Torchwood: Moving Target

This time the viewpoint character is Suzie Costello, Gwen's predecessor at Torchwood. This is set only shortly before Everything Changes, and, among other things, expands on her motivations in that episode and its follow-up They Keep Killing Suzie. There's a tenuous link to the audio series' ongoing arc, but otherwise, this is a standalone story aside from the obvious connections to events in the TV show.

Suzie wakes up to discover something very strange has happened to Cardiff, but, after this initial set-up is over, the story shifts to something that's initially comedic but gradually becomes much darker as the true hopelessness of the situation she finds herself in becomes more apparent. As usual in this series, the cast is minimal, with just two other speaking parts, but it's the isolation of the characters that's a large part of the point.

There's a good mix of comedy, action, and drama, although the story does start to drag a little bit towards the end, which prevents me from giving it the full five stars. Nonetheless, it's an excellent look at a minor character from the show, both giving her the chance to be the hero that we never really saw on TV, and foreshadowing what she will do not that much later. There's also a strong moral element, much of it voiced in Suzie's conversations with the villain... and the ending is superb.