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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|name            = The Conspiracy
|image             = Conspiracy updated cover.jpg
|image           = The Conspiracy cover.jpg
|series           = ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]''
|series         = [[Big Finish Torchwood series|Big Finish ''Torchwood'' series]]
|number           = 1
|number         = 1.1
|story number      = 1.1
|main character = [[Jack Harkness]]
|range            = BFTW
|featuring      =
|number in range  = 1
|enemy           = [[The Committee]]
|main character   = [[Jack Harkness|Jack]]
|setting         = [[Cardiff]], [[2008]]  
|enemy             = [[Kate Wilson]]
|writer         = [[David Llewellyn]]
|setting           = [[Cardiff]], [[2007]]
|director       = [[Scott Handcock]]
|writer           = David Llewellyn
|music           = [[Blair Mowat]]
|director         = [[Scott Handcock]]
|sound           = [[Neil Gardner]]
|music             = [[Blair Mowat]]
|cover           = [[Lee Binding]]
|sound             = [[Neil Gardner]]
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions
|cover             = [[Lee Binding]]
|release date   = [[10 September (releases)|10 September]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]]
|publisher         = Big Finish Productions
|format         =  
|release date     = 10 September 2015
|production code =  
|format           = 1 CD<br/>Download
|isbn           = ISBN 978-1-78178-916-2
|production code   = BFPTWCD01
|prev            = none
|isbn             = ISBN 978-1-78178-916-2 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-78178-917-9 (digital)
|next           = Fall to Earth (audio story)
|next             = Fall to Earth (audio story)
|soundcloudtrailer = https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/torchwood-11-the-conspiracy-trailer
|soundcloudtrailer = https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/torchwood-11-the-conspiracy-trailer
}}'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the first audio story in the [[Big Finish Torchwood series|''Torchwood'' audio series]] by [[Big Finish Productions]], and the very first Big Finish audio made with the company's expanded license to feature elements from the new series.  
|producer          = [[James Goss]]
|epcount          = 1
}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the first story in the ''[[Torchwood - Monthly Range]]'' by [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish Productions.]] It was written by [[David Llewellyn]] and featured [[John Barrowman]] as [[Jack Harkness]].
 
It was the first Big Finish audio made with the company's expanded license to feature elements from the new series.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Captain [[Jack Harkness]] has always had his suspicions about [[the Committee]]. And now [[George Wilson (The Conspiracy)|Wilson]] is also talking about the Committee. Apparently [[Earth|the world]] really is under the control of [[alien]] [[lizard]]s. That's what Wilson says. People have died, disasters have been staged, the suspicious have disappeared.
[[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack Harkness]] has always had his suspicions about [[the Committee]]. And now [[George Wilson (The Conspiracy)|Wilson]] is also talking about the Committee. Apparently [[Earth|the world]] really is under the control of [[alien]] [[lizard]]s. That's what Wilson says. People have [[death|died]], [[disaster]]s have been staged, the suspicious have disappeared.


It's outrageous.  
It's outrageous.


Only Jack knows that Wilson is right. The Committee has arrived.
Only Jack knows that Wilson is right. The Committee has arrived.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
Captain Jack Harkness's attention is caught by ex-news reporter turned professional conspiracy theorist, George Wilson. Jack recounts Wilson's rise to popularity: he'd quit his job reading the evening news, disgusted by the propagandized horror of war and politics, and then quickly went on to grab the spotlight of the people by purporting the story of "The Committee," an extraterrestrial organization from the planet Erebus that's playing a significant hand in the movements of mankind. But it's more than just an interesting story or outlandish conspiracy nut's ramblings—it's the truth. And Jack's caught on.
[[George Wilson (The Conspiracy)|George Wilson]], a [[news reporter]] who resurfaced as a [[conspiracy theorist]] after refusing on air to read what he believed was [[propaganda]], has come to [[Jack Harkness|Jack]]'s attention with his speeches about [[the Committee]]'s control over [[Earth]]. Jack attends his sold-out show in [[Cardiff]] as a member of the press thanks to the [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]]-funded ''[[Plexus Magazine]]'' and arranges an interview with him through his daughter, [[Kate Wilson]], after which he is followed by [[Sam Hallett]], a conspiracy theorist who recognised him at the show. [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] calls him about a [[Weevil]] situation before he can approach Sam, however.
 
