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Reviewed: Torchwood’s End Game and The Hollow Choir from Big Finish

After an absence of almost two years, Naoki Mori made her Torchwood return in End Game, a take on 2000s political action movies that is simultaneously set in an escape room. And Whitehall.

Tonally, End Game hits its marks straight away and sets up believable relationships between a group of politicians and Toshiko Sato who are in a simulated emergency bunker. The twist is obvious from the off, being that it’s probably not simulated, and then it becomes an ongoing run of trolley problems. For those who are unaware, the trolley problem is a thought experiment with hypothetical ethical dilemmas that force participants to weigh up the value of consigning someone to death in order to save multiple others.

The focus is on the problems, so the listener can choose how claustrophobic or not the setting is, but it’s important to be very attentive since the characters all have immense levels of experience in their specialist field, which the listener does not have access to and they can not infodump endlessly within the story. If the story gets ahead of the listener, it’s hard to catch up.

Trolley problems aren’t just for humans, but for machine learning models too, and since ‘AI’ is the buzzword of the early 2020s, there’s plenty of examination on the dangers of those and sharing databases without adequate safeguarding. In its dramatised form here, it’s a topic that can work when seen purely through the ‘2000s movie’ pastiche lens, but since a very different type of ‘AI’ is creeping into the daily lives of many people today, it feels out of touch. In part, that’s the fault of software firms today calling software such as language models ‘AI’ when they’re not. Gone are the days of machine learning and the word ‘AI’ belonging only to emotional robots and computers that take over the planet.

We’ve also had a lot of elections recently, so putting several power-hungry politicians in a room with a Torchwood member almost feels like a hangover of actual party leadership debates shown on television. 

Because of the various aspects mentioned above, it’s hard to tell what is the core purpose of End Game. It being a story of teaching Tosh how to trust people is probably the closest assessment, and an unsatisfying ending is avoided with a brilliant final conversation that is emotional, foreboding, and sharp.

End Game scenarios, like multiple rounds of debates, determine which politicians you immediately rule out voting for, and who then joins them in that pile until you decide you like nobody but still have a vote to cast. Politicians are also like ex-boyfriends: they pop up years later with ambitions to win your heart (or vote) again but without any actual concern for your welfare. Poor Tosh.

But of course, End Game isn’t the end for Big Finish’s Torchwood range in 2024; next comes The Hollow Chair

Caving. Some people love it. Some people are terrified of the idea of squeezing through tiny gaps between rocks while far away from any natural source of light or medical assistance should they get injured. Caves can be huge, but claustrophobic, and are natural auditoriums. So the first challenge Big Finish had with The Hollow Choir was making its recording booths have the acoustic quality of caves.

It’s not all about echoes, because when something’s really echoey, you need the contrast to remain, and cavers stay close together when being sensible so plenty of dialogue can be delivered without reverb. Caves also have water, and this is the most immersive sound of them all.

The Hollow Chair is, for the most part, a very detailed realisation of what a cave rescue operation can entail. The stakes are for the most part as simple as ‘we must save someone without getting ourselves lost, split up, or injured’, which requires plenty of bravery and is similar to why firefighting is held in such reverence.

Rhys Williams is the familiar face at the heart of this story, and he has acquired a map to help navigate the cave system. Kai Owen does what’s required of him from the script, and there’s no character development given here, but the running time is mostly ‘feel like you’re in a cave for 30 minutes’ before more plot details get added and it’s revealed this cave is more than it seems.

The sound effects are stunning, particularly the parts where they have to navigate the equivalent of U-bends in the cave system and get through freezing cold water, and there’s a few close misses that help add to the idea that this rescue operation is happening against the clock.

Once the mystery element comes more to the fore, it can either be seen as less interesting as it takes the focus away from the two characters we’ve been following through the dangers of caving, or it gives the story more of a purpose. I’m inclined to say the former as while the plot is still firmly lodged in my head, and was realised in a rather neat, comedic and even adorable way, it doesn’t make it a story I’d rush to buy.

Since navigating tight spaces is the name of the game, the story also looks at what it’s like to be a parent. Which, after blood, freezing cold water, dangerous rocks, and singing in the Welsh countryside, may make perfect sense to someone who’s gone through the crazy experience of parenthood. I can’t claim to relate.

End Game and The Hollow Chair are available now from Big Finish, as is the whole Torchwood range.

Ida Wood

Reviewed: Torchwood’s End Game and The Hollow Choir from Big Finish

by Ida Wood time to read: 4 min
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