Manchester Tales Series

Matthew Hall has a simple theory. Take a patient who is considered to be ‘brain dead,’ or in a ‘constant vegetative state,’ and stimulate the neural cells of their brain. Do it enough times and in accordance with the brain’s own established pathways and the patient could be reawakened from their coma. All he needs to try out his theory is funding, a lab, and a patient. The Corporation also has a theory. Take any ordinary person, render them unconscious, and stimulate the neural cells of their brain. Do it enough times and in accordance with their own very particular requirements and the person could be reawakened as a totally different person, a person who looks and is the same, but now has just the right allegiances and motivations. All they need is a young and gullible scientist with the right know how. It is a marriage made in heaven. The Corporation’s own scientists believe they understand Matthew’s theories and that it will work. They fund his research, doing their own experiments in the background. Now all they need is a test subject. Jayne Middleton has been ‘killed’ in a car accident. Matthew believes that she is still a beautiful young woman who should be treated with respect. For the Corporation she is an expendable asset. But the Corporation’s own scientists are over confident. They make a mistake, and when the experiment proves successful and Jayne awakes, she is not alone. The other occupant of her brain is knowledgeable, sassy, and violent. The battles that follow are not just fought with guns and knives in the real world, but with computers in the virtual world of Jayne’s mind, as the Corporation seek to erase their mistake while Jayne and Matthew not only seek to survive, but to get even. (Includes both the narrative and screenplay versions for comparison.)

Sarah Williams was leaving her husband. The car accident only made the separation permanent. A mix up at the hospital, a misplaced donor card, and an urgent heart transplant goes ahead. But was the right donor used? Alex Williams had found out about his wife’s affair with their American lawyer, Robert McCord. It had been a terrible argument. Sarah had stormed out and driven away. It was the last time Alex saw her alive and his anger is soon matched by his grief. Anger, grief and a terrible outrage. Rachel Carter is young, romantic and has heart disease. For her, the heart transplant is the only answer. But the success of the transplant is only the beginning of her troubles. No sooner is she recovering when Alex sues the hospital for carrying out the transplant without permission. But not only does he want compensation, he wants his wife’s heart back. Why does Robert McCord volunteer to fight Rachel’s court case against Alex? Is it just old rivalry, or are they still fighting for the heart of the woman they both once loved? And why does Rachel think she can feel Sarah’s emotions in the heart that now beats in her own chest? Why does she feel that this dead woman still has something urgent to do? What is the secret that Alex kept from Sarah, the secret that finally broke their marriage? And what has Alex’s daughter, Diana, go to do with any of this?

Five girls, Louise, Chrissy, Jo, Angela and Victoria start their first year at Manchester Metropolitan University together. Most of them are friends from school, while one is new to the group. Louise is shy and introverted, mainly because of her sexuality, which in the past has caused her both ridicule and pain. She has got to know the other girls, but hides her sexuality, scared of ‘coming out,’ but yearning for the soul-mate she lacks. Chrissy, Jo and Angela are avid night-clubbers, but where Jo is only interested in fun and boys, Chrissy has dreams of better things. Beautiful, smart, and with a wicked reply to any chat-up line, she also yearns for the perfect soul-mate. But for Chrissy it must be a rich soul-mate, one who can buy her all her dreams. Victoria is loud, uninhibited, and always at the centre of attention, the life and soul of any party. But Victoria also hides a darker side. She is not just an extrovert, but an utter exhibitionist bent on self destruction. She lives to the extreme, and often dangerously so. On Friday night the girls hit the cafe bars and night clubs of Manchester. It is an eventful night out, a night out that will lead to romance, the fulfilment of young dreams, and for one of them, murder...