Wilson has been travelling, spreading the story of The Committee. He eventually stops in Cardiff, and Jack decides to attend his talk incognito—Torchwood's presence is best kept a secret. Jack, pretending to be a member of the press with secretly-Torchwood-funded Plexus Magazine, attends the show, where he meets amateur conspiracy theorist Sam Hallett. Jack recognizes him as one of the snoops that Torchwood keeps tabs on; Sam, too, thinks that Jack looks familiar. But before any further questioning can be done, Wilson's show starts.
 
On stage, Wilson speaks to a sold-out theater. He assures his audience that he speaks only the truth, and that the cynical "herd" that would call them crazy for listening to him ought to be dismissed as nothing more than "drones of The Committee." He says that there are three types of person: the people at the top, The Committee; the enablers, the people who know what The Committee are and serve them out of greed; and the drones who know nothing. He details The Committee as a secret group who have orchestrated every war, famine, and disaster in the history of mankind. Everything, Wilson says, has been crafted by the extraterrestrial Committee.
 
After the show, Jack approaches Kate, Wilson's daughter. He introduces himself as Jack Harkness, press member for Plexus Magazine, and asks her for an interview with Wilson—with charm and lies, he secures one.
 
In the parking lot, Sam, the conspiracy theorist, follows Jack, evidently having indeed recognized him. Jack begins to question how Sam could recognize him, but before he can stop and question him directly, Jack gets a call from Gwen about a Weevil attack, and makes his way to the scene post-hate.
 
The next day, Jack arrives for the interview with Wilson, and meets Kate. She asks him how long he's been writing for Plexus. Jack lies and says he's been writing for a few months.
 
Kate hints at her skepticism of her father's beliefs. Jack doesn't need a hint: he'd found her on the internet, where she'd voiced, very openly, her disbelief of the alien conspiracy.
 
Kate tells Jack, before the interview, to avoid any topics regarding his divorce and his [[alcoholism]], which he's apparently recovering from.
 
Jack meets Wilson and they exchange niceties. Kate leaves them alone for the interview, and Wilson tells Jack of his fondness for Plexus Magazine. Jack then turns on a device that's disguised as a recorder; in actuality it scans the room for alien life. Jack finds no traces. The interview proper begins.
 
Jack asks outright about The Committee. He asks Wilson how he learned their name. Wilson says that a contact in the CIA informed him. He also tells Jack that many intelligence organizations are aware of The Committee and their movements. Jack continues to ask more questions about The Committee, and Wilson gives standard, logical answers. He goes on to claim that many wars and constructs, including World War II and the Nazi Reich, were devised by The Committee.
 
Jack asks Wilson about his years as a reporter, and begrudgingly, Wilson answers. Jack implies that Wilson's time covering wars has left his psyche damaged. As Wilson asks Jack where his line of questioning is going, Kate returns and admonishes Jack from bringing up Wilson's past.
 
Wilson, though, admits that while his time in the field did horrify him, and while he was, subsequently, an alcoholic because of it, the trials that he faced brought the world into a much sharper focus.
 
Later, Jack views Sam Hallett's website, where Sam's made a vlog wherein he talks about his encounter with Jack, the man whom he had found to be so familiar. Sam talks about how he followed Jack into the parking lot, took photos of him in a Valencia filter and uploaded them to Instagram, and then asks his followers to look at the photos and see if they recognize Jack.
 
Jack concludes that Wilson was not, in fact, crazy. Upon leaving the interview, he encounters Sam, who approaches him disgruntled at the fact that Jack got an interview and he did not. But he quickly forgets this and starts to question Jack so as to who he is. Sam produces a photo of Jack outside The Brampton Hotel after Torchwood had dealt with a poltergeist. Sam accuses Jack of being the man in the picture, though Jack denies it. Sam, though, persists. Sam produces another photo, but Jack accuses him of being a stalker. Sam then tells Jack that he knows about Torchwood, but Jack leaves and threateningly bluffs to send Sam to a Siberian Zinc Mine if he tells anyone about their encounter.
 
