Torchwood: Sync

Big Finish Torchwood #27

by Lisa McMullin

Torchwood vs Monsters!

Margaret Blaine is the Mayor of Cardiff. She’s also an alien who’ll do anything to get off the planet Earth. When a spaceship crashes outside Cardiff, it seems like the answer to her prayers. But she’s not the only person at crash site.

Suzie Costello works for Torchwood, but strictly to her own agenda. When a spaceship crashes outside Cardiff, it seems like the answer to her prayers. But she’s not the only person at the crash site.

Bonded by an alien device, Margaret and Suzie find themselves on the run from Torchwood, the police, and six warp missiles that’ll destroy them, Cardiff, and most of the Western Hemisphere.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Media Tie In

Audio CD

First published May 22, 2019

Reviews

[Taksya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torna Suzie Costello, prima che inizino ad ucciderla ripetutamente, e torna Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen, nei panni del sindaco di Cardiff Margaret Blaine.
Indira Varma e Annette Badland sembrano essersi divertite nell'interpretare questa avventura per la Torchwood della Big Finish o, per lo meno, è quello che sembra ascoltandole.
La trama è la classica de La parete di fango. Mentre cercano di impossessarsi di una navetta aliena, Suzie e Margaret si ritrovano incatenate e a rischio di morte.
Mentre cercano una soluzione non rinunciano a cercare di uccidersi a vicenda, divertendosi molto nel farlo, tanto da diventare quasi amiche prima della fine. Quasi...

Ottima riuscita per Torchwood, la mia simpatia per entrambi i personaggi non ha di certo influito sul gradimento...

[The Post Monument · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third release in the "Torchwood versus Monsters" quartet is the only one to deal with a monster unique to the modern series of Doctor Who. The story is set between World War Three and Boom Town, and centres around Suzie Costello meeting Margaret Blaine/Slitheen during the latter's brief stint as mayor of Cardiff.

It's a sort of buddy story with the two forced to work together to save themselves and, while there are moments of peril and action, the focus is really on the interactions between the characters. This is written well, filling in some background for both Suzie and Margaret and how their lives parallel one another more than one might think. Annette Badland is particularly good as Margaret, mostly in her human persona, condescending towards humanity yet not entirely unsympathetic.

Having said that, this is a fun story, rather than anything particularly deep. Nor is it one for those who only like action-filled or complex plots since what's going on is relatively straightforward and largely consists of a trip across the outskirts of Cardiff. But it is entertaining and the acting is great, which raises it up a notch and just gets it into the four-star territory.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A ride of emotions where Suzie Costello from Torchwood and Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen from Raxacoricofallipatorius meet at a spaceship crash site in Cardiff. Hijinks ensue as the two try and kill each other. This one was really fun, it uses these two complicated characters from Torchwood/Doctor Who and pairs them together where they sort of understand each other, it uses a lot of comedy and banter but once they get past all that these two people are very sad with their lives and hope to find something better. With hindsight, sadly, we know this doesn't happen for either of them.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun piece.
After the false start in Aliens of London, Margret became a great character in Boom Town.
This audio drama is more Boom Town than Aliens of London, and the two main characters play off each other wonderfully. It all comes together as a fun romp.

[Danny Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Torchwood Monthly Range reminds me of why I miss the Doctor Who Monthly Range so much, even though the stories are always going to be varied in terms of quality, it's nice to have a pick and mix to choose from. Only having the Torchwood one now feels rather depressing. Sync is the last story from the Who villain tetralogy (they did a few years back) that I needed to listen to and I'm finally giving it a go!

Margaret Blaine, Mayor of Cardiff is excited when a spaceship crashlands in the middle of Cardiff, finally, she can get away. But when Suzie Costello arrives on board, the two find themselves linked together, and with missiles on the way all of Cardiff is in danger. They need to find the missing pilot and fast before the city is destroyed.

Lisa McMullin has written a really fun comedic prequel to Boom Town, which is admittedly a bit of a runaround but it makes up for it with the humorous dialogue and the very interesting and unexpected chemistry between Suzie and Margaret who make for quite a fascinating duo. It was quite frankly hilarious to see what attempts they would make throughout the story to try and kill one another.

Overall: Nothing amazing, but I like how it gives us more of an idea of who Suzie and Margaret are as characters outside of their individual TV stories. 8/10

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun little plot, bringing back two of the Who and Torchwood originals: Suzie Castello and our Slitheen Mayor of Cardiff!

I have such fond memories of those Doctor Who episodes, (this one set between world war three and boom town) so to see Annette Badland reprising her role as Margaret Blaire was a treat. She’s such a brilliant actress and along with Indira Varma, made for a greatly executed episode.

The Mayor is wanting off this planet and when an opportunistic alien space craft crash landed, she seizes the opportunity but meets her match in Suzie. Each become bound to each other in ways they couldn’t have foreseen and what follows is a fun, forced proximity, combine forces to prevent the annihilation of Cardiff kinda get up and it made for an entertaining listen. 3.5

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Susie Costello goes to investigate a crashed space ship and runs into a Raxacoricofallapatorian named Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen (A name that exists purely so David Tennant can say it really fast) who goes by the human identity of Margaret Blaine. They fight, run away, get chased by aliens, try to kill each-other and ultimately team up. This should have been fun, but generally just mildly annoyed me. I didn't feel it added a lot to the character of Susie or Margaret. It's a mildly entertaining diversion, but not much more than that.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is a crossover, pairing Torchwood's Suzie Costello with Margaret Blaine/Slitheen from the revamped Doctor Who television show. The overall tone is humorous with a touch of physical humor. And the pairing of these two characters is interesting as Suzie has lost her moral compass and the Slitheen are outright evil.

[Marcel Driel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one! Pity there’s no more Suzie cause Indira is always a blast. Matching her up with Annette Badland’s Slitheen was a stroke of genius in this Torchwood version of Midnight Run. Four and a half stars.

[John]

Suzie Costello and Margaret Slitheen is such an odd team up but it works so well. Great chemistry, character work and the actors ability to slip back into these roles after a more than a decade makes this worth your time.

[Saffinkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

two bad bitches outgirlbossing each other. slay!

i loveee both charas so bad, and them interacting was just wonderful, but i feel like they overdid the "girlboss slayqueen boots mama" bit, to the detriment of deepening their characterisation. : (

[Debra Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susie investigates a crashed space ship.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover looks nice, at least.