Parasite: The Spread

"Killer Nazi mushrooms!"

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: August 2020

Series: Torchwood Soho 1.04

Featuring: Folgate, Andy

Synopsis

Enter the world of 1950s Torchwood! 

Gangsters are vanishing from the streets of Soho, there's a deadly Nazi secret on the loose, and something's moving in the smog. Norton Folgate should be sorting this out, but the Torchwood agent is in disgrace. Who's going to save London this time?

Verdict

The Spread was yet another great episode to continue my way through the Parasite first series of Torchwood Soho! This series has been incredibly consistent so far and with two instalments still to go this is shaping up to be a really solid debut series. Torchwood Soho continues to go from strength to strength here and the trio of Andy, Norton and Gideon are really establishing themselves as an impressive duo. The latter is still very much feeling like a newbie and that's not just when it comes to being a part of the life that is Torchwood. I thought it was quite powerful for him to make a point of him asking Norton back to his flat being the first time he had asked a man to do something like that. It was the first time he'd taken an interest which was intriguing given the aim with him as a journalist but this did very much feel like a literal coming out moment. And I'm not sure how much I enjoyed how unserious that was met by Norton, but that felt very much in character. He's a little bit annoying and whilst I do find that unlikeable, I am starting to appreciate that this is kind of the point. I'm not sure how sellable that is as a lead character for a spinoff's spinoff series, but there are multiple releases in this range and here I am having purchased one so they must be doing something correctly! I thought the episode title was slightly misleading as I'm not sure how much of the story was actually focused on that with the parasite spread, but it is very much there in the background and I feel like things are building towards an exciting crescendo. The involvement of Belle was good and I liked that Norton saw that Gideon and Andy were kept safe within the Stagnant Pond. The concept behind that public estsblihamnet was fascinating stuff and I loved the idea of them being frozen in time. Just the pub. The regulars were very much that! It was good and I would certainly like to learn more about its origin. Also, the conversation that Gideon and Belle had over a game of darts was terrific to me as an avid darts fan and player. Hearing Belle comment on how quickly Gideon was improving with his arrows as he got from the likes of a single nine to treble twelve was intriguing. They're not exactly far away from each other on the board! He had the knowledge though and quickly found himself hitting the treble twenty as the biggest points target on the board. The bullseye really isn't all that much to shout about despite being the appealing option at the centre! I thought Belle making sure that she wasn't just getting monetary value for housing Norton's friends was intriguing and bound to be something we come back to as we head into the final two episodes of the series. I like the continuation of the Nazi fungi threat as that seems magnificent and so perfect for the 1950s. Would Nazism ever really be defeated? The threat lingers and people continuing to go missing during the fog is now becoming something a little more as people realise. It can't just be the weather and I like that. I thought the cliffhanger was a little less impactful this time around but no less interesting as Norton was on his own little mission and seems to be shockingly reunited with Lizbeth. I didn't have that down as something that would happen but I'm intrigued to hear what comes next. Overall, a fine audio to continue the series! 

 

Rating: 8/10