Before the Fall: New Girl

"What if the adventures comes to find us first?"

Writer: Joseph Lidster

Format: Audio

Released: January 2017

Series: Torchwood One 1.01

Featuring: Yvonne, Ianto

Synopsis

"They've been coming to us for years. And we've been kept in the dark. My name's Rachel Allan. And I'm Torchwood."

It's Rachel Allan's first day at Torcwood. Torchwood only takes the brightest and the best – and Rachel's wondering if Yvonne Hartman's made a terrible mistake in picking her.

Plunged into a world of alien invasions and office politics, Rachel's desperate to fit in. For one thing, she really wants this job. And, for another, she knows what happens at Torchwood if you fail.

Verdict

New Girl was an excellent start to Before the Fall and the first volume of Torchwood One! I have been so looking forward to this release for a very long time and I'm so glad to finally have kickstarted it. I think it's such a good idea for a series because there's so much potential but also it's something we know a lot about. There were so many references to the first couple of series of Doctor Who with the likes of Henrik's mentioned and Rachel being bought a Bad Wolf pint, and having a little flashback sequence to Rose and also the explanation of Torchwood's establishment in Tooth and Claw really opened up the series in a strong way. Introducing us to Torchwood one prior to what we saw it in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday through Rachel Allan and her first day on the job was terrific and just hearing her arrive on the tube to Canary Wharf was fun. Torchwood was embracing the alien tech and even had a sentient lift to take Rachel to Torchwood Tower which was interesting. Ianto playing a role here is tremendous and him being Yvonne's PA is a great dynamic and a role we're not quite used to for him at Torchwood. He was having family troubles in Wales which was why he came to London, and I liked how he'd been on dates with Lisa that didn't work out. Of course, we know that won't stay that way but here he got intimate with Rachel was a good development I didn't actually see coming. Rachel talking to Yvonne on her arrival without realising who she was made for great fun and I liked how she was hired because she believed in aliens, but showed proof that recent events such as Rose were indeed terrorists as the cover story was despite her knowing otherwise because she didn't think humanity was ready for aliens. Kieran was a good character as the security man and his later relationship with Dean would prove crucial to the direction of the series. I liked that the sphere was being examined and Raj and Gareth got mentions, with Yvonne keen to emphasise that what they were doing was for the good of Britain, not the world. They were also on the hunt for the Doctor which was brilliant to throw in there. Rachel ending up as Tommy's PA was a shock for her given his sexist nature as he was part of the old Torchwood where more often than not they just shot the aliens. Their relationship developed nicely once the time jump of a few weeks occurred though which I liked a lot. The analysis of the matter transport device found at Royal Hope hospital was very good, but I was hugely surprised when Rachel suggested testing it on the Corvax alien they had earlier bargained with! I guess with the cliffhanger ending that was less of a surprise in hindsight, but it certainly took me by surprise. Her starting the rummers of Kieran taking over from Tommy was excellent and the mystery of the Friday night retcon was brilliantly done once all was revealed. The suggestion of a slow invasion was terrific and I loved how Rachel framed Yvonne into making it look like she set the coordinates on the matter transporter the resulted in Dean being killed. With all the chaos, Rachel was appointed Director of Torchwood and got exactly what she wanted all along! She was Torchwood now and was ready to hunt Yvonne down and relaunch Torchwood. A great way to set up the rest of the series! Overall, a brilliant audio.

Rating: 9/10