Fortitude

"There's something in the storm."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: January 2020

Series: Torchwood Monthly 35

Featuring: Queen Victoria 

Synopsis 

Queen Victoria is stranded with Maharaja Duleep Singh on a mysterious fort in the middle of the ocean.

The fort has been ravaged by storms since it was built. There are ghost inside and there's something alien outside. It'll do anything to get its release.

Verdict

Fortitude was an excellent story to continue my way through Big Finish’s monthly Torchwood adventures! I must admit the prospect of another outing with Queen Victoria didn’t entice me from the off, but after listening this was a really great audio. I liked how the atmosphere was set right from the off as Victoria and Duleep Singh were sailing amidst some very stormy seas. The sound effects there were tremendous and I loved how it just felt like nighttime and very wet. That was the opposite of the environment in which I was listening as it was very early morning and indoors after a pleasant morning walk in overcast weather. The storms got so severe that they needed to abandon ship but they did reach the sea fortress that Victoria proudly proclaimed to own. She was the Queen after all! I thought the violins in the opening theme arrangement was rather beautiful and reminded us that this was a Torchwood of the nineteenth century which I really liked. Colonel Crackenthorpe was a really strong character to meet the Queen and Maharajah, and the eery atmosphere was heightened when Singh was hearing voices in the corridors. Crackenthorpe describing the voices as imps was a little odd but I guess with him being used to them by now he could name them what he wished. The fact he was used to them showed just how long he’d been stationed at the fortress. The way the adventure shifted when Victoria was standing over Singh with a knife was very sudden but pretty brilliant! He was initially a little scared as the lady maharajah and started with quite the retort about the treatment of his family and country by Victoria and the British. That was sublime. His realisation that the monarch was sleepwalking was fantastic too and he hoped to take advantage. He didn’t waste time in calling her an old hag but was quick to blame the voices for consuming him, as Victoria seemed to think had happened to her. That was a humorous moment as panic set in for Singh that she’d overheard. The pair then creeping around the fortress to get back to Victoria’s room was entertaining and creepy with the chair rocking despite nobody sitting in it. That was very fun. Singh starting to converse with the imps was intriguing and the moment where Crackenthorpe found him and Victoria in his quarters was quite something! Angry doesn’t begin to cut his reaction. He was missing his wife who was in an asylum and it honestly felt like he ought to be too as he was talking to her in the voices. The fortress positioning in the sea was no secret as it was on top of an alien power, one that was keeping Crackenthorpe young as he had been offering forty years of service there. That was quite the timescale and didn’t match his appearance as far as Singh was concerned. The idea of there being something contained in the storm was great and the description of it being a scream of creation was outstanding! Singh pondering on his country’s history and becoming part of the British Empire was fantastic and linking that with the imps creature also wanted freedom was great stuff. The creature being trapped below the fortress was good and Singh encouraging them out made for a fine conclusion as the action increased adding to the tension. Victoria claimed that the creature had learned mercy was good and a fine emotional appeal. She planned to keep the fortress in place until the creature was ready to come through as she seemed to be living up to her creation of Torchwood and the protection of humanity. Her comment about Torchwood always being there and also protecting aliens from humanity was a nice touch. Victoria’s apology to Crackenthorpe for the time he spent on the fortress was admirable at last, but Singh was now instructed to stay as the sentinel. Overall, a really excellent audio!

Rating: 9/10