Released October 2018
SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW

The beauty of the audio medium is that the stories are completely reliant on painting a picture in its audience’s collective eye with words and sound effects alone, yet the lack of a visual component is rarely ever celebrated quite so literally as it is in John Dorney’s ‘See No Evil’ in which Cardiff goes blind and Jack and Yvonne each try save the city from a mysterious hunter in the shadows.

With Cardiff seemingly cut off from the rest of the world by its shroud of darkness and nobody able to see within it, the lack of light very much acts as a character in its own right, a silent companion who affects each scene and continues to seamlessly move the tense narrative forward. It also allows for some rather unlikely pairings with everyone on equal ground, and allowing Jack and Yvonne at least some brief time together to acknowledge the unresolved tension stemming from their positions in Torchwood with Jack likewise still harbouring a certain animosity towards Ng given what happened to Gwen allows from some incredibly important development that further links these current events to what has come previously. As Ng states, Yvonne may lead Torchwood, but Jack is Torchwood, and the continuing dynamic of these two natural leaders who have such wildly different styles should continue to provide plenty of drama in future stories.

Night vision goggles from Torchwood allow both Jack and Yvonne to head into the city alone, and Jack quickly finds that darkness brings out the prejudice, paranoia, and darkness of humanity that always sit simmering just beneath the surface. Everyone is on edge and looking for any advantage available while assuming that everyone else is lying, and the faith that Colin has in Jack as a man who has seen and solved worse when he panics away from home provides the only beacon of light in an increasingly dangerous society that has quickly lost its own both physically and metaphorically. Hunting a hunter that has brought its own darkness with it, Yvonne finds herself paired with Andy, picking up on a surprising thread from Aliens Among Us as the former’s uncompromising obsessiveness and the latter’s well-meaning sense of righteousness create a wonderfully believable pairing that humanises Yvonne much more than is usual. Yvonne is a character used to being firmly in control of every situation, and taking away her sight affects her more than she would ever admit, but she uses her intelligence and what resources she still has at her disposal to take the fight back to their unknown assailant whether her assumptions and suggestions prove to be correct or not, and Tracy-Ann Oberman and Tom Price share a superb chemistry that would be a most welcome recurring fixture.

A hunter that is intrinsically able to put its prey at such a distinct disadvantage is a harrowing thought, and Orr’s reaction to the mysterious threat exemplifies just how distinct it truly is. With all of the regulars on even but wholly unfamiliar and shaky ground without the trusted sense of sight to guide them, ‘See No Evil’ is a unique and edgy piece that wisely focuses just as much on its character development as it does on the threat that is so tailor-made for the audio medium. Though the story as a whole may not have as much lasting impact as others, the relationships and emotions it reintroduces and explores should prove vital to the expanding mythology of the franchise, and the surprise reappearance regardless of ultimate form that closes out the serial will assuredly force some greater introspection and re-evaluation of accepted truths and self as the finale of the first set of God Among Us looms large.