Torchwood One: Latter Days

Set in the London offices of Torchwood before its fall, this is a collection of three hour-long stories on the general theme of retirement, each of which has a distinctly different tone.

Retirement Plan – The first story concerns the preparations by one of the recurring characters from the earlier Torchwood One audios for his impending departure from the organisation. Naturally, the preparations do not go as well as expected, so what we get is a story about glitching alien tech, albeit with some reflection on why the character is being driven to the lengths that he is. It's a story that's often fun and entertaining, especially in a sequence that spoofs a certain popular film series, but that still has its dark side. Oberman gets to ham it up as a range of different characters – a means of saving on the acting cast that works within the context of the story – but David-Lloyd is the real strength here, acting as the main protagonist and out of his depth as a young Ianto. 4 stars.

Locker 15 – This time we move to the actual retirement of one of the cleaners who worked at Torchwood's London office. Unfortunately for him, it turns out that his past holds the key to a piece of information that the organisation now desperately needs... if only they hadn't buried it under Retcon along with all the things that really did need to stay secret. The result is a powerful story about an old man whose memories are failing and the lengths that Torchwood is willing to go to get the real ones back. Yvonne shares the spotlight with Ianto in this one, coming out of it almost as a villain, even if we can appreciate her motives. But veteran actor Derek Griffiths also shines as the domestic cleaner who worked at Torchwood for decades with barely anyone noticing him. 5 stars.

The Rockery – The final story is a gentler character study of Yvonne's mother, who has retired to a Shropshire cottage occasionally visited by her daughter. While there are science fiction elements to the story, they are relatively minor with the focus instead being on the dysfunctional relationships within the family and giving some glimpses into Yvonne's early life. On the downside, this fails to provide any insight as to how and why she grew up the way she did (she apparently “takes after her father”) and some of the more typical Torchwood elements listeners may be expecting aren't really here. But as a story about retirement and family relationships, it works and eventually has more of a connection with events in the TV series than is at first apparent. 4 stars.