Empire of Shadows (audio story)

 was the fifty-third story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range by Big Finish Productions. It was written by James Goss.

Notably, it featured the return of Zachary Cross Flane, introduced in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.

Publisher's summary
In the far future of the Earth Empire, Torchwood is forgotten. So it's a surprise when Zachary Cross Flane of the Torchwood Archive finds himself summoned to the opening of the late Empress' Library.

Her son believes that the conspiracy which deposed his mother is still active and that the key to it is hidden somewhere in the library. But does Zachary want to find it?

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * Zachary Cross Flane - Shaun Parkes
 * The Empress - Chandrika Chevli
 * Emperor Merdiven - Mateo Oxley
 * Courtier - Wilf Scolding
 * Chloe - Amanda Shodeko

Crew

 * Sound Design - Naomi Clarke
 * Senior Producer - David Richardson
 * Additional Themes - Ben Foster
 * Cover Art - Lee Binding
 * Director - Scott Handcock
 * Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
 * Music - Blair Mowat
 * Writer & Producer - James Goss
 * Script Editor - Tim Foley
 * Theme Music - Murray Gold

Worldbuilding

 * A courtier complains that an Ood would have been easier than Chloe.
 * Merdiven mentions Friends of the Ood.
 * The Great Cobalt vault contains the confessions of Guardians of the Solar System.
 * Zachary mentions the Great Draconian conflict.

Continuity

 * Zachary, Chloe and the Merdiven visit the Torchwood Archives, located at the Great Cobalt Pyramid. (TV: Bad Wolf)
 * The Torchwood Archives, located at the Great Cobalt vault, contain detailed files on every Emperor and Empress, as well as the confessions of every Guardian of the Solar System. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
 * Zachary refers to the "Great Draconian Conflict", which was a brief but devastating conflict between the Dracionian and Earth Empires in 2520. The resolution of said war resulted in two decades worth of fragile peace between two mutually suspicious empires. (TV: Frontier in Space, et al)
 * Merdiven mentions the Friends of the Ood and the Ood recently returning to their homeworld. (TV: Planet of the Ood)
 * Zachary mentions the Harkness protocols, referencing Captain Jack Harkness. The password used within the Archive includes numerous references to the Torchwood Three group from the early twenty-first century, including the name Ianto, in reference to Ianto Jones. (TV: Everything Changes et al)
 * Torchwood's first priority has always been to protect the "Empire". In its early days, that meant the British Empire, lead by Queen Victoria. (TV: Tooth and Claw) Furthermore, this isn't the first time that the Emperor (or Empress) has joined a Torchwood operative on their mission. (AUDIO: The Victorian Age)
 * Zachary Cross Flane previously represented the Torchwood Archive on the Walker Expedition to Krop Tor, a planet with an impossible orbit around a black hole. (TV: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit)
 * During the Walker Expedition, Flane's crew met the Tenth Doctor, who had yet to uncover the secrets behind the Torchwood Institute, whose other objective was to investigate the Doctor. Previous Doctors had also heard mention of, or crossed paths with, Torchwood before but had also not cottoned on. (AUDIO: Damaged Goods, The Scent of Blood, et al) The Eighth Doctor briefly worked for Torchwood without knowing. His companion was Torchwood operative Andy Davidson. (AUDIO: The Long Way Round, et al)
 * The Archive uses a hologram "talkterface" to interact with those entering. It is once again unclear as to whether this interface is entirely or just partially computer mind. Merdiven asks the talkterface, who was using the Empress' face at the time, whether she was partially the real Empress or merely a hologram based on her likeness. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)
 * The Torchwood Archive would later be destroyed by Jeremiah Bash Henderson. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)