Although a spin off from the Doctor Who TV series, Torchwood has never been able to define itself in the same way as its sister show.
Starting out as adult orientated science-fiction when the TV series began in 2006, the show featured Doctor Who regular Captain Jack Harkness as portrayed by John Barrowman with a team of agents ready to defend the Earth from would-be alien invaders.
The series went from adult orientated to edited for a younger audience when the series returned to TV screens in 2008. That year also saw the first Torchwood radio dramas produced before the TV series returned to BBC1 in 2009 with the mini-series Children of Earth.
More recently, in 2011 Torchwood: Miracle Day was produced in America and broadcast both sides of the Atlantic, though seemingly losing the humour and bite of the original series in favour of over complex and edgy storylines.
Torchwood: The Lost Files Features Three New Audio Dramas
No doubt, AudioGO had quite a task to decide which era of Torchwood to set their latest batch of audio tales that would comprise Torchwood: The Lost Files. Thankfully they settled to produce a series of three full-cast dramas that run prior to the 2009 series Children of Earth featuring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper and Gareth David Lloyd as Ianto Jones.
Produced by Kate McCall and Brian Minchin; Torchwood: The Lost Files succeeds in recreating the spirit of the original series, by tying in with the shows continuity up to and including Children of Earth. Gareth David Lloyd's reappearance is of particular interest as his character of Ianto Jones was killed out in Children Of Earth, much to the disappointment of many Torchwood fans.
The collection begins with Rupert Laight’s tale The Devil and Miss Carew which sees the team investigating mysterious events in a nursing home. Gwen’s suspicions are aroused by an octogenarian called Miss Carew who suffers with terminal heart disease but is suddenly fit and healthy again. How is Miss Carew’s electronics company connected with the power cuts sweeping across the nation and who has Miss Carew made a deal with to have her health restored?
The excitement continues in Ryan Scott’s Submission which finds Ianto reunited with an old flame as the Torchwood team go underwater to the Mariana trench after intercepting a distress call. Jack and the team subsequently find themselves at the mercy of an alien that feeds on living beings memories. The Torchwood team will need all their wits about them to return to the surface alive.
Finally, James Goss’ The House of the Dead sees Jack and Ianto investigating a séance at the most haunted pub in Wales. With Gwen seemingly on her way to the action, Jack and Ianto are left to do battle with real ghost’s intent on feeding on human lives.
Torchwood: The Lost Files Features A Return To Wry Humour
Torchwood: The Lost Files makes enjoyable listening and a contributing factor to this is the fact that the three principal actors appear to be having great fun with exceptionally good scripts.
There is also a welcome return of the wry humour which was constantly present in the first two TV series: “Will someone please shoot up the tyres on that alien mini-van before we reach the Severn Bridge?” screams Gwen to Captain Jack and Ianto as the trio are in hot pursuit of aliens in mobile transport.
“Give Me the Plasma Cannon," replies Captain Jack, “I’m gonna blow them into England - then it’s their problem.” looking to instantly defuse the ridiculousness of the situation.
House Of The Dead Is Essential Listening For Torchwood Fans
It is also good to hear Gareth David Lloyd recreate the role of Ianto Jones in these episodes. However, the character’s reappearance in these stories ties in with a remarkably ingenious and clever twist in the final tale which makes House of the Dead essential listening.
All three episodes take the listener via music and sound effects to a variety of exciting scenarios. These adventures also include outstanding performances from guest stars Kai Owen, Erin Bennett, Juliet Mills, Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres and Lucy Davis.
Torchwood: The Lost Files has a total running time of 2 hours 15 minutes and is available as a 3 CD box set or three individual CD releases or downloads from AudioGO.
