The Devil and Miss Carew (audio story)

The Devil and Miss Carew was the first radio drama in the Torchwood: The Lost Files mini-series. It aired the week after Series 4 started airing on Starz, but was set before Series 3.

Publisher summary
When Rhys's elderly Uncle Bryn has a heart attack while listening to the shipping forecast, it seems like another routine death at Ivyday Nursing Home. But when Rhys and Gwen go to collect the old man's effects, Gwen's suspicions are roused by another elderly resident. The conversation is cut short, though, by a fire alarm, one of many consequences of the mysterious power cuts that are sweeping the nation. Gwen has a hunch that something is wrong and her search leads her to Miss Carew, a suspiciously fit and strong octogenarian who, despite having supposedly terminal heart disease, has left Ivyday and gone back to work at the Computer firm she used to run. Miss Carew has been offered a deal by Fitzroy, a wandering alien with an aversion to electricity who is looking for a home. It's a deal that Miss Carew can't refuse. But the consequences for planet Earth are unthinkable.

Plot
Rhys's great-uncle Bryn is listening to the shipping forecast when the voice addresses him directly and offers to make him young again, but he refuses and suffers a heart attack. Rhys and Gwen collect his belongings from Ivyday Nursing Home in Penarth, where resident Miss Roberts tells them about how many fellow residents have left recently, before Gwen is called to the Hub by Jack to help look into power cuts around the United Kingdom. She asks Ianto to look into Joanna Carew, a resident whom he finds has returned to running First Valley Computing despite being diagnosed with terminal heart disease.

Pretending to be a journalist, Gwen visits the surprisingly healthy Miss Carew and is threatened with security when she asks about the circumstances of her miraculous recovery, after which she hacks into Miss Carew's files and reads about Project F. Miss Carew subdues her when she returns to question her, but Gwen manages to get her to talk and learns that she gave control of her company to Fitzroy to cause the power cuts in return for youth. Project F is a computer virus which will corrupt hardware systems and leave Earth without power.

Jack and Ianto realise that something in the countryside is feeding on the blackouts and find a hidden base full of antiques where Fitzroy starts talking to them through a radio. He cannot travel from deep space to Earth because of electrical interference which Miss Carew is in the process of getting rid of, but Miss Carew falls from a roof and Gwen, freed by Rhys, is unable to save her. She returns to her aged self and regrets the futility of her actions before she dies. Jack and Ianto head back to the Hub and Rhys says that he could soon be a fully-fledged member of Torchwood, but Gwen questions whether he would really want that.

Cast

 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Fitzroy - Martin Jarvis
 * Miss Carew - Juliet Mills
 * Sian - Hayley J Williams
 * Uncle Bryn - James Walsh
 * The Old Lady - Shelley Rees

Worldbuilding

 * Bryn told Rhys about his Merchant Navy days.
 * Bryn's body is taken to the Willis Evans Funeral Home.
 * Janine works for Miss Carew.
 * Jack says secret doors make him feel all Famous Five.
 * Jack says he wishes he had stolen the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.
 * Ianto carries a Swiss Army knife.
 * Jack used to ride a penny-farthing.

Continuity

 * Rhys asks Gwen if he could become a full-fledged member of Torchwood. This foreshadows his major involvements with the institute in TV: Children of Earth.

Download and CD release

 * The story was also available as a download from the AudioGo website until the company went into administration.