Gabrielle Ketley reviews the latest Torchwood release

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Historical Torchwood is always a treat. Having our “heroes” fulfil Torchwood’s original mission, to protect the British Empire from alien threats and invasions, against the classist, Imperialistic backdrop of Edwardian Britain, allows room for Torchwood: Rictus (James Goss) to indulge in that moral ambiguity which Torchwood excels at. 

Our story’s heroine, Princess Beatrice (Fenella Wooglar) bursts into the action, freshly liberated from mourning her dear, departed mother, Queen Victorin, to the irritation of Torchwood Head, Mr Castringham (Hugh Fraser). 

In the characterisation of Princess Beatrice (call her Bea!) Goss shows his research. Queen Victoria’s youngest and favourite child and; after the death of her dearest Albert, favourite emotional crutch, Bea (nicknamed Baby by mother and elder siblings alike) is ready for a bit of fun and freedom, and nothing screams fun quite so much as stealing Mr Castringham’s car, and embarking on a spot of alien sleuthing. 

Onwards!

A missing person’s case on the Metropolitan Line provides Bea with her first chance for adventure, joining calm, cool headed Torchwood agent Anson (Sid Sagar) for a bit of investigating, but Bea swiftly discovers the life of a Torchwood agent is far from all fun and games, when the duo follow the howling of a crying baby to an underground chamber, where body parts grow from walls made of flesh, and an ensuing chase leaves Bea shaken and uncertain of her future in Torchwood. 

Her uncertainty does not last for long, to Castringham’s dismay, and Bea is soon stuck in again, for better or worse.

Torchwood: Rictus really taps into the unease of a society undergoing rapid social change, with the former ironclad class and gender boundaries being challenged, and interlopers (human and alien) making their way into high society. Indeed, whereas Princess Beatrice is initially blase, even keen, about the existence of aliens, the fact that Mr Castringham, Torchwood’s head and therefore, one of the most powerful men in Britain, used to be a footman, seems to be a point of subtle but constant consternation for her. Especially when Bea discovers Mr Castringham mixing at a party with people far above his social station. 

And Zygons.

 Zygons, ruled over by Lady Saxifrage (Rachel Atkins), who have infiltrated high society and are living in an uneasy peace with the humans, a peace built on the confinement of a single Zygon hostage.

A single Zygon hostage whose confinement has left him deformed and burning with a murderous (and unfortunately contagious) rage. A hostage, nicknamed the Smiling Man, who has now escaped.

The Smiling Man is a tragic figure, whose experiences as a pawn and captive is one that Bea can understand all too well, (even if the degree of suffering in captivity experienced by a wealthy, privileged princess, and an alien hostage, naturally differ somewhat), and neither humans nor Zygons cover themselves in glory as the fragile peace between Zygon and humans break down, and both races prove themselves to be more alike than different, capable of loyalty to their own, and cruelty to everyone else. 

A distinction that isn’t drawn on the line of species alone. 

Torchwood: Rictus is a fun, haunting story, simple in plot, but rich in character, thrills and chills. And screams. Quite a lot of screams. 

Torchwood: Rictus is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com