Coffee

 

“Torchwood, like life, are slightly better than the alternative.”

Coffee by James Goss

Coffee is one of the biggest hits yet for the Torchwood Main Range, a story with a very smart premise and an even better execution. Exclusively focusing on the relationship between Ianto and two people who run a coffee shop, David and Kathy, the story takes us through the Torchwood television run from an entirely different perspective. Across the way, we get the ordinary public’s eye on episodes like Day One, Cyberwoman, End of Days, Adrift, Exit Wounds, and beyond. It feels slightly like a tribute to Torchwood itself, pointing out the good and the bad, the high points and the lows, while maintaining a through line completely focused on the ordinary people that Torchwood itself fights for. This perspective shift that almost entirely focuses on side characters leads Coffee to feel quite different from the majority of this range - almost like if it’s one of the really well written side stories you wish you’d encounter on Fanfiction websites but never do. It’s a heavy script, especially since from the offset you do know where it’s going, each successive event fills you more with dread. It’s also a ridiculously smart script, (shocker), making the use of its small cast without having the story itself feel small. Instead it feels focused. David and Kathy are superbly cast, and superbly portrayed, being some of the most developed guest stars this range has brought us. I feel like I fully know and understand how both of them work as people even though I’ve only known them for an hour and ten minutes. (Yes, Coffee is a full ten minutes longer than the average Torchwood play. It uses this time very well.) Coffee is just a gorgeous work of melancholic brilliance, and it probably should have been selected to be release #50 of the range instead of the whole Absent Friends/Black Knight keruffle. It’s just that good - a tongue in cheek and just the right level of depressing piece that is emblematic of this series as a whole. I hate not really having any criticism to had, but I just don’t. If you liked Broken, you’ll love this cup of Joe: 10/10