The Three Monkeys

"How am I still alive?"

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: October 2020

Series: Torchwood Monthly 43

Featuring: Owen, Andy

Synopsis

Andy Davidson's been ordered to watch over a local businessman. Everything's always gone right for him, and Andy's long wondered why.

Owen joins him on the stakeout. He knows something – the businessman's attracted Torchwood's attention, and tonight, the two of them are going to take him down. But will luck be on their side?

Verdict

The Three Monkeys was an excellent edition of the monthly Torchwood range from Big Finish! It's been a while since I've been able to delve into this range but I was delighted to pick things back up after a recent sale. The pairing of Andy and Owen just works well because they're such contrasting figures. Owen is brash and arrogant even at this point in his life where he's actually dead, whereas Andy despite being a police officer is still somewhat shy and not exactly exuding confidence. That dynamic was explored brilliantly here and to have Andy take the initiative and put things into his own hands was marvellous as he just locked Owen in the police car whilst he went and dealt with the problem. It was quite extraordinary! I thought the premise of the episode was strong and I really enjoyed just how mundane life was explored. Here Andy was just on a stakeout for potential lead theft at a wealthy businessman's property. It wasn't exactly exciting, but with Owen arriving on the scene there would clearly be more than met the eye. I really appreciated the local knowledge that came from author James Goss here as we explored a decent amount of South Wales and the wider Cardiff area. Llandaf is essentially just a part of Cardiff so it makes sense for Andy to be placed there, but stretching his family history up to Maerdy was terrific. It's not a million miles from Aberdare so Owen's despair at not being there was fun and it was also great to get mentions of Tonypandy and the A470! I felt like I was at home and that's part of why Torchwood appeals to me so much. Big Finish has expanded the world of Torchwood so much which is marvellous but I quite liked how this was ingrained in the latter stages of Series 2. Owen was somewhat at home with his predicament now and Andy challenging him on why he was still in Cardiff was really powerful. I thought the concept behind the lucky monkey artefact was amusing and I think the image of it was really good. I like the idea of a luck field and that could be taken in a bad way if it fell into the wrong hands, as was the case with the businessman. He had escaped all sorts of fraud and investigations just by having the monkey locked up in his basement. It was some way to get people to look the other way! The concept of the knife bats was fascinating and I'd have liked more time actually encountering them. They sounded frightening! Owen getting questioned by Dennis as another policeman investigating the alarms was a hilarious moment as things really didn't look good for the Torchwood medic! Andy and Owen communicating via bluetooth was amusing as they often forgot the other could hear. The boiled sweet gag was terrific also. I liked how Andy had worked out that you could only be traced with the monkey if you weren't actually in contact with it any longer, but having escaped the kebab shop in a police car their appearance wasn't exactly conspicuous! The Chief Constable being in on it was really played well also and I liked how simple it became when Owen contacted Torchwood. They had given Ianto and Tosh enough time to ensure Jack could take down the businessman when he was vulnerable without the monkey in his premises. It was all a long ploy which was quite fun, as was the ending as the house and extension Andy was supposed to be staking out had their lead stolen whilst he wasn't watching! Poor old Andy. Overall, a fantastic audio adventure! 

Rating: 9/10