It’s time to listen to and discuss The Fifth Citadel
Buy it online using the link above, or listen for free - you’ll find links where to listen free on the story page!
Once you’ve listened, talk about it below! Even if you listened to it before and just want to discuss it - dive right in! Just please use spoiler tags where appropriate.
Everyone who participates will get a coveted Audio Club badge!
The Fifth Citadel delivers a strong, atmospheric entry that leans heavily into Cold War paranoia and creeping dread. With Rachel taking centre stage, eerie graveyard and underground settings, and a tragic subplot involving irradiated scientists, the story excels in mood and character. The parallel narratives are compelling, and the themes of nuclear anxiety and moral responsibility are well handled. However, despite its excellent build-up, the climax feels somewhat subdued; a slow burn that never quite erupts into the payoff it promises.
I didn’t remember much of this one, but my I wish I had so I could be extolling its virtues to anyone that would listen.
A really good Cold War thriller with the threat of radiation sickness and nuclear war hanging over the story like the Sword of Damocles. I loved Toby and Rachel descending into the underground and meeting Bridget and her crew and how that part of the story takes little twists as Toby’s true motives keep getting peeled back, layer by layer.
The meeting with Elizabeth bring the glorious Celia Imrie into the mix. I’m biased as she is one of my favourite ever actresses (mainly due to her being part of Victoria Wood’s rep) but she is brilliant in this. Starting as a tragic victim of the government to then becoming a domestic terrorist to, oh my goodness, that ending! And Toby’s desperate attempts to save his friends by using his talents with red tape and procedure only to realise there is only one way to protect London and the world. It’s such a dark ending but fully in keeping with Toby’s slightly amoral character.
Allison and Ironclad’s adventures in the church crypt are fun but with a dark edge, especially Allison’s realisation that she has royally ■■■■■■ up by opening the lead-lined coffin. Karen Gledhill plays those scenes perfectly. (One thing that always strikes me but I always forget to comment on, is how young Gledhill sounds even after all these years. There’s literally no effort needed in imagining her as the young Allison from Remembrance).
Fifth Citadel is one of my top five counter measures stories, maybe even my favourite of all, and given the high quality of this series, that really means something. All the characters are just so good, the Ian and Allison double act as well as the high drama of Rachel and Sir Toby. The whole story is just perfection
Yeah, this was really good! A great thriller, and the stuff in the crypt was amazing.
My only problem with this series is that I keep forgetting who is who. I often have this problem when a lot of the main characters are audio only or mostly audio.
