Torchwood: Ghost Mission

The audio series once again focuses on a minor character from the TV show, in this case, Sgt Andy. He receives a call-up to Torchwood, and has to demonstrate his skills by hunting down the source of a strange alien goo. The story features a standard mix of Torchwood tropes, with alien tech, a monster, and a glimpse of some of the poorer areas of Cardiff. Aside from this, while not bad, it's not particularly notable taken on its own.

What's more significant is Andy himself, and the Torchwood “assessor” he is paired with. Goss makes good use of Andy's particular skills, differentiating him from Gwen, let alone the other members of the team (none of whom are in this, of course). Tom Price is excellent as someone who is eager to help, calm in certain sorts of crisis, and yet out of his depth in others. In this respect, the story builds on what little we've previously seen of the character, consistent with what we know, but able to show much more in a story in which he is the focus.

The other main character in the story is Norton, the hologram of a Torchwood agent from the 1950s. He is obviously camp, and uses Polari at a couple of points, in amidst other '50s references, so that's another trope being honoured here. He's presumably being set up as a recurring character, and has some potential in this direction, contrasting with the more serious tone of most of his fellows - some of the banter with Andy is great.

The story is left open at the end, likely all tying into the running plot arc in most of these releases, although it's just another piece of the jigsaw, rather than obviously moving that along. Really, it's the characterisation that makes this another audio episode that's very much worth listening to for fans of the show.