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Big Finish Torchwood #60
Torchwood: Infidel Places
With demons on the loose and dons bursting into flames, Queen Victoria visits Cambridge on the eve of a historic vote that could change the university forever.
She finds the city a den of suspicion and devil worship. A force from beyond reality is hunting down the university’s leading academics. Her Majesty enlists the help of a gifted young mathematician to save not just the university, but the universe itself.
She finds the city a den of suspicion and devil worship. A force from beyond reality is hunting down the university’s leading academics. Her Majesty enlists the help of a gifted young mathematician to save not just the university, but the universe itself.
- GenresDoctor Who
Audio CD
First published April 20, 2022
40 people want to read
About the author
Una McCormack
106 books365 followersUna McCormack is a British writer and the author of several Star Trek novels and stories.
Ms. McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written four Doctor Who novels: The King's Dragon and The Way through the Woods (featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory); Royal Blood (featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara), and Molten Heart (featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham). She is also the author of numerous audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.
Ms. McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written four Doctor Who novels: The King's Dragon and The Way through the Woods (featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory); Royal Blood (featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara), and Molten Heart (featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham). She is also the author of numerous audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 5, 2025
A more forgettable version of Save Our Souls.
July 24, 2024
Queen Victoria is not a beloved character in the Torchwood range. She struggles to drum up the excitement someone like Andy, Norton or any of the original Torchwood gang have. This is largely as a result of Victoria’s isolation from other Torchwood characters, the distant setting, and the highly varied group of stories she’s featured in.
But that is exactly why I’m always excited to see what is in store for Queen Victoria every time! Her stories are delightfully gothic, Rowena Cooper’s performance is cunning, commanding and stern, and there are few established events or other characters Queen Victoria is obliged to dodge or navigate around to justify having a story all to herself. Queen Victoria has the freedom to explore the world in a new, old era of Torchwood that sets its own pace and tone.
Infidel Places takes excellent advantage of Victoria’s distinct qualities. For her first time writing for Torchwood, Una McCormack has brought Queen Victoria into the heart of a depressing, real historical event – Cambridge University’s 1897 vote against women’s full admission to the university, one of many votes throughout Cambridge’s history. Placing Her Royal Highness, Queen Victoria, the most powerful woman in the world in the midst of this festering site of sexist academia was ingenious, especially when contrasted against the far less privileged female students who were actually affected by the vote. Although scathing of the men’s continued discrimination across the campus, Victoria’s position dictates that she upholds traditions, putting her at odds with those she sympathises with, and those whose company she actually enjoys.
Read the full review here:
https://sonicreviewwho.wordpress.com/...
But that is exactly why I’m always excited to see what is in store for Queen Victoria every time! Her stories are delightfully gothic, Rowena Cooper’s performance is cunning, commanding and stern, and there are few established events or other characters Queen Victoria is obliged to dodge or navigate around to justify having a story all to herself. Queen Victoria has the freedom to explore the world in a new, old era of Torchwood that sets its own pace and tone.
Infidel Places takes excellent advantage of Victoria’s distinct qualities. For her first time writing for Torchwood, Una McCormack has brought Queen Victoria into the heart of a depressing, real historical event – Cambridge University’s 1897 vote against women’s full admission to the university, one of many votes throughout Cambridge’s history. Placing Her Royal Highness, Queen Victoria, the most powerful woman in the world in the midst of this festering site of sexist academia was ingenious, especially when contrasted against the far less privileged female students who were actually affected by the vote. Although scathing of the men’s continued discrimination across the campus, Victoria’s position dictates that she upholds traditions, putting her at odds with those she sympathises with, and those whose company she actually enjoys.
Read the full review here:
https://sonicreviewwho.wordpress.com/...
June 9, 2024
The Queen Victoria stories in this series are usually among the weakest and, sadly, this is not among the exceptions. It shows Her Majesty visiting Cambridge University to investigate a series of seemingly demonic events. You'd think that's what she employs Torchwood to do on her behalf, but apparently not. And, as so often in these stories, that sets up a problem with suspension of disbelief that never quite leaves.
The story itself isn't so bad, although it is difficult to work out what it is that's supposed to be happening sometimes - lots of demonic screeching and so on but there were a couple of points where I thought somebody had escaped or not escaped, only to find out in the following scene that I had it the wrong way around. That aside (and it can be difficult to avoid on audio) the story deals with issues of 19th-century sexism and the perceived role of women in society. It's perhaps a little blunt from our modern perspective, although the male characters are handled well and are entirely plausible for the time period.
But in the end, the Queen only gets to direct the plot, rather than witness what others are doing, at one point and the vague nature of the "demons" doesn't help matters. The points about feminism are worthy, perhaps, but they're not saying anything new and the monsters just aren't as scary as they're intended to be.
