Department X

"There's a basement full of corpses in the freezer."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: March 2011

Series: Torchwood BBC Audio 05

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Ianto

Synopsis

G. R. Owen is the last of Cardiff's old department stores. Times are hard and the ancient firm has gone into administration. But who are the Administrators? What goes on behind the shutters at night? And why are customers disappearing? Torchwood are already investigating. 

G. R. Owen is the site of their oldest unsolved cases, and Jack is determined to solve it before the store closes forever – which is why Ianto is working undercover in gentlemen's fashions and Gwen is in handbags. 

Are the new mangers really aliens? What connection do they have to the mysterious G. R. Owen himself? And is Jack the only one looking for the Department of Curiosities, last seen in 1905?

Verdict

Department X was an excellent audio to continue my way through the Torchwood Tales collection! This was a really pleasant listening experience and just worked right from the off. With these Torchwood audios usually going over two hours, they can sometimes be difficult to maintain attention and grip the listener but this one had no such trouble. I think a shop is a fantastic setting for a story in the Doctor Who universe which we obviously saw utilised very well in both Rose and Closing Time, but now it was Torchwood's time to have a go and they absolutely nailed it. I thought the history there with both Jack and Torchwood was very intriguing and added a depth of mystery to what was already an interesting prospect. As a relative local to Cardiff, I can't quite remember when the bulk of St David's shopping centre was opened but it feels right that it would be around the time this story was written and that ties in nicely to the dwindling performance of G. R. Owen as an old department store. It was a good reminder of days gone past with it outlasting the likes of Woolworths and Pound Paradise, but now it was on its last legs. The administrators were called in and quickly took over proceedings, but they had an off feeling right from the start. The fact they were surveying the employees and being interested in the species was interesting and I was really intrigued in what they were after. The result was actually fascinating as we learned all about the Department of Curiosities which was a Torchwood mystery dating back decades. I thought that was exciting and Jack having knowledge of the past and having even tried to solve it himself on more than one occasion was very exciting! The shop itself was now due to close so Jack saw this as his final opportunity to solve something that hd gone amiss for Torchwood for a very long time. I thought it was a little obvious that the Department of Curiosities would lie in the basement, or at least the door to it, and Ianto slipping through was excellent. He and Gwen were undercover in unconventional means at the store which was a delight to listen to, especially with Gwen described as a sex worker thanks to her position in the makeup section! But now Ianto encounter Gareth who turned out to be the G. R. Owen himself which was good. Learning about his past and how he nurtured wingless birds and had done the same with the alien parasite that had housed itself within him was brilliant. I didn't see it coming but it made sense for this to be where it was hiding. It was causing torment and Gareth didn't entirely realise it. Jack and Gareth encountering each other again felt like a big moment despite us not knowing much about the store founder. I loved the moment the administrators utilised the store intercom to announce special offers including Ianto's life. That was magnificently evil. Their fascination with the Department of Curiosities too as representatives of Firestone Finance was terrific and I liked their whole purpose of profiting from failing businesses, even alien ones. Absalom and Valentine were strong characters as the heads of this transaction, but by the end the former got a little more than he bargained for in becoming the new host of the parasite. The use of the dimension gate was really well done and I liked how Cardiff and the Rift helped with the department and the coming of the administrators. One last thing I should commend is the narration from Kai Owen. Considering Rhys didn't really feature he did a wonderful job in bringing the story to life. It was exciting and engaging which is all you can ask for really! Overall, a terrific listen! 

Rating: 9/10