The Thrill Electric

Episode 1: The Workshop of the World
Panel One Location Cap: Oxford Road, Manchester, January 1871. Telegraph Cap: W. M. to F.R. Collision on Oxford Road, all stopped, come in by Hyde Road instead. Telegraph Cap: G.W. to O.R. Please meet my wife from the 8:45 train at Oxford Road, I can't get there on time. Traffic horrific. Much obliged. Telegraph Cap: P.F. to B.S. where is our order? You assured next morning delivery and my customer is livid! Emily: Is it always this bad? I'm amazed anyone even gets to work. Emily: Archie? Panel Two. Emily: Archie! Panel Three. Emily: Archie! Are you even listening to me? Archie: EH? Cap: Mr. Archibald Bennett – 'Archie' Panel Four. Archie: Oh. Um. You were saying about your father... on the wire this morning. He's stationed in... Sicily? Emily: It was Malta, Archie. I had no idea I was that boring! Emily: By all means, please go back to sleep! Panel Five. Archie: Sorry Emily. I had a late one. I'm not really used to early- Archie (interrupting): Portland Street? Good job you woke me up! Panel Six. Emily: Ooh, look at all the fancy shops! Dad said I'd love it here… Archie: Cottonopolis, 'Workshop of the World' or Manchester as I call it. Archie: God, my head hurts. Maybe the chemist first, then the Mill.
Panel One. Location Cap: Ancoats. Emily: For God's sake, what a bloody carry-on! You allergic to fresh air or something? Archie: It's- *cough* it's just the smell of whatever it is in that canal. I still feel a bit queasy… Panel Two. Archie: Ah! Here we are. I warn you, it's going to be really, really loud and unpleasant. Emily: The machinery, you mean? Panel Three. Archie: Well, I was talking about my sister... but, yeah, that too. Panel Four. Cap: 'They never stop you know. Day and night every day but Sunday…' Cap: '…and I bet Becca'd drag people out of church if she thought it'd help turn a profit.' Panel Five. Emily: How much cotton does it make? Archie: Three hundred and... something spindles? It's about a tenth of the whole of Manchester, I think. Archie: I… I don't come in that much to be honest. Cap: Charlotte Scott – CS Panel Six. Archie: Hello! Any chance of a kiss for a man about to die? Archie: Only kidding. Well, about the dying anyway.
Panel One. Archie: Rebecca, Sorry I'm a bit late but Emily wanted to see the place and the traffic was… Rebecca (off, bottom right): Come in and shut the door. Panel Two. Rebecca: Mr. Stewart and I are just about finish— Cap: Robert Stewart – R.S. Stewart (interrupting): Mr Bennett sir? It must be you! Panel Three. Stewart: Robert Stewart at your service sir. You're the image of your father sir, the image of him! Stewart: Explain to the young girl here. You'll make her see sense won't you? Panel Four. Cap: Miss Rebecca Bennett - Becca Rebecca: Mr Stewart, your... mistake almost cost this mill hundreds of guineas. Rebecca: If I hadn't checked, your order would have gone out, and we'd be paying for it! Panel Five. Mr Stewart: Please Mr Bennett! It was an innocent mistake! Mr Stewart: You know how it is sir, give us another chance! Panel Six. Rebecca: I've told you Stewart, you've had plenty of chances.
Panel One. Mr Stewart: But, bein' this mill's telegrapher…it's all I've had for these fifteen year, I'll be in the workhouse otherwise! Mr Stewart: I'm innocent! Can't you tell her sir? Panel Two. Rebecca : Innocent? You're a hopeless drunk! A liability! Dad should've got rid years ago! Stewart: You'll be sorry! Old Mr Bennett won't like it! He'll see my side, you'll see! Panel Three. Mr Stewart: You think you're a man's equal but you're not! Mr Stewart: You're a dizzy gasbaggin' tart whose got ideas above 'er station! Rebecca (interrupting): Get out of this office. Right Now. Panel Four. Mr Stewart: I'll show her. Stuck up little cow! What does she know? Thinks she can get the better o' me does she? I'll show 'er… Panel Five. Mr Stewart: …I'll show the whole snooty bloody lot of 'em!
anel One. Emily: Wow. Emily: Awkward. Panel Two. Rebecca : I asked you to do one thing Archie! All you had to do was be there! Rebecca: I knew that old bastard wouldn't take being sacked by woman. Archie: Come on Becca, you're being unfair, I was— Panel Three. Rebecca: Look at you! You're out all night doing God knows what. Spending Dad's money like its water, and earning nothing! Rebecca: What are you supposed to be then? A playboy? Panel Four. Rebecca (inside): Some dashing bloody libertine? Panel Five. Rebecca: I work an eighty hour week and you? You lazy…irresponsible… Rebecca: You don't even TRY! Panel Six. Emily: Look, you two clearly have some, um, issues to work out, so maybe I should go for a wander, see the mill? Archie: No, no, stay! Come on Becca, let's not embarrass Em any more, eh?