The story itself isn't so bad, although it is difficult to work out what it is that's supposed to be happening sometimes - lots of demonic screeching and so on but there were a couple of points where I thought somebody had escaped or not escaped, only to find out in the following scene that I had it the wrong way around. That aside (and it can be difficult to avoid on audio) the story deals with issues of 19th-century sexism and the perceived role of women in society. It's perhaps a little blunt from our modern perspective, although the male characters are handled well and are entirely plausible for the time period.
But in the end, the Queen only gets to direct the plot, rather than witness what others are doing, at one point and the vague nature of the "demons" doesn't help matters. The points about feminism are worthy, perhaps, but they're not saying anything new and the monsters just aren't as scary as they're intended to be.
January 16, 2026
Una McCormack is a writer whose work I either really enjoy or find somewhat underwhelming. She's amazing when she's firing on all cylinders, but her work can be rather underdeveloped at other times as well. Despite the mixed reviews of this release, I've been looking forward to this one. I really enjoyed most of the other Queen Victoria stories, the only one I wasn't terribly keen on was 'Fortitude'.
Demons run wild in Cambridge, targeting misogynistic men and burning them to death. Queen Victoria has arrived to find out what's going on herself and to save Britain as it stands. But the surrounding men, despite her status, might make that harder than it needs to be.
Una McCormack has written an interesting and entertaining story that tackles the misogyny of the late Victorian era and the anguish of the poor women who simply wanted their degrees. The supernatural elements take a bit of a backseat in this one, as it's very much about the misogyny of the era and the trials women unfortunately had to face.
Overall: A really good story. 8/10
Demons run wild in Cambridge, targeting misogynistic men and burning them to death. Queen Victoria has arrived to find out what's going on herself and to save Britain as it stands. But the surrounding men, despite her status, might make that harder than it needs to be.
Una McCormack has written an interesting and entertaining story that tackles the misogyny of the late Victorian era and the anguish of the poor women who simply wanted their degrees. The supernatural elements take a bit of a backseat in this one, as it's very much about the misogyny of the era and the trials women unfortunately had to face.
Overall: A really good story. 8/10
September 12, 2024
Les commentaires de l'écrivaine Una McCormack à la fin de l'épisode sont extrêmement passionnants et placent le drame audio dans une temporalité historique concrète et on en apprend définitivement un peu sur l'histoire des femmes aux Royaume-Uni, à la place accordée à l'éducation des femmes et d'intéressantes anecdotes historiques qui sont arrivées. L'autrice a définitivement fait ses recherches pour l'audio et les explications sont bienvenues pour les personnes qui ne connaissent pas cette histoire dans cette partie du monde.
D'habitude, j'aime bien ce que McCormack offre comme narratif, celui-ci ne fait pas exception, j'aurais peut-être aimé quelque chose d'un peu différent comme révélation ou fin pour les personnages (bien que le futur d'Onora Tapley reste singulier), à mon avis, tout se qui s'y déroulait était malheureusement beaucoup trop prévisible.
D'habitude, j'aime bien ce que McCormack offre comme narratif, celui-ci ne fait pas exception, j'aurais peut-être aimé quelque chose d'un peu différent comme révélation ou fin pour les personnages (bien que le futur d'Onora Tapley reste singulier), à mon avis, tout se qui s'y déroulait était malheureusement beaucoup trop prévisible.
February 8, 2023
Inizio a trovare noiosa la partecipazione della Regina Vittoria alle indagini di Torchwood.
Anche se Rowena Cooper è un'ottima interprete e una Victoria perfetta, la fondatrice di Torchwood inizia a mostrare la corda.
Siamo a Cambridge, il movimento delle Suffragette è in pieno fulgore e l'Università sta per cambiare volto una volta per tutte. Accanto a ciò demoni e presenze malefiche cercano di eliminare studiosi e distruggere la scuola.
La Regina, aiutata da un giovane matematico, dovrà riuscire a salvare capra e cavoli.
La storia non è particolarmente originale e, anche se la recitazione è ottima come sempre, la trama non cattura. Forse è il caso di mettere al vecchia Monarca a riposo per un po'.
Anche se Rowena Cooper è un'ottima interprete e una Victoria perfetta, la fondatrice di Torchwood inizia a mostrare la corda.
Siamo a Cambridge, il movimento delle Suffragette è in pieno fulgore e l'Università sta per cambiare volto una volta per tutte. Accanto a ciò demoni e presenze malefiche cercano di eliminare studiosi e distruggere la scuola.
La Regina, aiutata da un giovane matematico, dovrà riuscire a salvare capra e cavoli.
La storia non è particolarmente originale e, anche se la recitazione è ottima come sempre, la trama non cattura. Forse è il caso di mettere al vecchia Monarca a riposo per un po'.
June 6, 2022
Queen Victoria visits Cambridge to help save it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews