Torchwood: God Among Us, Part 3

This is the conclusion not only to this imagined future season of the TV show but to the longer arc of the audio “Torchwood Continued” storyline. Although there is a clear conclusion, the ending is left open a little, presumably in case Big Finish wanted to write more about this incarnation of the team. Sadly, though, subsequent revelations about Barrowman's behaviour make any full reunion of this specific cast now seem unlikely. So, while we might see some characters return individually, this is probably all we're going to get for this incarnation of the team. Fortunately, it's a good send-off.

A Mother's Son – The first episode kicks off some time after the cliffhanger ending of the previous box set as Cardiff tries to come to terms with what just happened. Unusually, the story is told from the perspective of a woman tragically affected by the events. Most of the regular characters do show up, of course, popping in and out of the story as its protagonist tries to uncover the truth, but the focus isn't on them. This makes a surprisingly effective way of bridging between the relevant parts of the larger arc, showing us how the outside world perceives what is happening, with echoes of government responses to real-world disasters. The campaigning central character successfully brings a human heart to a story that nonetheless still has aliens and SF technology in it. 4 stars.

Scrape Jane – Now we're over to Colchester and Ng as they investigate an obviously fictional urban legend that seems nonetheless to be real. This, it turns out, is the follow-up to “Cardiff Unknown”, the insert story in the previous box set. That didn't work so well on its own and is really an overly long teaser for this. Still, now we get the pay-off, and it works well as a violent horror story with an interesting opponent. Initially seeming like an unrelated side-story, it all ties into the larger arc and makes good use of both of its leads, here working without the backup of the rest of the group. 4.5 stars.

Day Zero – Returning to the theme of the first episode, the situation in Cardiff continues to get worse (you'd think that by now, the Red Cross or somebody would be organising humanitarian relief convoys just to get people out, but apparently not). Initially focussing on the human side of events, the SF elements become more significant in the second half, which ties in more closely to the main arc. With the various members of the team caught up in different aspects of the ongoing crisis, there's a sense of widescale societal breakdown and a feeling that things have changed some of the central characters for the worse. It's all really a part of the rising tension leading into the final episode, but it does also work on its own. 4 stars.

Thoughts and Prayers – The final episode is suitably apocalyptic, putting the future of the Earth on the line. It brings all the main characters together again and wraps up a lot of what's been going on in the Torchwood audios for some time. Inevitably, not everyone gets as much to do as one might like, but some have already had their climactic moment in earlier episodes and can easily cede ground to those who have not. It's dramatic and world-shaking in a way that Torchwood often isn't, but, if you're going to go out, go out with a bang. 5 stars.