Radio / Torchwood: The Lost Files

A collection of three Torchwood radio plays that premiered in July 2011. Promoted as taking place before Torchwood: Children of Earth (although in reality, this only applies to the first two plays, with the final one serving as an Interquel between Children of Earth and Torchwood: Miracle Day).

This series contains examples of:

• Anguished Declaration of Love: Jack finally tells Ianto that he loves him just as the latter was preparing to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save the world as a ghost.
• Big Damn Heroes: Rhys of all people in "The Devil and Miss Carew". He uses the computer browser history to track down and rescue Gwen.
• Bystander Syndrome: In "The House of the Dead", Ianto actually suggests just walking away from the major issue of Syriath making it into their world to Jack and leaving it as someone else's problem, since the apparent alternative would be to allow Jack to perform as close to a Heroic Suicide as he can get by trapping himself in the void between worlds. Jack does actually listen to Ianto and begins walking away, at which point, Ianto reveals that it had been a ruse for Jack to get out of the way whilst he performs the Heroic Sacrifice in his place.
• Copied the Morals, Too: Syriath uses visions of dead people to encourage others to allow her into the world. For Jack Harkness, she evokes the image of his dead boyfriend Ianto to encourage him to give up on his scheme to destroy the rift. The problem is that the echo of Ianto is too complete, Syriath having recreated him from reaching into time and using Jack's feelings for him, and this includes Ianto's desire to do good, leading to Ianto's echo making a Heroic Sacrifice by blowing up the rift.
• Covers Always Lie: The cover for "The House of the Dead" features Jack wearing a Resurrection Gauntlet, which makes no appearance whatsoever in the audio. Additionally, Gwen is depicted on the cover, even though her only appearance comes in the form of Syriath inpersonating her voice.
• Death of a Child: In "The House of the Dead", Mrs. Winterberry came to see the ghost of her infant son, who died very young.
• Dead All Along: The original setup in "The House of the Dead" made it seem as if the events were taking place after the deaths of Tosh and Owen but before Ianto's death. The ending reveals that it actually took place 6 months after Ianto's death, and that the Ianto that we've been following is nothing more than a ghost.
  Ianto: Jack? Who's dead? Who does he mean?
  Jack: The person I knew I'd find if I came here to the last night of the House of the Dead. Ianto Jones.
  Ianto: Jack? What?
  Jack: Ianto, six months ago, you died in my arms. You're a ghost.
• Eldritch Abomination:
  • The entity pretending to be Gwen in "The House of the Dead" is an Old God from before time existed called Syriath. She has the ability to bend time to bring back the dead as ghosts and has world-intending intentions for when she makes it through the rift.
  • Fitzroy from "The Devil and Miss Carew" is heavily implied to be one.
• Foreshadowing: When Jack first arrives at the pub in "The House of the Dead", his voice is audibly cracking and his embracing of Ianto is with stronger feeling than usual. It's an early clue that Ianto is Dead All Along, and that six months have passed since both his death and the last time that Jack had seen him.
• Grand Theft Me: The parasite from "Submission" survives by traveling from host to host, taking over their bodies and feeding on their memories.
• Heroic Sacrifice: When the Big Bad of "The House of the Dead" tried to bribe Jack with a living, breathing Ianto, he almost took it. Ianto instead blew the Big Bad to kingdom come, sealing the rift and killing himself for a second time.
• Heroic Suicide: Jack attempts to do this in "The House of the Dead" to stop Syriath from making her way to Cardiff, releasing the detonator and trapping her in the eternal oblivion that is the void between worlds alongside him. As Jack puts it, he managed to see Ianto a final time, so there's nothing else for him to see in the world of the living. Thankfully, Ianto goes in his place.
• Hospital Visit Hesitation: A variant - Ianto never contacted his father when he was in hospital (likely out of his complicated feelings towards the man, seeing as he did break his leg), which he holds against Ianto as a ghost in "The House of the Dead".
• Mission Control Is Off Its Meds: In "The House of the Dead", the radio voice that Ianto believes to be Gwen is actually the episode's Big Bad impersonating her.
• "Not So Different" Remark: When Ianto's father tries to force his son to leave the House of the Dead and let Syriath come through the rift, he tells Ianto that they're more alike than Ianto wants to believe - after all, they will both betray the ones they love.
  Ianto: We can't just leave.
  Ianto's Father: I'll tell you a little secret, Ianto. We're more alike than you think.
  Ianto: What do you mean?
  Ianto's Father: We'll both betray the ones we love.
  Ianto: No. No we won't. I'm not like you.
  Ianto's Father: Oh yes you are, son. You're just like me.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: For the most part, the ghosts seen in "The House of the Dead" are apparently nothing more than illusions utilized by an Eldritch Abomination in her attempts to make it into the real world. Ianto's ghost seems to be more complete though, being essentially recreated by Jack's feelings for him, and the resolution of the plot revolves around Ianto's ghost having Copied the Morals, Too.
• Spooky Séance: "The House of the Dead" focuses on a spooky seance being held at the most haunted pub in Wales, which if successful would bring an Eldritch Abomination onto the world.
• Titled After the Song: The title and the name of the submarine in "Submission" shout out to the Sex Pistols. And the episode titled The House of the Dead.
• Tomato Surprise: Practically everything in "The House of the Dead". The story's taking place after Torchwood: Children of Earth, Ianto's a ghost, and "Gwen" is an Eldritch Abomination.
• Wham Episode: "The House of the Dead" ends with the Cardiff Rift, the major reason for Torchwood's continued operations, being closed seemingly for good.

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