Kicking off a trilogy of stories written by Gareth David-Lloyd, who also plays Torchwood’s Ianto Jones, this first story in what Big Finish are referring to as the ‘Ianthology’ does a great job of playing to the strengths of the Torchwood range in general, balancing humour, pathos and horror in equal measure.

Work on expanding the London Underground has disturbed a nest of Weevils, the sometimes hungry creatures that first appeared in the opening episode of the Torchwood TV series.

Ianto is sent to investigate alongside grumpy, tired, old colleague Tommy (Timothy Bentinck) will the pair be able to work together to contain the deadly creatures?

As ever, David-Lloyd’s writing is fantastic, tapping directly into what makes Ianto and Tommy such a great pairing; they’re a team the Torchwood range keeps coming back to, and for good reason.

They’re just so great together; David-Lloyd’s script this time also does well to explore a bit more of Tommy’s backstory, delve into why he’s so abrasive with Ianto and even meet an old friend of his.

The cast is small for this self contained, almost survival horror-style escape through the tube tunnels, with the two other actors, Derek Elroy (playing Tommy’s mate Bill) and Kay Bridgeman (as the almost impossibly positive tune driver, Tia) doing excellent work in their roles.

Given its London based, horror comedy nature, it’s perhaps no surprise to discover that David-Lloyd is a huge fan of An American Werewolf in London; a fact made apparent in the opening seconds of Tube Strike, when one very famous scene from the 1981 John Landis werewolf movie is homaged very closely, with dialogue that’ll be incredibly familiar to fans of the film (which of course, includes me).

Little details like the clothes worn by certain Weevils (all played by Robert Rackstraw) and Tia’s reactions to some pretty gnarly situations add much of the humour to the story, though the banter between Ianto and Tommy adds plenty of genuinely funny moments too.

It’s not all fun, games and scares though; Bill in particular cuts a tragic figure as the contractor looking for his missing friend.

Overall, this is an incredibly strong start to David-Lloyd’s trilogy of Ianto stories that are due to be released over the next few months; based on this alone, not to mention his previous episodes as both writer and performer, it’s clear to see why he remains such a popular choice with Big Finish and us dedicated listeners.

It also proves, yet again, why Torchwood’s monthly range continues to be one of the strongest overall ranges that Big Finish produces.

Though, just like the TV show before it, the Torchwood stories can very occasionally step over the line into crassness and bad taste, on the whole the monthly range maintains an enviable level of quality and variety.

Tube Strike is another excellent addition to the monthly episodes of the series, and I can’t wait to return to Torchwood One for Ianto’s next mission.

You can buy Torchwood: Tube Strike directly from Big Finish here.

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