5.5 Love Rat by Christopher Cooper
Captain Jack Harkness is dead, and that’s the simplest thing that’s happened to him in the last few days. Even the manner of his death is surprisingly complex, especially when it turns out that he hasn’t come back alone.
While Torchwood try and cope with a new mayor and a terrorist cell, they also have to deal with what, at first, looks to be a plague, and then turns out to be something far, far worse.
5.6 A Kill to a View by Mac Rogers
Ritz Towers is a luxury tower block so exclusive not even aliens can get a place there. Mr Colchester has somehow secured a flat at the Ritz. With the streets increasingly troubled, his husband feels safe there. The problem is that Ritz Towers is anything but safe.
For a start, the building has more tenants than it has flats. Then there are the endless dinner parties. The whole new definition of upwardly mobile. And finally, there is the very mysterious caretaker.
5.7 Zero Hour by Janine H Jones
Welcome to Deliverables. Thanks to us, Cardiff is enjoying an economic miracle. We have created thousands of jobs. We have wiped out homelessness.
More importantly, there are so many benefits to you. Deliverables will deliver your post, your packages, your meals. We are Deliverables, and we never stop.
Deliverables – we always know where to find you. Deliverables – put your life in our hands.
5.8 The Empty Hand by Tim Foley
An innocent refugee has been shot point-blank on the streets of Cardiff. It causes an upsurge in terrorist attacks.
An innocent refugee has been shot point-blank on the streets of Cardiff by a policeman. It’s a catalyst for protests in the streets.
An innocent refugee has been shot point-blank on the streets of Cardiff by Sergeant Andy Davidson. It’s the end of Torchwood as we know it.
TORCHWOOD: ALIENS AMONG US: VOLUME TWO
I admit I wasn’t expecting the “fifth series” of Torchwood, Aliens Among Us, to be quite this effective. Yes, the characters were created under the aegis of Russell T. Davies, and yes, the writers and production staff involved are quite talented, and yes, the Big Finish monthly series is excellent – but despite all of that, this new series has easily surpassed all but one of its predecessors and has me quite excited to learn the final outcome early next year.
The first story in the set, “Love Rat” from Christopher Cooper, deals largely with a disease that makes its sufferers uncontrollably desire sex. We saw something similar to this in the TV series, but it’s handled more adeptly here – after a surprisingly graphic opening sex scene, we find Jack waking up in a morgue. From there, the Torchwood team has to work backwards to find out what happened, while Jack somehow manages to be even hornier than usual. This eventually leads to an unwise dalliance with Gwen – but then of course it’s not Gwen at all, it’s “Ng” possessing her body. We get a glimpse of Gwen’s internal monologue at that moment, and it’s predictably amusing – but I’m curious to see any potential fallout. We also look into Gwen’s home life with Rhys, and how he can’t seem to relate to her any longer – we know that it’s because she’s been possessed, but Rhys just thinks Torchwood has caused a permanent change that is slowly wrecking their marriage. The actual plot of this story is resolved rather quickly, but the character work more than makes up for it.
The second story, “A Kill to a View” by Mac Rogers, is probably the best. Colchester and his husband Colin have moved into a luxury apartment building with a horrifying secret: the residents can move into nicer units if they murder the current occupants. It’s a twist reminiscent of “Paradise Towers,” except here the caretaker isn’t Richard Briers, it’s Bilis Manger! Yes, he’s at it again, using the tower block as a conduit to open the Rift and allow something through that will remove Earth’s new alien inhabitants. Rogers executes these plot elements with a deft hand, but the real strength of the story is in its characters, Colchester in particular. Here we see three distinct layers to his character: the gruff exterior, the kind-hearted husband on the inside, and, deep down, the cold-blooded killer that emerges when his family is threatened. Paul Clayton is fantastic in this story, making Colchester possibly the most interesting member of the Torchwood team. I don’t know if Rogers has written anything else for Big Finish, but based on this they should be signing him on for the long term. Utterly magnificent.
The third story, “Zero Hour” by Janine H. Jones, offers a very Torchwood take on the modern gig economy. I was a bit confused by the opening, in which Tyler is smitten by Hasan (Sacha Dhawan), a deliverer – it makes a deliberate point that events are repeating themselves in identical fashion, then never mentions it again. Is this supposed to be a comment on mundanity or did they just edit out a plot thread? In any case, once the story gets going, we follow Tyler as he infiltrates Deliverables, an Uber-like service for package delivery. Employees pick up packages from a central distribution hub and follow precise directions to deliver them as quickly and efficiently as possible. Inefficiencies are punished either through docked pay or (because it’s Torchwood) through murder. Jones’ commentary is very smart: the employment opportunity provided by the service is challenged by the brutal working conditions and the utterly unforgiving supervision. I like the revelation about the true nature of the company, and I like how easily Tyler gets wrapped up in his work. It’s very much “what if Torchwood met Black Mirror” in all the best ways.
Lastly, there’s “The Empty Hand,” by Tim Foley. This is a very traditional whodunit – Andy Davidson is confronted with seemingly incontrovertible proof that he murdered a refugee in cold blood, but has absolutely no memory of even meeting the victim, never mind murdering him. What follows is an in-depth look into Andy’s mind – Gwen tries desperately to exonerate him, Rhys keeps an eye on him, and Jack works toward his own goals in the background. Unfortunately, this story isn’t as deep or interesting as some of the others – yes, we learn that there’s a dark side to Andy, but it’s not all that dark, and the resolution to the whodunit is very straightforward. It’s not that Andy is a two-dimensional character, it’s just that this story doesn’t give him much shade, which is a shame given all the attention focused on him. More interesting is the conflict between Jack and the rest of Torchwood – he’s pursuing his own agenda, they don’t really trust him, and he’s audibly sick of being the one in charge. The cliffhanger that follows is stunning, and hopefully the resolution will remain free of gimmickry.
Scott Handcock directs all four episodes, with the sound design coming from Steve Foxon and the music from Blair Mowat and Steve Wright. Volume 2 is a significant step up from Volume 1, which was very good in its own right. I’ve raved about Big Finish’s Torchwood stories since they started, and if “Aliens Among Us” can stick the landing, it might establish itself as the best of the lot. This is excellent audio drama and well worth hearing.
9/10