A great audio drama with one or two minor flaws.

The excellent story is a very serious one about a corporation, in their greed, destroying the environment, a village, and its people in the process. It's a story that made me feel helplessly outraged while listening more than once. So, it's no fun story, but in succeeding to engage me emotionally, it is a truly excellent story.

Shaheen Khan, Anant Varman, and Tom Hanson as the supporting cast did a superb job giving their characters life. And Sophie Aldred and Paul Clayton as Ace and Mr. Colchester were just brilliant.

The characterization of Dorothy 'Ace' McShane in this story is superb. What kind of person would Ace be a few decades after we saw her traveling with the Doctor? After building the charity "A Charitable Earth" and taking on responsibility as its founder and CEO? I would argue exactly what we get shown in this audio drama. Yeah, at her core, she still is the person that we knew. But she also is more. One of the best scenes in this regard - and without giving spoilers about the story - is when she takes care of the vaccination of some children. The character has grown quite a bit as a person over the decades, in a quite realistic way.

Mr. Colchester, on the other hand, shows some of his more nasty character traits. Very well done. And at the same time, one of my few complaints - at the end, his story thread is not consistently enough "not sympathetic person accomplishing something good." The end is not bad, but I feel it could have been so much better if there wasn't a half-baked excuse for his behavior at the end. It would have been better to just have him be Machiavellian through and through.

Another weak point of this excuse at the end was that it only works with him knowing something since the beginning of the story, but we saw him uncover it throughout the story. After a second listening, I'd say, yeah, it's possible that he knew all the time and still did what he did. But it would have been smoother to not go this route.

That's to some extent just nitpicking, and I am sure for some listeners the end just worked as well as the rest of the story. Your mileage may vary. For me, it knocked off half a point, and together with an obvious exposition dump by one of the characters in the middle of the story, it leads to a very good 4 out of 5 rating.

'Death in Venice' is the second appearance of Dorothy 'Ace' McShane (played by Sophie Aldred) in the Torchwood Monthly Range. Just like last time ('The Red List'), we've got a very small cast. Paul Clayton plays Mr. Colchester from Torchwood. At times, Jack Forsyth-Noble and Safiyya Ingar act in supporting roles. But the story is mainly told through the dialogue between Aldred and Clayton.

Just as in 'The Red List,' it is brilliant to listen to both flexing their voice acting muscles. While 'The Red List' had a slightly stronger emphasis on Colchester's view of the situation, this time it is the other way around. This gives Aldred, as Ace, the opportunity to brilliantly convey how Ace has changed over time, what has stayed the same, and why her charity 'A Charitable Earth' is so important to her (and the world). Loved it.

This time around, the two main protagonists are not confined to two hotel rooms. Instead, they actually travel quite a lot with some exciting action sequences. While I wouldn't want to miss the more somber storytelling of 'The Red List,' for the second installment of Ace meeting Mr. Colchester, it was a very good choice, making the audio drama much more dynamic than it would have been otherwise.

The different parts and tempos of the story fit very well together. Kudos to author James Goss and the rest of the production crew.

A top-notch standalone story that at the same time makes one want to hear more.

'The Red List' is a brilliant chamber play, brought to life by the superb acting of both Sophie Aldred and Paul Clayton, with strong support from Manuel Pacific. The entire production thrives on the dialogue between Aldred (playing Dorothy 'Ace' McShane) and Clayton (playing St John Colchester). Both are just brilliant voice actors, and it is a pure delight hearing them converse, discuss, banter, argue, and try to figure out what's going on.

A few times, and at the end, the story leaves the confines of the chamber play unfolding in two neighboring hotel rooms. But these 'breaks' with the format fit absolutely organically into the whole of the story and just further heighten the quality. Great work from the writer James Goss and the rest of the production crew.

Are there also weaknesses? I think not as such. Sure, the story leaves many questions open, but it is the kind of story where getting all the answers is not the point. So I do not see that as a weakness. But your mileage may vary.

All in all, definitely a story I will listen to a few more times. :)

The Story

Again, only a prelude, but in this case with an interesting mini-character study of the relationship between the Seventh Doctor and Ace. I did like it.
(These panels also have a little bit of the vibe of one of the audition scenes McCoy had to take for getting the role of the Seventh Doctor. Nicely done.)

The Art

The first panel sees the TARDIS flying through the time vortex, using the “howl-around” effect from the first intro sequence to visualize the vortex. Wicked!

It’s the same artists as in the prelude before, but this time I really like what they did.
Maybe drawing the interior of the TARDIS played more to their strengths. Perhaps their way of drawing emotions into faces just works better with the right backdrop.

The Story

As a prelude for an upcoming story, there’s not much to say. In film terms, it’s not even a trailer but more akin to a teaser trailer. It does its purpose.

The Characters

We get a first glance (one panel) at - probably - the big bad of the upcoming story. The “task” of the protagonist is to convey rising fear of darkness and death on his part. If there wasn't an exposition-dump panel where he says out loud what should be shown, this would actually be successfully conveyed. But well, there is this one panel too much.

The Art

Solid but does not quite click with me.

The Story

A simple, small story (the synopsis says it all and arguably too much, spoiling things).
This simplicity is a strength, allowing focus on the characters and the overall atmosphere.
Nice callback to early times / an earlier incarnation of the doctor at the end.

The Characters

The Seventh Doctor and Ace are depicted very well. I absolutely buy them acting as they do. Great depiction of the dynamic between the two of them.
The characterization of the “guest cast” remains superficial but shows all aspects needed for the story.

The Art

Arthur Ranson’s art elevates the story for sure. Starting with the first page, I absolutely feel myself transported into the setting. His art brilliantly creates just the right atmosphere and is a big part of telling the story through its visuals.
The lettering by Glib does its part to keep me absorbed in the story.