Sync

"Would you have voted for me if you knew I was an alien?"

Writer: Lisa McMullin

Format: Audio

Released: May 2019

Series: Torchwood Monthly 27

Featuring: Suzie

Synopsis

Margaret Blaine is the Mayor of Cardiff. She's also an alien who'll do anything to get off the planet Earth. When a spaceship crashes outside Cardiff, it seems like the answer to her prayers. But she's not the only person at the crash site.

Suzie Costello works for Torchwood, but strictly to her own agenda. When a spaceship crashes outside Cardiff, it seems like the answer to her prayers. But she's not the only person at the crash site.

Bonded by an alien device, Margaret and Suzie find themselves on the run from Torchwood, the police, and six warp missiles that'll destroy them, Cardiff, and most of the Western Hemisphere.

Verdict

Sync was a very fun audio to continue my way through the Torchwood monthly adventures from Big Finish! With this current run of audios mixing Torchwood with some famous monsters from Doctor Who, the Slitheen were a tremendous choice but I don't think I was expecting the tie in with the Series 1 timeline and what we would later know of Torchwood at this time. The utilisation of Suzie was brilliant and knowing what we know from Everything Changes and her true intensions in using Torchwood for her own benefit, it was fun to hear her running away from the organisation in which she was employed. She was part of Torchwood but very much had her own motives and research interests. Having her meet Margaret Blaine was such an unexpected and fun pairing with the two of them ending up getting on tremendously well despite the common threat of killing the other. I liked how their relationship developed over the course of the hour and the maniacal laughter was uncomfortably excellent. Admittedly, it got a bit strange at times and I think more could have been made of the fact that Margaret was a Slitheen and inside of a human body. In saying that, I was glad the passing of gas was kept to a minimal as that could have been disastrous for the audio format! The spaceship crash provided a good basis for the interests of Suzie and Margaret. Margaret was in a conflict in wanting to get off the Earth despite her political position, but she couldn't get home for reasons we know from Doctor Who. She would not exactly be welcome! The pair getting liked together was a fun moment and the realisation that the child lock settings were activated in keeping parental controls was tremendous. I thought that was a story highlight as they both were in hysterics! Hearing them enjoy laughing like that was good and a nice sense of relief for characters not exactly associated with happiness. The inclination of Suzie and Owen having some kind of relationship was nice and it's always fun to visit Torchwood prior to the events of Series 1. The political references were fun and Suzie admitting that she hadn't even voted for Margaret was good stuff. It was all a bit tongue and cheek. The threat from the pilot and Cardiff's imminent destruction was exciting and I liked how the pair came together to actually save the Welsh capital. It was a unique approach in having the Torchwood character actually pair up with the Doctor Who monster rather than the former try and stop the latter, so I commend that approach. It worked really well and the timelines linking up was impressive writing. Cardiff being the saved and the pair admitting they were glad that was the case despite them not really having strong feelings about the city was a nice moment. The discussion about names was a comical scene with Suzie's reaction to Blon's full name and the planet she came from a highlight, and it was also amusing that Blon thought Suzie to be a UFO collector before realising she'd orchestrated the whole pilot crash fiasco. Overall, another great audio!

Rating: 8/10