The fifth series of Torchwood was filled with incredibly shocking moments. But which were the best moments from the series?
(Photo credit: Torchwood/Big Finish
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Torchwood: Aliens Among Us gave us so many shocks and surprises. With the next series starting next month, we look at our top 5 most shocking moments. (Spoilers follow.)
When Big Finish announced that they were officially making series five of Torchwood, expectations were understandably high. Making audio stories of Torchwood was one thing. But labeling it as the official fifth series of the original television show? That was a bold move.
However, one thing that gave the series an extra level of authenticity was Russell T Davies. While he wasn’t a writer or producer on Aliens Among Us, he did provide a number of major ideas, characters and story arcs for Big Finish to play with. After years of working on Torchwood, he was more than familiar with what worked and what didn’t.
But of course, one additional thing that made Torchwood so memorable? The shocks. Whether it was a major character getting killed, or a huge return, or a brilliant cliffhanger, Torchwood has always been remembered for those game changing moments.
And this was definitely something that Aliens Among Us had. More than once, in fact. Throughout the series, listeners were given major surprises over the course of the series. Characters would be killed off. Others would leave for good. And one would even come back from the dead.
With the sixth series starting next month, today, we look at five of the most shocking moments from Torchwood’s fifth series. Naturally, major spoilers follow. If you haven’t listened to the fifth series yet, and don’t want to know anything about it, stop reading now. If you have listened to it, or really want to know what happens, read on.
So, you’re probably wondering: how big are the shocks in Torchwood: Aliens Among Us? Well…
The Torchwood finale saw the arrival of a brand new character to the series: God…
(Image credit: Torchwood/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
5. God arrives (Herald of the Dawn)
It says a lot about how major the shocks were in Torchwood: Aliens Among Us that a moment that can be summed up with “God arrives” isn’t even number one in this list. It only happens in the final moments of the series, but it’s built up so brilliantly.
The main focus in Torchwood: Aliens Among Us is the revelation that Cardiff’s been invaded. Not in a big way, full of spaceships or threats of planetary destruction or anything like that. But in a far more subtle, and far creepier way: hiding in plain sight and taking over major businesses, land, even politics. By the end of the series, the leader of this alien race, the Sorvix, has become the mayor of Cardiff.
Even worse, they’re not afraid of killing anyone who gets in their way. Or even if they don’t – the Sorvix have a very large appetite, after all. The focus of Aliens Among Us has essentially been something of a cold war between Torchwood and the Sorvix.
But the Sorvix have bigger things to fear.
Since the second episode, the Sorvix’s god had been spoken of from time to time. Initially, it had been mistaken as something purely spiritual.
But the longer the series went on, the clearer it became that the Sorvix’s god was something more substantial than that. It was also something the Sorvix were afraid of. Enough that they would run far, far away from it.
In the sixth episode, A Kill to a View, Bilis Manger sent a signal out into the rift. Nothing was made of it. After all, Torchwood had a lot to focus on for the rest of Aliens Among Us. But then, at the very, very end of the series, something came through the rift…and “God” showed up…
What does this mean? Exactly how powerful is Sorvix’s god? What form does it take? We don’t know. Aliens Among Us left us with a lot of questions hanging. Who or what god is is something that will most likely be answered in the next series. Particularly as the title is, after all, God Among Us.
But just as this series introduced new characters, we also had to say goodbye to some old friends, too…
Gwen has been a major part of Torchwood for a long time, even appearing in many audios. But it’s in Aliens Among Us that she says goodbye for good…
(Image credit: Torchwood/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
4. Gwen leaves (Herald of the Dawn)
What’s the one thing that could outdo God showing up? (At least, in the same episode?) A major character leaving. And we’re talking major: Gwen Cooper finally quits Torchwood for good.
It’s quite a bold move, but it makes a lot of sense, too. Eve Myles was so busy during the production of series five that she barely had a few scenes as Gwen (we’ll get to how they worked around that later).
And honestly, it’s clear that Myles is going to be busy for some time. Particularly with her current television series Keeping Faith. That seems to be quite a successful show, with a good chance of getting a second series. So it was only natural that she would be written out at this point.
It also made sense for the character of Gwen, too. She had been through a major ordeal in Aliens Among Us, one that wasn’t discovered until the very end. With a family to look after, and fully realizing how important her life is, she knows where her priorities lie. Naturally, she’s ready to say goodbye for good this time.
Her exit is handled well, and believably too. Interestingly, it’s the only scene that Russell T Davies wrote for the series. It’s wonderfully handled, and brings her story to a close. Jack’s reaction especially is rather moving, as he sounds as shocked as the rest of us.
Gwen was lucky enough to get out of Torchwood alive. Which is more than could be said for one member of her family…
A highly shocking moment occurred in just the second episode of Torchwood: Aliens Among Us. But the death of Gwen’s mother was just one of those shocks…
(Image credit: Torchwood/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
3. Gwen’s mother is murdered (Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy)
This was a huge way to end the second episode, and kick off Aliens Among Us’s biggest arc with a bang. Quite literally, too, as Gwen’s mother is shot dead by…well, we’ll get to that in a bit.
