Torchwood: Broken

For the second time, we have a story that focuses on Ianto, albeit this time with Jack also playing a significant role. It's built around the first season of the TV show, exploring the emotional toll that the events of some of those episodes have on Ianto, starting in the immediate aftermath of “Cyberwoman”. The over-arcing plot of the audio series doesn't get a mention, for once, and would have diluted the references if it had.

Much of the play consists of the conversations Ianto has with the motherly barmaid at his local pub, exploring the impact of the TV episodes without directly recounting their plots - this isn't a release for those unfamiliar with the original. It's a great performance from Gareth David-Lloyd, outshining Barrowman in the scenes they have together, as we see his character begin to break down under the strain.

As is implied by its opening teaser, however, there is more to the story than the emotional journey, with some science fiction elements that directly feed into the resolution. But here, it's doing what Torchwood does best, combining the everyday with the fantastic and using the latter as a metaphor for some darker corners of the human mind. It's also, as is probably clear from the cover, something of an LGBT romance, filling in the gaps of Ianto's romantic development as the TV series progressed.

This isn't one for those who are more interested in action, but it is a clever, and beautifully written complement to the TV series that spawned it.