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Asylum was an original BBC Radio 4 audio play aired on 1 July 2009. It was the first of three audio dramas to be played on the BBC Radio 4 slot afternoon play as a prelude to the show's third series.
- You may wish to consult
Asylum (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
Publisher summary
When PC Andy Davidson arrests a young girl for shoplifting, he thinks it's going to be a routine case. That is, until he sees that she is carrying a gun. The girl is soaking wet, covered in mud, and the weapon is like nothing he's ever seen before. He knows that this is a case for Torchwood... The team discovers that the girl is called Freda, but can find out nothing else. Yet when she speaks, it's a strange mix of English and Icelandic, but with a Cardiff accent. While Jack and Ianto check out the girl's weapon and her blood sample at the Hub, Gwen and PC Andy take Freda to a safe house. But when Jack calls with the results—and Freda goes on the run—PC Andy finds his world turning upside down.
Plot
Gwen gets a call from Andy inviting her, Jack and Ianto to the police station where he has taken Freda, a teenager who appeared out of nowhere and robbed a shop whilst in possession of what seems to be a futuristic firearm. Gwen takes her and Andy to a safe house and learns that Freda has very little memory of her past beyond a burning house, the name Moira Evans and the address 51 Lundy Street. Although Freda believes that visiting the address could help trigger her memory, Gwen refuses to let her leave until her blood has been tested.
Jack and Ianto head back to the Hub with the device, which Jack tests in the SUV and finds can disrupt transport, communications and security. He steals a motorcycle for the rest of the journey due to the traffic he unwittingly causes with the device and detects a small and almost unnoticeable amount of Rift activity above the river at Maendy, indicating that Freda deliberately travelled there through the Rift. He and Gwen update one another on what they have learnt and he and Ianto look into the address and the house fire.
to be completed
Cast
References
- Barry Beat FM is a radio station.
- Gwen does not take milk or sugar in her coffee.
- Freda was born on 30 May 2053.
- By the year 2069, Earth's food is being rationed.
- Freda's alien heritage comes from her grandmother, who was one alien refugee of 13 from a planet that was being destroyed by solar flares.
- Jack threatens to Retcon Andy when he annoys him during a ride in his police car.
- Jack agrees to create an asylum policy in Torchwood Three.
- Torchwood Three was still active in 2069, as Freda claimed that they had originally sent her through the Rift.
Notes
- This episode is set after the television story Exit Wounds and the audio story Lost Souls as Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato are no longer mentioned. There is nothing to indicate if it occurs before or after the television story Journey's End, but Ianto's involvement shows that it occurs prior to series 3.
- Andy finally learns the true nature of Torchwood. This appears to be somewhat consistent with series 3.
Download and CD release
- The story was released on CD on 22 September 2009, and was also made available to download from the AudioGo website.
- Lost Souls, Asylum, Golden Age and The Dead Line were released, individually and together as a four-disc collected box set, entitled The Radio Adventures.
Continuity
- Gwen mentions to Andy an aircraft from 1953 once came through the Rift. (TV: Out of Time)
- The Girl asks if Gwen has kids, and then suggests she should one day. Gwen and Rhys conceive a child shortly before the incident with the 456 ambassador. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Five)
External links
- Asylum at the Doctor Who Reference Guide