Off With Their Heads!

Story Overview: 1793. The world is in turmoil. The Enlightenment principles of freedom, equality and democracy are sweeping the globe. America has won its independence and now France is in flames. The monarchy has been overthrown, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette have been beheaded, aristocrats are being marched to the guillotine and citizens are being denounced almost as sport. Friends turn against friends, servants turn against masters and wives turn against husbands. No grudge is too small, and no one is safe. Robespierre heads the Committee of Public Safety, which is anything but safe, and installs the Republic of Virtue, which is just another word for Terror that spreads to every corner of France. An intrepid team of time travelers wades into this cauldron to solve the mystery of “The Rose,” a valiant French Marquise who was Washington’s top spy during the Revolutionary War. And while what they learn is shocking, it will pale in comparison when the characters from “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and “A Tale of Two Cities” surge to the forefront and turn a simple trip back in time into a harrowing scramble to save their heroes to make it out alive. Tone & Style: Propulsive time-jumping thriller set during the Reign of Terror where insanity and bloodlust rule the day under the menacing shadow of Madame Guillotine. And while the tone is often hilariously comical as characters from vastly different centuries forge crazy friendships and jell as a team, there are many tense moments of life-threatening danger, terrifying mishaps, shocking revelations and breathtaking bravery and sacrifice as obstacles mount and plans go awry. The raw emotional power A TALE OF TWO CITIES, the cunning multiple identity mischief of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, the high tension espionage of TURN and the sly period antics of THE SERPENT QUEEN and THE GREAT combine in a rambunctious, highly cinematic and gripping tale of love, devotion, honor and courage in an age where passions run hot, revolution reigns, anarchy is rampant and the fashions are fabulous – if your tailor hasn’t betrayed you. Imagine the thrills if "A Tale Of Two Cities" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel" gave birth to a wild time travel adventure set in the darkest days of the French Revolution. That's the premise when an intrepid team of time travelers goes back to investigate a letter written by George Washington praising the heroics of Dani Bonvouloir, a mysterious Revolutionary War spy codenamed "The Rose." Things get off to an exciting start as Becky and Matt race each other across time and Laramee tags the treasures in the tomb of Ramesses II, narrowly escaping the the Indiana Jones boulder of death. As the team reunites at their mansion on the Massachusetts coast, Dr. Peter Straub, head of the Philadelphia Project time travel program, arrives with Washington’s letter, which was found in an old Colonial house in New Canaan along with a distinctive mantel clock and a gold signet ring bearing the seal of The Rose. The mission: go back in time and find Dani, who was the young Marquise de St. Cyr, so they can hear her story firsthand and find out what she did during the RevWar to earn Washington’s praise. Straub says Dani served the Patriot cause from 1778 to 1780, but something happened in 1780 that caused her to return to France before the war ended and it’s unclear when she returned to New Canaan. So in order to find her, they may have to go to France. Turner wants no part of the French Revolution but Laramee and the rest of the team are thrilled by the prospect and the kids eagerly bone up on “A Tale of Two Cities” and ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel” to get ready. Equipped with specially modified phones called tPods that can take them anywhere in time and change their clothes to fit the era and tCam pendants and stickpins that record video directly into the tPods, the team starts in New Canaan in 1792, a year before Washington wrote his letter. But when they arrive at Dani’s house and a caretaker tells them she still hasn’t returned, going to France is the only option – to Turner’s dismay and the team’s delight. Paris, 1792. The French Revolution is well underway and the two great novels come to life as Percy Blakeney and his band of heroic young Englishmen are busy saving aristocrats from the guillotine while Sydney Carton is planning to switch identities with Charles Darnay and die in his place. Dani, now a famous actress under the name Danielle Duvalier, meets Percy at the Comedie-Francais and is shocked by how much he reminds her of the foppish Percy Blifil, a character she played with stunning success when she spied for the Americans fifteen years before. The time team arrives at Chateau St. Cyr and meets Dani and her former spymates Noah and Bonnie and after deftly breaking the ice and overcoming their skepticism that they really are from the future and mean no harm, Dani recounts her story in a vivid, extended flashback. The time team is stunned to learn that Dani and her spymates foiled Benedict Arnold's treason, which would have won the war for the British and ended America’s hopes for independence. Dani had fallen in love with John Andre, the young British spy chief and tried desperately to save him when he was trapped behind American lines, but Andre was captured and Arnold fled to the British. Dani begged Washington to spare Andre’s life, but when Andre was hanged in late 1780, Dani quit Washington’s service in a rage and returned to France a broken woman, suffering deep guilt over her failure to