Torchwood (audio drama series)
| Torchwood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Big Finish Productions audio drama | |
| Series | - |
| Produced by | James Goss |
| Executive producer(s) | |
| Release date | 15 September 2015 – Present |
Torchwood is a series of audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions based on the television series of the same name, a spin-off of the British science fiction drama Doctor Who, which ran from 2006 to 2011. Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery serve as executive producers, with James Goss as producer.
Like its television counterpart, Torchwood follows the exploits of the operatives who work for the institute of the same name - a clandestine organisation that defends Earth against supernatural and extraterrestrial threats.
The series premiered on 15 September 2015, with 15 individual plays, a special and two boxsets released so far. Six more releases have been announced.
Premise
Torchwood follows the exploits of the operatives of the Torchwood Institute, a secret British organisation that defends Earth against supernatural and extraterrestrial threats and salvages alien technology that comes to the planet. As with the television series, the audio dramas primarily focus on a team of alien hunters based at the organisation's Cardiff branch, Torchwood Three. The main story arc revolves around an alien race calling themselves the Committee, who appear to have been secretly manipulating humanity since the turn of the twentieth century. Despite their existence being perceived as a conspiracy, Torchwood have made efforts in foiling their schemes, but it appears the Committee have larger plans in the works.
Each play from the series' main range typically centre on one or more members of the organisation and their associates, while ensemble casts appear in special releases. Time period-wise, each play is set at a different point in Torchwood's history, ranging from its founding in the Victorian Era to the present day and future. Certain plays also take place during events from the TV series.
Background
The original television programme Torchwood, an adult-oriented spin-off of the long-running British science fiction drama Doctor Who, ran for four series broadcast between 2006 and 2011 before entering an infinite hiatus due to the other commitments of creator and executive producer Russell T Davies.
In January 2015, John Barrowman, who played series lead Captain Jack Harkness, stated in an interview that there were plans for Torchwood to return as several BBC audio plays that could potentially lead into a fifth television series. He stated that both Davies and co-executive producer Julie Gardner were in discussion of the project, as well as the possibility of Barrowman and his sister Carole Barrowman writing one of the plays.[1] Torchwood previously featured on the audio medium as several series tie-in plays that aired between 2008 and 2011 on BBC Radio 4.
In May 2015, Big Finish announced that they had been granted permission to produce audiobooks based on Torchwood as part of a licensing agreement between themselves and BBC Worldwide, allowing them to use characters and concepts from the revived series of Doctor Who and its spin-offs in future productions.[2] The company was formerly only permitted to use concepts from the show's original 1963–89 series and its self-titled 1996 TV film. The new Torchwood plays also received the blessing of Davies,[2] who had been working with Gardner and former Big Finish producer Gary Russell to bring the programme to the company since 2013.[3]
The first twelve plays of the individual installments (originally announced as the first and second series) were announced in May and September 2015 and released monthly between September 2015–August 2016. A special feature-length play, The Torchwood Archive, was released in October 2016 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Torchwood's TV debut, this was followed by the boxsets Torchwood: Outbreak and Torchwood One: Before the Fall in November 2016 and January 2017, respectively. In September 2016, a further six plays were announced for monthly release beginning March 2017, three of which have so far been released. A new 12-part series of plays titled Aliens Among Us (promoted as the fifth series of Torchwood) was announced in May 2017 for release between August 2017–February 2018 as three separate boxsets; co-created and overseen by series creator Russell T Davies.[4]
Cast
Several actors from the original television programme have reprised their roles for the audio series, the most notable being John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness and co-stars Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones, the three of whom appear in most of the series. Other returning cast members include Kai Owen as Rhys Williams, Tom Price as Andy Davidson, Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Indira Varma as Suzie Costello, while Burn Gorman, Julian Lewis Jones and Nerys Hughes reprised their roles of Owen Harper, Alex Hopkins and Brenda Williams for one play each. Also to feature is Tracy-Ann Oberman as Yvonne Hartman, a character who originally appeared in Doctor Who.
Production
The series is produced by James Goss, with Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs serving as executive producers. A number of different writers contribute to the series regularly. Whilst Scott Handcock and Blair Mowat respectively direct and compose the score on a regular basis, other directors and composers have also contributed. Scripts were initially edited by Steve Tribe, however, as of 2017 these duties passed over to David Llewellyn. Cover art is designed by Lee Binding. Plays have been recorded in studios across the UK and the U.S. including Rancho Mirage Music, Bang Post Production, The Moat Studios, The Roundhouse Studios and Ladbroke Audio. Typically, one play is recorded in 1–2 days and released within six months, with post production taking place in the time between. They debut through Big Finish's website for digital download and physical purchase before being commercially released at a later date.
