Now Sebastian Baczkiewicz is a writer I have never heard of before today. But let me tell you, in a matter of a few hours, he has become one of my favorites. Clearly the man was born for writing radio dramas.
In Pilgrim, Baczkiewicz tells us the story of William Palmer, a former knight in the Crusades. In the year 1185, on his way to Canterbury, he denied the existence of the Grey Folk, the faerie. In retribution, the King of faeries cursed him with an immortal life. Ever since then, he had remained in the edge of the borderlands of realms, between this world and the other supernatural world. Because of his many travels and adventures over the centuries he has come to be known as the Pilgrim.
The stories are well written with very tightly knit plots. Clearly, one the great advantages of radio is the creation of the atmosphere through dialogues. Baczkiewicz shows a mastery of the medium by keeping the listener spellbound. It would be hard for you to turn away from the story.
The show has four episodes, each one about forty five minutes long. The first episode begins when the King of the Faerie asks for Palmer's help. Puck, the faerie mischief maker had gone and stolen a dragon egg, from none other than the famous dragon Lady Ursula. She has threatened to rain down fire on Albion (Britain) in retribution. Palmer is reluctant at first but then Puck himself intervenes and takes a friend of Palmer. The he goes on to enchant a whole town into madness. With Lady Ursula threatening to make good her promise, Palmer has less than a day to intervene and rescue the egg.
In the second episode, two friends are in a cemetery and they open up a door between worlds. One of them disappear while the other becomes tight lipped and refuses to talk about the event. Seven years later, Palmer comes to investigate at the behest of the mother of the missing one. He encounters the god of the hedges who tells him that Joseph of Aramethea could help him end his state of immortality.
In the third episode, a secret society of occult practitioners hunt for a young girl who is a lycanthrope. They put her in a cage and perform experiments on her. The leader of the society is however interested in a bigger prize: the Pilgrim himself. Not only does Mankind's reluctant hero have to confront his hunter but he also has to free the young girl held captive.
In the last episode, Joseph of Aramethea is held captive by an evil angel called Malachai. The Pilgrim must fulfill the angel's orders and murder Joseph. This would trigger the awakening of King Arthur's army- a premature awakening that would lead to their destruction, leaving the Angels free to dominate Albion and destroy all magical beings. Can the Pilgrim find a way to save the day?
The Pilgrim comes off as a kind and compassionate person, pensive and reflective. He is quite reluctant to get involved in problems that involve politics between realms. It is necessary for the powers that be to exert a lot of pressure to get him involved in their intrigues. However, when it comes to helping those who are helpless, he jumps in without hesitation. Weary of his immortality, he is quick, almost desperate, to look for a way to achieve death- a weakness easily exploited by some. Knowing of the supernatural strengths of his enemies, he is however, fearless in encountering them.
As I said, Sebastian Baczkiewicz has become, within a few hours, one of the writers on radio that I am going to keep an eye on. If you are into tales of the supernatural, Pilgrim is definitely a drama series worth listening to.
Pilgrim is available as a pod cast on BBC iPlayer on BBC Radio 7
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