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Big Finish Torchwood #51
Torchwood: The Five People You Kill in Middlesbrough
When a spaceship crashes on Middlesbrough it’s very sad, of course. But we at Torchwood have long had a plan to contain such a disaster.
Only, nothing is happening. And the disaster is spreading. So, I set out to find out what’s going on. What has happened to The Icarus Protocol? Who launched a Moonstrike Missile? And why will no-one admit that there's a cloud of deadly particles sweeping across the United Kingdom?
My name is Yvonne Hartman. Don't come between me and my country.
Only, nothing is happening. And the disaster is spreading. So, I set out to find out what’s going on. What has happened to The Icarus Protocol? Who launched a Moonstrike Missile? And why will no-one admit that there's a cloud of deadly particles sweeping across the United Kingdom?
My name is Yvonne Hartman. Don't come between me and my country.
Audio CD
First published June 24, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 26, 2021
Tracy-Ann Oberman scrive, con Tim Foley, questa nuova avventura di Torchwood per la Big Finish, con protagonista assoluta la sua Yvonne Hartman.
Una astronave aliena precipita a Middlesbrough, rischiando una catastrofe globale, peccato che nessuno sembra intenzionato a lanciare l'allarme o prendere provvedimenti.
Per il bene del Paese e della Corona, Yvonne prende in mano la situazione e cerca di arginare i danni, non importa quante persone sarà costretta a mettere da parte.
La storia è abbastanza inquietante, viste le similitudini riconoscibili e riconducibili alla situazione attuale, come ammesso dagli stessi produttori.
Una astronave aliena precipita a Middlesbrough, rischiando una catastrofe globale, peccato che nessuno sembra intenzionato a lanciare l'allarme o prendere provvedimenti.
Per il bene del Paese e della Corona, Yvonne prende in mano la situazione e cerca di arginare i danni, non importa quante persone sarà costretta a mettere da parte.
La storia è abbastanza inquietante, viste le similitudini riconoscibili e riconducibili alla situazione attuale, come ammesso dagli stessi produttori.
July 20, 2021
A very fun, if not very subtle, parody of what would have happened to the UK during the Coronavirus pandemic had Torchwood been involved!
June 13, 2026
The 150 Prompt Doctor Who Reading Challenge - The TARDIS - 6) S: Saving The World - Read a book with high stakes - saving a world, a society or the future
The more that I listen to from Yvonne's perspective, the more I'm really starting to like her and her stories. While this story in particular was more of a satire based on the UK government and the Covid response, it was really interesting to see where Yvonne places the blame and who the titular five people she kills are. It was a really good story, and I like that Big Finish started exploring other Torchwood related characters this way.
The more that I listen to from Yvonne's perspective, the more I'm really starting to like her and her stories. While this story in particular was more of a satire based on the UK government and the Covid response, it was really interesting to see where Yvonne places the blame and who the titular five people she kills are. It was a really good story, and I like that Big Finish started exploring other Torchwood related characters this way.
July 2, 2021
A rather scary reflection of how the UK Government handled the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Yvonne is a wonderful character, I partially enjoyed this story being told from her point of view, it certainly gave me plenty of laughs. The cast perform their roles wonderfully, giving us enough humor but being serious at the same time.
We certainly need more Yvonne in our lives!
Yvonne is a wonderful character, I partially enjoyed this story being told from her point of view, it certainly gave me plenty of laughs. The cast perform their roles wonderfully, giving us enough humor but being serious at the same time.
We certainly need more Yvonne in our lives!
July 25, 2021
A fabulous fever dream of revenge on those covid deniers.
August 23, 2021
Youvone tells how she got to power.
December 24, 2023
An unusually topical story, this one, and coincidentally almost as much now that the political phase of the COVID enquiry is underway as it would have been in 2021, when this was released. Suffice it to say that if anyone out there thinks that the UK government did a brilliant job during the pandemic and their actions were beyond reproach... well, they're probably not going to like this story very much. For the rest of us, it's a dark and scathing satire whose targets are obvious.
The story is bookended by the ostensible author acting as narrator, with the titular characters each being the subject of a segment in between. On the surface, it's a story about the lengths Torchwood (and Hartman in particular) will go to protect the UK from a deadly rapidly spreading alien threat, but we all know what that's a metaphor for. And the real subjects of the satire are the five people who stand in her way and the obvious lack of preparedness of the government, despite the fact that plans against the eventuality were supposedly in place.
It's worth noting that it's not just government politicians who come in for a bashing here, but their advisors, the Opposition, and the conspiracy theorists who thrived on uncertainty and fear to spread their own misinformation. Although, obviously, names and details have been changed, there are several direct parallels to the real events and personalities of the pandemic - it's clear, for example, exactly who the fifth person is supposed to be. How much of that will be apparent to those outside the UK who experienced the pandemic through their own country's lens I can't really say, but I suspect they will find at least some resonance with the overall theme.
This is science fiction as a dark satire on modern events, something that has a long tradition in the genre. And it works really well.
The story is bookended by the ostensible author acting as narrator, with the titular characters each being the subject of a segment in between. On the surface, it's a story about the lengths Torchwood (and Hartman in particular) will go to protect the UK from a deadly rapidly spreading alien threat, but we all know what that's a metaphor for. And the real subjects of the satire are the five people who stand in her way and the obvious lack of preparedness of the government, despite the fact that plans against the eventuality were supposedly in place.
It's worth noting that it's not just government politicians who come in for a bashing here, but their advisors, the Opposition, and the conspiracy theorists who thrived on uncertainty and fear to spread their own misinformation. Although, obviously, names and details have been changed, there are several direct parallels to the real events and personalities of the pandemic - it's clear, for example, exactly who the fifth person is supposed to be. How much of that will be apparent to those outside the UK who experienced the pandemic through their own country's lens I can't really say, but I suspect they will find at least some resonance with the overall theme.
This is science fiction as a dark satire on modern events, something that has a long tradition in the genre. And it works really well.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews