Torchwood: The Green Life

The second of these “Torchwood versus monsters” stories is, rather obviously, a sequel to the Third Doctor story The Green Death. The story starts in media res with Jack accompanying an elderly Jo Grant down the abandoned mine in Llanfairfach where the original story took place. It's never really explained why they are doing this in the way that they are, although Jack at least has reason to be investigating the apparent return of the giant maggots.

The story makes a number of references to the original, beyond the mere presence of the maggots, which have changed subtly over the intervening decades. There's also commentary on how the world has changed since the 1970s, with (among other things) the Nuthutch hippy commune having been superseded by a mainstream corporate business that loosely resembles Quorn or Impossible Foods from the real world.

The main appeal, however, is seeing Jack and Jo interacting, and their very different attitudes to the problem they are facing and the larger world in general. Jo is portrayed here as still ditzy, as she was on TV, but is also noticeably older and more experienced, a plausible extrapolation of the character and one that allows her to drive the plot rather more than she often used to. Overall, though, there's a feeling that this doesn't quite mesh with Torchwood, and the story lacks the strong adult elements that the audio line usually has - its roots as a continuation of a Doctor Who story are rather obvious.

But there's still much to like here, especially for fans of one of the more memorable Third Doctor stories, and I'm giving it 3.5 stars, rounded up.