Jack returns to the Torchwood Hub, which he finds empty. He spends the night watching Wilson's talks, over and over. He finds that Wilson's talks are filled with a mixture of truth and lie, about The Committee, and about the world, but all of it is filled with enough charisma to convince most anyone. Then, Jack listens to his interview with Wilson. Towards the end of their interview, Wilson voices his belief in the reality that The Committee could very well kill him someday. After that, Jack gets a call from Sam, who's been taken hostage. His captors want to talk to Jack—and Jack obliges.
 
At the under-construction SkyPoint building, Jack sees Sam, sixty feet off the ground, standing on a narrow construction ledge. The captors send a concise message to Jack: they push Sam off of the ledge.
 
Later, on Sam's website, Jack watches Sam's final testament, where he claims that he's going to commit suicide. Jack can tell that it's a lie.
 
Jack breaks into Wilson's hotel room in the middle of the night, enraged at Sam's death. He confronts Wilson, questioning him about Sam. Then, he confronts him about Wilson's CIA contact, at gunpoint, but Wilson admits that there is no contact. He admits that he made everything up, but Jack says that that doesn't make sense: Jack knows that The Committee is, in fact, real. Jack presses this fact, but Wilson, believing that there is no Committee, speaks to Jack condescendingly, assuming that the Captain is nothing more than another fanatic conspiracy nut. Wilson grabs a drink from the minibar and tells Jack the entire truth.
 
Wilson laments the banality of his time as a reporter. He talks about how every story seemed to be fraught with the same, constant themes of war and death. After he left the journalism scene, he wrote a book about his time as a reporter, but no publisher wanted it. They all claimed, according to Wilson, that no one would take what he said seriously. So, Wilson, with his daughter, Kate, devised the story of The Committee. They crafted names and a backstory, and put it out into the public eye.
 
After recounting his story, Jack tells Wilson that The Committee and the story of The Committee were all true, but Wilson laughs at him. Jack, though, wonders to how Wilson knew the story.
 
The next morning, Wilson tells Kate that Jack broke in the night before and confronted him. He tells Kate that Jack told him that The Committee was real, and Kate says that she'll take care of the situation.
 
Jack, later, watched this exchange: he wiped himself from the hotel's security footage, and then saw their conversation. Unable to hear through the security monitor, he studied their expressions, and saw that Kate's countenance flinched from rehearsed sympathy to something darker. And then his phone rang. It was Kate.  


Jack asks Kate how she got his number; she tells him to meet her in the hotel room. He arrives, quickly, and bursts into the room, but Kate shatters his spinal cord and he's left disabled. Jack saw that Wilson was tied and gagged in a chair. Kate admits that she's with The Committee, and it's revealed that she was adopted. Then, she calls his mind back to Kepri 5.
Asked by Kate only to avoid the topics of [[alcoholism]] and [[divorce]], Jack interviews Wilson and uses what he pretends is a [[dictaphone]] to scan the [[hotel]] room for [[alien]] life, which it detects no trace of. Wilson explains how the Committee caused [[World War II]] to create the [[atom bomb]], that they plan to wipe out [[human]]ity with economic collapse and overpopulation and denies that he is suffering psychological damage from his time as a journalist. Afterwards, Sam confronts Jack with [[photograph]]s of him at the site of strange phenomena and knowledge of Torchwood, but Jack threatens him into leaving him alone by claiming he could send him to a [[Siberia]]n [[zinc]] [[mine]].


Long ago on Kepri 5, in the constellation of Fornax, Jack found himself in the middle of a war. Many planets were engulfed in war and subsequently fell to The Committee. When The Committee started nearing Sol 3, Jack told them that Earth was a barren planet and of no use to them, and he pointed them in another direction.  
Jack gets a call from Sam, who has been kidnapped and taken to the construction site of [[SkyPoint]] to lure Jack there. Sam falls or is pushed from a ledge just before the [[police]] arrive and Jack runs away, finding that Sam had uploaded an unconvincing [[video]] in which he claimed that he intended to commit [[suicide]]. Enraged, he breaks into Wilson's hotel room to force him to divulge the name of the contact who told him about the Committee, but Wilson admits that he and Kate made everything up after his [[autobiography]] failed to sell. However, Jack knows that the Committee is real and that many of the Wilsons' facts were correct.


