BRASS: The Origin Story

As we move BRASS into the strange new world of TV pitching, we’ve learned to anticipate a new question: “What’s your origin story?” In this context the question doesn’t mean “where do your characters come from?” but “where does your story come from?” That’s often tough for a writer to answer. Sometimes it’s an itch you can’t scratch, or an … Read More

BRASS Episode #35: Fellow Travelers

The intrigue continues as Gwendolyn goes street peddling, Cyril has a romantic ocean crossing and Lady Brass meets with the infamous leader of Edinburgh’s Chinatown, Madame Hao. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

BRASS: The Devil In Whitechapel Episode 1

Crooks and Nannies: Lord and Lady Brass pay a visit on a grieving widow, and find themselves drawn head-first into the mystery of a missing child. Cast List Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

BRASS Stacks 3: The Mysterious Case of Miss V., by Virginia Woolf

The late 19th and early 20th century were the golden age of the ghost story. Some of the greatest tales of the supernatural were written at this time, including masterpieces by Sheridan Le Fanu, Algernon Blackwood and M.R. James, as well as short stories by such heavyweight novelists as Dickens,  George Eliot, and Henry James. A surprising name on this … Read More

BRASS Stacks 2: Tobermory by Saki

For our second BRASS Stacks, we are featuring one of the greatest short story writers of the pre-War years, H.H. Munro, who wrote as Saki. This brilliant journalist-turned-short story writer was one of the great wits of the Edwardian age. Orphaned at age 2, Munro was raised by his grandmother and a household of puritanical aunts. (In both his comic … Read More

Back in the Stacks

Even more than Victorian history, the world of BRASS is inspired by the fiction of the 19th and early 20th century. Literary creations like the Phantom of the Opera and Sherlock Holmes rub shoulders with Tesla and Oscar Wilde in our story, creating a mash-up of fiction, history and alternative history which samples from each. This period was the flowering … Read More

BRASS Episode 19: War On All Fronts

Ponder and Cyril have a conversation, unwanted guests are rather insistent, and Lord Whitestone performs an aeronautical feat. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Steampunk Primer: Why Dirigibles, Anyway?

One of the iconic images of Steampunk is the dirigible airship, either rigid (a zeppelin), rounded (a blimp) or some imaginative variant. Along with top hats and corsets, these inflatable aircraft are part of the basic vocabulary of alternative 19th centuries—and that includes in BRASS, where the family returns to London in Episode 1 aboard such a ship, and are … Read More

Costermongers or Costermob?

Is there a word more redolent of the bustle and hustle of a Victorian London street than “costermonger?” In the popular imagination, these barrow-sellers of fruits and vegetables (among other items) are “cheery chirpy Cockney chappie” figures, best known for singing and dancing about in colorful rags and scenic grime in films like Mary Poppins and Oliver. But the truth … Read More

BRASS Episode 17: Unwanted Callers

The enemies are at the door, and Gwendolyn and Cyril make a trip across the street as things get stickier. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS