The Doctor Who Ratings Guide: By Fans, For Fans

BBC Books
Skypoint
A Torchwood Novel

Author Phil Ford Cover image
Published 2008

Synopsis: SkyPoint is a brand new high-rise block of flats, popular with young Asian couples. However, Torchwood soon discover that residents are going missing and something is coming out of the wall...

Reviews

A Review by Leslie McMurtry 20/3/14

This is the first Torchwood novel I've read, and I have to confess I haven't thought seriously about the show in a long time. Miracle Day had its moments, but mostly it was a befuddling disappointment. This book brought me right back into series 2, which made for a very enjoyable, undemanding read. Toshiko is on the cover, but I would say this is a true ensemble piece. Owen certainly shoulders much of the narrative, and Gwen, Jack and Rhys get some stand-out moments. Even Ianto has a few solo scenes (being stuck in a lift with gay couple in Cardiff Bay raised a smile).

I've admired everything in the Doctor Who universe that Phil Ford has ever done. So I was very surprised that the first few pages of this book were creaky and cringe-inducing, spoonfeeding backstory and employing lurid adjectives that made my joints seize up. Upon reflection, I think perhaps this opening was tacked on by an editor, in order to initiate the uninitiated into Torchwood. Fortunately, whatever seizure that paralyzed the book was gone before we got to indulge, with Gwen and Rhys, in some house-hunting.

I think that Phil Ford's strengths as a writer are his sensitivity with rendering character (something Torchwood badly needed) and his command of humor (Something Borrowed was hilarious). He is also good with the mundane. I get a real sense of the characters of Gwen and Rhys as they explore Skypoint, Cardiff Bay's luxury apartment with a sinister secret:

'It's like a statement, isn't it? Moving on. We're going forward.' Then he looked at her, held her hands. 'Two bedrooms.'
Gwen raised an eyebrow and kinked one corner of her mouth. 'You're not talking about when you snore and I kick you out of bed, are you?'
Rhys said nothing, just raised his eyebrows a fraction and returned her smile.
They were talking in eyebrow semaphore, and they'd only tied the knot two weeks ago.
(By the way, it's instructive to remember that they were Mr and Mrs Williams before Rory and Amy.) I also almost can believe in an amoral Latvia crime mogul who has made Cardiff his home and who listens to Wagner. As Torchwood villains go, Besnik Lucca is both flamboyant and as human as they come - greatly refreshing, actually.

Lucca owns Skypoint, you see, a fact Rhys and Gwen are not aware of while browsing, and which leads Jack and Toshiko to investigate after Gwen and Rhys' estate agent disappears into thin air. Jack, roguish as ever, gives the following alibi when discovered by Lucca's security.

'Thing is,' Jack was telling the concierge, 'my girlfriend and me, we have this thing. About doing it in show homes. You get me?'
Jack may feature less prominently in this book than some of other characters, but he definitely leaves his mark - particularly when he has to convince Gwen he's not a Weevil and shouldn't be shot on sight.

Toshiko was always my favorite Torchwood character (despite Ianto's acerbic wit - 'But estate agents don't just vanish into thin air,' Ianto observed. 'We're just not that lucky'). I could identify with her slightly more than I could the others, and I rather felt for her, what with her impossible (and inadvisable) crush on Owen. On the other hand, I always disliked Owen and felt he vastly improved after death. Things changed slightly, as I began to enjoy some of Burn Gorman's other work. And Phil Ford's writing here helps: he gives Owen a recognizable human personality (even though he's dead). He is still the same Owen - a subplot involves his clandestine nocturnal sightseeing with twin homicidal aliens - but he's allowed to quote Eric Idle and feel awkward around children (clearly not nurturing, natural-father material!). He also exhibits feelings like guilt, jealousy and embarrassment, which I never really found the TV Owen capable of.

It's all come from that heady plot device - one of my favorites - the sham marriage. Owen and Toshiko have a short-lived undercover op as Mr and Mrs Harper at Skypoint. It's not fluffy, nor does it end in a sweep of romantic passion - this is Torchwood and he's dead, remember? - but it makes for conflicted emotions and uncomfortable acknowledgments from both of them.

Owen felt something stir inside. He knew instantly that it was nothing biological, unless jealousy was a chemical reaction.
Hey, how was that for a headline? Dead Man Gets Jealous!

The incidental characters are all good in this, and, like Torchwood at its best, it does have some interesting meditations on death and religion. Jack gets to compare himself to Batman, which of course pleases me, and there are no easy answers, even for those who have easy quips. Yes, all in all, a very enjoyable read - dreadful opening aside.