A believer in a cult self-immolates – and his last words are Jack’s name…

Guy Adams’ triple-CD story is set during the show’s second season, when things are beginning to come to a head. The relationships between the team members are rocky, with no one fully trusting each other, and Owen, in particular, feeling on the outside because of his highly unusual physical condition. When it seems as if Jack is keeping secrets from them – yet again – and there’s a threat from a cult who believe that mankind’s future is among the stars, it’s Owen who takes charge and sends the team to investigate.

The extended running time – think of this in many ways as Torchwood: The Movie – allows Adams to give each regular character a strong thread, with some character analysis that the TV series inevitably didn’t get as much time to feature as one might have hoped. The scenes between Owen and Tosh in particular are very well observed, and now that Burn Gorman is caught up in the Big Finish Torchwood world, it’s great that these areas can be delved into utilising the talents of Gorman and Naoko Mori rather than having to be done as reported speech.

There’s a lot of interesting discussion about the nature of faith and belief, and the responsibilities of those who are placed in positions of power within such communities (if the title hadn’t already been used, I’d’ve thought ‘Broken’ would have been appropriate). There’s also a more nuanced than usual discussion about aliens and the role of – and necessity for – Torchwood itself. By the way, don’t worry if it seems as if one key Torchwood member is getting short shrift as the story progresses – there’s good reason for their absence for part of the time, and it’s more than made up for in the final act.

Verdict: A strong tale that adds a great deal to Torchwood’s second season. 9/10

Paul Simpson