John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Kai Owen return in the official audio continuation, Torchwood: ‘Aliens Among Us’. (Big Finish)
With the new season of Torchwood being produced by Big Finish, could the audio company in fact be the best place for the much loved Doctor Who spinoff?
Later this month, a new season of Torchwood will finally begin. However, it won’t be made for television. Instead, Torchwood: ‘Aliens Among Us’ will be exclusively on audio.
Why are Big Finish labelling this as “season 5”, then? Well for one thing, it’s meant to continue the story more or less where Miracle Day left off. The fourth season of Torchwood was over 6 years ago, and we haven’t heard anything more about a TV continuation since then. At least, nothing concrete. Occasionally, you’d hear how John Barrowman would subtly (or not so subtly) hint that Steven Moffat was to blame, but no more than that.
Unsurprisingly, a few fans have been upset about the fact that the new season isn’t being made for television. And I can see reasons why it should be brought back on TV. But if I’m honest, the audio medium isn’t a bad place for it. In fact, I believe that Big Finish are completely the right people to make season 5. Here are five reasons why that is.
Big Finish
John Barrowman
Let’s be clear: John Barrowman is Captain Jack Harkness. Ever since his first appearance in The Empty Child, he completely embodied the role. He’s a consistently well written character, with a great performance to boot. No one else can play him, and no one else ever should.
However, there is one slight, but rather obvious problem that we need to address. Simply put: everybody ages. It’s simply a fact of life. And it’s kind of hard to ignore. Especially with actors who’ve worked on a show for over a decade. For most of the cast, this obviously isn’t a problem.
For John Barrowman? His character is immortal. That’s the problem.
There’s no denying that Barrowman looks great for his age. But it’s still been over ten years since we first saw him Torchwood. And while Jack does age, it’s supposed to be very slowly. Season 2 showed him looking exactly the same in Victorian England as he did over a hundred years later. Let’s be honest: on screen, after a while, there comes a point when the immortal guy is clearly aging too rapidly.
One way to get around that problem? Don’t have it on screen. Or at least, don’t film it in live action. After all, voices tend to change less than physical appearance.
This is one of the reasons why Big Finish’s brand of Classic Who audios have remained so successful. While their outward appearances have changed, the voices of the classic Doctors have remained almost entirely the same, and the illusion is therefore much better maintained than on video. Now, this can apply to Barrowman, too. He can continue to play Captain Jack, and we can pretend he looks exactly the same as he did ten years ago.
BBC
No interest from BBC or Starz in making a fifth season
This is something that needs to be stressed. We can complain on Facebook, we can write to the BBC and Starz all we like. But the sad fact is that neither have shown any interest in making a new season. It’s been six years since Miracle Day, and we haven’t heard anything. We’ve had new spinoff Class, but nothing for Captain Jack and his gang.
Personally, I think if something was going to happen by now, it would have. Even factoring in that BBC shows do tend to have longer gaps in between series than with American shows, that’s still far longer than usual. There may be plenty of interest from the fans in a new season, but nothing from the BBC.
But that’s what Big Finish is for: giving the fans what they want. They understand the fanbase, and when there’s a clear market for good storytelling. They’ve demonstrated this clearly with the Torchwood audios that they’ve made so far. Speaking of which…
Big Finish
Some of the best Torchwood stories ever have been made by Big Finish
I cannot stress this point enough. Big Finish have been making Torchwood audios for over two years now, and they’ve been incredibly successful.
I’ve mentioned before how great their ongoing monthly series has been. Set before, during and after the original four seasons, these audios have given us so many intensely focused character-based episodes. ‘The Conspiracy’ was a great opening episode. ‘Fall to Earth’ gave us a wonderful Ianto story. ‘One Rule’ focused on one of my favourite characters ever, Yvonne Hartman.
But perhaps the very best Torchwood story – one of the best ever, in fact – was ‘Broken’. Focusing on the early days of Jack and Ianto’s relationship, this is a must listen for anyone who’s even the slightest fan of the pair.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s Torchwood: ‘Outbreak’, a box set of three episodes focusing on an epic event occurring between seasons 2 and 3. There’s Torchwood One: ‘Before the Fall’, a prequel and spinoff to the series that focuses on events from Yvonne Hartman’s perspective, sometime before her TV appearance in ‘Army of Ghosts’. And then there’s The Torchwood Archive, a wonderful celebration of the whole series.
As you can see, Big Finish have already done so much with the popular spinoff. But it’s not the only spinoff that they’ve told amazing stories with…
Big Finish
Big Finish have made spinoffs even better than Torchwood
This might be a controversial point, but it has to be said. In my opinion, as brilliant as Torchwood was, it wasn’t without its faults, either. It took a while to find its feet in season 1. Sometimes, it tried too hard to be “edgier” and “more adult” than Doctor Who. Sometimes it worked, like in the episode ‘Captain Jack Harkness’. Other times, it really didn’t, like in ‘Cyberwoman’.
By season 2, it had found its feet and really revealed itself to be a more than worthy spinoff with its own identity. Its third season, ‘Children of Earth’? Absolutely amazing drama. Half the length, but it told its story on a much larger scope, and very effective it was too.
‘Miracle Day’ could have had as much impact, but in my personal opinion, it was too dragged out. Torchwood also lost a little of its charm by being dragged out of Cardiff, and even the UK. It wasn’t quite as great as it could have, and perhaps should have been.
Big Finish, on the other hand? There are so many spinoffs set in the Doctor Who universe that have been so much more satisfying on the whole. Gallifrey is a great, complex drama dealing in the dirty politics and epic battles on the Doctor’s home planet. Dalek Empire focuses on the darker side of the Daleks war with humanity. Counter-Measures is a wonderfully gritty series that’s a mixture of grounded sci-fi with conspiracy thriller.
But my favourite spinoff of all time is without doubt Jago & Litefoot. Two characters that originally appeared in Tom Baker serial ‘The Talons of Weng-Chiang’, their own spinoff went on for 13 series, and crossed over with several Doctor Who audios. There are so many reasons why this series was easily the best Doctor Who spinoff ever made, which I’ll go into more detail at a later date. Considering the overall success Big Finish have had, it seems right that they’re taking over Torchwood.
Need one more reason to get the latest season? Well…
BBC
It could increase the chances of a new TV season
This is a possibility that tends to be overlooked, I think. In my earlier point, I mentioned that no amount of written or verbal complaints will get the BBC to change their mind about a new TV season. And that is true. But there is one thing that might convince them.
Money.
At the very least, showing that there’s an actual market for Torchwood could convince them to bring it back. If enough fans bought the new season and showed their support, then it would give the BBC much, much more of an incentive to bring it back on television.
When the BBC brought Doctor Who back on television, I’d be very surprised if the success of the books and audios weren’t a contributing factor towards that original decision of bringing it back. Of course, this small chance isn’t the only reason you should buy season 5. But it is something to consider, at least.
Next: Forgotten Storylines: The Face of Boe
Knowing that Big Finish are officially continuing the story of Torchwood couldn’t make me happier. Considering how they’ve handled their own series, I’m excited to hear how they will take Torchwood in a brand-new direction. Judging from the Torchwood stories that they’ve made so far, as well as their own original spinoffs, this could be the best season of Torchwood yet.