After kicking off with last month’s Tube Strike, Torchwood‘s ‘Ianthology’ continues next week as Ianto gets plunged into the mystery surrounding Missing Molly. Alex Hewitt spoke exclusively to writer/star Gareth David-Lloyd and director Lisa Bowerman to preview this release.

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Twelve years ago, Molly Morgan went missing at a fair. So why has she now turned up, dressed exactly as she was the day she vanished? And why has Ianto Jones returned to the estate he grew up on? In the second part of Torchwood‘s ‘Ianthology’, all will be revealed…

Writer and Ianto actor Gareth David-Lloyd explains how he was partly inspired by TV episode Adrift: “Chris Chibnall wrote that and I was a big fan of it. It dealt with real human trauma, and grief, and quite sensitive issues. I thought I’d like to have a go at that, but answer a few more questions from Ianto’s past”. Director Lisa Bowerman continues, “Missing Molly is very raw. It’s so good to direct stuff that’s just drama. Whether you’re working with aliens or you’re working with people on a council estate, there always has to be an authenticity of emotion”.

Although this episode is set during Ianto’s time at Torchwood Three, he isn’t necessarily working on their behalf on this particular mystery. For Gareth, it was important to make this, “something personal that [Ianto] remembered from his past, and an opportunity for him to prove himself and grow up. It’s another learning curve for him. It’s set not long after the ‘Lisa incident’ [in TV’s Cyberwoman], so it’s the place where he’s trying to re-win the hearts and trust of Jack and the team”.

Given the personal connection of this case for Ianto, it was important to ensure that the Newport environment was accurately portrayed. Lisa explains, “it’s based around an area that he knows very well. It’s very local, it’s very Newport, it’s very much of its time. The housing estate in Newport is very specific, and it was written in that vernacular”.

This episode has a small but powerful cast – Lisa explains why finding the right actors is so important: “Casting is 90% of any drama, to be honest. I was very, very lucky with the cast that we had. What I love about Big Finish is that I can do my own casting, apart from the regular characters. I’m like a kid in a sweet shop! I’m a bit of an actor geek, so in a way this is my perfect job”. Gareth continues, “I was blown away by the guest actors we had. They were brilliant. I was really impressed”.

This episode, as well as next month’s Disco, were actually recorded in Newport itself. Lisa explains, “the sweetest guy was running the studio. He’d never done audio drama before but we said we were Big Finish and he went, ‘are you the Doctor Who lot?’ – it was fabulous. It was a very happy couple of days. I’ve never seen James [Goss, producer] smile so much in his entire life”.

To round things off, Lisa teases, “there’s more of a supernatural element than science-fiction. It’s actually an intensely human domestic drama”. Gareth concludes, “the situation becomes bigger than [Ianto] anticipated and a bit overwhelming. It seemed like a good avenue to explore that darker, human, emotional side of Torchwood“.

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Many thanks to both Gareth and Lisa for their time. Torchwood: Missing Molly can be pre-ordered now from bigfinish.com ahead of its release this Thursday, 11th April. Keep an eye out next month for our preview of the final part of the ‘Ianthology’, Disco.