Ascension (Torchwood Soho audio story)

Ascension
Main character(s):	Norton, Lizbeth, Andy, Lyme
Featuring:	Goringe
Main enemy:	Armitage
Main setting:	England, Wales and Moscow, 1950s
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	James Goss
Director:	David O'Mahony
Producer:	James Goss
Music:	Blair Mowat
Sound:	Shane O'Byrne
Cover by:	Sean Longmore
Release details
Number of parts:	6
Release date:	4 July 2024
Format:	3 CDs Download
Production code:	BFPTWSOHO04CD
ISBN:	ISBN: 978-1-80240-150-9 (physical); ISBN 978-1-80240-151-6 (digital)
Torchwood Soho
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You may be looking for the Gallifrey audio story.

Ascension was the fourth release in the Torchwood Soho audio series. It was written by James Goss and starred Samuel Barnett as Norton Folgate, Dervla Kirwan as Lizbeth Hayhoe, Tom Price as Andy Davidson and Joe Shire as Gideon Lyme.

Publisher's summary

Is the end of the world really nigh? A number of groups believe so – and what’s odder, they’re all vanishing.

Have they really gone to heaven, or is something far worse happening? It’s Torchwood. Obviously something far worse is happening.

1. Burning Bright

When carol singers on the runway bring down a plane, Torchwood investigate.

2. Chariot of Fire

The race is on to stop the world ending at midnight. Norton has it all under control.

3. The Invisible Worm

In Moscow, the true power of Ascension is revealed.

4. We Have Built Jerusalem

It's up to Lizbeth, Andy and Gideon to save the world now.

5. Dark Satanic Mills

Come on holiday, all ye faithful! What is going on on Salisbury Plain?

6. Fearful Symmetry

As the net tightens, does the human race have one last use for Torchwood?

Plot

Burning Bright (1)

A group of carol singers trespass on a runway at London Airport where a church one stood and refuse to leave despite a jet liner arriving from New York, their leader shouting that they are there to ascend to Heaven. The aeroplane is unable to pull up and explodes as it lands, something that attracts the attention of Norton. He gathers Andy, Lizbeth and Gideon early in the morning and informs them of the explosion and how the group vanished in a blaze of light. The newspaper is full of declarations of the end of the world, so the group split up to investigate.

Gideon joins Sister Patience's Peckham Apocalypse, Lizbeth Pastor Tom's Dane Street Ascension and Andy Father Dinsdale in Wales. Father Dinsdale eventually admits to Andy that he began his career as a fraud, but he has come to truly believe that the faithful will soon ascend. Meanwhile, Norton repeatedly attempts to meet with ministers to discuss the situation without success, although he tells Gideon otherwise, and believes that the supposed prophets might have received an alien signal which they have each interpreted differently given their predictions of different days for the end of the world.

Norton meets with Armitage at his club and confides in him that he believes that the government has been infiltrated, but Armitage claims that they are simply annoyed by his actions in Ashenden and at Mandeville Walk. He eventually meets Sir Reginald Peebles as he leaves his office and realises that the government know the Ascensions to be true, so he hurries to Peckham and saves Gideon from disappearing with Sister Patience and the rest of the congregation. Thanks to her lateness, Lizbeth avoids ascending with Pastor Tom's group.

Chariot of Fire (2)

Andy and Father Dinsdale are joined by a number of believers in the wake of the recent Ascensions and Father Dinsdale puts them to work on his farm. Not understanding why he would have them do this if the world is ending, Andy learns that Father Dinsdale has had three groups Ascend in the past but has always been left behind and that the next Ascension will be at midnight in two days' time. Norton keeps up the pretence with Lyme that he is making progress with the higher-ups and visits Armitage with Sir Reginald, Ruddigore from the Ministry of Works, the Archbishop and various others to discuss Ascension as what he calls the Ascension Action Group.

Norton makes little progress, but claims otherwise when he meets with Lizbeth, who is upset by Maggie's Ascension, and when Andy calls him whilst he and Lyme are walking Bunbury. Lizbeth visits General de Souza, an old friend, and gets him to take over the Ascension Action Group to ensure that work is done. De Souza puts a stop to Norton's plan, Operation Angel Wings, as he believes that a powerful weapon is responsible for the Ascensions and that it must be investigated before any action can be taken. He takes the operation under military control, frustrating Norton and leading him to form an alliance with Armitage and to fall out with Lizbeth. In Wales, the Ascension begins and Andy sees a blinding light.

