Broken

"You show them you're ready."

Writer: Joseph Lidster

Format: Audio

Released: July 2016

Series: Torchwood Monthly 11

Featuring: Captain Jack, Ianto

Synopsis

Whenever Ianto Jones has a tough day at work, he has somewhere he can hide. And, for Ianto Jones, it's always a tough day at work.

His girlfriend is dead, his colleagues don't trust him, and his boss... his boss is something else. With no friends in the world, and his life in danger every day, is it any wonder that at night, Ianto Jones goes to the pub?

Ianto's local becomes somewhere where he feels safe. Safe from his demons, safe from his life, safe from Torchwood. Until one evening, Captain Jack Harkness walks into a bar...

Verdict

Broken was an excellent audio adventure to continue my way through the Torchwood monthly series from Big Finish! I really enjoyed the positioning of this story as taking place concurrently with Series 1 of the televised run and that was such a good idea. It worked really well and it reminded me a lot of The Last Post with regards to its format. Ianto was still clearly impacted by the death of his girlfriend Lisa in Cyberwoman and as if that wasn't enough, he was not happy with his positioning within Torchwood Three. It was an intriguing look at the character development of Ianto in that first series and having recently watched it again, I really loved that this took place. Ianto goes through a lot over the course of a short number of episodes and exploring the changing relationship he has with Jack is brilliant. The foreshadowing of Small Worlds with Jack getting a call from Estelle was lovely and I thought it worked very well to have him ask Gwen to come with him instead of Ianto, despite him standing right there. Ianto going to his local pub to vent on everything that was happening in his life was great and I loved the realism that came with it. It felt like something that would happen and seeking comfort in the barmaid Mandy was great. I thought it was excellent to have Melanie Walters in that role and as a huge Gavin and Stacey fan, I recognised her voice immediately. I didn't expect her to turn out to be more than a mere barmaid though! The effect of the events of Countrycide on Ianto was incredible and it leading him to wanting to commit suicide didn't actually surprise me that much considering the atrocities he went through on those Brecon Beacons. His recollection of the knife at his throat and the smell of the cannibals was very powerful. His reaction to Jack's murdering of Mary in Greeks Bearing Gifts was good as well and I liked how he challenged him on wondering if Tosh actually wanted something to do when it came to the missing people in the local area. That area being Radyr was good as I often pass through on the train and it felt good to have not such a centralised Cardiff setting. Jack's arrival into the pub was amusing and his genuine shock at seeing Ianto was fantastic. I did agree that Ianto should have asked for more involvement, but exploring his lack of involvement in those early episodes was superb. I thought the introduction of the Saviour was decent but I actually preferred things before it was revealed. The portal he had where he could send anyone to anywhere, including the planet Heaven, was a good way to explain the disappearances, and I enjoyed Ianto appealing to Mandy's better nature and making her see sense. She wasn't a bad person at heart which was nice to confirm. The Saviour testing Jack was brutal and I liked how Ianto believed he had brought Jack back through mouth to mouth which was a very clever way to save the truth about his immortality. The final call with Ianto on the phone to his mum was a nice touch to what was an excellent audio!

Rating: 9/10