Panel One. NO CAPTIONS OR SPEECH BUBBLES Panel Two. Archie: C'mon sis, we'll sort something out, wont we? I mean- Emily (interrupting): Hey, I've got an idea. Panel Three. Emily: I could be the new telegrapher. Anything to get me out of the house. Aunt Mill is...well, she's Aunt Mill! Emily: I use my key every day at home, I'm really fast. I don't make mistakes. Panel Four. Archie: Christ no! No, no, no, Em. Uh-uh. Not going to happen. Archie: Mill telegraphers... well, I mean, everyone knows don't they? Panel Five. Archie (inside): They're fast Em. Easy! Everyone and their Mum knows that. Panel Six. Rebecca: My God. Archie Bennett turned moral guardian. I've heard everything! Rebecca: Stewart's replacement – brazen, sex-crazed, trollop that she undoubtedly is, is waiting outside. Rebecca: Her name is Charlotte Scott. Could you send her in on your way out?
Panel One. Emily: Look, you hate it here. I get that, but there must be something about the Mill that interests you? Emily: There's more to it than paperwork I'm sure! Archie: Oh there is... much more. Every stage more tedious than the last. Panel Two. Archie: You might think it's incredible. I can't stand it. The noise, the filth - its hell on bloody Earth! Archie: And that's before you get to the paperwork. Panel Three. Emily: Well, I think it's amazing. All these people – every job a part of the whole. Emily: It's like... like they're all cogs in a machine. Archie: Well, I'm nobody's cog. Panel Four. Emily: I wouldn't mind it, you know. Having a part to play, a place where I fitted in. Emily: Dad says the army does that. Gives you a place where you belong. Panel Five. Emily (off panel left): Where do you belong Archie? If it's not here?
Panel One. Emily: What's going to happen when your parents get home? Rebecca's worked so hard... Archie: She's fantastic at the job – it's all she thinks about. She's doing a better job than dad even. Archie: Dad... he'll be proud, I'm sure. Panel Two. Emily: But he should be proud of you too! You could make him proud. Emily: I mean… well… what's your passion? What do you want to do? Panel Three. Archie: That's the question, isn't it Em? Panel Four. Emily: Well, I love the telegraph, and Becca loves her ledgers, we just need to find you something like that. Archie: You were serious then, earlier? When you said about wanting a telegraph job? Cap: If you're up for it, I think I might be able to help you. Panel Five. Cap: Archie! If I could work on the telegraph, that would be… fantastic!
Panel One. Location Cap: Angel Meadow. Albert: WAAAH Panel Two. Thomas: Knock harder Jen! The old bag's deaf as a post. Jenny (tallest sister): I knocked hard! I did! Cap: Mr Thomas Shaw – 'Tom Cat' TC Panel Three. Mrs Wagstaff: Y'r mam can't be out toutin' this early can she? Thomas: I don't know where she bloody is, but I'm in work at half past! Thomas: I know you 'ad 'em last week Mrs Wagstaff, but I've no-one else I can ask! Panel Four. Mrs Wagstaff: I've got better things to do than raise some tart's brats you know! Mrs Wagstaff: I've got nothin' in f'r 'em neither. Panel Five. Thomas (off panel left): Please Mrs Wagstaff, it's all I've got. I get paid tomorrow. Mrs Wagstaff: Best you bring it then, or I'm not mindin' 'em again.
Panel One. Location Cap: Electric and International Telegraph Company, Deansgate. Next day Messenger boy: Three local, two London and one international. Messenger boy: Newlyweds it were. Off on honeymoon. Lucky fella too! Panel Two. Messenger Boy: Any news then? J.J. trainin' me up as a clerk or what? Clerk: No idea. If anyone leaves upstairs I'll tell you. Clerk: Gorgeous George might not be stayin' long apparently. Panel Three. Clerk: Anyway, If anything happens I'll let you know. Go on! Panel Four. Balloon: Hello? Can I help? Panel Five. Cap: George Bradley – 'Boy Blue' B.B. George: George Bradley at your service, miss…? Emily: Bagley. Sorry, Emily Bagley. Emily: I'm looking for Mr. Jenks, but my idiot cousin didn't tell me where he'd be. Panel Six. George: Well then Emily Bagley, luckily enough I'm heading up there myself so I'll show you the way. Panel Seven. Emily: Heh, good job you were here, otherwise I'd have been wandering around lost for hours! Emily (quiet): Smooth Emily. Point out what an idiot you are…that's just…perfect.