This was a moment that had serious impact. Not least because they brought back the original actress who played Gwen’s mum in the TV series, Sharon Morgan. If anything pushed Gwen to leave Torchwood, losing her mum would’ve done it.
Interestingly, Russell T Davies wanted to reveal the series’s biggest twist with the death of Sergeant Andy. Unsurprisingly, this was pretty much met with a strong “NO!” from Big Finish.
Admittedly, if Andy on audio had been the character in the TV series – a recurring character and clearly a strong friend to Gwen, but overall, lacking in development – it would’ve been understandable.
But Big Finish have been doing amazing things with Andy. Originally PC Andy in the TV series, he has since been promoted to Sergeant. And he’s been through a lot of development across the audios. In fact, he gets his own major episode in Aliens Among Us, as he finds himself accused of murder in The Empty Hand.
So unsurprisingly, none of the writers or producers were keen to kill him off. Perhaps it would’ve lead to a bigger shock, but it also would’ve lead to a bigger disappointment in the long term.
The death of Gwen’s mum, on the other hand, did what it needed to do. It not only presented the series with an incredibly shocking tragedy. But it also revealed Aliens Among Us’s most shocking secret.
But before we get to that, however…
The return of Yvonne Hartman was one of Aliens Among Us’s most shocking moments, and lead to a huge cliffhanger at the end of volume 2.
(Image credit: Torchwood/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
2. Yvonne Hartman’s return (The Empty Hand)
If you’ve been reading this article and haven’t listened to the series yet, this will almost certainly be the one shock that you’re already aware of. Particularly as Big Finish heavily promoted it with the cover of the third and final volume of Aliens Among Us.
However, I can’t say I blame them. If anything was going to make the fans interested in Aliens Among Us, it would definitely be Yvonne, back from the dead. This is a big enough surprise on its own.
But if you were lucky enough to have listened to the second volume before they revealed that cover, then you got one of the best shocks of the season, maybe even of Torchwood ever. Seriously, no one was expecting that.
Oh, a character’s return from the dead had been teased in the announcements. Personally, I was afraid that they would bring back Ianto. I love the character, don’t get me wrong, but he had a brilliantly shocking and tragic exit on the show that left a mark.
But Yvonne Hartman? The last boss of Torchwood One? No one could’ve predicted that.
Even better was, when they revealed her return, they didn’t give us a clue as to why. So for four months, fans were left guessing just how Yvonne Hartman had come back from the dead. The answer to that was pretty simple, and worked well at giving us a version of Yvonne that we all know and love, but also one that’s just a little different.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the return of Yvonne was actually Russell T Davies’s idea. And it was a brilliant one. Not only did it shake things up in the season in a big way, but also brought back a character that was already popular with the audio fanbase, at the very, very least. Certainly, I’ve made it very clear just how much I love Yvonne Hartman, so her return was a brilliant decision.
Surely nothing could beat that as a shocking moment, right?
Why Torchwood is so brilliant on audio? Let’s be honest: this twist would have been SO much more obvious on TV.
(Image credit: Torchwood/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
1. Gwen’s not Gwen (Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy)
This was it. The number one shock. Out of all of this season’s many shocking moments, this one was without a doubt the biggest. In the exact same moment that Gwen’s mother was murdered, we also found out Aliens Among Us’s biggest secret: Gwen wasn’t Gwen.
I mentioned earlier that Eve Myles was unavailable to record for most of the season, only being able to record a few lines at most. The way Big Finish got around this problem? Create a new character pretending to be Gwen, simply credited as “Ng”. And get a new actress to play her, too.
This was a brilliant idea thought up by Russell T Davies. (Are you beginning to see a pattern, here?) It allowed the twist to hide in plain sight in a way that could never have worked on television.
Now don’t get me wrong, a lot of us noticed that Gwen sounded a little different, at least at the very start. But over time, like the twist in The Sixth Sense, we just simply forgot about it. At least, until the big reveal.
Credit should be given to Alexandria Riley for putting in a performance that captured a lot of Eve Myles’s mannerisms and pitch as the character. It wasn’t so perfect that we didn’t notice. A lot of us did, but it was good enough that we wondered why Eve sounded different.
And this is exactly what makes this twist so brilliant. Casting another actor as a regular character on audio is one thing. But could you have done the same on television? No. Not if you wanted the twist to work.
And it did work, beautifully. Certainly, this Torchwood fan was shocked when he reached the end of the second episode, as I’m sure many others were.
It was a huge moment that achieved two things. Firstly, it showed that Torchwood‘s continuation was already adapting to the audio medium wonderfully, and was aiming to achieve things that couldn’t be achieved on television.
Secondly, it meant that Aliens Among Us meant business. This wasn’t going to be a season that would play it safe, as quickly proven by the death of Gwen’s mother. Instead, we were getting a season that would take major risks, leaving us unsure of who would be safe or who to trust. In short, it proved that Torchwood was back, in a big way.
Because of moments like these, Aliens Among Us proved to be an amazing season of Torchwood. And we can’t wait for the next one.
Have you listened to Aliens Among Us? If so, what was your favorite shocking moment? If not, has this list made you more curious to check it out? Let us know in the comments below.