Before the Fall: Through the Ruins

"Is it fun being a spy?"

Writer: Jenny T Colgan

Format: Audio

Released: January 2017

Series: Torchwood One 1.02

Featuring: Yvonne, Ianto

Synopsis

"Ianto, please. It's all... it's all gone wrong. I don't know what to think any more."

Away Days at Torchwood aren't what you'd expect. Yes, there's the forced camaraderie, the team-building exercises, and the chance for long-held rivalries to boil over. But Torchwood Away Days also have the potential to get very lethal very quickly.

Yvonne Hartman's extremely worried by this year's Away Day. But she's got other things on her mind – something's very wrong with Torchwood.

Verdict

Through the Ruins was a great story to continue the Before the Fall first series of Torchwood One! After a very bright and eventful start with New Girl, this was a really good way for the series to move on and set us up for an exciting finale. Yvonne was in unchartered waters here as she was on the run following the way she was set up by Rachel last time out, and she tried to seek comfort and shelter with Ianto who was struggling on whether to believe she was set up or not. That was some good internal conflict. It was a humorous introduction for Soren as Ianto's flatmate when he stumbled upon Yvonne but she didn't stick around for too long as she headed to the House of Lords to seek comfort in Torchwood's COBRA contact on the inside in the form of Lord Jacobin. I love the connections Torchwood have in the running of the country and its political system, but she was now on the flag list after all that happened. The mentions of the planet XXX and dark stirrings happening the universe intrigued me as that didn't seem in line with the direction of the series, but it all tied back together nicely. Finding out that they were a tribal species and had come to the planet a decade ago was very interesting. Ianto and Pippa being on a Torchwood Away Day was a fun development and Ziggy was an annoying leader of that training, which was exactly what that character should be. Yvonne heading to New Cavendish Library for information on XXX was good and Kieran arriving to take her out after what he perceived she did to Dean was excellent. Jacobin being found dead was a good development and put Yvonne in the dirt even more. Rachel showing Torchwood that she was with him just two hours before he was dead was terrific. Yvonne realising that she needed to go and help Soren because Kieran and Torchwood would be in contact with everyone that Yvonne had encountered to kill them. His brutal beat up of Soren sounded horrendous on audio. The psychological surveillance on Yvonne with her name being all over the radio was fantastic and something I really enjoyed. The combat at the Away Day seemed more than simple training and that was confirmed with the surrender and Rachel wanting to see what her new team were made of. Pippa being hit fatally and dying but Ziggy and Rachel refusing an ambulance highlighted their intentions and trying to disguise it as a message of bonding through adversity was reaching. Yvonne capturing the envoy from XXX and finding out that Earth had been sending out war messages for months was good to set up the finale, especially when Rachel's family were involved. She was out for revenge, and now Yvonne knew it all. The death of the envoy with the wrench was further brutality, but for Ianto it was emotional torment as he refused the retcon and wanted to remember Pippa and her death. Overall, a great audio!

Rating: 8/10