Saw a thread of this topic on Twitter and wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts here.
The original focus of the monthly range was new stories from the TV cast set around the seasons of the TV show. However it seems that most of the TV Torchwood team are no longer available for the monthly range (or Big Finish won’t work with them in the case of Barrowman).
This means the actors who are still available (Rhys, Ianto and Andy) feature very heavily in the output. See the recent ‘Iant-ology’ which was 3 releases in a row about Ianto.
This isn’t to say I don’t like these stories or characters. Andy especially is one of my favourite characters and a great example of how Big Finish can give smaller characters a new lease of life.
We also get an increasing number of stories from outside the TV team. The ideas that seem to have stuck are:
- Torchwood Soho stories with Norton and Lisbeth
- Future Torchwood stories
- Colchester and Ace team ups
- Queen Victoria
Wondering if people are still onboard with the range? How do you feel about the attempts to keep it going? Are there any other kinds of stories you want to see or is it time to retire the range?
Personally I’d like to see:
- Stories with the rest of the ‘new’ Torchwood. Tyler, Ng, Orr etc…
- Spoilers for Stranded after Liv leaves the EDAs stories with her and Tania
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While I haven’t listen to much of Torchwood audios, I do enjoy the branching out into new to audio or underused TV characters. I’m excited to dice into the, what looks like, diverse range of stories they have produced. I think, logistics of TV stars aside, the move towards newly written characters has done them a world of good. The TV characters were starting to get a bit played out by the end of Miricle Day.
As for what I would like to see? Maybe a conflict between Torchwood and UNIT as to how to deal with a threat. Not world altering but a box or 3 to really give so more moral greyness to the whole ‘defending earth’ thing.
Written by him too.
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Torchwood was pretty much my gateway into Big Finish, so I have a lot of love for the series.
However I kind of stepped out of it a while ago, not having enjoyed The Story Continues as much as I’d hoped – I still haven’t heard the latest box set. I also really miss Gwen, and I miss Jack (although understand why he’s no longer involved, it’s a shame).
I love Ianto though so I may pick up these new 3 stories. I also love Yvonne Hartman, so if I get back into it I will listen to more of her stuff.
I just feel it has moved on a lot without me, and I do miss the original TV cast. One day I’ll hop back onto it, but time is limited and I’m enjoying more Doctor Who at the moment!
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Torchwood was my gateway into Big Finish as well. I love Ianto, so I was very excited for that Iantology when it was announced, but I haven’t had a chance to get it yet. I would like to see them do something a little different, though.
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Oh that’s a shame I have really enjoyed it. Was there any specific element that didn’t click with you?
To be fair, even in series one you had a Yvonne story, series two had suzie, and series three had The Dying Room and The Dollhouse (though yeah, those were sandwiched in the middle of stories with the main cast.
Also Bilis stories, though not going to get any more of those for unfortunately obvious reasons.
I personally haven’t listened to any of the range since Lauch Date, but yeah, looking at the ones I’ve got left (even the last ones I did listen to) can definitely see the TV cast shrinking.
I’d love to just see some more Torchwood teams throughout time, be it the among us era (Tyler, Orr, and Yvonne especially), more one offs with the soho cast (Madam, I’m was great), or some new teams where/whenever, I really enjoyed Double for example.
I think seeing some more of Torchwood interacting with the wider whoniverse would be really fun too: Tyler and Rani already know each other, a full story with them would be fun, Yvonne and Kate, Yvonne and Mrs Quill, Ng and Martha, etc, hell go very big finish with it and give us Mr Colchester and Jackie
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I only started listening to the TW audios three or four years ago, but I have noticed I’m less interested in the newer stories than I was with the older ones — purely by premise I should say. I enjoy almost all the new characters, but the stories feel less enticing somehow — and personally I’m really missing Owen and Tosh from the range.
