Torchwood: Fall To Earth by James Goss (CD review).

‘Fall To Earth’ sees the return of the amazing Torchwood executive assistant. Yes, Ianto is back and he’s in superb form. It’s been a long cold lonely time and Ianto was rather dramatically and not without many a tear killed off in the otherwise excellent ‘Children Of Earth’. This story is obviously set before that.

Ianto likes to keep busy and it seemed like a good idea to keep an eye on the first privately financed space flight. After all, one of his key skills is serving excellent coffee. The SkyPuncher is financed by Ephraim Salt and he’s on board with some celebrities to enjoy the champagne and the coffee. There’s a small problem, though, the spacecraft is falling to Earth and the only one who can stop it crashing is Ianto and piloting wasn’t included in his barista skills. He’s on his way out until he gets a call from someone who wants to sell him insurance. He just has to keep them on the line. But time’s money.

This is a fantastic tale from James Goss and Big Finish and it’s beautifully executed by the two actors, Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones) and Lisa Zahra (Zeynep). There is real build of tension and an unknown outcome to some extent. It feels like Torchwood probably because writer James Goss has previous form on books and audios and, of course, it couldn’t be down without the performance of the two star players ably directed by.

The conversations between Ianto and his ‘caller’ are the core of the audio play and its intensity is carefully measured build up is just right. There is plenty of drama but it incorporates light relief in humour and word play. It manages to critique modern life at the same time.

All in all, a very enjoyable hour spent with the old team and much missed Ianto.

Sue Davies

November 2015

(pub: Big Finish. 1 CD 60 minute story. Price: CD: £ 9.99 (UK), Download: £ 7.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-78178-918-6)

cast: Gareth David-Lloyd and Lisa Zahra

check out website: www.bigfinish.com