Empire of Shadows

 


Empire of Shadows by James Goss

I started Empire of Shadows sort of indifferent and mildly excited for the return of an obscure David Tennant Doctor character getting their own Torchwood release. Hell, the last time this happened was Yvonne Hartman, and that was a success so monumental it shaped the entirety of the range. I ended Empire of Shadows as an angry social justice warrior or something, which I largely assume is the story's point, but they really did go all out in making me not really like Zachary Cross Flane at all at the rollicking pace of one fricking episode.

Big Finish should be looking towards Torchwood's future. God knows we could do with stories starring the survivors of The Satan Pit, the fact we haven't gotten any Ida Scott episodes in the range is a crime, especially considering I know they've done six sets with Clare Rushbrook as a regular. On paper, Empire of Shadows is an excellent idea for a story. Setting up the future of the Torchwood universe. It's very effective and interesting that it's doing this. The majority of the plot of Empire of Shadows doesn't really have any problems. It's more at the ending that things start to go awry.

 I'm not a naysayer to media that makes me feel sad or anything, but the ending to Empire of Shadows is so fricking cynical and miserable that it's maybe a step too far into misery. Chloe is a lovely character that we really get to know over the course of the audio, and then she's genuinely chucked into a rubbish bin. This is good for terms of emotional impact, but from storytelling angle, it's also just, like?? It feels like the early Torchwood move. It's not mature a move. It's too easy a move. We've previously established that this future uses the Ood as labor. Now we're establishing that they use sentient robots as labor. And that there's no way out. All Torchwood Monthly Range Stories must end with something messed up or something, I don't know. If we're SOLD on having this kind of easy and frequently foreshadowed ending as the actual ending, then, I think that you might wanna spend more time giving us the idea that Chloe might actually get away before the brain wipe?? The Emperor suggests she may be rewarded with it briefly, but I didn't see it coming.

The whole thing just doesn't work for me. It makes Zachary really unlikable, and I'm not sure if that's intentional, but I just find it hard to picture this guy as the same guy in one of the David Tennant era's best Two Parters. Well, I can, this is the dude who owns Ood, but it's not an interesting morally grey choice for the character's first outing. If this was his second or third appearance, and we had actually grown to like him as a protagonist, than maybe this sort of "ooh, he's kinda fricked??" reveal would be something a bit more. Oh well. I can't fault Empire too much. It's an experiment, and I don't want to shit on it too much, because in truth, I do want to see more like this, more of the future of Torchwood, and on the whole, it's pretty nice indeed. 7/10 


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