Rose and Pete arrive on a world where Sir Peter Tyler is responsible for a life-changing invention.

AK Benedict’s contribution to Rose’s dimension hopping is a macabre piece that, had it been put out as a television episode would probably have attracted even more complaints than Steven Moffat’s Death in Heaven – as a listener you cotton on quickly to what’s going on, and the cost that’s paid for Sir Pete’s invention. (Ironically, I was driving back from playing a funeral as I listened!)

This is adult drama, worthy of the same warning prior to its start as many of the Torchwood releases, not simply because of this plot element – which also allows for some black humour particularly when you start to visualise the second half of the story – but also for its discussion of family and what that means to Rose, Pete and Jackie. Camille Coduri has been a lynchpin of this series, with each of the Jackies being both the same and different, and Benedict reminds us that the Jackie that the Pete travelling with Rose first knew was very different from the one that he’s with now on “Pete’s World”. And of course, that Pete isn’t the one that Rose grew up not knowing…

Director Helen Goldwyn mixes the action, plot and character beats well – and this is one of those occasions that you really do need to listen right the way through to when the credits start (the spoken ones, not the theme tune).

Verdict: A dark tale that will resonate long after listening. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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