When a God comes to Cardiff, the world goes to Hell.
6.1 Future Pain by James Goss
Torchwood pick up the pieces and move on. After all, there’s a whole new set of alien threats to deal with.
While Yvonne Hartman is asserting her authority as the new leader of Torchwood, Jack Harkness is hunting an alien god in the sewers – but what’s he really hiding from?
6.2 The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood by Guy Adams
Brent Hayden. To some he’s the darling of the alt-right, to others he’s a far-left crusader. A lot of people watch his videos, hang off his every word. Crisis actors? Conspiracies? Black Ops? Brent knows you deserve the truth. And Brent’s come to Cardiff, because he’s going to expose Torchwood. Don’t forget to Like and Subscribe.
6.3 See No Evil by John Dorney
Cardiff goes blind.
There’s a hunter out there in the darkness. With no escape, and the screaming getting louder, Jack Harkness and Yvonne Hartman each set out to save the city in their own ways.
6.4 Night Watch by Tim Foley
The Black Sun has come through the Rift. When it visits, sleep comes with it. Orr is the guardian, appointed to watch over the city while it slumbers. What will they find as they wander the streets?
Who are the lost souls, trapped with their demons? Who are the ones fighting even sleep? Who are the broken meeting their dreams?
James Goss has written two Torchwood novels and a radio play, as well as a Being Human book. His Doctor Who audiobook Dead Air won Best Audiobook 2010. James also spent seven years working on the BBC's official Doctor Who website and co-wrote the website for Torchwood Series One. In 2007, he won the Best Adaptation category in the annual LA Weekly Theatre Awards for his version of Douglas Adams' novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
Although titled as if it were a new series, this collection carries on directly where Aliens Among Us left off. The length of it means that it is, in a sense, an imagined ‘sixth season’ for the TV show, where its predecessor was the fifth, but it’s more like the second half of a 24-episode season in which (as often in such shows) the original Big Bad turned out at the half-way mark to have been hiding a bigger one.
• Future Pain – The first episode sees the characters trying to come to terms with the fallout of the previous cliffhanger. The focus is largely on Colchester and his husband in a mostly sedate tale about love and loss, and different people’s reactions to it. This alternates with a less successful and more traditional story about an alien leech monster which, even at this stage, is obviously a misdirection away from the real villain of the piece (whose brief appearance is, it has to be said, well-played). There’s also a thread that’s simply wrapping up the plotline of the previous ‘season’, ending it all in a bit of an anti-climax, sweeping things clean for the new plotline. It’s a necessary link between that season and this but, taken on its own, it’s a bit of a muddle. 3 stars.
• The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood – From that, we move to something that’s closer to a comedy in style. This is about an alt-right vlogger who believes that they have stumbled across the truth about Torchwood and wants to bring the organisation down by shining the light of publicity on it. The episode will likely not sit well with anyone who has sympathies with the alt-right viewpoint, since it so thoroughly denigrates its ostensible protagonist, a stereotyped loner with a persecution complex. Taken as a black comedy about a rather pathetic man completely out of his depth, though, it works well, especially when it slips into his fantasies about what Torchwood and its agents are really like. The connection with the larger plot arc is minor, but this works as a one-off change of pace. 4 stars.
• See No Evil – Another strong, although largely standalone story as Cardiff is mysteriously plunged into darkness. The story is stylistically dark as well as literally, with the disaster suddenly bringing out the worst in ordinary people and a number of gruesome deaths adding to the atmosphere. Obviously, it’s the sort of story that works better on audio than it could on video (a sort of reverse of ‘Hush’ from Buffy), although Big Finish have done similar things before, even if here, it’s more exploring a pessimistic view of human nature than fear of an unseen menace (although there’s that, too). Hartmann is at her cold and calculating best, while Jack shows his more positive and heroic side in a story that nicely contrasts the two. 4 stars.
• Night Watch – No sooner has one crisis ended than another starts as, this time, the city falls peacefully asleep. For differing reasons, the various main characters of the series manage to fight it off and there is, once again, a threat from a monster. But it’s a non-physical threat that allows us to explore the characters’ flaws and past traumas – one grieving for the death of a lover, another seeking refuge in drugs and meaningless sex (and no, that isn’t Jack), and so on. This makes it a particularly effective story, despite the relative lack of action, and the fact that none of these internal problems are really resolved by the end. While there is a resolution to the episode’s central plot, there is also a cliffhanger ending that leads into the next part of the series. 5 stars.
