Fall to Earth

 

"Have a safe day at work."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: October 2015

Series: Torchwood Monthly Range 02

Featuring: Ianto

Synopsis

The SkyPuncher is the first private spaceflight. But Ephraim Salt's visionary project has gone horribly wrong – the ship is falling out of the sky and there seems no way to stop it. Ianto Jones thought the flight would be sabotaged. 

The only problem is...he's on board.

Verdict

Fall to Earth was an excellent audio to continue Big Finish's Torchwood monthly range! I was really impressed with this one and I thought the entire 57 minutes was gripping. Considering their were only two characters, I was delighted with what I listened to! It was essentially a conversation over the phone and the humour that came with Zeynep, whom we later learned was the name of the insurance agent, calling Ianto in the middle of a spaceflight crash was delightful. The dynamic was so much fun! I must admit that I went into the audio a little sceptical over whether a story headed by Ianto could hold its own but it more than did which was fantastic. He's a great character and it's been some time since I blogged anything featuring him so it was brilliant to revisit the character and hear Gareth David-Lloyd once again. His relationship with Zeynep was terrific and I liked how an insurance seller from a call centre was his only chance of surviving a crashing flight that was headed for space. I loved how Zeynep was following the book when it came to selling insurance over the phone and Ianto searching for his card details in desperate fashion to sign up for pet insurance for bird Myfanwy was hilarious. Ianto sending a code to Zeynep headset for the manual control of the SkyPuncher was great and I liked how he was able to convince her to stay on the phone amidst his claim of crashing. The development of her believing his predicament was really nicely paced. I loved the feeling of suspense that lasted for pretty much the majority of the audio and the atmosphere was magnificent. Only hearing Zeynep through the phone really added to the story. Ianto having to search through the passengers, who he presumed were dead, for a phone charger was quite daunting and I liked the threat that came with Ephraim Salt screaming in a mad and zombie-like fashion. The way elements of the story connected around him with his SkyPuncher destroying his satellite and then heading on a projector for Zeynep Turkish call centre that was coincidentally owned by Salt was very good. I didn't expect that but it was clear from the moment Ianto reiterated that she had called him that there was more than just chance. The references to The Conspiracy and that explaining Jack being missing was good and I also found the mentions of Cyberwoman quite something with how lightly Ianto made of its events. The growing feeling of acceptance that there would be no way out for either Ianto or Zeynep was incredible really and it was sad that she couldn't hang up the phone and even inform her family and speak to them one last time. It was clear that she didn't want to die and almost seemed willing to let the SkyPuncher crash into the city with her safely on Asmir's outskirts. Of course, she didn't do that but the moment Ianto mentioned having a seat ejector from the pilot's chair and a way out was heartbreaking for her and I truly believed that her fate would be to perish and save the city. To be honest, I think that would have worked better as I felt the ending was the only slight let down of the audio as it just seemed too easy for her to have avoided catastrophe by throwing the headset off and guiding the SkyPuncher to crash into the quarry. I thought it was nice at the end though with Ianto wanting to meet up, but she didn't seem so interested which was a little surprising. I should also mention the moment where Ianto didn't even know her name was very powerful. Overall, a superb audio adventure! 

Rating: 9/10