Owen Harper gets landed with “Corpse Day” duties – assisting PC Andy with cold cases. But sometimes things aren’t as cold as anyone would like…

Burn Gorman finally returns to the Torchwood fold in one of the blackest scripts that Big Finish has produced – although it’s totally in keeping with the TV show on which it’s based. James Goss’ story begins with some dark humour derived from Owen Harper’s situation as one of the “living dead” but when Owen and Andy investigate why someone is buying so much dog food when they don’t have a pet, they make a horrifying discovery.

One of the less pleasant elements of researching my new book on serial killers was reading the accounts of those who were kept prisoner by such sadists, and I suspect Goss has delved into many of the same texts. The situation that Owen and Andy discover is all too realistically portrayed – and that’s before you add in the presence of Sonny! Nigel Betts never goes too far as Glynn, while Hannah Maddox, Alex Tregear and Rhian Blundell give credible and creditable performances.

Gorman and Tom Price as Andy make a strong combination and hopefully the announcement of the new Series 5 of Torchwood won’t mean an end to these interstitial adventures for the older Torchwood teams.

Verdict: A dark and disturbing tale. 9/10

Paul Simpson