Lost Souls

I've just listened to the special Radio 4 afternoon play Torchwood: Lost Souls, via the BBC iPlayer, which was commissioned to celebrate the activation of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland on the 10th September 2008. As you are probably aware, I am a big fan of Torchwood and all things Dr Who, and as such I enjoyed listening to this story. But, for me, radio just doesn't work as a medium for science fiction. Yes, it leaves a lot for the imagination, which is one of the good things about reading science fiction, but too much emphasis seems to be placed on getting the right sound effects in place to help tell the story, which conversly hinders the telling of the story itself.
Characters say much more in radio dramas than they would otherwise need to with the visual aid of television. I don't think that it was a fault with the writing of this story for radio, but something I have a problem with when it comes to any radio drama (I've tried listening to the Archers and can't get into it because of all the background noises and unnecesary speaches). I am just going to have to stick to the visual element of television, or the total self-created imagary of reading.
Other than this small flaw in my enjoyment, okay it was quite a major thing but I still kept listening through the whole story, Lost Souls had some nice touches and set itself in Torchwood history (though whether it is cannon history I will have to check with Tim, if I ever see him again!). Martha Jones enquired with Jack and later with Gwen about how they were coping with the loss of Owen and Tosh, placing the story just after the end of the last series (possibly just before their appearance in the final two episodes of the last series of Dr Who (The Stolen Earth and Journey's End).
The story had some good humourous moments in it, some very emotional moments and lots of scientific mumbo-jumbo, but very little in the way of action.
All-in-all, I would say it is a must-listen episode for die-hard Torchwood and Dr Who fans, but otherwise, you haven't missed much.