Torchwood The Lost Files review

This is a collection of three original Torchwood adventures that were broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

As this is Torchwood, the stories vary widely in quality, but when they are good, they are absolutely brilliant.
As these stories are set before the events in the Children of Earth storyline, they feature (and this is a massive spoiler for those of you who have not watched that particular series) Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones.

First up is The Devil and Miss Carew, which is a pretty good tale, and it is always good to have my favourite Torchwood character, Rhys, played as always by Kai Owen, take centre stage in a tale.

Next comes Submission, and apart from a wonderfully punny title, it also provides a unique location – a deep sea submersible (you see what they did there?). As befits the location, this story is high on claustrophobia and as befits Torchwood, it is also fairly low on internal logic. Still this is a solid tale.

The last story in the set, The House of the Dead, is far and away the best of the bunch. I had by this time, resigned myself to this being a pretty by the numbers affair, and the fact that the wonderful Eve Myles takes very much of a backseat in this one did not bode well for my enjoyment.
But then writer James Goss provides an astonishing rug pull just when the listener least expects it, and this story goes from pretty good to essential.

This latest release from AudioGo may be a bit of a mixed bag, but I’d go as far as to say that it’s worth it for the final story in the set alone.

Torchwood Department X review

And so to another Torchwood adventure, read again by Kai Owen, the actor who plays Rhys in the series- although his character appears here only briefly, perhaps to balance out his starring role in Ghost Train!

As I said in the previous review, while Torchwood was not served well by plot (or budget at times!) in the TV series, there was and is still a lot of untapped potential in the concept.

One part of the concept that is used well here (and has been used in the series before) is Jack’s immortality. Not just the indestructibility, which is used here to great and gory effect, but the fact that he’s been hanging around in Cardiff for quite a few decades and in that time has managed to amass enemies as well as friends.

The other is something that I’m assuming is new to the series. I haven’t read any of the Torchwood spin-off novels so don’t know if it has appeared before, but I will say that it is an idea so clever and obvious that I would be surprised if it hadn’t been used before now.

The plot if very good, and while some elements were pretty obvious from the outset, there are a few genuine twists on the way. I was surprised in listening to both this and Ghost Train, to discover that I quite like the character of Ianto Jones, who gets some nice stuff to do and arguably gets most of the best lines.

The only downside to this story came in the shape of a couple of clumsy bits of writing. “He said, tersely” for example. There is no need for that adverb! Surely the actor reading the line should be able to convey the terseness of the line himself..?

And I know that this may just come off as nitpicking to the majority of you… but it sticks out like a sore thumb to the writer part of my brain!

Apart from that niggle though, I really did enjoy this story. If only Torchwood on the TV had the imagination on display here…

Department X is released by Audio Go.

Torchwood Ghost Train review

I sure that most of us can agree that the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood is rather hit and miss. And if we are really honest, it misses more than it hits, although the most recent series, Children of Earth, was very good stuff.

So, it was with some trepidation that I listened to this Audio Go adventure.

The story is read by Kai Owen, who plays Rhys, the long suffering husband of Gwen, in the series. I’m pleased to report that he is very good at it- although his American accent, when he’s doing Captain Jack, is a bit off.

It’s doubly nice that he is reading this particular tale- as Rhys is the main character in the story. There’s a nice through thread as every now and again something crazy happens as he meets Gwen or one of the other Torchwood staff and we see briefly whatever alien invasion they happen to be dealing with at that particular time.

Meanwhile, Rhys is conducting his on investigation into a seemingly mundane mystery at the haulage firm he works for. But of course, we all know that it is not quite as run of the mill as he first thinks.

Things build nicely in the tale, and the second part in particular is very strongly written and well plotted.

Well worth a listen.