Torchwood: Dissected

Big Finish Torchwood #36

by Tim Foley, Freema Agyeman (Performer), Eve Myles (Performer)

Gwen Cooper turns up on Martha Jones's doorstep with a dead body in tow. She needs to ask one final favour of her. And to find out why they stopped being friends.

A lot's happened to Torchwood since Martha left. A lot's happened to Martha since she left Torchwood. And there's something very odd about the dead body Gwen's brought with her.

Tonight Gwen's going to be getting more answers than she bargained for.

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

Audio CD

First published February 18, 2020

About the author

Tim Foley is an artist and illustrator born in Flint, Michigan, in 1962. Over the past quarter century, his clients have included national and international magazines, book publishers, and advertising agencies such as the Wall Street Journal, Cricket Magazine, New York Newsday, LA Weekly, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. He currently lives and works in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews

[The Post Monument · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

[Emilija · Rating 2 out of 5]

2021 52 Book Challenge - November Mini Challenge - 1) A Character In The Same Age Group As You

I think I'm in the minority when I say this, but I really wasn't a fan of this audiobook. It was well voice acted by both actresses, but the plot was long, so long, and I got so bored of hearing Gwen and Martha arguing back and forth. It doesn't help that I'm not really a great fan of either Martha or Gwen, though I do think that Martha was better characterized in Torchwood than Doctor Who.

[mollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️’s* (Outstanding).

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avventura di esordio per Freema Agyeman e la sua Martha Jones nel grande mondo della Big Finish... e si spera non sia l'ultima.
L'accoppiata con Eve Myles, non la penalizza, non mi capita frequentemente di gradire la presenza di Gwen Cooper.
Siamo dopo la fine della seconda stagione di Torchwood e l'episodio serve prevalentemente per riannodare i fili lasciati sospesi dopo la fine della collaborazione tra Martha e la U.N.I.T e il team di Torchwoid 3.
La presenza di un misterioso cadavere, che Gwen è certa nasconda un mistero, è solo una scusa per avere le due nello stesso spazio ristretto e dare loro la possibilità di interagire.
Il nemico alieno è comunque ben tratteggiato e il finale resta aperto per vari motivi, compreso il futuro di Martha e, per questo, incrociamo le dita.

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I can say for all Big Finish fans that this was a release that we were all excited for because Freema Agyeman is back as Martha! And I must say what a great story to start on with for Big Finish!

This is a really errie and spine tingling tale that is oozing with character drama and an impending terror. I think Gwen and Martha as a duo works fantastically and Tim Foley has really written a fantastic story that not only updates the listener on Martha's life after Torchwood and Journeys End but tells a very creepy story that not only sends a chill or two down the spine but is an impressive character drama. 9/10

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gwen and Martha! What could possibly be better than that? This is the first Torchwood audio I've listened to in years and luckily it was a great pick. Marvelous from start to finish. I'd love to hear another Gwen and Martha story, but sadly Freema Agyeman has only recorded one other release from Big Finish, the Martha Jones box set. (Which moves up my BF wishlist after hearing this audio.) I've been a big fan of Torchwood from Big Finish in the past and this makes me think I need to start listening to more of the more recent Torchwood releases.

[Sara Habein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great, an interesting two-hander with just Gwen and Martha. We get see more of what Martha's been up to during her UNIT employment, and Gwen is ready to bash in with her desire to solve odd occurrences immediately. I hope we get more.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The basis of this story is that Torchwood discover a human body near an alien crash site and Gwen takes it to UNIT for a post-mortem... but, as so often with these audios, that isn't really what it's about. Instead, the focus is on the interaction between Gwen and Martha, and on what the latter has been up to between Journey's End and The End of Time. The first part, in particular, is a strong character piece that contrasts the two women as well as the organisations that they work for.

This was Freema Agyeman's first appearance for Big Finish (as I write this, she's only done one other since) and it's great to have her back, providing a sane and reasonable counterpoint to Gwen's emotional investment in the mystery. There's some character development, too, filling in some of the blanks of what she's been doing, and doing so with a mix of pathos and humour.

It helps that she and Gwen are the only characters in it (unless you count the corpse) spending almost the entirety of the story inside the confines of the UNIT morgue. Of course, there is the mystery of the body as well, adding the science fiction element, and this is creepy and effective and structured well enough that it's not at all clear to begin with where it's going to go. It's this sort of grounding the weird in the everyday that the audio series does so well, and this would have worked well even without Martha - but with her, it's definitely pulled up a notch.

[T.J. Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent two-hander thriller with Freema Agyeman (who makes her Big Finish debut in this audio drama) and Eve Myles - both actresses have terrific chemistry with another brilliant creative collaboration from director Scott Handcock and writer Tim Foley. As well as this being a brilliant drama about two estranged friends in an awkward and then life threatening situation, Agyeman and Myles capture the perfect balance of humour and drama. Foley also cleverly starts bridging the time-frame between Martha's absence from Journey's End and The End of Time. This audio drama could also be a great pilot for Martha and Mickey's undercover work and later love story - a reunion of Noel Clarke with Agyeman would be a superb series. However, this was a solid story with two great performances that really explored a layered friendship - hopefully Martha has more stories soon.

[ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was so fun and entertaining. eve and freema have such great chemistry and i loved hearing them bond and argue, it felt like such a realistic way to depict their relationship after everything. this really made me want more of them together and they could easily carry a spin off of just the two of them fighting aliens and saving the world. the concept was eery, claustrophobic and naturally paranoid. i just loved it.

also, and possibly most importantly, i got to hear martha curse not once, not twice, but THREE times!! that was a divine experience.

[Sam Sharpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s so refreshing to hear the morals of both Torchwood and UNIT pitted against one another. The dynamic challenges between Gwen and Martha are all too relatable, and it’s such a joy to have them work through the scenario of ‘Dissected’. Tim Foley has masterfully crafted a situational thriller that’s claustrophobic, tense and immensely rewarding!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay so I cheated a bit and skipped ahead to listen to this specifically. Having Martha Jones return to the Doctor Who/Torchwood universe was something I'm very glad happened. The banter between her and Gwen felt just as natural as ever.

[Ozzy Nice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! I miss the Martha-Gwen duo so much, definitely one of my all time favourite Torchwood books! It was so tense and scary.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful. A really great “two-hander” script with Gwen and Martha. Solid characterizations and a compelling story that was well executed.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been looking forward to this one for ages, seeing as I'm a huge HUGE fan of Freema Agyeman. I spent most of this audio drama confused at the contention between Martha and Gwen, who were shown on both Doctor Who and Torchwood to get along very well, but once it became apparent what was going on it all made sense. I'm glad that we got some acknowledgement of the end of Martha's engagement to Tom Milligan, even though we're never given really any information on it. I found the ending rather dark, and not at all how I imagined Martha's departure from UNIT, but it wasn't bad, just...different. If Martha fakes her death...what about her family? There was also an error in the writing where a mistrustful Martha asks Gwen the names of her sisters; on Doctor Who it was established that Martha has 1 br0ther -- Leo and 1 sister -- Tish, so unless Francine and Clive reconciled after the events of The Year That Never Was and had another child. This is either an error or Martha testing Gwen's knowledge, though it isn't specified that the extra sibling was a ruse. I am beyond exciting to have Martha back, and Freema and Eve Myles play well off of each other; I hope that there will be more Torchwood dramas with these two.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my first foray into the Big Finish audio dramas, this was a resounding hit! I loved the dynamic between Gwen and Martha and how this helps to fill in some of the blanks between season 2 and 3 of Torchwood and the time between The Doctor's Daughter and The End of Time. I would love to know the fallout of the chaos caused by Martha's decision to fake her death. Does her family know she is alive? What about Jack; does he spend time thinking that another friend is dead or do they let him and Ianto know? So many QUESTIONS!! Hopefully, we get an audio drama with Marth and Mickey to see what happens with them while they are traveling!

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this today since it’s Freema Agyeman’s birthday. But it’s also kind of a weird coincidence that I listened to Dissected on World Frog Day. Anyway, there were some human moments way later. It got annoying hearing Gwen and Martha argue back and forth. Maybe it was supposed to be funny, but it just felt really grating. Things are slow for a little while and then escalate within a short amount of time midway through. The ending was fine, I suppose.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic two-character audio drama. Foly's script is well-performed, creating just the right amount of jealousy and tension between Martha Jones and Gwen Cooper. It also attempts to fill in some of the blanks in Martha's story.

[Marcel Driel · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was fantastic! There’s so much history, hurt and respect between Gwen and Martha and especially the hurt came out when they were locked in a mortuary together. The alien stuff really worked to get it all out. Brilliant.

[Idamus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much Gwen, I really don’t care about her. But it was good to hear from Martha again, hoping we’ll get more, but with either Jack or Jack and Ianto.

[Joseph S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started slow?

[Debra Cook]

Gwen brings a body to Martha at UNIT.

[Absenta · Rating 4 out of 5]

成功解释了为什么S4 结局Martha和Micky在一起，前未婚夫不知所终，而且明显离开UNIT的情况。

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un huis clos que j'ai trouvé assez ordinaire pour être très honnête. On prend le temps de revoir les deux personnages, de savoir où elles en sont dans leur vie, le lien avec le travail, leurs aspirations et déceptions avec l'excuse d'un corps retrouvé loin d'un incident et la possibilité, mince, qu'il y ait plus à découvrir que ce qui est présenté.

Évidemment, la tension monte, les deux personnages se fâchent et se méfient, ce serait difficilement un drame audio sans un peu de tension et il y a effectivement quelque chose qui semble clocher un peu avec le corps.

C'est un épisode beaucoup plus axé sur l'exploration de personnages que sur de l'action (il y a en un peu vers la fin), mais je n'ai pas l'impression que beaucoup de choses sont vraiment dites, révélées. La discussion avec les actrices a la fin était presque plus révélatrice sur les personnages eux-mêmes qu'une partie de l'épisode (Gwen pense qu'elle peut réparer la relation ; Martha sait ce qu'est une relation toxique et ne veut pas poursuivre).

C'est correct dans l'ensemble, approprié pour un retour de Martha, on utilise définitivement ses talents pour l'épisode, mais j'ai l'impression qu'il y aurait eu de la place pour un peu plus, je ne sais pas quoi, mais je reste sur ma faim.