The Invisible Worm (3)

Lizbeth and Lyme find Andy left behind at Father Dinsdale's farmhouse, upset that Norton had forgotten to rescue him before the Ascension. Lyme changes the locks on his and Norton's home out of anger and Andy demands that Norton sends him back to his own time, which Norton agrees to do if he helps him with the task de Souza has given him: to find a way to weaponise the Ascension and test it in another country. Lizbeth travels to Moscow with Father Dinsdale to work on this mission and employs the assistance of Aleksandr of the KVI, knowing that his government will eventually shut down the project she finds obscene.

Aleksandr shows Lizbeth a machine, found in a crashed spaceship, which shows the spread of the idea of Ascension and indicates that something within the idea can affect the physiognomy of those that believe in it. Father Dinsdale spreads the news of Ascension and gathers followers in Moscow whilst further Ascensions occur in Havana, China, Egypt, North Korea and Cuba, delighting Armitage. When Lizbeth tells Aleksandr to expose and stop the project, he locks her up and joins Father Dinsdale's mass Ascension event of other a thousand people, which de Souza and Armitage celebrate. Afterwards, Lizbeth analyses the coal-like substance left behind and, before she is captured by the Soviets, informs Norton that it is the most powerful fuel the Earth has ever known.

We Have Built Jerusalem (4)

Norton is staying with his father, Reverend Edward Folgate, whose church has seen a rapid drop in attendance recently, since being kicked off of the Ascension project. Lizbeth returns to London and is excluded from Operation Catapult by de Souza until she threatens to leak information, upon which she learns that de Souza's plan is to send nuclear missiles into the sky in the hopes of hitting a spaceship and feigns support. Lyme, meanwhile, visits several newspapers in the hopes of writing and publishing a story on a religious group's failure to Ascend and is eventually hired by Borage at The Gazette.

Borage gives him access to the paper's classified department and proceeds to call de Souza, reaching Lizbeth and being told to afford him every access rather than keeping him ignorant as he had previously been ordered. Lizbeth passes on a message to Lyme to investigate Ascension camps and keeps in touch with Andy, who has discovered a secret listening station in Goonhilly in the Torchwood files and is looking for signals like those Aleksandr detected in Moscow. Upon learning that the government are inviting people to cheap and free pilgrimages to religious sites to get people to Ascend and provide them with fuel, Lyme gets drunk and takes the train to Norton to inform him and get his help.

De Souza gets cold feet about the project as do several others at the Ascension Action Group and Lizbeth intrudes upon a meeting after Armitage assures everybody that what they are doing is right for the country. When de Souza changes his mind, Armitage continues discussion of which of society's undesirables they are to Ascend. Lyme, meanwhile, joins Father Dinsdale's Ascension camp after losing faith in Norton, who did not answer when Lyme asked in front of Reverend Folgate whether or not he had ever loved him.

Dark Satanic Mills (5)

Lizbeth has learnt from a secretary contact that the government has taken control of several power stations to capitalise on the new fuel and joins Andy at the listening station to analyse the Ascensions. Father Dinsdale has been Ascending hundreds of people every night whilst Reverend Folgate's congregation entirely abandons him, but Lyme fails to Ascend despite several attempts. Analysing the second of Lyme's attempts, Andy feels something pass over him and feels the curiosity of the force responsible and, afterwards, Lyme and Father Dinsdale call Lizbeth to get Lyme to safety as people are executed by the soldiers following three failed attempts to keep word from spreading.

At the bishop's order and wanting to try something new, Reverend Folgate informs Norton that he will be holding an Ascension and asks him to spread the word. Norton invites Marion Smallbean of the BBC's Religious Broadcasting Unit to hold Songs of Joy at the church and broadcast the Ascension, during which several people Ascend. At the same time, Father Dinsdale holds an Ascension at which neither Lyme nor Minnie, who wishes to join her husband Cedric, are taken and are thus due to be executed. Lizbeth and Andy arrive to save Lyme, but Father Dinsdale has warned the soldiers of them and they are forced to join the condemned.

