Victor Frankenstein

You know this story.

The crack of lightning.

A mad genius.

An unholy creation.

The world, of course,

remembers the monster,

not the man.

But sometimes,

when you look closely...

there's more to a tale.

Sometimes the monster

is the man.

I've been with the circus

for as long as I can remember.

Circuses like to think

of themselves as families.

But, of course,

each one has its clown.

Oh!

I didn't have a name

back then.

I was just "the hunchback".

Or "freak",

if you were being kind.

But the truth is,

I didn't hate them for it.

It's hard to judge cruelty

when you've

never known kindness.

Besides, I always

had someone to look up to.

When I wasn't performing,

I served

as the company's doctor.

I became fascinated by

the science of medicine.

Particularly of human anatomy.

I wanted to understand

everything about...

...this internal universe

that makes us who we are.

The brains, lungs,

bones, muscles.

The heart.

I don't know

why the science of life

captured my imagination.

I think

it just helped me escape.

My God!

You really think you're smart,

don't you, eh? Huh?

A real intellectual.

What an embarrassment

that must be!

Oi!

You're on!

Little did I know

that on a chilly

London evening...

...I was about to meet the man

who would change

my life forever.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Witness now

the death-defying feats

of our very own

bird in the sky...

The beautiful Lorelei!

Lorelei!

Lorelei! Lorelei!

Oh, Lorelei!

She can't breathe!

Previous injuries?

Uh, she broke her arm

a year ago

and her collarbone

sometime before that.

Oh! Oh, my God.

Collarbone

is rebroken,

shoulder's dislocated,

causing pressure on the lungs.

She can't breathe.

What do we do?

Nothing, I'm afraid.

Don't have the tools

to reset the bone.

Do you have a pocket watch?

Give it to me.

I'm not giving you...

Do this now or she dies!

Come on!

Wait.

That dislocation is

forcing the sternum

to rest at an

untenable angle, yes?

Yes. Ready?

Set?

Three, two, one...

Yes!

There we are.

You saved me.

Breathe.

Thank you.

That was incredible.

Why are you wearing

that silly makeup?

Well, I'm a clown.

You're not a clown,

you're a physician...

...who just performed

a dry surgery

in less than a minute

with nothing to prepare.

Well, I'm a clown physician.

Don't panic,

ladies and gentlemen!

All part of the act!

You're being wasted here.

I'm with the circus, sir.

You're going to

leave the bloody circus.

What's going on?

You're a doctor, then?

On my better days.

Chiswick Cross Hospital

is just up the road.

I can lead your men there now.

Get her out of here sharpish!

Go out the back way.

Don't want her

upsetting the clientele.

Where are they taking

that poor creature?

Sir! Please,

may I know your name?

Ladies and gentlemen!

The Human Cannonball!

Please, no!

You sneaky rat!

You want to leave? I own you!

I've had enough

of these books!

You belong to the circus!

Burn them!

Please, Master Barnaby,

it's my only thing.

No! No!

Get out of there!

Let that be a lesson to you!

Get in there!

You are going nowhere!

Do you know

what's happened to Lorelei?

Romanticizing, are we?

She's probably gonna die,

you know that.

These city doctors

and their dirty hospitals.

Ow!

What are you doing?

High powered magnet.

Should work. Usually does.

Hold on, sir. You don't know

what he'll do to me.

Don't I?

I can't just leave.

Of course you can.

No, sir, they own me!

You are better than this.

You can be better.

I can get you out,

but you'll have to trust me, understand?

Oi!

Choose now or remain here

for the rest of your days.

Get away from that cage!

You hear me?!

- Open it!

- Oi!

Get him!

He's property of the circus!

Now, the thing is...

He's robbed us!

The hunchback! He's attacked

me and robbed the circus!

Get him!

Get after him!

Don't touch him!

Go!

Got you.

What do we do?

What do we do now?

Oh, sh*t.

How do we get out of here?

You know this place, damn it!

How do we...

Where are they?

Whoa!

I'm not in the circus.

What?

Yes, very good.

Come along!

I've never been

out of the circus before, sir.

Eyes open, door shut.

Coat off.

Coat off.

We're going to slip into something

a little more comfortable.

What's that for?

Next order of business.

No. What are you

gonna do to me?

Absolutely nothing.

Don't worry about it.

Look.

This is going to hurt

just a little bit.

What are you doing to me?

Listen to me!

You are not...

...a hunchback.

Not a real one, anyway. No.

You have an abscess...

causing a fluid pocket,

a rather...

...large fluid sac.

It hurts!

Yes, I imagine it does.

You'd be surprised

how often I hear that.

Oh, looking at the size

of this beauty,

I'd say it's gone

untreated for, oh...

...18 years, but...

...the good news is,

I'm convinced

that if we can drain it...

...in three...

...two...

...one. And pulling out.

Garde a l'eau!

Right.

That's the easy part done.

Easy part?

You're all right!

And up... we... go.

Now, your muscles...

...your bones...

...your entire

skeletal system...

...will be struggling

to reset themselves...

...to return you to

your former ground-sniffing...

...Luddite-bearing posture

of the last...

...18 years.

So, for the time being,

my friend,

you shall have to

wear this rather...

...wonderful back brace

I constructed for Gordon.

Who?

I'm standing up!

That's rather obvious.

I haven't overestimated

your intelligence, have I?

It's just I'm not

in the circus

and now I'm standing up.

Yeah, you said that.

Right!

Library and study are over

there. Kitchen's over there.

I'm standing up.

Your bedroom's on the right.

There's a water heater

and soap in there.

I suggest you use it

to do something about your...

...hair.

I'll be in the basement for

the rest of the evening,

as I have school...

...in the morning.

Make yourself at home,

don't touch anything.

Oh!

By the way, I had,

have a flatmate.

Goes by the name

of Igor Straussman.

Man's a morphine addict.

Idiot. Complete liar.

Thankfully for us,

he's almost...

...never home.

So, should anyone question

your presence here,

you are to say

that you are he.

I'm Igor?

Very good.

"Hello, my name is Igor."

Let's see.

A dangerous hunchback is

detained for the safety

of the public...

...with a determined and

equally dangerous accomplice.

They proceed

to the circus owner's trailer,

where they rob the safe

of its contents.

They make their violent

escape, culminating...

...in the murder

of an innocent man,

and vanishing...

...into thin air.

A fair summing up, Alistair?

Yes, Inspector.

Escape, robbery, murder.

Just as Mr. Barnaby said.

Now here's what

I think happened, Alistair.

A human being

with a spinal deformity

is locked up against his will.

Perhaps a common feature

of his treatment here.

A stranger releases him...

...using a magnet

and tickler...

...as any fool can.

They make their escape

urgently, as they must...

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