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Torchwood Radio Dramas #1

Torchwood: Lost Souls

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Torchwood lost two beloved members in the season two finale--now they must carry on in this adventure with Doctor Who's Martha Jones. The Torchwood team and Martha face danger at CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, in this special BBC radio episode starring John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and Freema Agyeman and written by Joseph Lidster.

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2008

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266 people want to read

About the author

Joseph Lidster

82 books37 followers
Joseph Lidster is an English television writer best known for his work on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

His debut work was the audio play The Rapture for Big Finish Productions in 2002. Numerous further audio plays and prose short stories followed for Big Finish, for their Doctor Who line, spin-offs and other series (Sapphire & Steel and The Tomorrow People).

In 2005, he started working for the BBC, writing tie-in material for the new Doctor Who television series. He made his television writing debut in 2008 on the second series of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood and subsequently wrote three two-part stories for The Sarah Jane Adventures. He has written the two-part story "Rebel Magic" for the new CBBC series Wizards vs Aliens.

Lidster wrote the content for the tie-in websites relating to the fictional world of the television series, Sherlock. Alongside co-producer James Goss, he has produced Big Finish Productions' dramatic reading range of Dark Shadows audio dramas since 2011.

In 2012, he won the 'Audience Favourite Writer' award for his first play Nice Sally in the Off Cut Theatre Festival.

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5 stars
156 (27%)
4 stars
206 (35%)
3 stars
184 (32%)
2 stars
24 (4%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
Profile Image for Nicola Michelle.
1,875 reviews15 followers
May 10, 2020
A fantastic little audio story, capturing all the fun and sci fi drama of Torchwood. Really entertaining and I loved the story, some epic moments too with the team and a nice addition of Martha Jones. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the Torchwood Crew and love these little audio dramas as an additive to the show.
Profile Image for Rick.
3,135 reviews
November 6, 2019
I wasn't sure exactly what to expect with this, but I really enjoyed. Not quite on par with the series (which I dearly love as much as Doctor Who), but it was still very entertaining and I'm looking forward to next one.
19 reviews1 follower
March 9, 2011
Martha! Ambassador of Wales! Assistant Jack! LOVED THIS.

This audiobook is an adventure with Martha and I rather enjoyed it. I also liked how they touched on those that the team has lost and how they aren't really dealing with it despite telling everyone their fine and not to worry. Again Barrowman's Jack comes out so flat but thankfully everyone else makes up for it. Just something so strange for an actor with such energy and charisma. *shrug*

The story itself centers around the Large Hedron Collider and plays to the fears that people have with something that really isn't understood. Nice twist of an ending and good moments between all the characters but I really like the bit with Ianto and his grief, the way it so obviously still plays such a part in his life though we only catch little bits and pieces of it.

All and all a short story but rather fast paced and definitly something great to listen to.
Profile Image for Kati.
2,349 reviews66 followers
January 9, 2016
Story: 2 stars. Set directly after season 2. Jack, Gwen and Ianto are still dealing - or not dealing - with Owen and Tosh's deaths when Martha asks for their help. How they feel is shown in their short chats with her, Martha namely hasn't seen them since their friends' funeral. I especially liked her conversation with Jack. I also liked the tight bonds between the three main characters. The story's setting is quite intriguing: the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. But the creature itself... I found it slightly lacking, to be honest.

Narration: 5 stars. John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and Freema Agyeman, they all do amazing jobs! It's like following a real TW episode with your eyes closed. It's fantastic! John Barrowman has a beautiful voice!

