Torchwood review: The Sins of Captain John gives us the Deadpool of the Doctor Who universe

James Marsters returns for a brand new series in Torchwood: The Sins of Captain John!

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

With a highly amoral and fourth-wall breaking lead, the latest Torchwood spin-off box set from Big Finish might be the most experimental yet.

The Sins of Captain John has proved to be an interesting box set overall. It’s different and subversive, even for Torchwood. When it was announced over a year ago, we were definitely expecting something a little different for a prequel series focused on Captain John Hart – Captain Jack Harkness’s considerably more amoral counterpart who first appeared in Series 2. But I don’t think any of us were expecting something this different. Certainly not a series that literally begins with the following line:

"Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: ‘How did sexy, dashing Captain John end up in a situation like this?’ Or maybe, ‘If I had known this was an audiobook, I’d have bought the complete Buffy on DVD.’"

As you can see, from the very start of this box set, we know we’re getting something extremely meta. Far more meta than you’d usually see in Torchwood, or even in the Doctor Who universe at all, for that matter. It helps to kick off the series in a big way, and gives us a strong idea of the tone and feel of The Sins of Captain John. But does its unique approach to the Torchwood universe make it a strong box set in its own right? Let’s take a look.

Strong opening

The series opens with the extremely fantastic story The Restored. Easily my favorite episode from the box set, The Restored has it all: sex, history, farce, zombies and a lot of leaning on or even breaking the fourth wall. It’s a fun episode that packs in a lot, and kicks off the arc of Captain John Hart trying to find and bring in a pair of Resurrection Gauntlets. (Yes, Torchwood fans: those Resurrection Gauntlets.)

However, that arc might actually work against The Sins of Captain John. Some series work well with an arc, but others work better with a mix of standalone stories, and I suspect The Sins of Captain John could be one of the latter.

The second episode, Escape from Nebazz, does explore the origins of the gloves, and it also features some funny banter between John and their creator, Dr Magpie (Kathryn Drysdale). Scenes that feature John completely drunk during the middle of a crisis are particularly brilliant.

But overall, it feels rather light, especially when compared to the first episode, and it’s easy to see why. The arc of the series sees John finding the gloves in the first episode, and bringing them in in the last. So it’s unsurprising that the middle two episodes are rather light by comparison.

Captain John gets up to a LOT of fun in the third episode, Peach Blossom Heights.

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

John and Jack on the Planet of the Virgins! (Why wasn’t this the title?!?)

That’s not to say that the third episode isn’t enjoyable. In fact, despite being easily the lightest episode of the box set in terms of the overall arc, Peach Blossom Heights still manages to be a lot of fun.

What really helps is that this episode features Captain Jack Harkness, in a big way. Now, this isn’t the story of Jack and John fighting each other as usual, as we’ve seen in both Series 2 and the brilliant audio The Death of Captain Jack. (Seriously, if you haven’t listened to it yet, check it out right now.) In fact, it’s quite the opposite: Jack and John are stuck with each other on a strange world, giving us a lot of fantastic banter as a result.

The story also features a rather interesting idea that, in most other sci-fi series, probably wouldn’t be explored. Specifically: what if a peaceful and happy civilization had no concept of sex? And what happens when two men like Jack and John arrive on this world? (You can probably guess what happens next.)

So Peach Blossom Heights is the least attached to the overall arc but, at the same time, it has plenty of freedom to explore some interesting ideas while giving us a lot of comedy. While I didn’t enjoy the episode as much as The Restored, it’s still another strong point for the series, and highlights why an anthology approach could work for later box sets.

The last term we heard from Captain John was in the fantastic Torchwood audio The Death of Captain Jack. Does The Sins of Captain John live up to that?

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

Resolving the arc

So how well does the box set end? On its own terms, Darker Purposes is a pretty good story. The Vargosh family are so awful that they’re hilarious, and how John gets involved with them is fantastic.

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But as a finale to the series’ overall arc, it’s a little too low-key. Particularly its resolution, which honestly feels a little rushed. So again, I can’t help but feel that this is one series that should focus less on massive arcs and more on just telling random adventures for Captain John Hart. In some ways, The Death of Captain Jack gave us hints of that at times, and it worked brilliantly.

Out of all the spin-offs I’ve heard from Big Finish, (and believe me, that’s a lot,) The Sins of Captain John feels the most experimental. Along with having an amoral character constantly breaking the fourth wall, the series also features a single writer – something I haven’t seen since the likes of Dalek Empire or Cyberman.

Overall, it was pretty hit-and-miss, with some episodes working better than others. I can also imagine some not taking to the series at all due to its immature hero and unconventional storytelling. But if you’re looking for something different, or even just the Doctor Who universe’s equivalent of Deadpool, then you should find plenty to enjoy with The Sins of Captain John.

Have you listened to The Sins of Captain John? Do you think a fourth-wall breaking character suits the Torchwood universe? Should we get more box sets featuring Captain John in future? Let us know in the comments below.