Cardiff experiences worse and worse disasters in God Among Us, building on the previous season and delivering one of the finest seasons in Whoniverse canon.
The Review
Here’s the scores for the stories
Day Zero: 10/10
Flight 405: 10/10
Eye of the Storm: 9.75/10
Thoughts and Prayers: 9.75/10
Future Pain: 9.5/10
ScrapeJane: 9.25/10
See No Evil: 9/10
Another Man’s Shoes: 9/10
A Mother’s Son: 9/10
Night Watch: 8.75/10
Hostile Environment: 8.75/10
The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood: 6.75/10
God Among Us in many ways is a true love letter to the city of Cardiff. Through whatever twists of fate, in 2004 Doctor Who found itself basing production in the Welsh capital, and Torchwood was set there. The city of Cardiff is somewhere I’ve never been, but I feel like I understand it, comparing it to the Rust Belt cities in the United States. It’s always an underdog, but never down and out, and full of beautiful people living their lives, as crazy and silly as they can often be. Yes, this season does feature God (though not the actual deity, close enough it scarcely matters), but she is really here to provide introspection for our characters. What are their motivations, what do they really care about? Their jobs? Their relationships? What will they be willing to sacrifice? At the end, Cardiff is just about blown to bits, but somehow, Torchwood did it again, and the city will survive, for one more day.
9.125/10 An incredible work of sci-fi storytelling
Torchwood: God Among Us concludes in epic fashion, with a Cardiff utterly destroyed, the Committee on the ascendant, and Torchwood out of trust with the city and each other.
The Review
A Mother’s Son for the second time in Series 6 gives us the perspective of an outsider finding themselves connected to Torchwood, but thankfully it’s much better. It settles on Bethan, a mother who loses her son in the floods and goes on a question to find him, or who’s responsible. The voice mails she has of her son saying he’s scared as his dorm gets ripped away by the water is stomach churning. Still, there are precious few episodes, and I’d prefer them to be centered on a member of the team. The big mystery is why no one can remember Torchwood’s involvement, I thought maybe God was doing something but it turns out Yvonne was drugging the water. Poor Andy has somehow found himself on the Disaster Relief Committee, key word at the end there. Also, we get some more Orr, finally, who isn’t limited to sexual desires anymore. It’s a depressing story presenting the horror of Cardiff after the disaster, and sets a grim tone for the toll it’s taken on the city. You can’t say Torchwood doesn’t know how to push the envelope to darkness. 9/10. Bethan was played by Mina Anwar, aka Gita Chandra. Who would’ve thought?
ScrapeJane is a story about belief, and how belief can make the very real come true. It’s a great pairing of Colchester and Ng (though I’d have liked to have a scene where Colchester comes to terms with Ng still being on the team after the whole impersonating Gwen thing). RIP to Jeff, our favorite hapless podcaster from Cardiff Unknown as he is ripped to death by ScrapeJane. Colchester’s disdain for podcasters is great, and is icy delivery of ‘merch’ was gold. We get a bit more introspection into Ng, about asserting herself as a Welsh woman and fear of God destroying Earth too. The real star as usual though is Paul Clayton as Colchester, who really makes you feel the fear of ScrapeJane and also gives a heartbreaking monologue about how fears if Colin stops believing in him, he’ll die. It’s a fun actually genuinely scary in some sections story, and ties into the endgame of this season as Ng worries this devastation is caused by God not believing in Herself. 9.25/10, more than anything, it’s another chance for Paul Clayton’s brilliant work as Colchester. He keeps going, because what else is there to do?
Day Zero is a staggering story, and one that lands with an even harder punch after the tumult of the pandemic. The water runs out in Cardiff, and it leads to absolute mass chaos. Colchester is shocked at the depravity of people, but experiences a slight change of heart when Tyler tells him he resurrected him. We have the push/pull forces of Jack and Yvonne, the former getting himself to shot to death in a failed bid to save a kid’s life, while Yvonne almost quits (until being talked out of it by God), but is shocked by her tactics failing. At the center of it is a totally overburdened Andy, who is trying his best but way in over his head. Ng doesn’t have much to do, expect with Andy slamming her by saying she’s not Gwen. The center of it all is Orr, who uses her powers to somehow provide water. Feeling the desperation and pain of the city, she makes it rain to solve the water crisis, but is utterly devastated at the misery of humans. It’s a bleak but beautiful story, showing a city on the brink from the most human of causes. 10/10, the end is still coming, like it always does, as Andy moves to capture God. We’re in for it now.
Thoughts and Prayers ends a two season storyline with a big, bold apocalypse that really comes down to people believing in each other. Don’t get me wrong, the end of the world is rendered beautifully as the Committee begin their great reset with fireballs and flame raining down. The world is saved by the unlikeliest of characters: Orr. The brilliance is that it makes perfect sense, Orr always had such a deep love and affection for people and it is her faith in humanity that ends up winning the day. Ng tries to save a world for once, Tyler admits he cares for Jack, Andy of course was working for the good guys all along, and Colchester still keeps prioritizing the work ove Colin. Yvonne comes up with the plan to use Orr to blast the Committee’s home planet to dust in a very Jack way, by the seat of her pants. Throughout it all is God, who doesn’t really get absolved for everything she’s done, but willing gives up her powers and goes to start a new adventure on Earth. It’s a triumph because of the scale, but really the characters that have been so beautifully realized throughout this series. 9.75/10: the power of love wins the day: because one gender-fluid alien so loved humanity.