Panel One. George: Is he expecting you? Jenks I mean, Emily: Well I thought so, but given that Archie arranged it, it suddenly seems really really unlikely. Emily: There's probably a bar manager across town wondering where I am. Panel Two. Emily: Is Jenks all right then? Anything I should watch out for? George: Well, apart from his laudanum addiction and stack of dirty stereographs you mean? George: No, no I'm kidding. He runs a tight ship, but he's fair. Panel Three. Emily: I bet it's amazing, working here in the middle of it all… George: Ha! I'm on the Exchange line. Nothing juicy there, unless you're really into commodities. George: The other lines? Well, they have their moments. Panel Four. George: Mr Jenks? This is Emily Bagley, Mr Bennett's niece. As in Bennett's Mill? Jenks: Ah. That explains th' note from the Bennett lad. Shocking scrawl! Jenks: Y' can send and receive Miss Bagley? Twenty words a minute is what's expected. Panel Five. Emily: I can send twenty five. I talk to dad in Malta every day. He's a Medical Officer. Cap: Mr. Jeremy Jenks – J.J. Jenks: Lasses don't get special treatment here you know. An operator is an operator. That's that! Panel Six. Jenks: When you're online you represent this office. Jenks: Your code should be impeccable, carbon copy everything, and no messaging your mate two rows back. Clear? Emily: Oh, no sir. I mean, yes sir. I-I'll do my best.
Panel One Jenks: Here you go, hub of the Northwest network. More code sent and received here than any office outside o' London. Jenks: Emily Bagley… I've just thought, we've already got a Mr. Errol Bryan works here, so E B is out… Emily: Well, LL is my usual sig. Dad called me 'Lightning Lass' when he taught me Morse and I'm afraid it stuck. Jenks: Lightning Lass, eh? That'll do. Panel Two. Jenks: The international line there can connect direct to Paris an' then on to… well, you name it, Moscow, Cairo, Calcutta even. Jenks: There's nowhere on earth that's far from the wire now. Panel Three. Jenks: You'll probably be sending plenty of encrypted messages, so don't be surprised if they don't make sense. Jenks: Just get it down exactly as it comes and send it exactly as it's written, and you'll do fine. Cap: Grayson Standish – 'Mr Gray' – M.G
Panel One. Jenks: Make sure you get the incoming messages down neat, if our code gets corrupted it costs us money, and I'll dock it from your pay. Jenks: I hope your handwriting's better than your cousin's! Panel Two. Jenks: The clerks bring you messages t' send and take away those you've writ down. Simple really. Panel Three. Jenks: There, I've put you on Bolton. Quick, but nothing taxing. Emily: What? Right now? Is that it? Jenks: What did you expect? Tea and biscuits? Ah Mr Standish, A word if you please! Panel Four. Jenks (off right): Don't give me that! If I say nine then nine is what I expect! Panel Five. Emily: 'They'll probably just give you a tour.' Archie you are a dead man.
Panel One. NO CAPTIONS OR SPEECH BUBBLES Panel Two. Cap: SENSATION CAUSED IN CENTRAL MANCHESTER BY YOUNG SOPHISTICATE. Panel Three. Cap: MEN DRIVEN TO NEAR MADNESS BY RAVISHING DEBUTANTE. Panel Four. Cap: WHEN SEEN LAST SHE WORE AN UGLY GREY SKIRT, AN UNFLATTERING BLOUSE AND A CRUMPLED JACKET. Panel Five. Cap: SHE WORE HER HAIR VERY COARSE AND FLYAWAY, NO JEWELS AND SCRUBBERS FACE. Caption: Florence Borsberry – WF (Winning Filly) Panel Six. Cap: LAST SEEN AT E.I.T.C. OFFICE MANNING THE BOLTON LIN- Panel Seven. Emily: Oh!
Panel One. FX: HAHAHAHAHAHA Thomas: Very mature lads. I'm really proud of you. Panel Two. Emily: Ohhh. How did I not see that coming? Gah. Panel Three. Balloon (off left): You alright miss? Take no notice of Flo, all the new Op's get it… Panel Four. Thomas: …especially the pretty ones. Panel Five. Panel Six. Cap: Miss Emily Bagley – 'Lightning Lass' LL

Links for issue 1

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Page One: Did you know that during the 19th Century parts of Manchester were known as "Cottonopolis" or the "Workshop of the World"?

Manchester Cottonopolis
Wikipedia: Cottonopolis

Page Seven: Sexism and ineqality in the workplace; what was it like to be a woman in Victorian Britain?

Telegraph Girls
Wikipedia: Victorian Woman

Page Twelve: The world's first global communcations system for exchanging text messages wasn't the internet nor the mobile phone but instead was instrumented by those clever Victorians!

BBC News: The Telegraph
Wire Around the World
Victorian Internet

Page Nine: Find out why Angel Meadow was known as "hell on earth":

BBC News: Angel Meadow
Angel Meadow PDF
Oxford Archaeology: Angel Meadow

Page Fourteen: Ever wondered what your name would look like in morse code or wanted to send an encrypted message of your own? Check out this morse code translator:

Morse Code Translator