The Dollhouse

"Young when are going missing from downtown Hollywood."

Writer: Juno Dawson

Format: Audio

Released: April 2017

Series: Torchwood Monthly #14

Featuring: Marlow, Charley, Gabi

Synopsis

1970s Los Angeles – the city of angels and broken dreams. Three remarkable women keep the West Coast safe from alien attacks – they are Torchwood Los Angeles. 

So many young girls come to this city hoping for something better. For some, luck is just around the corner. For others that golden ticket never arrives and they just fade away.

But it's not that simple. Everyone has a value to someone, and Torchwood are about to discover Hollywood's darkest secret.

Verdict

The Dollhouse was a decent audio adventure to continue the Monthly Adventures of Torchwood from Big Finish! This is a really intriguing story and the idea of going off course when it comes to the Torchwood we are used to is good and it's interesting to get a look into the Torchwood Los Angeles team of the 1970s. I like that it's headed by three females and the way things started with their quick introductions was beneficial, although I do think we needed perhaps a little more fleshing out of the characters before we got into the grips of the story. However, if they're not going to be returning then there is only so much time that can be spent on introducing them so it can be something of a double edged sword! I liked the continuity that was provided from the familiar Torchwood music accompanying some of the scene transitions, and the funky take on the intro theme was quite terrific. It really did set the tone for the adventure ahead and was well suited to what followed. The setting of the 1970s was utilised well and having been to Los Angeles a few years ago, I appreciated the use of that unique setting with the ventures to Downtown LA (a place I didn't find to my liking), Santa Monica, and to Hollywood itself. I think the city and its vicinity sounds more glamorous than it actually is, but having that utilised in this audio was fantastic. I liked the description that Torchwood Los Angeles was the last outpost of the British Empire and it made sense to explain it giving the USA setting. It did seem a random location for Torchwood institute. I liked that the three Torchwood team members were sent on a missing women case and Donoghue running an empire of capturing showgirls, essentially, was an intriguing development. He was a good villain and I liked the indication at the start that it could be a brothel. Donoghue seemingly being in league with a beastly creature was interesting but provided the alien element that required Torchwood's involvement nicely. The Torchwood team using their assets, to put it lightly, to wangle their way on the inside of Donoghue's institution was great and I liked that they didn't anticipate getting gassed, but were able to be warned about the tracker. I wasn't sure how Donoghue didn't hear that warning even though he was conversing from afar. The idea of human doll collectors and an auction for actual human women was horrific, but it was a concept that worked very well and could only occur in Torchwood in the Doctor Who universe. The idea of rarities being redheads was amusing and them injecting living plastic to prevent their artefacts as such from ageing was again ghastly! The auction itself was good and a little unbelievable but that made it work. Gabby was the funnest of the Torchwood Los Angeles team and having her flying away to safety and even crashing into the Hollywood sign with a dent was excellent. I thought it was a shame that Charley didn't make it past the adventure, and I felt their should have been more emphasis and impact on that. It should have been monumental! Overall though, this was still a strong adventure and a fun diversion for Torchwood to take.

Rating: 7/10