God Among Us 3 is a triumphant conclusion to a six boxset arc that saw Big Finish take on the Torchwood mantle (with some help from RTD of course) and give us stories about the corruption of institutions but the hope of people. The twin titans of Jack and Yvonne lay out a lot of the framework, but little arcs like Colchester’s insecurity, Tyler growing into an empathetic person, it’s beautiful.
9.5/10 Truly a classic series of stories, and right behind Children of Earth for the best Torchwood there is. Not long now until we find out what’s next
Torchwood: God Among Us was heavy on character, but now it’s heavy on action as Norton Folgate shakes apart the team and Big Finish delivers the Torchwood epic we’ve been waiting for.
The Review
Flight 405 is only 45 minutes long, but is a thrill ride. I enjoy a good character story, but three of the four stories last boxset were, and the fourth one was bad, so I was ready for some action. Oh, this one delivered. Norton is delightfully charismatic and evil, and takes Andy and Yvonne into a high stakes mission. A plane from the 1950s has been stuck phasing in and out of time above Cardiff which is a delicious idea, and they have to recover an artifact that will blow up the world if it crashes. Of course, something is very much not right with Norton, as God visits him and notes there’s a skeleton wearing his suit on board. It’s a thrill ride, develops Andy and Yvonne’s relationship, and gives us a whopper of a cliffhanger as Norton and Yvonne are part of some shadowy Committee. 10/10. It’s exactly the kind of story I love, full marks. (Also, I loved the fake in-universe podcast Cardiff Unknown included on this disk, I felt like I was being skewered for a podcast with my friend I haven’t even started yet. Just a ton of fun and one of my favorite bits of Big Finish. I’ll watch it again faster than it takes me to mention my new girlfriend).
There are a lot of uncomfortable scenes and storylines in Torchwood, but few are as depressing a listen as Hostile Environment. The plot centers on Tyler, who is now homeless begging for change on the streets of Cardiff. A new program ostensibly helping get homeless people off the streets is actually running drug tests and offering people to take them or get burnt to death. Tyler can’r seem to be seen by anybody, he meets Ng, Andy, Colchester, but they all fail to grasp the severity of situation. It’s a depressing rinse and repeat of Tyler trying to live and getting tracked down by a drone. Thankfully, revenge is had as Tyler finally leverages Ng and Colchester by faking an emergency call, getting them tagged by the drones, and killing the man behind it. There’s a touching scene of Jack being vulnerable with Tyler, but it doesn’t undo the painful ending where Tyler refuses to see the woman who helped him on the streets, perpetuating the cycle. It’s an almost too brutal look at modern society, but can’t argue with its relevance. 8.75/10, Tyler’s genuine happiness to see Colchester is muted by Colchester assuming he didn’t mourn his death, another depressing moment.
Another Man’s Shoes keeps up a very enjoyable Torchwood tradition: making sure that we’re having fun saving Cardiff. In this story Andy and Yvonne swap bodies, and so do Jack and Colchester. Jack starts to come clean to Colin but learns it his birthday, so Jack pretends to be Colchester to not ruin it. The moment when we finally get Colchester arriving, furious in Jack’s body, is gold. The more intriguing swap is Yvonne and Andy, as Yvonne tries multiple times (through wiping the assessor’s memory) to get Andy to pass a performance review with the police force. Meanwhile, Andy discovers Yvonne working for the Committee (man I love David Warner’s voice, RIP). It does lean a bit hard on a random monthly audio which is annoying. Finally we get Tyler and Norton switching bodies, which Norton uses to have tons of sex before depressingly admitting to Tyler how down he feels, especially with the world ending. Finally, Ng learns this was all set up by God as She continues to learn about Torchwood. This is a delightfully fun story, no small part due to the amazing vocal work. I really thought Tom Price was Yvonne there, that guy is more talented than he’s been allowed to show. 9/10, it’s another ‘learn about the team’ story, but with a delightfully fun twist. It has been raining a lot…
Eye of the Storm is the one that I have been waiting for since Season 5. A massive proper climatic adventure, and it cements this boxset as a classic in my mind. A massive storm has been building, and now it is affecting a Sorvix power station out in the ocean. What follows is a series of twists so shocking that even God doesn’t see them coming. The Committee’s plan has arrived, and Norton betrays Torchwood to lead to the end of the world. Thankfully for the world, he realizes he got played and in a great performance Samuel Barnett he sacrifices himself ending up back on Flight 405. The drama is immense, with Jack, Ng, and Colchester all unsure if they can trust each other. An unlikely pairing of Tyler and Yvonne is excellent, as Tyler snaps Yvonne out of her devotion to the Committee. The whole time the Committee (played by an always great David Warner) used God to get Norton to supposedly stray from the plan as he inadvertently creates a biblical tsunami heading toward Cardiff. God is horrified and Yvonne can only blubber as the wave hits. It’s big, epic, gives great closure to Norton and sets up a true status quo change for the finale. 9.75/10: a big epic that finally feels like it delivered on Torchwood’s disparate plots.
God Among Us 2 introduces the Committee to the series, which admittedly is clunky, but I understood everything well enough. Really, who exactly they are is less relevant than the character arcs for Norton and Yvonne in this boxset and how they choose Torchwood and Cardiff over their shadowy benefactors. We also get a dark examination of how society treats the homeless focusing on Tyler in Hostile Environment. Overall, the promise of Torchwood on audio feels fully realized.
9.375/10 A great boxset with some wonderful performances, evocative design, and finally a dramatic climax leaving me guessing where we’re going next! Still though, what happened to Orr?
Torchwood kicks into high gear as the stakes get more cataclysmic than ever.
The Review
Some of Season 5 felt like ‘oh we’re just back doing that classic Torchwood thing again’, but this layered emotional story Future Pain points us in a new direction. It is disappointing the Sorvix occupation is solved with them simply running because God is here. (It was also very obvious that God was the mysterious woman Tyler was talking to). Really, this story is all about grief and mourning. St. John Colchester is dead. Now I have zero expectation of this sticking, but it’s quite an episode centered around his funeral. Jack has been to too many, Orr has never been to one. We hear clips of Colchester and Colin’s wedding, and Ramon Tikaram gives an incredible performance as Colin reading a perfect eulogy. Tyler even seems humbled, joking how much Colchester hated him. Meanwhile Yvonne uses Ng (apparently the true Herald of God) to get Ro-Jedda to reveal that every world God visits dies (despite God apparently being love). It almost feels like Galactus has come to swallow up the Earth. I can’t wait for more intrigue. 9.5/10. A beautiful farewell to Colchester, even if his resurrection is assured.
The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood is just an uncomfortable experience to listen to. The whole story is about Brent Hayden, who is an alt-right media personality saying all the standards things they say. Tyler contacts him and starts exploiting him to spread disinformation, the key one being that the Sorvix aren’t actually aliens. Really, it’s just painful and grating to hear Brent droning on, and the bits with Jack’s exaggerated American accent and Orr pretending to be sexy in Brent’s dreams suck. It also feels just like a disposable story, which is also pretty aggravating to listen to. All the stuff about alt-right media personalties and their insecurity and horror is well documented and done no interest here. The only fun bits are about Colchester getting mad at Brent for contacting him. A rare miss for Big Finish Torchwood especially after such a mournful first story. 6.75/10, God is fun when she’s in a scene though.
See No Evil? Well, I didn’t expect the title to be so literal. All of Cardiff is choked by darkness, no one can see, and a predator that uses echolocation starts mauling people to death. Not a great sign. We don’t get much Ng or Orr content, Ng is upset Jack still won’t speak to her, but frankly I’m surprised she’s been integrated so quickly into Torchwood. We get two key relationship pairings, first is Jack with Colin. With the city at risk he trusts Yvonne and just goes to make sure Colin is okay. In a great cliffhanger, they start kissing and are shocked by the return of Colchester. Yeah, he didn’t stay dead long. The most surprising and best part of the story is Yvonne and Andy’s relationship as she manipulates him in her schemes using him as bait to kill the predator. We don’t quite learn why she hates the dark, but we learn Yvonne hates being powerless. Still, she and Andy hook up when this is all over. The two actors are 14 years apart, so it’s surprising, but Andy is very sweet. For a tense story about a monster shredding people, it’s quite tender. Welcome to Torchwood. 9/10, we learn more about some members of our team in a great story.
The last story is called Night Watch, and you guessed, it’s another story where we get to explore the dynamics of the Torchwood team. Orr gets to be the lead, going around being God’s night watchman until they decide to feel God’s love and get exploded into a puddle. We get a lot more Tyler content with him being broken inside, but the highlights come from Colchester/Colin and Yvonne/Jack/Ng. Colin can’t believe that Colchester is real, and Colchester himself starts to remember his death and can’t quite believe it either. Meanwhile, Jack very understandably distrusts Ng, and gets Yvonne to admit that she believes him over her. I should mention this is all happening as something called the ‘night sun’ spends the night feeding on people’s dreams. It’s a good story but coming right after the previous one it feels a bit repetitive. Out of nowhere at the end Yvonne tries to bring back Ianto somehow but ends up with a guy named Norton instead. It’s a good tale and man I love Jacqueline King as God but a bit repetitive. 8.75/10: two stories about the city going under in a row.
God Among Us 1 goes bigger than Aliens Among Us did on the threats, but the stories involving the team are still neatly small scale. There is one big misfire trying to do something different with The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood, but we get a genuinely beautiful meditation on grief from Future Pain.
8.5/10 Torchwood on audio continues to be extremely high quality, definitely surpassing the unevenness of the television show. Still, I think we’re do for a few stories that aren’t team building.
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