The House of the Dead

"The dead... we're all coming back."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Broadcast: 13th July 2011

Series: Torchwood: The Lost Files 03

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Ianto

Synopsis 

The brewery have called 'time' and it's the last night at The House of the Dead - the most haunted pub in Wales. Barry the barman has invited renowned psychic Mrs Wintergreen to hold a special seance to mark the occasion, and there's a big crowd hoping for the chance of seeing their deceased loved ones for one last time. But when Jack arrives on the scene, he's determined to stop them. Ianto is puzzled by Jack's behaviour, and Gwen is suspicious. Why is Jack acting so strangely? Then the ghosts start arriving - and all hell breaks loose. 

Verdict 

The House of the Dead was an extremely emotional Torchwood audio, and an excellent one of that. I really liked the recycled idea of trying to reach through to 'the other side' where our deceased loved ones supposedly have gone. I'm an Atheist and have no religious beliefs whatsoever, and my opinion on death is that it's the end. Simple as that. Once you die, you're dead. It's logical and if there wasn't religion I'm sure nobody would debate that fact. Why would humans be so special in having life after death just because we're the intelligent species who learned how to talk and constructed the world? Death is death. However, I'm certainly open to exploring a story on death (just look at my rating for the recent series eight finale Dark Water/Death in Heaven). I read beforehand that this audio, the last in the Lost Files mini-series, was set between series three and four of televised Torchwood. In terms of blogging, that's exactly where I am having not too long ago concluded the outstanding Children of Earth series. Having a kind of sequel to Children of Earth: Day Four was terrific and it saw quite an important episode in terms of the overall continuity of the spinoff programme. The setting of the House of the Dead pub, the most haunted pub in Wales, was good and it fitted in nicely with the title that a seance was in commission. Hearing Ianto being present was a little strange for me especially as he was hoping to contact the dead. That's the only problem I had with this story - how was Ianto a ghost when he was trying to contact other ghosts? I couldn't wrap my head around that. But based on my minimal experience of James Goss stories, it doesn't seem like I'm his biggest fan. I was quite sad that Gwen didn't appear much. Well technically, she didn't appear at all. The voice of Eve Myles was just an impersonation that was feeding Ianto with false information about Jack. Nonetheless, on a technicality she still gets a mention in my 'featuring' segment of the story information. After all the time he's lived, it's quite touching how much Ianto meant to Jack. Even after what we saw in Small Worlds, Ianto meant more to Jack than anybody. The reference to Cyberwoman with Lisa mentioned was good and it was nice that we got an insight into the relationship between Ianto and his previously unseen father. It certainly seemed like a difficult one that's for sure. I did though feel awfully sorry for his father in that he was waiting on his deathbed for three weeks for a phone call off his son. As he was dying, that phone call never came. I can't quite comprehend why Ianto wouldn't even visit, let alone simply ring, his dying father! I don't care if you don't know what to say, you go and see him. The fact that Syriath was attempting to use the dead against the living was a horrifying concept which makes it a good one for the enemy. I liked the idea of her being a mighty demon trapped since the time before time. After an eternity in hell, she was about to be set free. But Jack wouldn't allow that and in an extremely clever reference to the words pictured on the Millenium Centre, just outside the Torchwood Hub, the stones and coal would activate into an incredible bomb that would blow Syriath into smithereens and permanently close the Rift. Ianto soon learned the truth about his death and the goodbye between him and Jack was incredibly emotional. I like how Ianto gets to say goodbye one more time and also dies saving the world for the second time. Not too shabby that I must say. I was surprised though that Jack admitted to not being there at Ianto's funeral. That's rather sad. Overall, an emotional story with a ridden theme of death. Just one or two minor issues but overall I was impressed! 

Rating: 8/10