The Conspiracy (2015)

When it was announced that Big Finish were bringing back Torchwood there was a great sense of surprise. I think that many thought that the show was pretty much dead and buried after the disastrous Miracle Day series that aired about four years ago. This isn’t the first time that there have been radio plays for the show as there was a BBC Radio 4 play called Lost Souls back in 2008 and there were a few more the following year and then some more in 2011. Torchwood is a show that still has potential but I think that Big Finish is the place for it to shine. With the sort of writers at BF’s disposal it was only a matter of time before the high quality starts to shine.

The setup of the story sees Captain Jack investigate a former journalist called Wilson who seems to have become some sort of evangelical talking about aliens. It seems like he is part of the Committee but he soon he admits to Captain Jack that its all a lie. The twist is something that was quite good because I found myself so involved in the story that when it was revealed it was clear that it was building up to something which came a lot quicker than I was expecting.

The story ends with Jack on the run and on the hunt for the Committee. I like the idea of the Committee because it’s a good concept and it makes this feel like it is Torchwood or part of the TV series. With Jack being the only character from the show in the story its quite good how they manage to get around the fact that Eve Myles and Gareth-David Lloyd aren’t in it by having them on the end of a phone call (well Gwen anyway).

The performances are very good. John Barrowman has been playing Captain Jack for a decade and sounds more convincing than ever. When he hasn’t got to deal with the innuendo’s which blighted his character in Torchwood on TV, he is able to play the character remarkably straight faced. This is Barrowman’s first encounter with Big Finish is rather strong and what is quite interesting is that he was in America when he recorded his lines. That is not something that comes across when listening to. Sarah Ovens plays Kate and it’s a rather good character and she plays it well. Oven’s last and first encounter with Big Finish was as The Cell in last years ‘The Highest Science’. I’ll be honest I can’t remember much about that story. It’s quite good how she starts off as the rather downtrodden and loving daughter and then becomes the villain of the piece. This implies that there will be more from Ovens and that’s a good thing cause her performance was enjoyable to listen to and I want more of the character. John Sessions is one of those actors that I had the feeling had been in more Big Finish plays than he actually had. His previous appearance have been in 100 (2007) and Castle of Fear. As George Wilson he plays the role which doesn’t seem to dissimilar to Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network where he has a job and then just goes way off track. The difference is that Sessions plays the role a bit more seriously than the character of Beale. His death at the end seems inevitable so when it happens its not too much of a shock and its done rather well. Last but by no means least is Dan Bottomley who plays Sam and at the start of it he comes across as a bit of a pain in the backside but with his final scene I actually felt sorry for him and thought that he was actually a nicer guy than I had given him credit for. On one hand its was necessary for the plot but on the other hand I think that with there being such a low number on speaking characters it means that loses are more noticeable and I thought that his loss in the end was a bit of a waste.

If there was one thing that I didn’t like about this story then it’s the bad language. There is a bit at the beginning where Wilson is swearing but the swear words are bleeped and that I could deal with because bleeping swear words is funnier and actually more effective than the actual word so when minor swear words are used then it felt like a brief return to the first series where it seemed like the show was trying to be more adult than Doctor Who. That is the only aspect of this story that I didn’t like but if that’s the worst thing that I could find then that gives a good indication as to how much I liked this story.

The Conspiracy is a great start to the new series. David Llewellyn’s script gets things started nice and seems to have managed to iron out all the niggles that seemed to bother me about certain aspects of the show. If only he would write for the main range that would be great because he is a very good writer. Scott Handcock directs this story with a pace that helps the hour long running time fly. This is the sort of Torchwood that I want to listen to and I am looking forward to more and with a second series already announced I suspect that by bank account is going to take another battering sometime soon.