London, England, the 1890s. Queen Victoria, ruler of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, has arrived for her annual inspection of the Torchwood Institute. This year, everyone is quite determined, nothing will go wrong.
Several minutes later a terrible creature is unleashed on the streets of London. No one knows where it comes from, what it is, or even why it’s on Earth. It’s ruthless, has no morals, and is quite unstoppable. Captain Jack Harkness is on the loose, and Queen Victoria is along for the ride of her life.
TORCHWOOD: THE VICTORIAN AGE
After a tremendously successful first series of Torchwood audios, Big Finish embarked upon a well-deserved second. The first story in the second series, “The Victorian Age” by AK Benedict, features one of Jack’s adventures as the head of Torchwood Cardiff near the time Queen Victoria founded the agency. Unlike its predecessors, “The Victorian Age” doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and as a result it feels like a bit of a step down. The Queen (Rowena Cooper) herself shows up at Torchwood London one day while Jack is there and announces a surprise inspection. And so, for the next hour, we listen to Jack and Queen Victoria chase a dangerous alien through the streets and tunnels of London. Jack is his usual mix of flirty and serious, but the Queen is presented as some sort of modern deity. She has a perfect, witty response to any challenge, she takes the bizarre completely in her stride, and she can win anyone over in a matter of minutes. She’s never been in a public house before? Within five minutes, she’s got the entire dining room eating out of her hand. Never visited the Underground tunnels? Here she is, rallying citizens to her banner and comforting those who have lost loved ones. It helps that Rowena Cooper gives a first-rate performance throughout, sharing great chemistry with John Barrowman, but it starts to feel one-note after a while. Still, not every Torchwood story needs to be emotionally harrowing, and there’s nothing wrong with starting a series off with something a bit more lighthearted. “The Victorian Age” made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion, and I’m not going to complain about that.
Recommended.
7/10