Presently, Kate confronts Jack about his lie. Kate admits that she fed Wilson details and fragments about The Committee in order to spread a vague message about them, in order to take control of the human love for stories, and the equally-great human tendency to dismiss them. Wilson was, in a sense, a disarming boy-who-cried-wolf, a man whose tall tale would never actually be taken seriously by the masses when the wolf truly did come.
Jack hacks into the hotel's [[CCTV]] to remove any evidence of his being there and notices Kate drop her [[façade]] of sympathy as Wilson told her about their meeting just before she calls him and invites him back. She clips his [[spinal cord]] with a [[bullet]] when he arrives, revealing that she is part of the Committee and that they have seen through his deception on [[Kepri 5]] where he told them that Earth was barren. By feeding [[truth]]s to Wilson, who [[adoption|adopted]] her, she has ensured that the public will not believe in the Committee when they make their move because of him being discredited.


Kate tells Jack that Sam's death would be pinned on Torchwood, as would her father's to-be death. She then kills Wilson. Then, she kills Jack.
Kate kills Wilson and then Jack, intending on making Torchwood look responsible for the deaths of both Sam and Wilson. Jack wakes up alone and escapes before the police can arrive, leaving Cardiff and recording a message for his team telling them that he is going to stop the Committee. They are everywhere on Earth and he is coming for them.
 
When Jack wakes up, he finds himself alone with Wilson, with sirens looming in the distance. Unable to cover his tracks, he leaves a message for the Torchwood Team, recounting the story before he flees. As a final message, he declares his intent to deal with The Committee and to end their reign of terror.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* Captain [[Jack Harkness]] - [[John Barrowman]]
* [[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack Harkness]] - [[John Barrowman]]
* [[George Wilson (The Conspiracy)|Wilson]] - [[John Sessions]]
* [[George Wilson (The Conspiracy)|Wilson]] - [[John Sessions]]
* [[Kate Wilson|Kate]] - [[Sarah Ovens]]
* [[Kate Wilson|Kate]] - [[Sarah Ovens]]
* [[Sam Hallett|Sam]] - [[Dan Bottomley]]
* [[Sam Hallett|Sam]] - [[Dan Bottomley]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
 