Releases
Main Series
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Release Date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Conspiracy" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Jack Harkness | 15 September 2015 | BFPTWCD01 |
| 2 | "Fall to Earth" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | Ianto Jones | 19 October 2015 | BFPTWCD02 |
| 3 | "Forgotten Lives" | Scott Handcock | Emma Reeves | Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams | 5 November 2015 | BFPTWCD03 |
| 4 | "One Rule" | Barnaby Edwards | Joseph Lidster | Yvonne Hartman | 7 December 2015 | BFPTWCD04 |
| 5 | "Uncanny Valley" | Neil Gardner | David Llewellyn | Jack Harkness | 18 January 2016 | BFPTWCD05 |
| 6 | "More Than This" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | Gwen Cooper | 10 February 2016 | BFPTWCD06 |
| 7 | "The Victorian Age" | Scott Handcock | AK Benedict | Jack Harkness | 10 March 2016 | BFPTWCD07 |
| 8 | "Zone 10" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Toshiko Sato | 5 April 2016 | BFPTWCD08 |
| 9 | "Ghost Mission" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | Andy Davidson | 3 May 2016 | BFPTWCD09 |
| 10 | "Moving Target" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | Suzie Costello | 6 June 2016 | BFPTWCD10 |
| 11 | "Broken" | Scott Handcock | Joseph Lidster | Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones | 4 July 2016 | BFPTWCD11 |
| 12 | "Made You Look" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | Gwen Cooper | 2 August 2016 | BFPTWCD12 |
| 13 | "Visiting Hours" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Rhys Williams | 14 March 2017 | BFPTWCD13 |
| 14 | "The Dollhouse" | Lisa Bowerman | Juno Dawson | Marlow Sweet, Charley Du Bujeau, Gabi Martinez | 18 April 2017 | BFPTWCD14 |
| 15 | "Corpse Day" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | Owen Harper, Andy Davidson | 9 May 2017 | BFPTWCD15 |
| 16 | "torchwood_cascade_CDRIP.tor"[5] | Scott Handcock | Scott Handcock | Toshiko Sato | June 2017 | BFPTWCD16 |
| 17 | "The Office of Never Was"[6] | Scott Handcock | James Goss | Ianto Jones | July 2017 | BFPTWCD17 |
| 18 | "The Dying Room"[7] | Scott Handcock | Lizzie Hopley | M LeDuc, Herr Grau | August 2017 | BFPTWCD18 |
Special Releases
Special (2016)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Release Date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | "The Torchwood Archive" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | 21 October 2016 | BFPTWARCHIVECD |
Torchwood: Outbreak (2016)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Release Date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Stage 1 - Incubation: Know" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | 15 November 2016 | BFPTWOUTBCD |
| 2 | "Stage 2 - Prodromal: Love" | Scott Handcock | Emma Reeves | 15 November 2016 | BFPTWOUTBCD |
| 3 | "Stage 3 - Invasion: Kill" | Scott Handcock | AK Benedict | 15 November 2016 | BFPTWOUTBCD |
Torchwood One: Before the Fall (2017)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Release Date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "New Girl" | Barnaby Edwards | Joseph Lidster | 19 January 2017 | BFPTWONE01CD |
| 2 | "Through the Ruins" | Barnaby Edwards | Jenny T Colgan | 19 January 2017 | BFPTWONE01CD |
| 3 | "Uprising" | Barnaby Edwards | Matt Fitton | 19 January 2017 | BFPTWONE01CD |
Aliens Among Us
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Release Date | Prod. code | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ' | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "Changes Everything" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | August 2017 | BFPTWFIVE01CD | |||||||
| 2 | "Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | August 2017 | BFPTWFIVE01CD | |||||||
| 3 | "Orr" | Scott Handcock | Juno Dawson | August 2017 | BFPTWFIVE01CD | |||||||
| 4 | "Superiority Complex" | Scott Handcock | AK Benedict | August 2017 | BFPTWFIVE01CD | |||||||
| ' | ||||||||||||
| 5 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | October 2017 | BFPTWFIVE02CD | |||||||
| 6 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | October 2017 | BFPTWFIVE02CD | |||||||
| 7 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | October 2017 | BFPTWFIVE02CD | |||||||
| 8 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | October 2017 | BFPTWFIVE02CD | |||||||
| ' | ||||||||||||
| 9 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | February 2018 | BFPTWFIVE03CD | |||||||
| 10 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | February 2018 | BFPTWFIVE03CD | |||||||
| 11 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | February 2018 | BFPTWFIVE03CD | |||||||
| 12 | TBA | Scott Handcock | TBD | February 2018 | BFPTWFIVE03CD | |||||||
References
- ^ http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/arts-entertainment-living/tuned-in/item/38693-press-tour-more-torchwood-in-the-works
- ^ a b "Torchwood". Big Finish Productions. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Relighting Torchwood, Vortex #79". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ "New Series 5 of Torchwood: Aliens Among Us!". Big Finish Productions. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- ^ "Coming in June: Torchwood!". Big Finish Productions. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ "Torchwood - Coming in July!". Big Finish Productions. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
- ^ "Torchwood - Coming in August!". Big Finish Productions. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.