This might be the Big Finish release with the most promising cover that doesn’t actually come to pass. Is it still false advertising if we enjoy the final product hugely anyway?

Legally, yes. But morally? Still yes. We can’t change the law, guys.

Fortunately, the release makes up for the lack of a Captain Jack body double with a classic story. Boy meets boy. Boy is robot designed to look like original boy. Robot tries to usurp boy’s position in life. A Torchwood operative gets involved. Things end badly for one or more of these parties.

Classic.

In case that flawless explanation didn’t do it for you, we’ll elaborate a bit more: paralysed millionaire Neil Redmond is given a life model decoy (come on, that’s exactly what it is) and told to let it replace him in pretty much every aspect of his life. There’s no possible way this can go wrong, right?

But go wrong they do, and in a drama that wrings the maximum amount of entertainment out of the situation. Big Finish works their usual magic and uses the audio format to build some strong mental images. The minimal cast gives strong performances, including Steven Cree who has to act for two. His tale is a sad one, but that just makes it all the more effective. It’s also lovely to have John Barrowman back after the body-swapping shenanigans of episode 3 that meant he could skip that session.

Now things are coming to a head, it will be interesting to see where they go in Series 2. We’re not sure they can continue the Conspiracy plotline for much longer, but it’s also hard to see how they can tie it up in the time they have left. We’re sure the team (Torchwood, that is) will manage to hodgepodge something together in the nick of time and save the day. That’s what they do best.

Just as a P.S., how they managed to miss the ‘Uncanny Valleys’ title is beyond us.

TORCHWOOD: UNCANNY VALLEY / DIRECTOR: NEIL GARDNER / AUTHOR: DAVID LLEWELLYN / STARRING: JOHN BARROWMAN, STEVEN CREE, EMMA REEVES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW