I just realised we’ve got a Class thread, but no general Torchwood thread, and being the niche within a niche that I’ve chosen to hyperfixate on I absolutely need a place to just ramble about things.
From the TV shows to the audios to the books, comics, and short stories, Torchwood’s got a lot going on being the third biggest range on the guide (after Doctor Who and Bernice Summerfield (not counting ‘Worlds of Doctor Who’))
We sort of have two main Torchwood threads: @Tian’s Torchwood - who am I supposed to like? and then my Trying out Torchwood Again. Plus we have one dedicated to the many audios: Torchwood Audio Appreciation Thread.
I love Torchwood but it’s never been the same for me since most of the main cast left.
I really need to get back into it, I never finished The Story Continues, need to do that.
Actually that’s something I wanted to ask someone, does anyone know if the story is ever gonna keep continuing?
I checked before making this thread, and while those are there and definitely sprawled into more general discussion, they both started from different places reflected by the titles (plus they’re very much focused on the TV show), and there’s one dedicated to the audios but it’s not for anything outside that
I figured there was still room for one core general thread for general discussion, and to give a place for more cross-media talk.
It definitely will, the latest of The Story Continues (Torchwood: Among Us) only released last year, and we’ve already had Monthlies set after it (Sabotage, Another Postcard from Mr Colchester, Thirst Trap, and presumably the upcoming Reflect)
Torchwood is surprisingly really good at having a consistent continuity, not only does the timeline actually make sense (ignoring some minor dating problems), and you can really see the characters grow and evolve (I could do a whole powerpoint on Andy), but there’s even a bunch of small neat callbacks that cross mediums and publishers.
The Crew of the Ice Maiden, originally created in The Exodus Code (a BBC Books novel), and then later in the Titan Comics (all by John Barrowman), are briefly mentioned in Aliens Among Us, giving reason for Jack not being with them (in a hand-wavy way, but still)
Torchwood India, originally from the BBC Radio 4 stories, is later referenced in The Torchwood Archives, a Big Finish Production. That audio has Rhys mention some missing fridges, something that’s key to the plot of Ghost Train, a BBC Audio audiobook. (All written by James Goss to be fair, but still)
In Red Skies (BBC Audio audiobook), Jack sees visions of Suzie Costello’s three deaths, two of course from the TV show, but the last being in Long Time Dead, a BBC Books novel.
Absolutely understandable, but honestly for me, The Stories Continues teams are right up there with Season 1/2 for me.
‘The Story Continues’ spoilers
Tyler Steel is probably my least favourite of The Story Continues cast, and that’s saying something, I still absolutely love Tyler. His character arc over the few seasons has been great to see, Future Pain and Hostile environment are highlights for his character.
Ng is such an interesting character who you you can’t help hating at the start, but you can’t help loving by the end, seeing her develop as well is really interesting, her relationship with Yvonne especially.
Speaking of Yvonne Hartman, what is there to say, she’s the same character she is on TV (well, no, she’s not, she’s from Pete’s World), but you get to see so much more of her, and her introductory story, Poker Face, was a highlight of that first season for me, seeing her so effortlessly outmaneuver Jack. There’s a subset of Torchwood stories I like to dub the ‘Everything goes right for Yvonne’ stories and they’re all brilliant
Orr, god, what can I say about Orr. They’re just so very Gender™, I love the dynamic they bring to the team, their relationship with God is fun to listen to, and their powerset feels right at home in torchwood but isn’t done overbearingly like it definitely could be
And then last of the main cast, Mr Colchester, god I love Mr Colchester. It’s so nice to have older gay representation and he just balances out the insanity of the rest of the team perfectly. Everything with him and Colin especially is just beautiful, and his dynamic with Tyler, especially how it grows and evolves, is great.
Andy Davidson also gets a lot of great development here, I mean he does through the entire series (again, I could do a full powerpoint about Andy’s role in Torchwood, who knows, some day I might), but yeah it’s in full force here, he finally gets the respect of TW3, and his relationship with Yvonne sounds like a joke, but is fascinating for his character
And then there’s also Norton Folgate (briefly), there’s not too much to comment on his appearance here compared to anywhere else, but I’ve got to say, I do love his dynamic with Tyler, and you get to see him at full force here. This was my introduction to the character and while I think it’d’ve been better with more context, even without that it’s still good
Wow that’s a big spoiler block! Can I read it if I’ve listened to everything but the last box set?
