Review by Cavan Gilbey
May sees the end of Big Finish’s ‘Ianthology’ with Disco, a story which allows for Gareth David-Lloyd delve into a side of the character we have not really had any information or development around; Ianto’s relationship with his estranged father ‘Disco’. There were some hints in the tv show about Ianto’s relationship with his dad but this episode and the latter two episodes of I Hate Mondays attempt to explore the effects of Disco’s death on Ianto. 
David-Lloyd is probably the best choice of writer for this episode. This, and the two releases prior, show that he is the one who gets Ianto the most; something which could only have been achieved by playing the character for the best part of 20 years. His script is not really a science fiction story, in fact it reminds me a lot of the Richard Curtis movie About Time. Yes this does have a time travel component but the focus is on the characters, specifically it’s the primary duo of Ianto and his dad.
Disco (played by Rhys ap Trefor) and Ianto have such a brilliant relationship to them. Ianto tries his best to mould his dad in to the father that he wished he had, there’s a true desperation to him in this story that makes it so hard to hold back the tears at some later points in the story. Disco is self-destructive and he knows it, but he doesn’t want to be the person he is without the hedonism despite Ianto trying his hardest to change that. Their relationship is difficult, it isn’t black and white and there are moments where you see so much of Disco in Ianto, retroactively adding a lot to Ianto’s later chronology. Both actors are acting their hearts out here, two of the best performances I’ve heard in one of these audios in a long while. There’s intensity and hopelessness but also a jubilance and intense happiness which tugs at the heartstrings so effectively.
For a long time Ianto’s father has remained a mystery, and to some extent it probably could have stayed that way and the Ianto as a character would still be as interesting as ever. But David-Lloyd’s script does something for the character that makes you reevaluate what you know of Ianto, it makes you look back at those moments of darkness we’ve seen and think about how this story retroactively impacts those scenes. Possibly my favourite Ianto story, and a brilliant advocate for the skills of David-Lloyd as both actor and writer.
10/10
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Review: Torchwood – I Hate Mondays
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