Torchwood Soho: Ashenden

While other experiments with stories using historical versions of Torchwood have by and large not succeeded, it's a testament to Goss's vision of the '50s one that its return is as welcome as any that include the main characters from the TV series. Here, they are back for their second full-length (3-hour) story albeit with Andy Davidson as the main viewpoint character. Not, however, quite the only one, with Lizbeth getting a few viewpoint scenes, including an extended flashback alongside Norton. Gideon, on the other hand, while prominently featuring on the cover is barely in it - his presence is pivotal to the plot, but more as a damsel-in-distress than anything else.

The story concerns a “new town” being built on the Sussex coast - Welwyn Garden City and Basildon being real-world examples from the period. Here, it's the basis for a very '50s science fiction plot (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) albeit one that throws in plenty of British elements, rather than the original US ones. It's something that's been done many times before, but it works here, partly because of the way that the story is split into six half-hour segments that keep things fresh.

This allows for some social commentary on the '50s from a modern perspective, although this is perhaps less of a theme than it was in the previous release. Episode titles refer to the newly created NHS and Enoch Powell's infamous “rivers of blood” speech but they're only tangentially relevant to the story. Indeed, there is a distinct modern sensibility here, and not just because two of the leads are LGBT. There are some distinct horror elements, too, including the (off-screen) death of children so it certainly isn't light listening, especially as a sense of despair and hopelessness builds in the final segment. But it has strong performances, and good characterisation of all the leads and is another worthy outing in this series.