Machines: The Law Machines

"WOTAN needs Yvonne Hartman."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: July 2018

Series: Torchwood One 2.01

Featuring: Yvonne, Ianto

Synopsis

The Mayor of London is launching her bold new law and order initiative. The capital will be kept safe from crime, from fear, from terrorists. The Law Machines are launching. What could possibly go wrong?

Verdict

The Law Machines was a great start to the Machines second series of Torchwood One! I still maintain that this spinoff range is a tremendous idea for a series and getting a follow on after Before the Fall is terrific news. I have been wanting to listen to this particular adventure for such a long time now because The War Machines is a serial that I absolutely adore and holds a place of nostalgia in my heart, so the idea of WOTAN returning to take on Yvonne Hartman and Torchwood was a combination I could never have imagined. It's such a barmy idea but thankfully Big Finish make brilliance like this possible. There was no messing around when it came to getting stuck into things with a very action-packed start. I liked the references to the aforementioned serial where the War Machines made their mark, but this time around we were introduced to Law Machines in a fashion not too dissimilar to the Daleks in Revolution of the Daleks as they were here to provide defence as part of a new law and order measure. I liked that dynamic a great deal. I thought Julian was a fun character as the young and brash technical savvy individual and him being the one that WOTAN gained control through was very good. I loved that Yvonne and Ianto were referencing the events of Post Office Tower in the 1960s and how it couldn't possibly be a rogue computer program that was four decades old that was the reason for the Law Machines going off the beaten track and causing destruction. Of course it couldn't be. But it was! The first moment where we heard the voice of WOTAN brought a huge smile to my face as it was delightful to hear this old enemy in a modern setting. WOTAN trying to deal with the technical advancement that had occurred in the forty years since it was last active was tremendous and I loved how even something like the internet was alien. It still wanted to connect on a phone line! It was really well done. I enjoyed that it was Torchwood who were around in the 1960s to tidy up the aftermath of the War Machines and hearing of how their disposal of the computer that contained WOTAN was done through recyclable methods provided a fun route back for the demented computer programme. Tommy had a fun little role in the story and it was nice for him to reference the previous regime of Rachel that was the previous boxset's focus. I liked the action and the frantic nature of trying to find a solution, and Fiona as the Mayor instructing the National Grid to cut power to their postcode was a logical development but she wouldn't see that it would come into fruition and she died quite unexpectedly! It said a lot about the threat of WOTAN and the Law Machines though. They meant business. Julian's reaction to Yvonne pretending she wasn't who she really is was magnificent, because the internal struggle was audible. Yvonne was required, but she was dead! I thought it was a slightly anticlimactic ending with Yvonne essentially just deleting the WOTAN file and having the battery and hard drive melted which seemed to seal WOTAN's fate for good, but boy was it good to have another story featuring the computer programme! Overall, a great start to the series. 

Rating: 8/10