Written by James Goss for
Big Finish Productions 2015
Directed by Scott Handcock
Fall to Earth has to be one of the best Ianto
audio dramas I’ve heard in a long time. There’s something about casting Gareth David-Lloyd in an audio drama where he’s the main character that just makes the
journey more enjoyable. Although there was a serious element to the story, and
believe me, a plane hurtling out of control and heading to Earth at a great
rate of knots is indeed a serious one, yet I found myself laughing out loud and
chuckling like a naughty schoolboy caught with a whoopee cushion in class. As it’s impossible to remain straight faced when Ianto is onboard.
There’s
just something so incredibly different about him over Owen. Owen’s wit is
incredibly crass, sarcastic and with a sheer amount of bitterness. Who can
blame him, given his run of bad luck? Ianto on the other hand, is gentler in
manner and rarely loses his cool, unless you add a Cyber girlfriend into the
mix, or you’re about to tangle with a few hungry humans in the Brecons.
So it’s
somewhat amazing that right at this precise moment we hear Ianto in trouble, from
inside the cockpit of The Skypuncher
calling for help from the most unlikely of people.
What I’ve
come to discover and I think it was mentioned in the interview Scott Handcock
had with John Barrowman or indeed the first interview with the cast of The
Conspiracy, is that the six audio stories are all one complete adventure, told
from different angles by each member of the team. So The Committee we’d heard
about in The Conspiracy are also involved in this audio, but as to who they
are, and what they want, and how they link with Ianto’s story, is still
intriguing and one I can’t wait to uncover in perhaps the next episode, which I
think will feature Gwen and Rhys!
It’s been
five or six years since Ianto was killed off in the series and yet, listening
to Gareth David-Lloyd play his role in Fall
to Earth, it was as if Ianto had never been away.
Sometimes
it’s only when something precious is taken from you, do you achingly miss it.
And hearing those beautiful Welsh vowels, I have indeed missed Ianto Jones.
An
excellent audio drama written by James Goss, whose work I can never fault. I
can’t wait for the next instalment.
As with the
first of the audios, stay on till the absolute end of the disk, as Scott Handcock
interviews James Goss, Gareth David-Lloyd and Lisa Zahra.