Fearful Symmetry (6)

Reading out a speech which Norton claims was written by the bishop, Reverend Folgate exposes the government's scheme to the public before Armitage can get the broadcast pulled and is horrified to learn that Norton allowed him to kill people. The operation is brought to an end and de Souza dishonourably discharged to serve as a scapegoat, but Lizbeth and Andy discover from the listening station that other countries such as Mexico are experimenting with Ascension. Despite the news, Ascensions are still taking place in the UK and both Reverend Folgate and Father Dinsdale continue to perform them for people still wanting to Ascend. Mr Borage sends Lyme to investigate these people for a new story and Armitage decides to formalise these Ascensions.

Lizbeth takes Father Dinsdale to Goonhilly at gunpoint to exploit the connection between him and the force responsible for Ascension. When an Ascension takes place, Father Dinsdale uses Aleksandr's device to contact the force and learns that it wants people to be happy. He finally feels bliss himself and Ascends, so Lizbeth and Andy instead fetch Lyme. After being asked by Armitage at Sir Reginald's office to contact and neuter the force responsible for Ascension, Norton travels to Goonhilly and, despite being promptly told to "fuck off" by Andy, takes over. He gets Andy to use Aleksandr's device to open contact with the force and puts it on himself, after which he uses a vortex manipulator to interrupt Parliament and reveals what he has learnt; an alien life form circling the world has created a perfect Heaven for each people inside of the pebbles they leave behind once they Ascend.

Using the Goonhilly relay, Norton lets Parliament listen in on one of the pebbles and to hear the screams of those that were burnt. Armitage counters that the government has been providing cheap fuel and that the alien should be brought under British control, sickening the alien which takes the power of Parliament's belief in themselves and Ascends them to give itself the power to leave the dimension. As the Ascension begins, Norton wonders whether he believes in himself enough to Ascend or whether he will survive. Lizbeth, Lyme and Andy wait in a café in London for him and save a place for him in case he returns.

Cast

• Norton Folgate - Samuel Barnett
• Andy Davidson - Tom Price
• Elizabeth Hayhoe - Dervla Kirwan
• Gideon Lyme - Joe Shire
• Patience - Naana Agyei-Ampadu
• Armitage - Greg Austin
• Sofia - Ali Bastian
• Dinsdale - Jamie Baughan
• Minnie - Anna Bernard
• Edward - Michael Higgs
• Sir Reginald - Adam Howden
• Aleksandr - David O'Mahony
• Cedric - David Sterne

Uncredited cast

• The Archbishop - Michael Higgs (BFX: Ascension)

Worldbuilding

• Ken flew a Spitfire.
• Lizbeth is in a relationship with a barmaid.
• Ruddigore works at the Ministry of Works.
• Agnes makes jam.
• Father Dinsdale likens himself to John the Baptist.
• Wodehouse and Fowler work at Armitage's club.
• Goringe is still working for Armitage.
• Lyme gets chips for Norton and extra fish cake for Bunbury.
• Gertie joins Father Dinsdale. She looks forward to seeing her grandmother in Heaven.
• The CIA have had a team at Caversham Listening Station since 1943.
• Lizbeth finds peach stew an acquired taste.
• Aleksandr asks Lizbeth to keep the Council on Religious Cults informed.
• Ascensions take place in Havana, China, Egypt, North Korea and Cuba.
• Gerald is married to Vera and has a daughter, Celie.
• Mrs Bates works in a shop near the Folgates' home.
• Mary Rudge cooks for the vicarage.
• Mrs Maguire closed her tea shop because of rats.
• Beryl is de Souza's secretary.
• The White Duck is a pub in Edward's village.

Notes

• Ascension was recorded on 27 and 30-31 January and 9 February 2023 at the Soundhouse and remotely.
• The episodes titles are references to poems by William Blake:
  • "The Tyger":

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

• • "Jerusalem":

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.

• • "The Sick Rose"

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Continuity

• Lizbeth is in a relationship with a barmaid. She met Mia in AUDIO: The Unbegotten ^[+]Loading...["The Unbegotten (audio story)"].

Cover gallery

• 

  "Demonic" cover

• 

  "Angelic" cover

• 

  Textless "demonic" cover

• 

  Textless "angelic" cover

External links

• Official Ascension page at bigfinish.com