Torchwood: Zone 10

Writer: David Llewellyn
Director: Scott Handcock
Script Editor: Steve Tribe
Cover Illustration: Lee Binding
Music: Blair Mowat
Sound Design: Steve Foxon
Producer: James Goss

Starring Naoko Mori
Released April 2016

The Pulse is a radio signal that has been broadcast from a point 62 miles above Siberia for over 40 years, and no-one has ever been able to decode the message. But Tosh has finally done it. This is the attention-grabbing opening to David Llewellyn's excellent third single-CD Torchwood story, which foregrounds Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato for practically the first time.

Having discovered the truth of the Pulse, Tosh takes herself off to Moscow and meets up with Torchwood's Russian counterparts the KVI, and agent Maxim Ivanov (Krystian Godlewski). The pair work well together over the course of the story, as inevitably Maxim begins to show shades of grey the closer they get to Zone 10 and the answers he wants. Tosh is of course pure and wide-eyed, but it might've been nice if she had some kind of backup plan in case of betrayal by the Russians, which is by no stretch of the imagination the most far-fetched aspect of this story.

Whilst only reaching the titular Zone 10 half an hour in conveys how remote it is, it does mean that the listener is kept waiting for a significant amount of time. The intrigue and discussions along the way are substantial enough but the story gets a whole lot more interesting once Tosh and Maxim actually arrive. Tales of secret '60s space missions are right up my street, so the introduction of Anna Volkova and her backstory were very welcome. While this is ostensibly Tosh's story, Anna is an extremely memorable character, particularly her departure, and is brought to life with real energy by Ella Garland. Tosh herself is generally well-served as the brains of Torchwood Cardiff, finally stepping out of the team's shadow. However, for someone supposedly so smart, she's often quite slow on the uptake. Her time-manipulating gadget she brings along is extremely handy but Llewellyn gets away with this massive hand-wave by tying it into the time lock she was said to have built into the Torchwood base in The Stolen Earth.

Of course, the Committee are revealed to have been the impetus for what's going on in Zone 10 and there are pleasing, surprisingly strong, ties to Llewellyn's other two stories from this series. The KVI, first featured in the writer's own 2008 Torchwood novel Trace Memory, are as you might expect the Institute's Russian counterparts to be: merciless, deceitful and relentless. Visiting other countries and cultures is always welcome and more from the KVI or similar organisations every now and then would be gladly received.

This is an intriguing, extremely well-produced story that maintains the tension from the start through to the very end as the layers of Zone 10 are peeled away. The wintry sound design really helps sell the environment, though it might've been good to have the cast sound as if it was just a bit colder or windier every now and then. The music is similarly great, although some cues are beginning to be repeated from earlier stories now. This is Naoko Mori's best story yet, turning easily the dullest member of the team on TV into a character this listener wouldn't object to spending more time with.

Another great entry in a tidemark range.