In-between series 2 and series 3 ("Children of Earth") of TORCHWOOD on television, BBC Radio 4 broadcast four audio dramatizations of the series using the voice talents of the remaining cast members John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd. The first, "Lost Souls" was broadcast in 2008 as part of "Big Bang" day to coincide with the official opening of the Cern Large Hadron Collider. Then, on consecutive weekdays (the week before "Torchwood: Children of Earth" was broadcast on TV) came the other three plays of which this, "Golden Age" was the second - not that you need to listen to "Asylum" to appreciate this episode as they do not form a linked trilogy.
The three surviving members of the original TORCHWOOD team are in India investigating a mysterious power surge that is causing vast quantities of people to disappear. Only in India, you suspect, do the writers believe that this could plausibly happen. Of course this isn't "real" India, this is "Yes, We Have No Bananas", "Little Yellow Idol" India, but it's nicely realized (especially in the Torchwood: India scenes) and getting away from Cardiff does add a certain something to the formula. The team soon encounter a Duchess (nicely played by Jasmine Hyde) who is impossibly young and is an old flame of one Captain Jack Harkness, whose past is most definitely starting to catch up with him.
Of the three plays, this is the one I enjoyed most on first transmission as it's quite an enjoyable little tale with some witty asides and rattles along nicely. The nature of the story, with its spin on the tragedy of lost worlds and a refusal to face up to change is actually quite strong and thought provoking and makes for an entertaining enough three-quarters of an hour in the company of the familiar characters from the TV show.
This episode was preceded by "Asylum" and then followed by "The Dead Line" and there are no bonus features on the CD, just the 45 minute radio play.