* Cover Art - [[Lee Binding]]
* Director - [[Scott Handcock]]
* Executive Producers - [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]] and [[Nicholas Briggs]]
* Music - [[Blair Mowat]]
* Producer - [[James Goss]]
* Script Editor - [[Steve Tribe]]
* Sound Design - [[Neil Gardner]]
* Writer - [[David Llewellyn]]
* Theme Music - [[Murray Gold]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* During his time as a news reporter, Wilson reported on the [[Iraq War|continued U.S. bombing of Iraq]].
* During his time as a news reporter, Wilson reported on the [[Iraq War|continued U.S. bombing of Iraq]].
* ''[[Plexus]]'' is a conspiracy theory magazine founded by Torchwood, established in [[Patchogue]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[1975]]. Some of the articles focus on [[Mayan]] calendars, the [[Chupacabra]] and the disappearance of [[Jimmy Hoffa]].
* ''[[Plexus]]'' is a [[conspiracy theory]] magazine founded by Torchwood, established in [[Patchogue]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[1975]]. Some of the articles focus on [[Mayan]] calendars, the [[Chupacabra]], the disappearance of [[Jimmy Hoffa]] and [[contrail]]s.
* [[Sam Hallett]] hosts the blog and [[YouTube]] channel ''[[The Eye of Providence]]''. "[[Pikachu]] the barbarian" follows him on [[Instagram]].  
* [[Sam Hallett]] hosts the blog and [[YouTube]] channel ''[[The Eye of Providence]]''. [[Buzzsaw59]] and "[[Pikachu the Barbarian]]" follow him on [[Instagram]].
* Wilson tells people that [[Paul McCartney]] was replaced between [[1967]] and [[1970]] and that [[the Committee]] is made of aliens from [[Erebus]] who want the [[hydrogen]]-3 on [[the Moon]]. He also says [[John F. Kennedy]] was [[Kennedy assassination|assassinated]] by aliens and mentions the [[Zapruder footage]]. Another theory suggests that [[World War II]] was engineered by the Committee.  
* Wilson tells people that [[Paul McCartney]] was replaced between [[1967]] and [[1970]] and that [[the Committee]] is made of aliens from [[Erebus]] who want the [[hydrogen]]-3 on [[the Moon]]. He also says [[John F. Kennedy]] was [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassinated]] by aliens and mentions the [[Zapruder footage]]. Another theory suggests that [[World War II]] was engineered by the Committee.
* Sam has various pictures of Jack, including one of Jack during a poltergeist sighting the previous June and one in [[Penarth]] in November during the mermaid sightings featuring a [[Toshiko Sato|brunette]].  
* Sam has various pictures of Jack, including one of Jack during a [[poltergeist]] sighting the previous [[June]] and one in [[Penarth]] in [[November]] during the [[mermaid]] sightings featuring a [[Toshiko Sato|brunette]].
* Jack gets a call from [[Gwen Cooper]] about [[Weevil]]s in a lingerie department.
* Jack gets a call from [[Gwen Cooper]] about [[Weevil]]s in a [[lingerie]] department.
* George Wilson jokes about going on the TV series ''[[I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!|I'm a Celebrity]]''.
* George Wilson jokes about going on the TV series ''[[I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!|I'm a Celebrity]]''.
* Wilson compares the Committee to what [[Hannah Arendt]] said about [[Adolf Eichmann]]: "the banality of evil".  
* Wilson has written a book entitled ''[[The Great Conspiracy]]''.
* Wilson refers to [[Saint Eustace]] and [[William Burroughs]]'s book ''[[The Naked Lunch]]''.
* Wilson compares the Committee to what [[Hannah Arendt]] said about [[Adolf Eichmann]]: "the banality of evil".
* Sam compares Torchwood to [[Project MKUltra]] and the [[Bilderberg Group]].  
* Wilson refers to [[Saint Eustace]] and [[William Burroughs]]'s book ''[[The Naked Lunch]]''.
* Sam compares Torchwood to [[Project MKUltra]] and the [[Bilderberg Group]].
* [[SkyPoint]] is under construction, and will be the tallest building in [[Cardiff]].
* [[SkyPoint]] is under construction, and will be the tallest building in [[Cardiff]].
* Wilson does not have any contacts at the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], [[MI6]], the [[SVR]], [[Mossad]], [[ISI]], or [[BND]].  
* Wilson does not have any contacts at the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], [[MI6]], the [[SVR]], [[Mossad]], [[ISI]], or [[BND]].
* Wilson refers to the conflicts in [[Nigeria|Biafra]] in [[1968]] and [[Ethiopia]] in [[1984]], suggesting that the history of conflict repeats itself.
* Wilson refers to the conflicts in [[Nigeria|Biafra]] in [[1968]] and [[Ethiopia]] in [[1984]], suggesting that the history of conflict repeats itself.
* Kate suggested "Varangians", [[9th century]] [[Russia]]n [[Viking]]s, as an alien name, as she thought it sounded like something from ''[[Star Trek]]''.
