[3] Spencer wrote in the Vertigo column "On the Ledge" that the city "constantly barg[ed] into the story uninvited", informing in the process the "right narrative voice" for the Vinyl Underground series.

Gane summarized the series as being "set in London and featur[ing] an ad-hoc group of self-appointed detectives who become embroiled in occult-tinged crimes with a strong supporting cast of mobsters and so on".

[4] Spencer stressed that it was "not just a detective thriller about a bunch of graduates hanging out in an abandoned underground station investigating occult crime", but also featured the city of London as a major 'character'.

Shepherd is aided by Perv (Callum O'Connor), an ex-con clairvoyant "whose seizures give him clues to crimes long before the cops", Leah King, a morgue assistant who moonlights as an internet model/pornstar, and Shepherd's ex-girlfriend Kim "Abi" Abiola, an "African tribal Princess in exile" whose witchdoctor father is accused of the murder which becomes the group's first mystery.

[3] Living in an abandoned Underground station, the group investigates occult crimes in a manner evocative of fellow-Vertigo character John Constantine, providing anonymous tip-offs to the police force through D.S.