The Red List

 

The Red List by James Goss

It's incredibly exciting to have Colchester at long last enter the Torchwood Main Range, because it finally means that the team is willing to inject some fire into the now getting steadily normal Torchwood range. As an anthology series, it thrives on variety, and for far too long have we been getting classic team stories when a entirely brilliant secondary team is available. They've been cautiously testing the waters on this, I feel, with The Five People You Kill In Middlesbrough putting it's toes in gently as Yvonne basically already has a commercially successful spinoff, and similarly, the Norton/Andy pairing in the monthly range has felt fruitful for long enough that it wasn't difficult to put Norton and Lizbeth in Madam I'm. Colchester is a different breed of a character though, and although it's a step in the right direction, I think it was one they were unsure of - so they partnered him with a character that's sure to sell Tickets. 

I don't think adding Ace to Torchwood was a purely financial decision. If it was, they could have shoved big name actors like Derek Jacobi and Alex Kingston in it long before now. It was undoubtedly a both financial and creative decision, because they thought very carefully about which companion would fit best within the Torchwood atmosphere. I think it's very surprising, but Ace is also the one I'd go for. She's a character with an edge, a defined backstory and an emotional connection to the audience, but also a character that's currently aimless and without as much direction since Big Finish's mature newly characterized Ace in the Hex arc is sort of gone at the moment. She's a character that's also had a long standing partnership with "Torchwood Bullshit" thanks to the edginess present in the Hex audios and the VNAs, and as such she's already proven that she can fit in. So although I'm pretty sure Big Finish did want a Classic Companion in this one - the choice was absolutely inspired. 

The Red List stars Ace and Colchester in a very smart locale for a story, a quarantined hotel, where bored out of their minds, they both meet on the balconies every once in a while and discuss the Crossword. From there, they both are steadily realizing that something is very wrong with the Hotel. It's a really clever layout and good excuse to get both Ace and Colchester in the same room - sorry, separate balconies - and interacting without anyone else in the way. It also explains very well the Torchwood Monthlies' trademark small cast, which is as per usual, used incredibly effectively, especially since there's an explanation for next to no one being about. The Red List is just really really effective, building on the fact that it's two cynical but good characters who know about each other in vague terms but don't necessarily trust each other. It's definitely the starting place for good drama. 

The other thing The Red List has going for it, is it's almost inscrutably clever. It's a puzzlebox, twists within twists, within twists, and it knows exactly how to dangle them in front of you. You know these kinds of stories, and James Goss is excellent at writing them. This is what you expect from James Goss at the top of his game - but it's also Paul Clayton and Sophie Aldred at the top of theirs. Colchester has never been so pleasantly curmudgeonly, and Ace has never been so actually mature but not in a grating manner. It's incredibly intriguing - and it also establishes an antagonist that I feel thanks to both this story and Torchwood One's Less Majesty is going to make the future of the Torchwood range in general. This is one you have to get, no exceptions - grab it and be incredibly happy that it was so good they're doing another one with our dear friends Ace and Colchester. They certainly deserve it: 10/10