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15 years since Ianto Jones
Jul. 10th, 2024 02:18 amFifteen years since Children of Earth and tumblr is posting a bunch about the death anniversary
as is Big Finish
https://www.bigfinish.com/collections/v/torchwood-offers
"Ianto Jones In Memoriam"
"Never Forgotten."
Thing is, the whole tone of that changes when you realise exactly how many hours of Ianto there have been in those fifteen. It is a lot. 28 results and 8 of those box sets.
Never forgotten, sometimes we even hear his voice...
And that's not even counting the BBC audios, which are pretty significant too.
There's more Ianto off screen than on.
So people on the iPlayer version of Torchwood get such the different experience than those of us with subscription Ianto to look forwards to.
Also, did you know the shrine is still there?
Ianto's Shrine is on the maps and I've seen recent photos on tumblr from fans.
Fifteen years and a shrine.
Makes me wonder what the impact of the character would have been if they just kept him around. I mean, given another season or two, would we think of him differently? The audios all have to fit between the markers from the TV, except House of the Dead, which worked around. So Ianto gets preserved at a specific age with a specific set of achievements and foul ups.
Big Finish manage to elaborate and add a few, GDL did Disco and that's added some spin, but, basically, Ianto stays the same now.
Its interesting.
I liked how he was introduced as the receptionist and the one who got the coffee and then he grew. It's a contrast to like Stargate or other US shows I can think of where they start with The Best and they have to be extraordinary before things begin. Ianto was pretty ordinary. Just had these extraordinary things happen to him. Including Jack.
One cannot realistically aspire to be Jack, but it seems sort of achievable to be Ianto.
... including the ending unfortunately.
Recently Ianto in my head has gone all elaborate crossover because I played through Wrath of the Righteous with him as the main character, but that takes him a very long way away from his roots. Mythic power is so not him. Which is one reason he went Legend and rejected it.
But Pathfinder character levels get so extraordinary anyway, even as a skills based rogue he'd be very remarkable by the time he gets through.
That's either going to pull him far from what we liked about him or be exactly the attractive fantasy.
I still want some version of canon to bring him back though. House of the Dead already did the heavy lifting and brought him back from the dead, so canon can just bring him back from the Rift, which is easy any time. Making him GDL's age would mean filling in a lot of story on the far side of the Rift though. Can bring him back changed, and have the compare contrast with memory and simulation, and make the story about growing unexpected.
Can do lots of story with him.
And Big Finish does.
Torchwood managed some extraordinary memorable characters.
Glad they're still with us.
as is Big Finish
https://www.bigfinish.com/collections/v/torchwood-offers
"Ianto Jones In Memoriam"
"Never Forgotten."
Thing is, the whole tone of that changes when you realise exactly how many hours of Ianto there have been in those fifteen. It is a lot. 28 results and 8 of those box sets.
Never forgotten, sometimes we even hear his voice...
And that's not even counting the BBC audios, which are pretty significant too.
There's more Ianto off screen than on.
So people on the iPlayer version of Torchwood get such the different experience than those of us with subscription Ianto to look forwards to.
Also, did you know the shrine is still there?
Ianto's Shrine is on the maps and I've seen recent photos on tumblr from fans.
Fifteen years and a shrine.
Makes me wonder what the impact of the character would have been if they just kept him around. I mean, given another season or two, would we think of him differently? The audios all have to fit between the markers from the TV, except House of the Dead, which worked around. So Ianto gets preserved at a specific age with a specific set of achievements and foul ups.
Big Finish manage to elaborate and add a few, GDL did Disco and that's added some spin, but, basically, Ianto stays the same now.
Its interesting.
I liked how he was introduced as the receptionist and the one who got the coffee and then he grew. It's a contrast to like Stargate or other US shows I can think of where they start with The Best and they have to be extraordinary before things begin. Ianto was pretty ordinary. Just had these extraordinary things happen to him. Including Jack.
One cannot realistically aspire to be Jack, but it seems sort of achievable to be Ianto.
... including the ending unfortunately.
Recently Ianto in my head has gone all elaborate crossover because I played through Wrath of the Righteous with him as the main character, but that takes him a very long way away from his roots. Mythic power is so not him. Which is one reason he went Legend and rejected it.
But Pathfinder character levels get so extraordinary anyway, even as a skills based rogue he'd be very remarkable by the time he gets through.
That's either going to pull him far from what we liked about him or be exactly the attractive fantasy.
I still want some version of canon to bring him back though. House of the Dead already did the heavy lifting and brought him back from the dead, so canon can just bring him back from the Rift, which is easy any time. Making him GDL's age would mean filling in a lot of story on the far side of the Rift though. Can bring him back changed, and have the compare contrast with memory and simulation, and make the story about growing unexpected.
Can do lots of story with him.
And Big Finish does.
Torchwood managed some extraordinary memorable characters.
Glad they're still with us.