Apex

"There's something inside him."

Writer: Juno Dawson

Format: Audio

Released: September 2023

Series: Redacted 2.02

Featuring: Shawna, Abby, Cleo

Synopsis

Attacked by giant rats, Cleo's expecting the Doctor to turn up – but instead she encounters a different enigmatic alien. Apex Costa explains he needs Cleo's help – the Doctor's missing. Meanwhile Abby and Shawna investigate a mysterious organisation called Torchwood.

Verdict

Apex was a decent little episode to continue my way through the second series of the Redacted podcast series! After a strong opener and good cliffhanger with Cleo on the verge of being ravaged or even consumed by giant rats, she was saved in quick style. But unfortunately it wasn’t the Doctor. I feel a little harsh in my negativity here but the titular character of Apex felt a little less then. That’s a huge shame as I think in isolation there’s some potential there with him being a part of the Intergalactic Central Bureau Agency. It sounded like a funky organisation and my early prediction for the series is this is where Cleo ends up. Apex looks set to stick around at least for a little while and with Abby and Shawna all loved up it makes sense for her to go off and do something akin to travelling with the Doctor. That’s the problem here though slightly is that because Cleo wants to find the Doctor so desperately and is constantly leaving messages and searching for trouble where he or she may turn up, anyone else that appears almost by default becomes a disappointment. It’s a big shame. The story itself as my rating shows is a very decent one even if it does perhaps fall into the range of filler. But filler is important and this moves things along nicely. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog of the series opener, I’m much more interested in Abby and Shawna’s investigation into Torchwood than I am with whatever Cleo is up to in London. Her talk with Apex about the Doctor was great though and I loved the idea of the Time Lords being considered an endangered species. That was tremendous. I thought the idea of Apex being from the Origin was intriguing but a little big picture and just unfathomable for a podcast series. Claiming that this is where all Time came from and began is bold! Especially without the Doctor around. Cleo referring to the Doctor’s gender change during regeneration as a transition was fun tongue in cheek and I also enjoyed how the rats incident was detailed as being similar to the Arachnids in the UK situation. I do love the continuity in this series. Abby and Shawna finding Archie in hospital was a shame as I’d have loved for them to have a conversation, but he was in a bad way with an alien creature literally escaping from inside of him! That painted a pretty gruesome picture. The prospect of it being on the loose in Glasgow was fun for the future but the podcast pair were more interested in the sound studio that Archie had pointed them in the direction of its keys. The description of the large T on the wall was glorious and I love the idea of investigating deeper into an unfamiliar Torchwood location. The archive would be extensive, but files relating to the Doctor were gone. The cliffhanger was pretty good as a drone voice came booming upon Cleo and Alex with the latter clearly not quite being what he seems. I sense an ulterior motive for gathering information on the Doctor instead of just a routine centenary species catalogue. This creature is out to protect the truth, and I do wonder what Apex is after! Overall, a good listen.

Rating: 7/10