Paris during the Nazi Occupation – and SS Interrogator Grau needs to discover what M LeDuc knows about Torchwood…

One of the best pieces of Torchwood that Big Finish has produced to date, Lizzie Hopley’s script for The Dying Room is brilliantly brought to life by Simon Russell Beale and Mark Elstob as prisoner and captor with sensitive direction from Scott Handcock, and strong work across the board from the rest of the cast, sound designer Howard Carter and composer Blair Mowat. Its greatest strength is that the science fiction elements of this are by no means the most horrific aspect of the piece, and listening to a startlingly accurate portrayal of Nazis the same weekend as the horrific events in Charlottesville, Virginia, just brings home how matter of fact evil can be. That’s not to say that there’s not a solid Torchwood idea at the heart of this, particularly bearing in mind the reasons for which the Institute were set up in the first place, and I’d love to learn more about the Torchwood operative(s) we meet in this story.

Beale and Elstob of course bring “baggage” with them for regular audio listeners – one of Beale’s greatest performances in recent years has been as John le Carré’s George Smiley in Radio 4’s The Complete Smiley (something that I heartily recommend to all who enjoy good audio drama), while Elstob has normally been on the receiving end of the interrogation as Big Finish’s The Prisoner. It adds to the real world grounding of the piece, which is one of the most intense we’ve had in some time.

Verdict: Even if you’re not a fan of Captain Jack & co, give this Torchwood story a listen – highly recommended gripping drama. 10/10

Paul Simpson