* Kate suggested "[[Varangian]]s", [[9th century]] [[Russia]]n [[Viking]]s, as an alien name, as she thought that it sounded like something from ''[[Star Trek]]''.
* [[Kepri 5]] in the constellation of [[Fornax]] and planets in [[Signus A]], [[Omega Centauri]], and [[Andromeda (constellation)|Andromeda]] all fell to the Committee. Jack recalls visiting Fornax as it was being infiltrated, but avoids saying how he got there. It could have been when he was a time agent or during his travels with the [[Ninth Doctor]].
* [[Kepri 5]] in the constellation of [[Fornax]] and planets in [[Cygnus A]], [[Omega Centauri]], and [[Andromeda (constellation)|Andromeda]] all fell to the Committee. Jack recalls visiting Fornax as it was being infiltrated, but avoids saying how he got there. It could have been when he was a [[Time Agency|Time Agent]] or during his travels with the [[Ninth Doctor]].
* Kate compares Wilson to [[The Boy Who Cried Wolf]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This story was recorded on [[30 April (production)|30 April]] [[2015 (production)|2015]] at [[The Moat Studios]].
* This story was recorded on [[30 April (production)|30 April]] [[2015 (production)|2015]] at [[the Moat Studios]]. John Barrowman recorded his lines in a studio in America and was directed through a Skype call with the studios in the UK.
* This is the first Big Finish audio story to feature characters from the 2005 version of ''Doctor Who''. Prior to this, their license only covered the 1963 version of the program. However, elements have been referenced, such as Torchwood itself in ''[[Damaged Goods (audio story)|Damaged Goods]]''.
* This is the first Big Finish audio story to feature characters from the 2005 version of ''Doctor Who''. Prior to this, their license only covered the 1963 version of the program. However, elements have been referenced, such as Torchwood itself in ''[[Damaged Goods (audio story)|Damaged Goods]]''.
* The synopsis on the Big Finish website was originally redacted to hide story details.
* The synopsis on the Big Finish website was originally redacted to hide story details.
Line 117: Line 92:
* In fitting with ''Torchwood''{{'}}s more adult themes, George Wilson uses bleeped out swear words.
* In fitting with ''Torchwood''{{'}}s more adult themes, George Wilson uses bleeped out swear words.
* This is the first new ''Torchwood'' story since [[2012 (releases)|2012]]'s ''[[Exodus Code (novel)|Exodus Code]]''.
* This is the first new ''Torchwood'' story since [[2012 (releases)|2012]]'s ''[[Exodus Code (novel)|Exodus Code]]''.
* John Barrowman recorded his lines in a studio in America and was directed through a Skype call with the studios in the UK.
* As with the ''[[Companion Chronicles]]'', the story is recounted as a first person monologue from Jack Harkness, which is interjected with dramatised sections.
* Like with the ''[[Companion Chronicles]]'', the story is recounted as a first person monologue from Jack Harkness, which is interjected with dramatised sections.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* Jack visits [[SkyPoint]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[SkyPoint (novel)|SkyPoint]]'')
* Jack visits [[SkyPoint]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[SkyPoint (novel)|SkyPoint]]'')
* The [[Zapruder footage]] depicts the [[Kennedy assassination|assassination]] of the [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[John F. Kennedy]] on [[22 November]] [[1963]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Who Killed Kennedy (novel)|Who Killed Kennedy]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[1963: The Space Race (audio story)|1963: The Space Race]]'')
* The [[Zapruder footage]] depicts the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]] of the [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[John F. Kennedy]] on [[22 November]] [[1963]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Who Killed Kennedy (novel)|Who Killed Kennedy]]''; [[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''; [[AUDIO]]: ''[[1963: The Space Race (audio story)|1963: The Space Race]]'')
* Jack became trapped in [[Omega Centauri]] after pursuing the Committee. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Forgotten Lives (audio story)|Forgotten Lives]]'')
* Kate was later considered a suspect in the murder of her father. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Uncanny Valley (audio story)|Uncanny Valley]]'')
* A week later, Gwen Cooper visits a conspiracy theorist possessed by the Committee. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Torchwood Archive (audio story)|The Torchwood Archive]]'')
 
