The Conspiracy

THE COMMITTEE STORY ARC #1 - The Conspiracy (MR #1)

What makes Torchwood, Torchwood? Some might mention its gallery of villains, Captain Jack Harkness, character relationships, or even the sex. Yet, when we go back to the very roots of Torchwood, it’s essentially an adult science fiction series. That was the challenge Big Finish faced when they acquired the rights to the series in 2015: delivering adult-oriented science fiction.

Unlike the TV show—which, though aimed at adults, had a somewhat immature side—this first Torchwood audio drama from Big Finish feels decidedly different. Here, "adult" doesn’t mean excessive sex but rather deeply dark themes aimed at a mature audience. The conspiracies that surround our world—and especially the people who create and follow them—are, in my opinion, a theme that aligns perfectly with Torchwood while being, unfortunately, firmly rooted in our reality. Yes, seeing people engage in revisionism driven by paranoia to the point of marginalizing themselves, loudly proclaiming that they know "the truth," and disregarding past events they deem "fake" are heavy and mature topics that Torchwood can tackle.

Among the weighty events in the audio, there are a few striking deaths. None of them will ever leave my mind. It’s always been part of Torchwood’s essence to kill off its characters, but here, it’s done magnificently. We grow attached because we think, “This could be us.” Anyone can become broken, have a fragile mind, and spiral into paranoia. This audio explores what could happen, and it’s terrifying.

The story instills not just fear but also paranoia. The enemies of the episode, the Committee—an invisible foe controlling Earth’s history through institutions and high-ranking positions—could truly be anyone, if they exist. Who do we believe? Who can we trust? We’re left waiting for the episode to confirm or deny our suspicions. This single emotion pulls us deeply into the story, which is its greatest strength. We feel like we’re part of it.

The episode ends with promises. The promise of a much more mature Torchwood unafraid to delve into dark themes, the promise of a long battle between the Committee and Torchwood, and the promise to avenge the dead and bring it all to an end.

That’s all I’ll say about the episode. It’s for the emotions it evoked in me and its adult themes that I love this episode and believe Big Finish succeeded brilliantly in redefining the series with this first release.

NEXT: THE COMMITTEE STORY ARC #2 - Fall to Earth (MR #2)

Torchwood – The Monthly Adventures

#001. The Conspiracy ~ 5/10

◆ An Introduction

I’ve invested a fair amount of time and money into the Torchwood audios, so it makes sense that we should take a look at where it all began. Spoiler alert: it’s not very good. In all fairness though, this was very clearly a pilot for the range.

Let’s see what David Llewellyn was trying to do, and why it failed.

◆ Publisher’s Summary

Captain Jack Harkness has always had his suspicions about the Committee. And now Wilson is also talking about the Committee. Apparently the world really is under the control of alien lizards. That’s what Wilson says. People have died, disasters have been staged, the suspicious have disappeared.

It’s outrageous.

Only Jack knows that Wilson is right. The Committee has arrived.

◆ Cpt. Jack Harkness

John Barrowman’s performance makes it blatantly clear that this was a pilot. He doesn’t sound all that confident with the material, but by no means is he awful.

Jack has been on Wilson’s trail for some time, but knows that he’d be escorted out if he were aware Torchwood was spying on him. He’s clearly enjoying going undercover as a journalist, trying to get information out of Wilson. Who else is walking around Cardiff wearing grey military surplus jackets? Jack claims that somebody needs to stop the Committee, and that person is him.

◆ Story Recap

George Wilson is a former newsreader turned conspiracy theorist – similar to Alex “turn the fri**ing frogs gay” Jones – but his conspiracy is very much real. Cpt. Jack has decided to pursue Wilson to discover how he knows so much about the Committee, and possibly get some information on who has been tipping him off.

◆ Tin Foil Hats

There have always been people convinced that they’ve been abducted by aliens, or that they’ve been in communion with forces from outer space – most of them living in the state of Nevada – but having one of their nut-job theories be true is an excellent idea. Shame the execution was so bland.

The Committee become prominent antagonists throughout the Torchwood audios, but they were beyond boring in this episode. Same goes for George Wilson, who was performed stiffer than a mahogany plank.

