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Torchwood: How Sergeant Andy grew to become one of the spin-off’s best characters

By James Aggas

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Andy Davidson wasn’t exactly one of the major characters in Torchwood when it began. But in recent years, he’s grown to be both brilliant and absolutely essential, thanks to Big Finish.

Tom Price’s PC Andy was a little bit underused on Torchwood. At least, in the television series. But then again, initially, he was meant to be a relatively small character. An ordinary cop who was likable enough, but wasn’t meant for the Torchwood lifestyle like Gwen was. And while he had a few appearances in the TV series, he was hardly ever a major character in the story.

The character proved to be popular with the viewers, though. And it wasn’t hard to see why. The character was incredibly likable, open and honest, with a relatively positive view of the world. Tom Price’s performance helped to make the character even more endearing. So it’s not surprising that Big Finish decided to explore the character more in their Torchwood audios.

While the character had briefly popped up in the audio More Than This, his first major story was Ghost Mission. This story proved to be extremely popular with listeners, and it’s not hard to see why.

Along with being the introduction of 1950s Torchwood agent Norton Folgate – himself, a brilliant character in his own right – Ghost Mission was an episode that combined so many elements brilliantly. It was hilarious and yet dark. It was a science-fiction adventure that still felt grounded in reality. In short, it was your classic Torchwood story.

It also showed exactly how brilliant Andy could be when he had an adventure of his own. Not in the sense that he was a natural Torchwood agent. He’s not, and that’s really his appeal. He’s the ordinary guy who finds himself in this extraordinary world. He also knows he doesn’t belong in it, and yet continually finds himself in the worst predicaments.

The Empty Hand from Torchwood’s fifth series was a huge turning point for the character.

(Image credit: Torchwood/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The Empty Hand

After Ghost Mission, Big Finish started to use the character of Sergeant Andy a lot more. Along with appearing in Corpse Day and last year’s Goodbye Piccadilly of the monthly audios, Andy has also appeared in the fifth and sixth series, too.

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In particular, he had a major role in the episode The Empty Hand, when he found himself accused of shooting an innocent man. Worse still, it turns out that he actually did. Not through conscious action, but his body was still used to murder someone.

Putting Andy in a very dark situation like that is risky, as so much of the character’s appeal is how light and cheerful he is. But The Empty Hand really put him through hell, and clearly left him deeply shaken up by the end. It’s a challenging story, but Tom Price handled it brilliantly.

It also felt like a real turning point for the character, as he’s gone from occasionally appearing here and there, to being a genuinely major character in his own right. Especially in series six. He’s had a couple of major episodes in the latest volume, in fact.

Sergeant Andy has gone from a small but lovable Torchwood character to being an essential part of the main team, and that’s exactly how it should be. With both excellent writing and Tom Price really getting to show off what he can do, Big Finish have really helped to make Sergeant Andy one of the best characters of the series.

Next. Torchwood review: God Among Us 2. dark

Are you a fan of Sergeant Andy? Have you checked out his Big Finish stories? Do you think he was under served in his television episodes? Let us know in the comments below.

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