== Cover gallery ==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
The Conspiracy cover.jpg|thumb|Alternate lettering on the cover, later changed to golden letters
The Conspiracy Texless.jpg|thumb|Textless cover
</gallery>


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/1294|{{StoryTitle}}}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/1294|{{StoryTitle}}}}
{{TorchwoodNovelsandAudio}}
{{BFTWA}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}


[[fr:The Conspiracy (audio)]]
[[Category:2015 audio stories]]
[[Category:2015 audio stories]]
[[Category:BFTW audio series]]
[[Category:Series 1 (BFTW) audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Jack Harkness audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories that use the Blair Mowat Torchwood theme]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2008]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2008]]
[[Category:The Committee audio stories]]
[[Category:One part audio stories]]
[[fr:The Conspiracy (audio)]]

Latest revision as of 13:14, 10 May 2024

RealWorld.png

The Conspiracy was the first story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range by Big Finish Productions. It was written by David Llewellyn and featured John Barrowman as Jack Harkness.

It was the first Big Finish audio made with the company's expanded license to feature elements from the new series.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Captain Jack Harkness has always had his suspicions about the Committee. And now Wilson is also talking about the Committee. Apparently the world really is under the control of alien lizards. That's what Wilson says. People have died, disasters have been staged, the suspicious have disappeared.

It's outrageous.

Only Jack knows that Wilson is right. The Committee has arrived.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

George Wilson, a news reporter who resurfaced as a conspiracy theorist after refusing on air to read what he believed was propaganda, has come to Jack's attention with his speeches about the Committee's control over Earth. Jack attends his sold-out show in Cardiff as a member of the press thanks to the Torchwood-funded Plexus Magazine and arranges an interview with him through his daughter, Kate Wilson, after which he is followed by Sam Hallett, a conspiracy theorist who recognised him at the show. Gwen calls him about a Weevil situation before he can approach Sam, however.

Asked by Kate only to avoid the topics of alcoholism and divorce, Jack interviews Wilson and uses what he pretends is a dictaphone to scan the hotel room for alien life, which it detects no trace of. Wilson explains how the Committee caused World War II to create the atom bomb, that they plan to wipe out humanity with economic collapse and overpopulation and denies that he is suffering psychological damage from his time as a journalist. Afterwards, Sam confronts Jack with photographs of him at the site of strange phenomena and knowledge of Torchwood, but Jack threatens him into leaving him alone by claiming he could send him to a Siberian zinc mine.

Jack gets a call from Sam, who has been kidnapped and taken to the construction site of SkyPoint to lure Jack there. Sam falls or is pushed from a ledge just before the police arrive and Jack runs away, finding that Sam had uploaded an unconvincing video in which he claimed that he intended to commit suicide. Enraged, he breaks into Wilson's hotel room to force him to divulge the name of the contact who told him about the Committee, but Wilson admits that he and Kate made everything up after his autobiography failed to sell. However, Jack knows that the Committee is real and that many of the Wilsons' facts were correct.

Jack hacks into the hotel's CCTV to remove any evidence of his being there and notices Kate drop her façade of sympathy as Wilson told her about their meeting just before she calls him and invites him back. She clips his spinal cord with a bullet when he arrives, revealing that she is part of the Committee and that they have seen through his deception on Kepri 5 where he told them that Earth was barren. By feeding truths to Wilson, who adopted her, she has ensured that the public will not believe in the Committee when they make their move because of him being discredited.

Kate kills Wilson and then Jack, intending on making Torchwood look responsible for the deaths of both Sam and Wilson. Jack wakes up alone and escapes before the police can arrive, leaving Cardiff and recording a message for his team telling them that he is going to stop the Committee. They are everywhere on Earth and he is coming for them.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This story was recorded on 30 April 2015 at the Moat Studios. John Barrowman recorded his lines in a studio in America and was directed through a Skype call with the studios in the UK.
  • This is the first Big Finish audio story to feature characters from the 2005 version of Doctor Who. Prior to this, their license only covered the 1963 version of the program. However, elements have been referenced, such as Torchwood itself in Damaged Goods.
  • The synopsis on the Big Finish website was originally redacted to hide story details.
  • This story debuted a new theme composed by Blair Mowat. It also incorporates the dialogue "the 21st century is when everything changes" from the TV series.
  • In fitting with Torchwood's more adult themes, George Wilson uses bleeped out swear words.
  • This is the first new Torchwood story since 2012's Exodus Code.
  • As with the Companion Chronicles, the story is recounted as a first person monologue from Jack Harkness, which is interjected with dramatised sections.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Alternate lettering on the cover, later changed to golden letters

    Alternate lettering on the cover, later changed to golden letters

  • Textless cover

    Textless cover

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

v • e
Big Finish Torchwood audio stories
 
Monthly Range
Series 1
Series 2
"Series 3"
"Series 4"
"Series 5"
"Series 6"
"Series 7"
"Series 8"
"Series 9"
"Series 10"
 
The Story Continues
Aliens
Among Us
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
God
Among Us
Special
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Among Us
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
 
Torchwood One
Before the Fall
Machines
Latter Days
Nightmares
I Hate Mondays
 
Torchwood Soho
 
Special Releases
Single releases
The Sins of
Captain John
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