◆ Sound Design

Neil Gardner was on sound design duties, managing to do an alright job. The most notable aspect was that the intro for Wilson’s news broadcasts has been ripped straight from Command & Conquer Generals, where it was used for the Chinese News Station.

Bustling crowds at one of Wilson’s conferences, which suddenly fades out into noise on a laptop speaker. Sam chokes as the noose tightens around his neck. A ticking clock in Wilson’s room, amping up the tension whilst Jack holds him at gunpoint. A raging Committee battle around the planet Kepri 5. A shot from a silenced pistol. Police sirens in the distance.

◆ Music

I believe Blair Mowat is the sole composer for the Torchwood audios, and it really shows. Speaking as someone who has heard many of these releases, the bloke constantly reuses the same old motifs and stings. It comes across as lazy.

◆ Conclusion

“Right at the top, running everything, is the Committee.”

A conspiracy theorist has been gaining mainstream attention in his quest to expose aliens… but said aliens happen to be real. Certainly an idea that had potential, so what went wrong?

‘The Conspiracy’ features some really stiff acting, though that’s somewhat expected from a pilot. Barrowman is usually oozing with confidence, but he does improve the more of these stories he records.

I love the idea of a conspiracy nut being proven right, but the execution lacks sparkle. It almost feels like David Llewellyn wasn’t interested in his own idea. Luckily, we all know that this range rapidly moves onto bigger and better things.

Torchwood Monthly Range #1:
--- "The Conspiracy" by David Llewellyn

I recently decided to rewatch all of Torchwood, as well as watch for the first time all the many, many episodes I had decided to skip (all but the pilot of Season One and the second half of Season Two, as well as the end of Miracle Day). I did this because I wanted to get into the stellar looking Torchwood audios and thought I'd need context for them. It seems I didn't need any for The Conspiracy but either way, I jumped head first into this range. And the story I found was... fine. This might be the most fine story to ever exist, it's really nothing special.

George Wilson is a voice for your average conspiracy nutter: the world is being run by aliens, Paul McCartney died back in the 60s, your neighbour Doris is probably a little green alien, stuff like that. Trouble is, he's right about that first one, and Jack knows it. Somebody's fueling a conspiracy, but is it George, or is somebody else the puppet master?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

There really isn't much to say about The Conspiracy. It's short and it's inoffensive with a decent story, it also has some good acting but ultimately it's dragged down by it's existence as a pilot. It exists to set up The Committee - the overarching villain of the Torchwood Main Range - and can't really move past that in terms of story. It follows Jack, played to perfection as usual by John Barrowman, trying to find out why a conspiracy theorist knows so much about The Committee, the group of aliens from the planet Erebus running things behind the scenes. The Committee's actual plan is shaky at best; using a conspiracy theorist to discredit your secret organisation feels like it would only work in circles aware of that conspiracy theorist, outside of that demographic their grand master plan would have no impact.

The story itself is really quite dull, it's lorded over by pretty generic voice over and I really had little interest in the goings on. A character dies about two thirds of the way in but I just didn't really care because the story had failed to make me like them. The twist at the end, however, that Wilson's daughter was an agent for The Committee and had been pulling the strings the whole time was pretty damn good and it did put a lot of things into perspective.

The Conspiracy was fine. Nothing more, I wasn't bored nor was I amazed. It's a perfectly serviceable pilot for the main range and I'm far more excited for what's to come than this one story. Here's hoping the other audios step it up a notch.

6/10

Pros:
+ The concept of a conspiracy theorist's theories being true is an, if simple, gripping idea
+ John Barrowman plays his heart out throughout the story
+ The twist was pretty good and caught me off guard
+ The Committee are looking to be pretty good antagonists

Cons:
- Bogged down by its existence as a pilot
- The side characters were nothing to write home about
- The narration felt overbearing and unnecessary

Top 5 Best Torchwood Monthly Range Stories:
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1. #1 - The Conspiracy by David Llewellyn

Top 5 Worst Torchwood Monthly Range Stories:
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1. #1 - The Conspiracy by David Llewellyn