Coffee

"We keep this city safe."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: January 2021

Series: Torchwood Monthly 46

Featuring: Ianto

Synopsis

Baps has long been the best (and only) cafe in Cardiff Bay. But something's coming to the Bay – will it be posh coffee or aliens? 

David thinks that Cardiff's under a curse, ever since his Mum went missing. One day, a young man called Inato Jones walks into David's cafe. He's looking for something. Will he help David learn what's really going on in the city?

Verdict 

Coffee was an outstanding story to continue my way through the monthly range of Torchwood at Big Finish! I had no idea what to expect from this episode and I was intrigued by the name. I didn’t read the synopsis prior to listening so I was really thinking can they possibly do an adventure about coffee? Of course, it wasn’t quite that simple but in a roundabout way the title was exactly what the story was about. The Baps coffee shop at Cardiff Bay was a terrific focal point for the story and it served as the setting for an emotional journey through Ianto’s time at Torchwood Three. I thought that was wonderful and the format was just magnificent. It just worked as a retrospective on such a strong character. David and Kathy were fantastic characters in the cafe and they had their own emotional journey as they realised they belonged together. The cafe was in David’s family for decades but he was struggling to let things go when it came to the recent loss of his mother. That was understandable but Kathy was trying to help him along the way and see that some things needed to change. The cafe needed modernising. David blamed aliens for the loss of his mum and that became quite an obsession for him. He was very much against them in any form and Ianto was keen to try and point out that not all aliens were out for invasion and taking over the world. Cardiff’s proximity to the Rift meant many had just fallen through and were scared themselves, but David would just have them all killed if he had his way. He was very prejudice and that was intriguing to listen to as he dealt with his grief. I thought the journey through Ianto’s time at Torchwood was brilliant and I loved how it started right from the time he was interviewing for the role. There were rumours of a pterodactyl in Cardiff Bay which was amusing but then we had references to the likes of Day One and Cyberwoman right up to Exit Wounds and Children of Earth: Day One. The latter of the first half there was referenced so strongly with the Japanese businessman and Ianto referring to his girlfriend, but the biggest impact came from the latter episode and the way Roald Dahl Plas exploded. That was incredibly presented and I loved how Kathy’s first thought was of Ianto. By now they knew he was part of Torchwood. Ianto demonstrating that not all aliens were bad to David was done in brutal fashion as he feigned that he’d need to amputate his arm, but the message was clear even if Kathy didn’t quite agree. Andy popping into the coffee shop to reflect on Ianto’s life and announce that he had died was a really poignant moment. It was a lovely cameo to round off the journey through Ianto’s time, and brought some closure to Kathy and David as they found out that he really did save the world. Overall, a simply stunning adventure. A shame I don’t like coffee as I’d drink one to this audio!

Rating: 10/10