The SkyPuncher is the first private spaceflight. But Ephraim Salt’s visionary project has gone horribly wrong – the ship is falling out of the sky and there seems no way to stop it.
Ianto Jones thought the flight would be sabotaged. The only problem is… he’s on board.
TORCHWOOD: FALL TO EARTH
If these Torchwood audios continue on this early run of quality, this will be a special range. After the superlative “The Conspiracy” kicked things off, James Goss’ “Fall to Earth” marks the second release, and it’s every bit as thrilling. It’s a simple concept: Ianto is trapped on a crashing spaceship and his only available help is an outsourced telemarketer that happens to call him at the worst possible time. Goss structures events with assured elegance, piling on disaster after disaster without ever veering too far over the edge into silliness. I particularly enjoyed the idea of Ianto being menaced by (essentially) a zombie Richard Branson. The biggest strength, though, is Zeynep (Lisa Zahra), the aforementioned telemarketer, who is both Ianto’s lifeline and his connection back to the real world outside of Torchwood. Zahra’s performance is exceptional, switching effortlessly back and forth between insurance sales and researching spaceship manuals, and by the end of the play the listener is genuinely concerned about her fate. Gareth David-Lloyd is also fantastic, stepping back into the role like he never left it – admittedly, it’s weird to hear Ianto this hysterical, but then again he’s bleeding to death in a crashing spaceship, so it makes sense. Scott Handcock directs, with sound design from Neil Gardner and another fantastic score from Blair Mowat. Overall, “Fall to Earth” is a very strong story with great characters and a thrilling plot.
Highly recommended.
9/10