CONTENT WARNING: S**cide ideation, mental health issues

More Than This is archetypical Torchwood, more specifically, the archetypical Series 1 or 2 episode, but this is otherwise the most Torchwood media to ever Torchwood. Situating sci-fi of varying extents of high concept within the local, microsociological, using its small scale to endow it with a distinct pathos and humanity; saying it aloud, Torchwood even at its base invites a vivacious storytelling unlike anything else in the wider genre. More Than This starts with Fall to Earth's modus operandi, quickly moving on from the 'isn't bureaucracy just kind of tiring?' to a fissile story structure, that still does not dismiss the immediate intimacy of the premise. Nichols' Pugh could be an auxiliary Torchwood member, his life being immediately broadened on the journey he takes, taking so many pulpy turns before he finally comes down. The way in which the story levels with his suicide ideation is not half as nuanced as Twice Upon a Time - nihilism is analogised to a cosmic horror that could not be more dissonant from the human experienced, as to depict its inherent misanthropy - but indubitably enters a similar calibre of stories in that niche. A thoroughly enjoyable listen, proving just how good Torchwood is at its fundamentals.