Serenity

"What a great place we live in."

Writer: James Moran

Format: Audio

Released: July 2019

Series: Torchwood Monthly 29

Featuring: Captain Jack, Ianto

Synopsis

Serenity Plaza is the most exclusive gated community in South Wales.

You'd kill to live there. Jack and Ianto have gone undercover as a happily married couple. There are rumours that something's wrong at Serenity Plaza and they're determined to investigate. But the problem is that Serenity Plaza is just is rigidly normal. 

Suddenly, Jack and Ianto have to confront the problems that normal couples face. Sharing a house together, doing the washing up, entering the residents' baking contest, and hoping to win the Best Kept Lawn. 

Competition is fierce. Because this is Serenity Plaza. And you'd kill to live there.

Verdict

Serenity was an excellent audio to continue my way through the Torchwood monthly adventures from Big Finish! The pairing of Captain Jack and Ianto is just brilliant so it really is difficult to go wrong with them. Placing them into a gated community was fascinating and I really appreciated the unique setting. It worked well and just kept reminding me of the film Downsizing with Matt Damon. It had such a good vibe to it of forced happiness and that was really fun to play with. The opening ten minutes or so with Jack and Ianto firmly taking on the personas of Ken and Ifan was just glorious and I hadn't read the synopsis beforehand so I was not aware they were undercover. I figured that would be the case, but it was good fun while it lasted. The potential of the gated community is unrealised in the Doctor Who universe and it could work on a number of planets. Having it at home in the present of South Wales was fantastic though and really brought an uneasy eeriness to the story with it being so close to home. I adored the play on the opening titles with all of the usual 'Torchwood, outside the government, beyond the police...' etc being replaced by references to Serenity and how the twenty-first century is hopefully where nothing changes was hilarious. I was a huge fan of that which set the tone very nicely. This episode allowed for some good development for Jack and Ianto's relationship and the slip from Ianto about them being boyfriends was a nice touch. Jack pounced on that but was far from being against the label, even if Jack said he'd just have a look if the community broke out into an alien orgy. Ah, Torchwood. What I wasn't expecting from this story was for it to be a sequel to Sleeper! I thought that was fantastic and I don't think we've had anywhere near enough sequels from Torchwood television. This worked very well and whilst the return of Cell 114 sleepers and technology was not high on my returns wish list, I thought it was terrific! The imagery of those gruesome arms turning into daggers was presented really well and sparked some fear. Having that fear coupled with the humour that came from the likes of Bob and Mary was excellent and contrasted well. The seriousness of the Best Kept Lawn of the Month competition was tremendous. Ianto was distraught to find that Bob and Mary had gone against the rules by using weed killers, but then he ended up winning! Really fun stuff. Vanessa being the initial Sleeper was magnificent with Ianto having said she was all along, but Bob and Mary were ones too! The home planet of the Cell being gone had led them to wanting Earth for themselves and that was why they were here in force. The threat of them hatching worldwide was a little too much for my liking and took away the perfect rating, but being able to stop it within the gated community was really nicely done. The weapon that could take them out going as far as destroying even bones was graphic and gruesome, with Jack not even sure if he'd return to life from that. Ianto shooting him in the head when he suspected him as a Sleeper was incredible though. Overall, a really strong adventure! 

Rating: 9/10