TEXT: EXT. STREET, NIGHT Workers trudge up the cobbled street away from the mills, their tall chimneys belching smoke. MAN: (V.O.) If I have not returned in an hour, you must fetch the police. INT. FACTORY, HALL, NIGHT In the hall, a young WOMAN is with a MAN. WOMAN: Edmund! (kisses him) EDMUND: Don't fret, Effie, my dear. All will be well. But we must get to the bottom of this dark and queer business, no matter what the cost. EDMUND walks down the hall to the door at the end. There is a round window in the door and we can see a red glow. He looks back at EFFIE before going through the doorway. Almost as soon as he had gone through, the lift arrives. EFFIE turns around to see a number of women exit, all clad in demure black gowns with black bonnets. EFFIE: Mrs Gillyflower! In the centre of the group is an older woman, MRS GILLYFLOWER. She speaks with a local accent. GILLYFLOWER: We have come about your husband, my dear. A tragedy. EFFIE: My husband? GILLYFLOWER: Your... late husband. EFFIE: There must be some mistake. My husband is quite well. An agonized scream comes from behind the closed door. EFFIE looks at the door before turning back to face GILLYFLOWER. The woman has a look of feigned concern on her face. GILLYFLOWER: We are so very sorry for your loss. EFFIE screams as the other women advance towards her. INT. MORGUE, DAY The CORONER lowers the sheet from the body to reveal it to EDMUND'S brother, Mr THURSDAY. EDMUND'S skin is a deep red and his face is set in terror. CORONER: Hell fire! That's put me right off me mash. Another one! THURSDAY: (holds handkerchief over nose and
SUMMARY:
Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax investigate the mystery of the "Crimson Horror". Bodies have been found completely red, with a substance on them Vastra recognises from before the Silurians went into hibernation as the venom of an ancient leech, in a diluted version. An investigator shows Vastra optographs , one of which shows the Doctor, screaming. As Sweetville, run by Mrs. Gillyflower, proves suspicious, Jenny is sent to investigate and find the Doctor. She succeeds, finding him a victim of the venom, but still alive; he quickly reverses the process for him and Clara. Confronting Mrs. Gillyflower, they discover "Mr. Sweet" working with Mrs. Gillyflower is one of the leeches; she plans to use his venom to preserve humanity by making a rocket with it explode. However, the rocket goes off without the venom on board, thanks to Vastra and Jenny. Mrs. Gillyflower falls to her death, after being revealed to have tested Mr. Sweet's venom on her daughter, and Mr. Sweet is crushed. Once Clara is back home, she finds that the Maitland children have found photos of her from her travels, along with a picture of Victorian Clara.