The Black Knight

 


The Black Knight by Lizbeth Myles

I'll begin this review by saying this is the only time in it I will bring up Absent Friends at all. It is gone, and this is what we're getting, this is the replacement, and quite frankly, it's probably better. It may be sad that we won't be getting a Torchwood Tennant performance, but I'm sick of hearing people beg for it and I will not mourn. Achem. Statement over.

That being said, The Black Knight is actually really really great. Like, properly. It's got a lot of good stuff in it. It's got a lot of my favorite kind of stuff in it. It's quite similar to some of the Torchwood stories that I've actually written myself, not that I'm going to plug them, which would be weird. But my point is that it's got a fabulous hook, and it's the first time Torchwood has properly touched space exploration, and the fear of the unknown that can be derived from it. The Black Knight says a lot in terms of character, atmosphere, and in plot, in earnest, it says very little. Which is exactly what I want from an existential space "what the heck is out there" script. On paper, the plot is simple - we get our scientist, Lynne, desperate to prove herself. She and Norton and Mr. Mc-I'm-Going-To-Die-Very-Quickly go to space. We get the requisite Norton ending, and the audio is closed. But in between all that, there's gorgeous beautiful atmosphere, excellent character building and growth, evocative and gorgeous visuals that sort of just come out of the audio's sound design itself. We get just enough information to tantalize, but not enough to feel like we aren't in Norton and Lynne's shoes, curious and exploring the unknown. There's not much plot - but we get everything you could want. 

There's something incredibly immersive about this audio in particular. Although nothing is described in detail, the environment of the asteroid feels wonderfully alien, the visuals are very strong and well integrated and I had fun coming up with the details for them in my head - it all feels like something very HR Geiger. The Black Knight is just really, really good at what it does, and it's really stuck with me. It's always delightful to have more Norton, and as the first audio where he stands on his own, free of Lizbeth and Andy, it does remind me that he is one of Big Finish's best Torchwood creations - and it's ever so fitting that he's been awarded release #50 as Big Finish's Torchwood icon. The Black Knight is worthy of that number, in it's own small way. It's not a triumphant celebration of everything Torchwood or a fanservicey triumph - it's just very calmly, and subtly brilliant, and there's not really been another story like it. I was gonna rate it lower, it could be a 9, but spelling it out like this - but what the hell, I think I'll give it the full 10/10. 

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