To sum it up: This would have been a pretty average episode of TW but I liked that it showed us how the characters dealt with their tragedy.
Profile Image for usagi ☆ミ.
1,206 reviews331 followers
March 8, 2011
Very heavily based on recent events at the CERN institute in Switzerland, but with that familiar Torchwood twist we've come to love. Oh hay, real science to boot! Another bridge to Season 3, probably not a good idea to listen to this unless you know what happens at the end of season 2. I loved hearing the entire cast back again, sans, of course, two certain team members lost in the end of season 2. An excellent radio play!
Profile Image for Josh.
112 reviews2 followers
January 13, 2016
I'm glad to see Martha back with the Torchwood gang. Loved the pace and the overall feel of this one.
Profile Image for Wren.
776 reviews53 followers
January 12, 2018
I'm not usually an audio person, I don't even listen to talk radio, but this was truly entertaining. It still kept the good old Torchwood vibe, it was a bit dark, exciting, some sci fi techno babble, it had heart and it made me laugh.
A great little snippet to see what the team got up to between season 2 and 3. It also showed a lot of the emotions everyone was dealing with after the loss of Tosh and Owen.
Also the addition of Martha was wonderful, I love her. And they mentioned Lisa and showed that Ianto is still grieving, it was fantastic.
This was fantastic for Torchwood fans wanting more and more from our favourite characters.
Profile Image for Mona Ammon.
618 reviews
February 4, 2018
TITLE: Torchwood: Lost Souls
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK: It fits my reading challenge being connected to the book before it (First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph Ellis) through a shared authors first name
REVIEW: I am not. sure if this audio book is based on an actual episode of Torchwood. I have seen the show and do not recall this episide. The audio was performed by all the cast and read as if reading off a script. It was amusing enough. Mainly it just made me long for the show.
Profile Image for Yvonne Alf.
145 reviews2 followers
Read
September 18, 2020
I loved this! Such great fun! The story was interesting and the character interaction was fantastic! I had to laugh out loud several times. It was great to have Martha in the story. All the actors did a terrific job. I read a few comments that John came across a bit flat. I have listened to it twice now and I just don't hear it. I think he sounds like he always does, the only thing is that you only have the voice with the radio dramas and can't get distracted by the visuals. That's maybe why it feels different. ;)
Profile Image for Lyndsay-ann.
552 reviews3 followers
January 6, 2025
Love the Torchwood radio plays and this was a standard alien invasion episode. Set between season 2 and 3, which gives a bit more of the aftermath of the deaths Owen and Tosh at the end on season 2. This was needed before jumping right into the devastation that takes place in season 3.
I enjoyed this radio play and it was good, but it feels like it was missing something.
Profile Image for Derelict Space Sheep.
1,379 reviews18 followers
July 31, 2017
42 WORD REVIEW:

Having been written and broadcast to coincide with the switching on of the Large Hadron Collider, this radio drama in retrospect seems over-focussed on that aspect of the script. Likewise the Torchwood team’s lingering trauma subsequent to the second series’ harrowing finale.
102 reviews3 followers
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October 22, 2025
Great epilogue to S2 and it contains Martha so it's 10x better. A story that addresses the characters feelings and allows them to move forward. Lidster is a such massive nerd for getting some of those references in
Profile Image for Ingrid Stephens.
726 reviews4 followers
December 12, 2017
What's to say? it's Torchwood. It's Captain Jack, Gwen and the beautiful Martha Jones. Of course I loved it
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
686 reviews12 followers
March 17, 2019
The is one of the most ridiculous plots, even for Torchwood. Two stars for the performance, but wtf do you think neutrons even are??
Profile Image for Réka.
7 reviews32 followers
March 28, 2020
First audio drama, really enjoyed it
Profile Image for Marcel Driel.
Author 48 books100 followers
June 18, 2023
Excellent audio drama and hearing the cast (and Martha Jones!) was a blast. The story was basic, but the emotion was there, especially after the season two finale …
Profile Image for Karen.
399 reviews2 followers
September 29, 2024
Great short stories about Torchwood. Loved the new stories and good to hear the characters in new adventures.
Profile Image for Steven Shinder.
Author 5 books20 followers
March 20, 2025
I do like the bits where Jack and Gwen open up about the losses at the end of season 2, but I feel it could’ve delved deeper.
Profile Image for kw204741.
269 reviews
June 22, 2025
Captain Jack and Dr. Martha Jones. Enough said. 3.5 stars.
Profile Image for Meg.
116 reviews
February 2, 2017
Enjoyed the radio play of it all; definitely felt like I was listening to an episode of Torchwood.
Profile Image for Matthew.
13 reviews3 followers
February 22, 2017
Educational radio in "Torchwood" form with an Atheistic subtext, and Lovecraftian overtones all on the taxpayer's dime, that is how you run a great society.
2,047 reviews20 followers
November 27, 2018
This is the first of the Torchwood full cast Radio Dramas set directly after Tosh and Owen's funeral. Jack, Ianto, Gwen and Martha go to Switzerland where scientists on the LHC project have disappeared. The find one body glowing with unnatural green radiation with all of his neutrons missing and reach the conclusion that something nasty came through the rift when the Hedron Collider was tested for the first time.

