Christmas Eve, and in a secret library underneath Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria (Rowena Cooper) has invited her new prime minister (Richard David-Caine) to a very private tradition.

At one hour to midnight, the monarch insists on the telling of ghost stories. Stories of the supernatural, the alien, and the unsettling. Only this year, something else has got in.

We are not alone.

Torchwood: The Empire Man, written by Jonathan Barnes, is now available to own for just £10.99 (collector’s edition single-disc CD + download) or £8.99 (download only) here.

Joining Rowena Cooper in the chilling winter tale is Hugh Fraser as the loyal palace footman, Castringham, and Patience Tomlinson as Queen Victoria’s former nanny, Mrs Wickmere!

Producer James Goss said: “It’s an honour to team up Poirot’s legendary Hugh Fraser with Rowena Cooper, who has really made the part of Queen Victoria her own. She’s done so much to flesh out the founder of Torchwood. She’s as devious as she is twinkly and Hugh Fraser makes a wonderful accomplice.

“Patience brilliantly provides a variety of sinister and haunted women, and Richard splendidly plays an out-of-his depth Prime Minister who falls foul of his first royal summons.”

Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners.

Big Finish listeners can save money by purchasing The Empire Man as part of a six-release Torchwood bundle for just £60 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £50 (download only). A bundle of 12 adventures is also available to pre-order from just £96.

The previous two Torchwood Christmas adventures The Grey Mare and The Crown are each also available to own for just £10.99 (collector’s edition CD box set + download) or £8.99 (download only) per title.

Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mail-out of collector’s edition CDs may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.