Torchwood: Rictus from Big Finish Review

I always find historical Torchwood adventures a real treat. They always delve into the darker aspects of history, which I really do enjoy, not in a sick way, but historical Doctor Who can sometimes sugar coat the worst aspects of history. And Torchwood historicals always give us a wide range of exciting characters to explore these darker worlds.

And in this case, it’s Princess Beatrice played with vigour by Fenella Woolgar, who finds herself free and propelled into the action following the death of her mother, Queen Victoria, and it doesn’t take long before she runs into the shady head of Torchwood, Mr. Castringham.

James Goss is always a a safe pair of hands and he does a lot of research and his research really pays of her with his handling of Beatrice. Nicknamed Baby by her parents and siblings, Beatrice is finally able to step out into the light and see the world, but is she ready to see how dark that world really is?

A missing person’s case on the Metropolitan line allows Beatrice to have her first adventure as she joins forces with a young Torchwood agent called Anson, played by Sid Sagar, but on their investigation, she quickly discovers how dangerous the life of a Torchwood agent can really be. The pair follow the screams of a baby and finds more than they bargained for when they enter a vault with body parts hanging from the ceiling. It’s a moment that more than warrants the Big Finish ident of not being suitable for younger listeners.

Rictus plays with the fears of societal change, with the former class and gender boundaries being pushed and interlopers, both human and alien, making their way into higher society. It’s fun to hear Beatrice, who at first is rather light and blasé about the existence of aliens (maybe she didn’t get a nip from Queen Victoria after the werewolf?), that blasé attitude quickly changes when she meets the Zygons.

And these Zygons are proper grim, the gooey and wet creatures we first met in Terror of the Zygons, as opposed to the rubbery look they took on later in the Capaldi era. The Zygons have infiltrated high society but have a forced peace with humans because of a Zygon hostage currently held by Torchwood.

This Zygon was left deformed and mutilated after Torchwood had finished with him and abandoned him in a vault where he began to fuel a murderous rage, which has become contagious to others like him. Now called The Smiling Man because of his rictus grin, he’s escaped and is loose in London.

While Goss doesn’t shy away from the darker and darker aspects of this story, he makes sure that The Smiling Man is always a tragic figure, this is to mirror Beatrice’s own feelings of being trapped by her family, though there are differences between being trapped and tortured in a vault and trapped with one of the richest families in the entire world. And no one here is the hero, as both humans and Zygons commit atrocities as the peace breaks down.

What makes the ending really impactful, though, is that Goss shows us that we and the Zygons are much more alike than unalike, both are capable of loyalty to one another in their own species, and both are capable of cruelty to everyone else.

Rictus is a fun and dark look at society and the lengths people will go to to make sure that massive societal and cultural changes don’t happen. While it might be simple in plot and the final twist is pretty obvious to listeners paying attention, its rich in Victoriana, characters and chills and screams. Lots and lots of screaming.

Torchwood: Rictus is available on CD and digital download now from Big Finish.