If there’s one thing Yvonne Hartman can’t stand, it’s people getting in the way of what she knows to be the right course of action…

“Yvonne Hartman”’s contribution to the Torchwood main range is a highly enjoyable piece of black comedy that just might have some vague correlation to events in the UK over the past 15 months. Something goes terribly wrong, and those in charge are more concerned with the app, or their own political future, or… If this had been written and recorded this weekend, I suspect one of them might even have been caught breaking the rules with their own aide. I do wonder how well this one will travel for those who’ve not been stuck in the UK, watching as incompetence seems to be rewarded at times, although, as with the best satires, the story holds up on its own terms.

There’s an A-list cast, including Kacey Ainsworth, Tim Bentinck, Lisa Bowerman, Nathaniel Curtis, Denis Lawson and Sara Powell as the various foils to Tracy-Ann Oberman’s driven Yvonne (and don’t we wish, just occasionally, there was someone like her around). Scott Handcock allows the cast the space to let their characters become more than parody – they may share characteristics with certain Barnard Castle visitors and their ilk, but they’re not purely that.

The pseudonymous author should take a bow – the satire is blunt and sharp as required (both internally in the story and in terms of the target outside – I’m not sure the foibles of two Labour leaders have ever been combined quite so effectively before) and Oberman sounds like she’s relishing every moment. Especially “eavesdropping” on the cast interviews in the extras…

Verdict: If you’re frustrated with what’s been going on, then take vicarious pleasure in Yvonne’s trail of terror through the ranks. 10/10

Paul Simpson

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