Not to say excellent stuff isn’t being released of course! I adored this month’s Missing Molly, for example, but that was also the first time I’ve pre-ordered a Main Range story in a year or so (Sigil was the last, I think). With all the supplementary Torchwood ranges, too, it feels like the Main Range is sometimes taking a back seat — similar to how the Doctor Who monthlies felt as though they languished slightly in their latter years. And just like then, it often feels to me like too much content. So much Torchwood going around, what there is feels diminished in some way — less important? I’d be happy, for example, for there to be no Main Range release in the months where there’s a Soho release, or Torchwood One, etc. One wonders how much spare time James Goss has in a month with all those commitments!
Oh, and I would also love to hear Orr and Ng in the main range. I’ve only heard the three Among Us sets from TW Continues but they were the highlights of those boxsets for me!
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I’d love to see more of Victorian/Edwardian Torchwood. We got a small taste of them in both the show and the EU, but I want more.
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I also feel the part of the reason newer stuff doesn’t seem to resonate as much is the lack of new writers. It’s the same handful of people writing all the stories. Fresh blood would help mix it up a little.
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I guess all the “God among us” storylines I just didn’t really click with, to be honest I can’t really remember what even happened during those, which is pretty damning. I think I just missed the Torchwood Team being in their hub and going out and solving mysteries - it had transformed into something completely different.
I haven’t rated them on the site so I need to go back and re-listen, and rate them, then I’ll listen to the last box set because Gwen is back 
and I am a completionist. But I’m not currently rushing back, too many other stories to listen to instead!
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I know some people hate it when Big Finish mix together characters from the Whoniverse, but I absolutely love it and I would be 100% down for this.
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To be fair I think it’s also because they just havent’ much with torchwood at all, off the top of my head you’ve got:
- Bilis in War Master
- Blon in Sync
- Jo in The Green Life
- Martha in Dissected
- The Ace and Colchester Trilogy
And I think that’s it (not counting Lives of Captain Jack because it’s not torchwood, it’s jack)
As a comparison (because it’s the meme), Jackie is in 3 Lives of Captain Jack stories, a River Song story, and Once and Future (not counting Rose Tyler or 10DAs).
7 torchwood crossovers
5 jackie crossovers
we absolutely need more torchwood ones
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I’d like a whole box set where Jackie wakes up and find she’s somehow mysteriously in charge of Torchwood 
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I never really got into Torchwood. I watched most of Series 1 because I enjoyed Captain Jack in Doctor Who. However, it was too adult for my liking at the time (I was 18 or 19). So, because I didn’t really click with the show, I’ve only listened to two Torchwood audios (The Great Sontaran War and Tropical Beach Sounds), and those were just this year.
Jack(ie) in Time
A 5-part audio drama coming 2025
Eachpart is her waking up in a different part of torchwood to realise she’s replaced the leader, staring with the Among Us years, then to post season 2, pre-children of earth torchwood 3, then torchwood 1, soho, and finish it off with her replacing queen vic
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That’s fair, series 1 is definitely rough, and unfortunately the worse parts are towards the start
Series 2 is solid, series 3 is gold, and the audios are all really good
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Wait hang on, Yvonne and Jackie bc current Yvonne is from Pete’s World
Apparently his new tour is titled ‘Laid Bare’…not sure he’s taken on board what happened!
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I quite like the idea of Torchwood in other eras. The Dying Room is good and I know The Dollhouse wasn’t well received (not heard it yet) but Torchwood in like the 30s and 40s or the 50s and 60s could be good. Or Torchwood in the 80s - that could riff on things like Knight Rider.
Has anyone heard the future-set Ood Torchwood stories because that’s another way they could go.
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The Dying Room was good, The Dollhouse was an alright story, and once I realised that it was a Charlie’s Angels pastiche I quite liked it (too young to realise straight off), but yeah it doesn’t feel like torchwood at all.
Torchwood Soho is the 1950s, and the upcoming Disco is 1987, but yeah, more eras would be really nice
I’ve always thought the way to do torchwood on TV if they ever brought it back would be to have it be 1980s torchwood one, especially how queer it is, with russell overseeing, I could see them touching on the aids crisis in a really touching way with that setting, and also just think it’d generally be a good backdrop for the show
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