Torchwood: The Five People to Kill in Middlesbrough - REVIEW

When a spaceship crashes on Middlesbrough it’s very sad, of course. But we at Torchwood have long had a plan to contain such a disaster.

Only, nothing is happening. And the disaster is spreading. So, I set out to find out what’s going on. What has happened to The Icarus Protocol? Who launched a Moonstrike Missile? And why will no-one admit that there's a cloud of deadly particles sweeping across the United Kingdom?

My name is Yvonne Hartman. Don't come between me and my country.

Tracy-Ann Oberman is positively superb as she leads a stellar cast in this satire pandemic thriller, blending reality and fiction with a sharp and poignant script.

Whenever I think of the best example of an anti-heroine, Yvonne Hartman instantly comes to mind. This drama delves into corrupt politicians, lockdown struggles, fake news and conspiracy theories - with alien threats hanging over Middlesbrough and soon spreading throughout England. With a government who wants to deny the seriousness of the situation, ignoring the very plan Hartman had in place for this exact type of crisis - she’s forced to take matters into her own hands. While the Queen of Torchwood tries to save the country, she tackles the five people who are her main obstacles.

I initially thought this was going to be a literal Kill Bill vibe, but there’s a psychological intelligence to how she takes down her victims. I’ve personally love how Yvonne’s mind works as a character - although she has a clear moral compass and she has what many would call “noble intentions”, she absolutely has no regrets about being the villain in someone else’s story and that is a truly fascinating character to cast as your protagonist. These characters downfalls were quite dark and yet had a poetic justice about them, each one was targeted with their most fatal flaw as a weapon.

Kacey Ainsworth, Matt Thomas Battersby, Timothy Bentinck, Lisa Bowerman, Nathaniel Curtis, Denis Lawson and Sara Powell were absolutely genius casting in all of their respective roles. I truly cannot find fault with how they played these very flawed characters, they were an absolute joy to listen to. I particularly loved how these characters embodied the dark side of the political and media scope of problematic characters being in positions of power who abuse it or spread false information. Scott Handcock delivers another great production as director and the quality of this production was so impressive - you wouldn't notice the cast and crew recorded this remotely during lockdown. As always, the score by composer Blair Moffat was absolutely perfect, so subtle and very effective in each scene.

As we are still living in the pandemic, many writers have tried to incorporate these times in their writing - some a bit on the nose with the themes and others avoiding delving into the characters’ psyche. However, Big Finish tackles both the themes and character arcs perfectly with depth and nuance - cleverly incorporating real life events that listeners will recognise. That satire was very much appreciated after these past eighteen months. The Five People You Kill in Middlesbrough was a surprisingly relevant and poignant drama, striking the balance between science-fiction fantasy and the dark complexity of humanity.

How things may have been if this country had its own Yvonne Hartman running things from behind the scenes…

This audio drama is absolutely a ★★★★★ rating - I cannot recommend it enough.

Torchwood: The Five People to Kill in Middlesbrough is available from the BIG FINISH website - Collector's Audio CDs priced at £10.99 and Digital purchases priced at £8.99. More details available HERE