Ice’
The TARDIS, carrying Doctor^XIII and Bill Potts, arrived in London for the 1814 Frost Fair where they met and defeated the Monster-of-the-Week, met an elephant and some photogenic urchins, offended a pie-man, win a bowling match (well Bill does), defeated an evil industrialist and forged a will.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in London, an evil plot is brewing. No monsters here.

• Though the Honourable Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone, murderer, slaver, rapist and fraudster comes pretty close.

At the time, the Napoleonic Wars were in full swing. Cochrane-Johnstone was a member of Parliament (to which he was ‘elected’ dubiously and which enabled him to avoid his creditors) when he, and others, schemed to make money. A lot of money…..

• The eventual sum was around £1,100,000. In context this was around eight-and-a-half tonnes of gold at prevailing rates (it’s complicated; if you’re interested start with the Great Recoinage of 1816) and represented one sixtieth of government spending of the year. Roughly comparable to around fifteen billion pounds today.

The plan was simple. UK government stocks (‘consols’) were depressed in value due to the war, if the war ended then their value would surge. Buy low and sell high. Unfortunately the war didn’t look like ending soon.
But that could be remedied….

So Cochrane-Johnstone and his associates purchased a huge amount of government securities. Then they arranged for a false rumour of the death of Napoleon to be spread.

Cochrane-Johnstone’s friend, the architect, Charles, Baron de Berenger, purchased a fake British uniform and showed up in Dover in the early hours of 21FEB1814. De Berenger pretended to have just landed after crossing the English Channel. He presented a letter to the military officers in Dover saying that Napoleon Bonaparte had been ripped in pieces by the Cossacks. De Berenger and Cochrane-Johnstone hoped that this letter would result in a message with the news being sent directly to London via light-based semaphore—a precursor to the telegram. Unfortunately for them, it was a foggy day, so no message could be sent.

• While they failed at using the semaphore, their plan to use one for a financial crime did have a positive result—it inspired a plot point in Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo.

After delivering the original message in Dover, de Berenger took a series of fast carriages to London, paying tips to carriage boys in gold Napoleon coins and further spreading hints of Bonaparte’s death.
De Berenger made it to London right around the time that the stock exchange opened and announced the news in the streets. The people of London went wild, rejoicing in Napoleon’s defeat.
Stock prices soared, and Cochrane-Johnstone’s stockbrokers, which included a Mr. Butt, began selling stock.

A few hours later, people began questioning the news and stock prices dropped. But Cochrane-Johnstone had planned for this. He had hired a group of lower-class men to learn a few phrases in French and dress as Bourbon sympathisers, soldiers who supported the French monarchy. These men now drove through London in a carriage, passing out printed fliers about the victory against Napoleon. Stock prices again rose.

The Stock Exchange sent a messenger to the Foreign Office, who (naturally) had not received any news of Napoleon’s death. So it was announced that it was all fakery, and that Napoleon Bonaparte was still alive and well. Stock prices plummeted