The Cult of the Grinning Man is a short story written by Tom Dexter. Released in 2015, it ties into the Lethbridge-Stewart series and tells of Alistair investigating a cult.
Characters[]
- Colonel Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
- Daniel Woodward
- Mr. Woodward
- Major General Oliver Hamilton
- Mr. Quebec
- Dai
- Clare
- April Summerdown/Alyona Lev Levovitch
- Gregory Trefusis
Plot[]
After a training exercise in an abandoned village which ends with, Colonel Alistair meets with Major General Hamilton. The two discuss a cult lurking in the village of Llandudno that worships a being known as the "Grinning Man". Several months before, people within the village noticed a mysterious grinning figure and made into a local legend. A cult was soon formed and after a documentary made by journalist Larry Greene, HAVOC noticed that the missing daughter of a Russian ambassador had been inducted into their number. As the Queen and Prince Philip plan to visit the Llandudno area soon, Alistair is sent to investigate the cult and their new member.
While driving through the village of Llandudno towards Wheeler's Field, a teenage couple named Dai and Clare are surrounded by fog and captured by the Cult of the Grinning Man. Seemingly under some form of mental control by the Cult, Clare walks out of the car and is inducted into the Cult. Around the same time, a local man notices the Grinning Man and calls journalist hoping for a quick buck.
On first arriving in Llandudno, Alistair seeks out one Daniel Woodward to ask him about the Grinning Man. He discovers that Daniel is the teenaged son of a local barman but still asks him about the Cult and lets Daniel guide him to a stone circle used by the Cult as a meeting place. Once at the meeting place (where the Grinning Man is seemingly present), Daniel reveals himself as an acolyte of the Cult and attempts to have Alistair sacrificed. Before he can do this, Dai breaks into the cult's meeting place with a shotgun and demands that they return Clare. During the ensuing struggle, Dai shoots Daniel in the shoulder and the "Grinning Man" is revealed to be Daniel's father in a costume. Once everything calms down, Alistair has the Cult arrested (though Alyona is sent back to London) and he leaves Wales, unsure if he is truly mentally fit to return to duty.
In-universe continuity[]
- This story is set between The Schizoid Earth and Beast of Fang Rock.
- The empty village and Mr. Quebec reappear in Dexter's novel The Analysis Bureau.
- The events of Paul Leonard's Doctor Who novel Revolution Man are briefly mentioned.