Radio 4 Dead Line A Torchwood Audio Adventure

Author	James Goss
First aired	July 2009

Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd

Synopsis: Phantom phone calls are causing Cardiff's residents to collapse.

• Can you hear me? by John Wood

Can you hear me? by John Wood 11/2/10

The third of the 2009 Torchwood audios, Dead Line, sits somewhere between the previous two in tone and style. Like Asylum, it has no swearing or sex, little action, and no violence at all this time. Having said that, the story structure is more traditional Torchwood. It starts off well, setting up the mystery (people apparently being put into a coma by answering the phone) and adding an element of personal involvement (Jack is one of the victims). Since he is unconscious most of the time, Jack once again has little to do; but on this occasion he is kept firmly in our minds as everyone is focused on his condition.

Asylum was a story about an individual whose existence posed some difficult questions; Golden Age was a jolly romp; Dead Line is a story about relationships. The most prominent - and affecting - is Ianto's with Jack. He spends most of the time at Jack's bedside, and these scenes set things up nicely for what is to come in Children of Earth (which in its turn adds poignancy to later listenings).

The second featured pairing is Gwen and Rhys, who get to do the running around. I've always found them a slightly odd couple; not unbelievable, but one of those marriages where you look sideways at them and think "how does that work, exactly?" Rhys here is his usual grounded, supportive self, doing whatever his missus needs while she worries about Jack. For her part, Gwen shows how much she cares in the moments when she thinks he might be in danger, and between times takes him completely for granted. Not very flattering, but good characterisation.

Finally we have the guest cast. Stella, yet another old flame of Jack's, makes an appearance at the hospital, but for the life of me I can't see why she's in this. Her stilted, precise manner of speech doesn't help us get to know her, and her past with Jack is not fleshed out (basically a couple of one-liners about how weird the 1970s were). Okay, she tells us a bit about what's going on in the victims' brains, but any walk-on could have done that. In a sense, she had too much development; it promised more than was delivered, and we would have been better off without it.

In contrast, Tyler had a small but effective role. He is our window on a different sort of relationship, that of a company and its employees. I wouldn't believe in the actions of the Cardiff and West in real life, but they are quite in keeping with Torchwood and Who.

Speaking of believability, the reason for the whole affair turned out to be one of those fun but nonsensical ideas where you just have to switch off your critical faculties and surrender to the genre. I don't mind these too much, but they don't do the story any favours either.

Overall, an engaging, lightweight story buoyed up by Gwen, Rhys and (especially) Ianto but let down by a superfluous character and technobabble. 7/10.