A nightmarish talkshow, a terrible day at the office and… well… a little light murder? Ish? Are all in a day’s work for Torchwood One.

This ridiculously strong collection hits the ground running with Tim Foley’s ‘My Guest Tonight’, a Sapphire and Steel-esque story focussed on renowned talkshow host Nigel Best. Played with ebullient, Lynam-esque cheer by the always excellent Jon Culshaw, Nigel is the last of the talkshow gunslingers. He throws mostly good natured barbs at the audience, makes sure his guests know he’s in charge and… that seems to be all he can remember…

From the opening moments to the close, this story in particular showcases what a great sound designer can do and Hrycek-Robinson is great. The claustrophobic, artificial space of the talk show is brilliantly realized and the increasingly frantic location shifts all land perfectly. It’s also a chance for Tracy-Ann Oberman to have what sounds like a Lot of fun as a wide variety of guests. Culshaw too is on top form, and there’s a real dramatic weight and pathos to Nigel. He’s a monster, that’s clear, but he’s also a victim and the story never lets us forget that, even if he tries to. The end here is especially effective as Foley takes everything you expected to happen and upends it to finish on a haunting, oddly inevitable note.

Rochana Patel’s ‘Lola’ is about the office day from Hell, or it would be if anyone could remember. Starting with something as minor as a slightly odd coffee it spirals out into the sort of paranoid, Bodysnatchers-esque nightmare that Torchwood One stories excel at. Gareth David-Lloyd is superb as Ianto and Patel’s story catches him at a pivotal moment. This is one of the points where Ianto’s idea of himself (suit, tie, precise) collides with the reality (actually a little bit Welsh rock and roll) and both are needed to survive here. He’s not so much a reluctant hero as a cautious one and David-Lloyd’s work, always excellent, is on absolute top form here.

Brilliantly, he’s not alone. As well as Oberman getting to go a little bit Evil Queen, Timothy Bentinck and Blythe Jandoo both get chances to shine. Bentinck’s Tommy Pierce is a glorious Northern arsehole; grumpy, scathing and absolutely dedicated. Jandoo’s Kayleigh is brilliant, perceptive, overlooked and sick of it and the pair of them spark off each other and Ianto brilliantly. I hope we’ve got a lot more Torchwood One in the future because this trio in particular is massive fun to listen to even if they’re having a deeply lousy day at the office as this most assuredly is.

And this brings us to ‘Less Majesty’ by series producer and all-around genius James Goss. This is farce. This is Torchwood as farce and I barely have the words for how fantastically well it works. From the moment Yvonne wakes up next to a (carefully never named) worryingly familiar, regal corpse to the ending the story only ever sprints faster and gets more frantic. Ianto, then Tommy are called to assist and, well, kind of do? Mostly? Tommy’s pretty convinced Yvonne’s murdered HRHe who must not be named while Ianto just wants to help (and maybe have a spot of cheeky hotel food too). The three of them bounce off the walls and each other in a manner that’s one part Morecambe and Wise, one part Three Stooges and all incredibly good fun.

There’s some exceptional Tommy material here especially and you’re laughing right up until the cold, earned and very Yvonne Hartman ending. The effortless gear shift into that also proves once and for all just how versatile Torchwood as a concept is.

Verdict: Farce, thriller, body horror and impressionistic nightmare. All in one boxed set and all in a day’s work for Torchwood One. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart

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