Using very real science and the Hedron Collider project as the basis for this one makes it very current and will appeal to the science geeks in the WHO/TORCHWOOD fan-base.

The outcome itself with the alien pretending to be the souls of the dead is a bit unoriginal - but gives a nice excuse to show the grief of the team at the loss of past members and helps show off Jack's isolation and loneliness.

Production values are good and having the full cast makes it highly engaging although this isn't the best Torchwood story and it is fairly short. Fans of the show will still find lots to enjoy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jo Bennie.
489 reviews30 followers
July 13, 2023
To celebrate the switching on of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland Lidster comes up with an aching Torchwood paen that honours the recent deaths of Toshiko and Owen whilst imagining the worst that could happen when the LHC comes online. Martha, now working for UNIT, has been called in by a friend to investigate disappearances among the workforce at CERN in Geneva, then her friend disappears and unwilling to bring the entirety of UNIT into a delicate scenario she calls Jack. There are voices in the air, saying that they are the dead, that they want to come back.

The recording isn't particularly long but it is very good, it's a dramatisation rather than a reading of an audiobook so it's packed with sound effects and hearing Ianto, Jack and Gwen speak of their grief and connecting it with the madness that the irrecoverable loss of a loved one can drive you to is seamless.
Profile Image for Jimmy.
1,419 reviews
February 28, 2016
Set Between the Episode Exit Wounds & the Radio Play Asylum
Lost Souls is a BBC Radio 4 audio play featuring the voices of the actors and actresses who portray the characters Captain Jack, Gwen Cooper, Martha Jones, and Ianto Jones. This is a fun and emotional episode worthy of the TV series. However my opinion is that it could have been better to watch, because of the series fantastic supernatural and alien qualities.
Martha comes to the Torchwood team and asks for their help with solving the case of why people are disappearing at the CERN facility in Switzerland. When the proton collider is activated with Gwen and Ianto inside, can Torchwood save them after the all too recent loose of Toshiko Sato and Dr. Owen Harper? A recommended listen for Torchwood and Doctor Who fans alike.
Profile Image for Steven.
Author 1 book66 followers
November 29, 2013
Shortly after Owen and Tosh's funeral, Torchwood receives yet another call from Martha Jones, bringing them this time to the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Still reeling from their own losses, they must investigate a string of disappearances deep within science's most controversial particle accelerator. But it's weirder still: the dead appear to be living in the massive tunnels of the LHC, and when it's switched on, they'll come rushing back.

This one-off radio episode cashes in on real-world fears about the controversial LHC to create a fun, exciting sci-fi horror adventure. This is the only chance the Torchwood characters have to come to terms with their losses. Though it's a bit weird to see the Torchwood team involved in something that doesn't concern the Rift, this is a worthy addition to the Torchwood canon.
Profile Image for Debbie .
548 reviews43 followers
March 12, 2013
Never listened to a story of Torchwood before but I have watched most of the BBC series. Good thing I had, there were several references to an event that happened on the show. For the most part, this felt like an episode of the show with no pictures to go with it. Having the actors do the voices made the visualization of the characters really easy. The story was a basic Torchwood suspence, sci-fi, drama. It was not one of the greatest stories I have seen of Torchwood, but it was a good distraction for almost an hour. I would be willing to listen to another "Audio Drama" again - at the right price (it was really short as far as audio books go).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews

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