save Andre’s life which still grips her fifteen years later in the form of suicidal depression. But there’s more. The team is further shocked to learn of Dani's recent encounter with a very real Percy Blakeney, and Dani is shocked to learn that Percy is really the notorious Scarlet Pimpernel. Turner is terrified when he learns Chauvelin was there too and warns Dani that if Chauvelin suspects she’s friends with the Pimpernel, she’ll go to the guillotine. But Dani brushes it off, confident that her position is safe. Laramee can't believe his fictional hero Percy really exists and when he proposes going to England to meet him, Dani, Noah and Bonnie insist on coming along. Meanwhile in Paris, the prim, ruthless Robespierre berates Chauvelin for not having caught the Pimpernel. Chauvelin admits the Pimpernel has been a clever adversary, but has deduced he and his League are English aristocrats raised by French nannies, which is why their French is so fluent. Impressed by Chauvelin’s deduction, Robespierre sends him to England to investigate. We move to a party at Blakeney Manor near London where the worlds of "A Tale Of Two Cities" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel" collide. Laramee, dressed exactly like his hero Percy and imitating him to a T, performs a hilarious version of “A Dedicated Follower of Fashion” that brings down the house. And when Kate meets Percy’s dashing lieutenant Lord Tommy Lyons and realizes he’s her grandfather, the emotional joy is magical. But it’s not all sweetness and light. Percy is callous towards his French wife Margo because he mistakenly thinks she’s helping Robespierre and Chauvelin, and Margo doesn’t know that Percy’s the Scarlet Pimpernel. And Dani, who’s sworn to keep Percy’s secret identity secret, is torn between her growing affection for Percy and her friendship with Margo, which goes back to their days at the Comedie-Francais. And it gets worse. Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette from “A Tale of Two Cities” arrive and grimly recount how Sidney Carton switched places with Darnay the night before his execution and went to the guillotine in his place. Carton’s heroic sacrifice has a deep impact on Dani and Percy and both wonder if they’d have to courage to do what Carton did to save the life of someone they loved. We move to an even bigger party at Lord Grenville’s where Turner, Percy and Laramee, playing Percy's twin brother Ramsbottom, befuddle Chauvelin with a barrage of foppish silliness. But Chauvelin is determined to find the Pimpernel and blackmails Dani and Margo into helping him, threatening to expose Dani as the Marquise de St. Cyr and Margo with arresting her brother Armand, who is secretly a member of Percy’s League. Back in Paris, Tommy is shot and captured trying to rescue Armand and Chauvelin, thinking Tommy’s the Pimpernel, throws him in La Force. But Turner and Laramee know that if Tommy dies Kate will never be born, so posing as undercover cops Crockett & Tubbs, they befuddle Robespierre and Chauvelin in a tour de force of deception, learn where Tommy is being held and using their tPods, spring Tommy from prison and get him safely back to England. But Percy doesn't know Tommy's been rescued. And remembering Sydney Carton's heroic sacrifice, Percy surrenders himself to Chauvelin in exchange for Tommy's life and gives him his Pimpernel signet ring as proof of his identity. As Chauvelin and Robespierre celebrate Percy's capture, Dani also remembers Carton's heroics and in a breathtaking act of courage and deception, Dani switches identities with Percy hoping to make amends for failing to save John Andre. Things have spun totally our of control. As Dani goes to the guillotine pretending to be Percy, Becky zips back in time and grabs the Three Musketeers. The combined teams stage a daring rescue in central Paris and whisk Dani to safety, but Becky and Matt’s tPods malfunction and send them and the Musketeers careening through Parisian history, narrowly escaping the Nazis, the Phantom of the Opera, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and "The Da Vinci Code's" Silas before hilariously landing in the chorus line at the Moulin Rouge. Percy, Margo, Tommy and the League reunite in London and Percy and Margo forgive each other for doubting their devotion. But Laramee needs to neutralize Chauvelin once and for all and using lewd pedophile pictures photoshopped by Matt, Laramee blackmails Chauvelin into leaving Dani alone and plucks Percy’s Pimpernel ring from Chauvelin’s desk and drops it in his pocket. But the danger’s not over. A few months later, a crazed mob burns Chateau St. Cyr to the ground and Dani, Noah and Bonnie escape with their lives and return to New Canaan. And on July 4th, 1793, Washington’s letter to Dani finally arrives praising her heroics during the Revolutionary War, which helps Dani comes to terms with her failure to save John Andre and start living her life again. But one more surprise awaits. As Turner, Laramee, Kate, Becky and Matt enjoy a July 4th picnic at their mansion in Massachusetts, Dr. Straub arrives with a special guest --- Noah! Having read their report and realizing that Noah was a man far ahead of his time, Straub went back to New Canaan and offered him a two-year stint with the Philadelphia Project so he could see the future for himself. Everyone’s delighted to be together again and as Turner reflects on his new understanding of Dickens’ immortal words “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times,” Laramee and Kate slip the Rose and Pimpernel rings worn by Dani and Percy on their fingers, knowing they have big shoes to fill to live up to their legacies.