6.1 Pain by James Goss Si riparte poco dopo la fine di Torchwood: Aliens Among Us - Part 3, con qualche triste conferma... per ora... Si collega qualche punto e si prepara la scacchiera per il nuovo set. 6.2 The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood by Guy Adams Apparentemente slegato dal soggetto principale della serie, ottima disamina delle istant star di youtube & co. 6.3 See No Evil by John Dorney Episodio che non avrebbe reso sullo schermo, essendo ambientato al buio. Buona interazione tra Yvonne e Andy, mentre ci sarà una sorpresa nel fiale per il povero Colin Colchester-Price e passaggio diretto a... 6.4 Night Watch by Tim Foley Dopo la notte senza fine, tutti dormoni a Cardiff. Sonno indotto da un misgterioso sole alieno passato attraverso la frattura. Yvonne, Jack e Ng cercano di collaborare, senza esito, sfruttando un artefatto che simula una overdose di caffeina. Colin, prima di addormentarsi, continua a non credere alla visita appena ricevuta (non posso fare spoiler, ma potete immaginare chi sia tornato). Orr vaga per la città, cercando strane creature, favorendo la sparizione del sole e il risveglio di tutti, e operando con una misteriosa donna che si rivelerà essere più pericolosa di quello che sembra. Per finire in bellezza Yvonne decide di risvegliare qualche vecchio componente di Torchwood 3... un nome che farebbe la gioia di molti fan. Ma, per fortuna, chi arriva non è chi si aspettano tutti.
Buon colpo per l'inizio della sesta stagione di Torchwood, continuo a sostenere che la BBC dovrebbe sfruttare la Big Finish anche per la serie ufficiale.
I'll admit I enjoyed Torchwood Aliens Among Us a lot more than I thought I would, it wasn't perfect by any means sure. But when the stories were great, they were truly spectacular. God Among Us is the main reason why I wanted to listen to the continuation stuff as a lot of the stories in this series sound incredibly interesting to me and I've been dying to find time to listen to it all. So here we are in 2024 and I finally have time!
Future Pain: God has arrived, but hundreds of people across the city have died in its arrival. Mr Colcester is one of many casualties and now Colin his grieving husband is left behind to attend his funeral. However, a vampiric creature sensitive to time is on the loose and it'll do anything to feed on the future pains of people in Cardiff. Is this creature god, or is something more terrifying hiding in the shadows?
I wasn't too impressed with how Goss concluded Aliens Among Us, but I'll give him credit for the start of God Among Us because Future Pain was brilliant. A very emotionally impactful story dealing with the fallout of Herald of The Dawn, it's a story that concludes the Sorvix arc left open from the last series, whilst also starting our new one with their so-called God. It is a story with so much going on, a vampiric entity on the loose, Yvonne Hartman scheming in the shadows, and Colin grieving over his husband at the funeral. Despite how many elements this story is juggling, James Goss has done an amazing job bringing them all together in a satisfying way. 10/10
The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood: Brent Hayden right-wing conspiracy theorist running a podcast has a mission, with help from Tyler Steele it's up to him to destroy Torchwood and expose them all for who they are.
I'm honestly surprised by the mixed reviews on this one because I honestly thought this audio by Guy Adams was fantastic. It's very blunt sure, but it's fascinating to see this series deal with a right-wing nutcase who runs a podcast, and what fantasies he finds himself in to help justify his bigoted views. I know some people took issue with some of the acting, but honestly, the acting being hammy and over the top in the fantasy scenes I thought was pretty fun, especially since that's pretty much the point. A fantastic story with a very brutal ending. 9/10
See No Evil: It's a normal day in Cardiff... that is until the entire city becomes blind. Something is picking off people in the darkness and it's up to Torchwood to stop it. But the team will be put to the test for no matter how much you try to deny it, we're all afraid of the dark...
John Dorney has written an incredible script that could only work on audio and he utilizes it brilliantly. Everyone in the city becoming blind leads to some chaotic and creepy scenes throughout the narrative. It's a very atmospheric and unsettling story that challenges all the characters in new ways, whilst also helping along with their respective character arcs. An outstanding story that is both unique and terrifying and for me that's when Torchwood is at its best. 10/10
Night Watch: The people of Cardiff are forced into a tired slumber and something haunts their dreams. A black sun has descended over the city and it's up to Orr to help those who need her, for she walks the night and only she can protect the city whilst the people sleep.
Tim Foley has written a terrific script that despite some unsettling scenes and very dramatic moments that have characters up against one another, it's quite a calm and laid-back type of story that ends (for its time) on a surprising cliffhanger. 9/10
Season 6 starts right off after Season 5 and it's such a brilliant ride. I still feel a bit overwhelmed with all the cliffhangers, but let's see.