I guess I just need to re-listen and give it another chance. To be fair, Torchwood was some of the first Big Finish I listened to and I was still getting used to listening to audios, and used to suffer from not paying enough attention sometimes. I’d listen while playing Minecraft which I know now is not good, I need to be doing mindless chores or walking to really pay attention!
Oh yeah definitely, to be fair I don’t think there’s spoilers in there for anything past Aliens Among Us, but being careful and all
Eh, I listen to them while gaming as well, but obviously whatever works best for you!
I’ve never thought to listen to audios while gaming but I might try it. I tend to play Lego games which can get a bit repetitive when you’re searching for that last mini-kit in a level you’ve already played twice. I anticipate, though, that I won’t like doing it that way.
Genuinely though, Torchwood is so close to being an all time great episode
It’s the one cyberman focused cybermen TV story since 2005, and I think it handles the conversion aspect to well, plus it does The Last Sontaran thing where it’s following the lone surviving monster from a TV story (already great having that interconnectedness), giving that monster a connection the the main cast (for some incredible character drama), and showing how deadly even just one of that monster can be in an incredible fashion.
I love Cyberwoman so much I’m considering changing my username here to Cyberwoman. Unfortunately I feel that might get me gendered in certain ways. There should be a badge for rating Cyberwoman 5/5 called “Cyberwoman Advocate” so I can stick that under my name so everyone knows all the time.
Bop! (Extremely obvious that it was written for Taylor Dayne…)
I’m 3 eps into TV, about 6 into big finish audio range.
I adore Ianto. He’s just brilliant at everything.
This is the best DW spinoff imo- cus it feels like its own thing for the mostpart.
YEAH!!!
Nice to see the positive attitudes towards Cyberwoman. I agree that it does cyber-conversion very well and addresses the core horror at the centre of the Cybermen as a concept (something that many Cyberman stories miss). It, in my opinion, is indeed close to being a stone cold classic but the elements that drag it away are problematic and I can see that, for some, they’re a step too far. I always enjoy this episode but, equally, will always see it as a missed opportunity.
Just finished the first of the Torchwood books, Another Life, which gets a resounding meh from me.
Another Life has a great start, but it just slows down to a crawl and there’s parts of it that really don’t work for me. Everything to do with Second Reality just has that vibe of people who don’t understand online culture trying to write about it, seriously, an in game item that reveals the real names and emails of people you look at in game, that’s an extreme privacy violation. Also while I can believe Tosh using alien tech to make things more high-res for Owen, no way would it work for other people who use an an item Owen owns.
There is some really great character stuff in there, especially towards the start. The chapters from the Alien’s POV give great insight into how it works and what it’s thinking which I really love, and there’s a great moment at the beginning where Owen is getting at Gwen for caring about people who die… but it all falls flat later.
For a story that’s meant to be focusing more on Owen, the elements you learn about his backstory don’t quite gel with what you see on the TV show. To be fair, my main problem is with the idea that Owen was always like how he is now, running from a relationship because he didn’t want to commit, which isn’t the fault of the story because it was written pre-fragments when you see more of him pre-Torchwood, but it’s an element that doesn’t really work now. We also don’t get enough time with him at all after Megan’s death, which is a real shame given how much focus she’s given in the story.
The ending also felt a little weaker for me with the use of Second Reality to stop Owen, and Jack’s immortality stopping the alien (somehow?) (it’s not really clear why the alien couldn’t just stay in his body as he comes back?).
But overall, there was enough enjoyable here for me to give this a 5/10, I like a lot of the character stuff, and the mystery is pretty fun, but yeah, overall mostly ‘meh’
7 episodes into the monthly range.
Here’s my ranking -
I have also started listening to the Torchwood Main Range!
I listened to some a long time ago when they first came out but don’t remember them.
The Conspiracy was just okay. Fall to Earth was great, I love Ianto!
@shauny @nerdontheinternet I really need to relisten to Fall To Earth, I remember it being good but not like, especially standout
More Than This is my favourite of those first few, I think I was at a point in my life when I first listened to it that helped it really hit, and it became a comfort listen after that
Fall to Earth is just fun, Ianto is brilliant, it’s a clever idea.
The thing letting it down for me and stopping it being a perfect story is the ending, and how they try to tie it up to the main storyline but it means it kinda just doesn’t have a satisfying conclusion.
I’ll see how I feel after listening to some more! I did Forgotten Lives today and it just makes me miss Gwen so much I love her 