Torchwood: SUV (audio story)

 was the sixty-sixth story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Ash Darby.

Publisher's summary
A routine alien incursion in the Valleys goes horribly wrong. Toshiko Sato and Ianto Jones are trapped in the Torchwood SUV. There's a monster outside and it's determined to get in.

Can Tosh and Ianto overcome their differences and save the world? More importantly, will the SUV keep them safe?

Plot
Sent on a "cosy assignment" by Jack to impress the newly-recruited Gwen, Ianto and Tosh track Rift energy to a village where the air becomes poisoned by a strange mist. They take refuge in the SUV whilst villagers are torn apart by an alien which thrives in the atmosphere and manage to drive a distance away before the engine stops, apparently damaged by the mist. By accessing a satellite, Tosh learns that the mist is growing and deduces that it is a self-replicating terraforming system.

Tosh boots up an electric fuel cell and, after the alien attacks the car and fails to get in, Ianto drives away until the cell runs out, needing solar power to recharge. They push the SUV up a hill and drive down backwards, after which the mist starts talking through the SUV and explains that it works with the aliens, the Zahir, to clear planets for it to inhabit. Ianto and Tosh work together and use the wire frame from under the seats to break out of the locked car and tubing from the computer cables to siphon out the car's petrol, which they then set alight to burn the mist.

The Zahir suffocate without the mist and the SUV is damaged, which Ianto believes Jack will be more upset about than if he and Tosh had died. The Sun rises and the electric fuel cell is recharged, allowing Ianto and Tosh to drive back to Cardiff for their appraisals with Jack. However, Jack calls them and lets them know that he and Gwen are hunting a Yeti and, as a result, the appraisals have been cancelled.

Cast

 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Toshiko Sato - Naoko Mori
 * The SUV - Nigel Havers

Crew

 * Senior Producer - David Richardson
 * Additional themes - Ben Foster
 * Cover Art - Sean Longmore
 * Director - Lisa Bowerman
 * Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
 * Music - Blair Mowat
 * Producer - James Goss
 * Script Editor - Tim Foley
 * Sound Design - Shane O'Byrne @ The Soundhouse
 * Writer - Ash Darby
 * Theme Music - Murray Gold

Worldbuilding

 * Owen left a gun in the SUV.
 * Ianto jokes that the Welsh summer is a fortnight.
 * Jack told Ianto that the SUV was made by the same people who made the Popemobile.
 * Tosh always forgets her mother's birthday.
 * When Ianto's aunt was drunk in a field, she tipped a cow.
 * Tosh does not like cheese and onion.

Continuity

 * Gwen Cooper has recently joined Torchwood. (TV: Everything Changes)