Torchwood: Dead Man's Switch

Big Finish Torchwood #33

by David Llewellyn

A devious antiques dealer, a property developer and a heartbroken hairdresser. Three strangers sit on a train that’s going nowhere.

They are joined by a mysterious figure.

Bilis Manger wants to tell them how they died.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published November 1, 2019

About the author

David Llewellyn is a Welsh novelist and script writer. He grew up in Pontypool and graduated from Dartington College of Arts in 2000. His first novel, Eleven, was published by Seren Press in 2006. His second, Trace Memory, a spin-off from the BBC drama series Torchwood, was published in March 2008. Everything Is Sinister was published by Seren in May 2008. He has written two novels for the Doctor Who New Series Adventures: The Taking of Chelsea 426, featuring the Tenth Doctor, and Night of the Humans, featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond.

In addition to writing novels, Llewellyn wrote the Bernice Summerfield audio play Paradise Frost and the Dark Shadows audio drama The Last Stop for Big Finish Productions.

Llewellyn lives in Cardiff.

Reviews

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bilis Manger è stato un ottimo recupero da parte della Big Finish. Stile d'altri tempi e quella ambiguità che riesce a filtrare benissimo anche dal solo audio.
In questa nuova apparizione lo ritroviamo al servizio del Comitato, occupato a portare avanti i loro schemi ai danni di tre individui, non tutti brave personcine.
Lo scenario, su un treno destinato a non arrivare mai a destinazione, è evocativo e i racconti delle tre vittime sono tre tipiche ghoststories, perfette per l'ambientazione.
Tranne che per la presenza del Comitato, nessun altro legame con i vari scenari portati avanti nella serie.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is essentially a set of three ghost stories linked by the presence of Bilis Manger and by Beethoven's "moonlight sonata". The framing device sees the narrators of each story waking up together on a stopped train, but it's incidental to the stories themselves. Each features a very different central character, told in the first person with only brief appearances by other actors apart from Melvin (as Manger).

All three are good stories, creepy despite their short length, and they do a good job of complementing one another. I felt that the third was the best, but part of that comes from the contrast with the first two, building suspense in a way that wouldn't work if you hadn't heard those previously. They aren't gory, being more of the 'spine-tingling' genre of horror, in the style of, say, Tales of the Unexpected although I should note that the result also qualifies as an 'adult' release because of swearing and drug references. I coincidentally happened to listen to this on Halloween, and it was a good day for it; a nice piece of old-fashioned horror with well-written characters.

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torchwood does Tales of The Unknown and it's brilliant, three small creepy stories connected to one big story with Bilis Manger being the center of things. A very eerie story with some spine chilling moments and a shocking ending. 10/10

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Llewellyn can write and the vignettes that comprise this story were well-crafted. However, it felt disjointed to have so many separate stories in a one-hour audio drama. And the lack of a primary Torchwood character made this feel like a throw-away to me.

[Claire Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torchwood does Tales of the Unexpected, what’s not to like?

[Debra Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

People on a train wonder how they got there.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat haunting atmosphere.