Torchwood Monthly Range #3 - "Forgotten Lives" by Emma Reeves

Miracle Day... happened. It came and went, everybody remembered very little of it and nobody was particularly fussed that it was over. There was one unifying want however, the want for a fifth season, especially with all the ends left loose following the final episode of Miracle Day. Forgotten Lives is the first story to continue the narrative from where it left off, and like Miracle Day, it is fine, just fine. Gwen and Rhys are back and as lovable as ever, Jack is an old man and the Committee are still there, as always, I suppose.

Five years after the Miracle, Gwen and Rhys' quiet life are disturbed by a phone call that brings them to Brynn Offa Residential Home, a quiet place in the North of Wales. But not all is right, something watches over the home and a resident just so happens to recognise Gwen and Rhys. A resident who identifies himself as Jack Harkness.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Whilst I'd hesitate to call Forgotten Lives anything particularly special, I will absolutely congratulate Emma Reeves for her characterisation of Gwen and Rhys; two of Torchwood's best characters are back in full force, with Myles and Owens slipping back into their roles effortlessly and immediately winning me over, in charm and emotion both; their barely contained anger against Jack is sublime. Outside of that, I do like the mystery this audio sets up, there are a number of burning questions you get through out that are fun to see unravel. The Evolved, our main antagonist this time around, are a serviceable villain with a really cool concept behind them, and I do like the philosophical questions they evoke.

My main problem with Forgotten Lives however, is that I just don't have anything to say about it. It's fine, it's a pretty good audio, but it's just fine. It's nothing special and it's especially hard to review since there are very few cut and dry pros and cons to pick out and talk about. It's paced well, everybody's well acted and written, there a some good ideas bouncing around, but it's all just a bit small scale. Even looking at other reviews online, you can see how little there is to talk about because every reviews (including this one) are incredibly short. Besides that, I will note that Phillip Bond playing Jack is... confusing. He get's none of Barrowman's mannerisms or quirks right and it actually surprised when it turned out he was in fact Jack.

This is one of my shortest reviews for something full length simply because Forgotten Lives hasn't got much to it. It's OK, no more, and there really isn't enough to talk about here in depth. It's solid, but really not that deep.

7/10

Pros:

+ Gwen and Rhys are wonderfully written and acted, with some great emotional backing

+ The mystery is nicely set up and revealed, constantly leaving you guessing

+ The Evolved are a pretty interesting alien race and a great antagonist

Cons:

- About as deep as a puddle, to the point of having nothing to talk about

- Phillip Bond's performance didn't go down well with me and it was hard to see him as Jack

Top 5 Best Torchwood Monthly Range Stories:
5.
4.
3. #1 - The Conspiracy by David Llewellyn
2. #3 - Forgotten Lives by Emma Reeves
1. #2 - Fall to Earth by James Goss

Top 5 Worst Torchwood Monthly Range Stories:
5.
4.
3.  #2 - Fall to Earth by James Goss
2.  #3 - Forgotten Lives by Emma Reeves
1. #1 - The Conspiracy by David Llewellyn