Sgt Andy Davidson sets out for Cadoc Point, for a poignant Torchwood tale of love, loss and regret.
Cadoc Point provides another outing Cardiff’s finest, the redoubtable Sgt Andy Davidson. While stories often pair him with a Torchwood team member, this time Andy is acting on his own initiative.
Set after the fall of Torchwood, so post-Children of Earth, Andy’s well aware of the extra-terrestrial threats on his patch. However, he also knows there is no longer a team to deal with them and consequently sets out to investigate one himself. This particular case has a personal dimension touching his childhood; it involves an old schoolmate and his former art teacher, Merl Williams.
David Llewellyn’s story is a thought-provoking one. It deals with themes of love, loss and regret, as well as a life lived without the chance to be open with one’s family. While there’s no great technical science fiction explanation, something fantastical (and monstrous) does lurk at its heart.
The cast
Gareth Armstrong (Giuliano from Doctor Who’s The Masque of Mandragora) plays Merl Williams, Andy’s old teacher who receives a surprise visit. He’s a man with secrets and one who’s been accused, but not convicted any crimes. Armstrong gives a moving performance and, with Lisa Bowerman’s assured direction, it developed in an hurried fashion. As Andy slowly wins Merl’s trust, their wary conversation probes his paintings, his past and the disappearances connected to the local coastline.
In the wider cast, Aled Pugh plays Andy’s school friend Darren Jenkins, who has suffered due to his connection to Cadoc Point – but notably survived – and Hazel Ellerby is Cynthia, Darren’s caring but concerned mother.
It is great to hear Andy tackling a threat on his own. His amiable persona often sees him cast as the comic relief, or just the amiable everyman of the law; it’s a role actor Tom Price plays very well. However, a story like Cadoc Point shows he is capable of a greater depth and and he brings real emotional intelligence to the character. If it’s even still a question, Andy has more than earned his place in Torchwood. In many ways, Andy’s more mature and capable than the lot of them!
There is a terrific cover too, from Sean Longmore, which captures the essence of the story’s stormy emotions. He’s also created the trippy The Annihilators and the vivid The War Master: Self-Defence.
Torchwood: Cadoc Point is available on CD and download from Big Finish.
Further Torchwood Releases
Big Finish have announced details of the Torchwood slate for the next few months:
February ’22 brings Sonny by Lizzie Hopley – an adventure for Rhys (and his mum) with artificially intelligent robot carers.
March follows Norton Folgate (Samuel Barnett) into space in The Black Knight by Lizbeth Myles.
Finally, April brings us Infidel Places by Uma McCormack. Number 60 in the monthly range, it promises the return of Rowena Cooper’s Queen Victoria who finds herself a den of suspicion and devil worship: Cambridge!