Future Pain - 5/5 After all the cliffhangers from the finale of last season, this was not what I was expected. I didn't expect a funeral episode and I did not expect the Sorvix storyline would go as it now did. This episode did have an alien threat, but it was more about the characters which is always a huge plus. Also Colin is turning into one of my characters by now, his speech was certainly the highlight of the whole episode. Great start into the new season.
The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood - 4/5 This episode is quite different to all the others, since Brent Hayden - blogger and conspiracy theorist - is the main character in the episode with a bit of Tyler Steele on th side. With things going on nowadays, on one side it felt done a bit way over the top, but eerily real at the same time. Do you ever wonder about fake news, conspiracy lies and things are created? Take a tiny bit of truth and spin it into some totally crazy shit. And there will always be people believing it. You really have to pay attention to the story since its jumps back and forth in time, real world/fantasy world without much notice. I think it was a great way to tell the story and it was a hoot to listen to the team in the twisted way Brent Hayden imagined them. The end was brutal, I'm really not sure how I feel about that, but how far fetched is it really?
See No Evil - 5/5 I think this story has a really fun concept since this is audio and we as listeners don't really see anything while the stories unfold. So the whole city goes blind and our heroes see as much as we do - nothing. Just imagine this happening - instant and total chaos. Best thing of the story is, that while the story goes on it divides into two pairings that really odd, but also absolutely awesome: Yvonne/Andy and Jack/Colin. Especially Yvonne and And - despite being SO different, have such great chemistry, I hope we get a lot more of that in the future! Jack's conversation with Colin in his apartement was really cryptic but I liked Colin's talk about people being invisible. Oh and - bloody cliffhanger!
Night Watch - 5/5 What a night for Cardiff! So, Night Watch is a direct continuation from See No Evil. Everyone's parts were really really great, so many emotions everywhere.. I kinda felt overwhelmed when the story was finished. Finally some interaction between Jack and Ng, I really feel so sorry for Tyler, his life is seriously out of control. Orr had such a wonderful journey keeping the city safe and Colin..... that cliffhanger made me shout out loud in frustration! I really like how Yvonne gets more and more depth. I can see now that she really is good and inventive solving problems. But so far even she fails to get any order into Torchwood Three. And that final cliffhanger.. cannot wait what that's all about.
I enjoyed the first box a lot. While Season 5 focused more on the bigger picture with the Sorvix in Cardiff, Season 6 concentrates more on the character developement on the main characters. And that's great!
Torchwood Gods Among Us Part 1 - 4.25/5 stars 6.1 Future Pain by James Goss - 5/5 stars A dark opening where the main villain from the previous set is killed at the end. There’s a finale moment with Gwen and Rhys, a fight with God, and a beautiful bit where Colechstors husband has a bit of a yell about how angry he is about his husband's death. This is a great opening with a lot of character drama. 6.2 The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood by Guy Adams - 3/5 stars An interesting character piece with a dark ending. 6.3 See No Evil by John Dorney - 4/5 stars All of Cardiff is blind as a creature hunts down everyone. There’s some follow-up to Colin (Colchestors husband) and some character drama between the will they won’t they Yvonne and Andy. This ends with a shocking moment where Jack and Colin are kissing and… GASP! Colchester is alive? 6.4 Night Watch by Tim Foley - 5/5 stars Three character dramas tied together with Orr saving the world. Colchester and his husband have an emotional talk about the aftermath of his death. Tyler dealing with the feelings of being unwanted. And Yvonne finding it hard to trust Ng and Jack. God and Orr’s conversations are great in this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Une suite tout aussi ambitieuse que la saison précédente et ne déçoit à aucun moment. Cette première partie de saison (4 épisodes) touchent énormément les questions de deuil, notamment avec la mort de Mr Colchester et de départ (celui de Gwen, mais Ianto revient souvent thématiquement). On a affaire à une équipe brisée, hostile à l'un·e/l'autre, sans confiance et chaque personnage est coincé dans ses propres problèmes qu'ils n'arrivent pas à résoudre ce qui menace l'ensemble de l'équipe.
Il y a des développements intéressants et inattendus, Yvonne Hartman trouve un quelque sorte son Ianto dans un autre personnage, et des personnages comme Orr trouve quelques développements même si ses directions sont multiples et sans conséquences sur les épisodes suivants (je pense qu'il y a une solidification du personnage nécessaire, mais c'est peut-être dû aussi à sa condition d'existence même de ne jamais être vraiment défini pour iel-même).
Wow definetly one of the best Volumes of the Among Us series. So immersive and the stories are incredible. For a die hard Torchwood fan this makes my heart so warm but shoots it dead at the same time, as you never know what is going to happen yet.