Torchwood: Visiting Hours

While Rhys has, unsurprisingly, featured in previous episodes alongside Gwen, this is the first Big Finish release to feature him as the main protagonist. This, perhaps even more so than the Ianto stories, creates an “ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances” set-up as Rhys has to deal with the threat without any Torchwood backup.

The story itself is set inside a hospital where Rhys' mother (played by veteran actor Nerys Hughes) is recovering from a hip replacement and something sinister is going on across the corridor from her room. It's not, admittedly, a terribly deep plot, largely consisting of Rhys and his mother trying to escape from what's chasing them, although it does have a larger cast than the earlier monthly Torchwood releases have, which gives it more of a well-rounded feel.

What raises it above the three stars, though, are the dialogue and the performances from Owen and Hughes, moving from the normality of the opening scenes to the increasing tension as they find themselves trapped and in rising peril. (The producers may have felt that the former go on for too long, since there is a snippet of one of the later scenes before the title music, as if to inform you that something dramatic will happen at some point; I didn't find this necessary).

For this series, this is a middling story, more effective than some and less so than others. But that's a pretty high bar, to be honest.