I find the whole committee storyline frustrating
it doesn’t really go anywhere and is mostly dropped now. Not sure if the plan was ruined by Barrowman’s fall from grace, there was no plan to begin with or the writers just lost interest.
10 Likes
I think the committee are a pretty interesting idea, but yeah, they really did just use up all their ideas at once and then get bored and drop it.
There’s all this build up in the first dozen monthlies, leading to The Torchwood Archive which is great (also sidenote, didn’t realise Colchester’s first appearance was here, that’s neat), but then after Torchwood Archive they basically disappear from the monthlies, there’s a couple of mentions, most notably Deadbeat Escape, but very very rarely.
They crop up in The Story Continues, becoming a big part, especially towards the end of Aliens Among Us through God Among Us, but then after that finished up, it’s one offhanded mention in a monthly (Dead Man’s Switch), and they’re never heard from again, and that was back in 2019, well before the Barrowman stuff.
Maybe they’d’ve had a bigger role in the original plan for Season 7, but that got scrapped because it was about a global pandemic, so we’ll never know i guess, they’re certianly not in Season 7 as it is now.
8 Likes
Gwen and Ianto are the best TW characters imo.
These audios highlight why they are so good for me
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I did really like the arc based thing the monthlies were doing at the start, and I think its a shame it fell off.
Without that and without a lot of the original cast as frequently, the monthlies can feel a little disconnected, I still love them, and there’s some incredible stories, but still just a little disconnected, I do wish they’d introduce some new overarching thread to them, but idk, guess we’ll see
7 Likes
You’ll feel it even more after More Than This
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Sounds like Zygon Century is going to be a series of stories in different times and places all connected into one overarching narrative.
Something like that would work for TW too…
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Absolutely agreed
Especially as they’re doing more stuff with teams across time with Double in the 70s, Art Decadence in the 20s, and the trilogy in the 4000s
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We need more from the 20s team, they were so silly
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I need to listen to the 20s team
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One Rule
This was a lot of fun, I love how posh Yvonne is and how visiting Cardiff she was like a fish out of water. Also she is just perfectly ruthless. Brilliant! The story was just a bit thin.
Uncanny Valley
I know @Speechless said this already in his review but… the box art has no resemblance to the story!
I don’t know if I’ve gone off Barrowman due to recent events or if it’s his performance, or the weird narration, but I’m just not enjoying his audio stories. It doesn’t help that they have always been solo so far. I much prefer all the other members of the Torchwood team to be honest.
This story was alright, some interesting ideas, but lots of “make this sexy for no reason just because it’s Torchwood”!
10 Likes
One Rule is definitely one of the most fun ones from that first set, the Big Finish Yvonne Focus stories are always a great listen!
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If we’re talking about the Torchwood Monthlies, I actually did listen to the first two “seasons” as it were of this.
Season One (The Conspiracy - More Than This) is fine, I guess.
Season Two, on the other hand (The Victorian Age - Made You Look) starts with the atrocious The Victorian Age but is pretty incredible from there on out, peaking with the utterly beautiful Broken.
I was going to get to Goodbye Piccadilly so I could have full context for Torchwood Soho when I got around to listening to it, but got burnt out. Unlike something like The Monthly Adventures, the Torchwood Monthly Range doesn’t have enough variation to support my interest for that long.
I never got round to reviewing Made You Look but I did find it a little disappointing, even with a great performance from Matthew Gravelle.
8 Likes
Pretty much agree, except I’d put One Rule and Fogotten Lives both ahead of The Conspiracy, with One Rule very close to Fall to Earth (yes, I loved it).
Just wait though. You’ve got Ghost Mission still to come, and that’s a delight (at least, I found it to be so).
PC (now Sergeant) Andy and the mysterious Norton Folgate.
9 Likes
I feel the same. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because Jack’s a very static character. Seems to work on screen (when he can look brooding) and with other characters (who develop) to play off.
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I fond it always works best if I listen to something different between Torchwood audios (typically some DW or Gallifrey). Keeps the Torchwood audios feeling distinctive and a bit special.
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I’m a completionist, and I have done 10% of them now so I really don’t think it will be hard for me to go all the way 
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I like Big Finish Torchwood so much! I’m glad we’re getting the continuation of the TV series (I like that, just like Doctor Who, the current cast has nothing in common with the original one). However, when it comes to the Main Range, I have to admit I’m quite disappointed that we’re mainly getting Rhys and Ianto. I still enjoy the range, but I found it much more interesting in the beginning, when it introduced iconic new recurring characters like Norton Folgate, had the whole team and created proper story arcs like the Committee, Owen/Andy, Andy/Norton, and pre-Season 5
11 Likes
To be fair, it’s introducing new characters now as well (Art Decadence), the Andy/Norton stuff is still ongoing (The Restoration of Catherine) though it’s mostly moved over to Soho now.
I absolutely agree that we should get more story arcs though, I’d love for more teams to be introduced across different time spans, and have some ongoing thread linking them all.
We did sort of get mini arcs with the Ianthology and 4000’s team, though that was more a collection of three related stories rather than being actually tied together by anything, more of that would be nice though.
Oh and we’ve been getting the continued adventures of Ace and Colchester too, that’s another arc!
Absolutely need some monthlies with The Story Contines cast though
11 Likes
I’m looking forward to getting up-to-date in the TW monthlies because I still have no idea how Ace gets involved.
I just love Gwen the most though, really hope she is back one day.
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They got her back for one of the latest series of The Story Continues!!
When you get there, I’d reccomend listening to some of The Story Continues so you get introduced to Mr Colchester first. He’s one of the best new characters Big Finish have made for Torchwood and that’s saying something, there’s a scene with him and Tyler Steel (another audio original, he pops up briefly in Rani Takes on The World, I think you’ve listened to that), in a cafe in the first or second episode, and it’s so good. Love their dynamic
7 Likes