Written by Helen Raynor
Directed by Andy Goddard
Starring John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David Lloyd, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Anthony Lewis, Roderic Culver and Siobhan Hewlett
In 1918,
Torchwood Officers Gerald and Harriet are sent to investigate ghost sightings
at a Cardiff veteran’s
hospital. There, they witness one first
hand as Tommy Brockless, a young soldier, appears out of nowhere accompanied by
an oriental woman and tells them to go into the next room and pull him out of the hospital straight away.
Ninety years later, Tommy is a permenant resident at Torchwood Three. Every year, he’s taken out of cryogenic suspension for a day to have his health checked for the moment in the future when he’ll be needed to seal a rift that exists at the hospital. For some members of Torchwood, it’s just another day, but for Toshiko, it’s a chance to spend 24 hours with the man of her dreams. Until, that is, the orders their 1918 predecessors left finally open and Jack finds out exactly what needs to be done…
Bearing more than a passing resemblance to last season’s ‘Out of Time’, this is a surprisingly muted story of love, duty and sacrifice. It’s also, it should be noted, the second time that a romance plot has been used to highlight Tosh, following last season’s surprisingly enjoyable ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’.
Similarities aside this is another impressive entry in the second series thanks to the ambition of the central plot. The interaction with Torchwood 1918 is extremely well done and two moments in particular hint that this may be a time period that will be revisited. Gwen and Ianto’s conversation about their predecessors not only hints at exactly how much Ianto knows (And following his superb dead pan comedy moments of recent weeks, it’s genuinely affecting to see Ianto so haunted by the deaths of his predecesors) but also provides a welcome and more than likely portentous hint of just how dangerous their jobs are.
However, it’s the second moment that’s most effective. After being told exactly what he’ll lose by closing the rift and doing it anyway, Tommy is led back to his bed by a nurse. Unseen by her but noticed by both Tommy and the audience, is the 1918 version of Tommy being led out of a side door by Torchwood. The circle closes in a moment which is both poetic and deeply chilling.
Naoko Mori’s Tosh is consistently regarded as the least well used and most interesting member of the cast and it’s easy to see why. Mori has a naturally likable screen presence and she captures both Tosh’s reticent charm and her barely contained excitement at seeing Tommy in a manner which is poignant without once being forced. She’s a good person in an impossible job and it’ll be interesting to see whether her choices here have any effect on the rest of the series.
However, the episode belongs to Anthony Lewis. Tommy is a wonderful character, a genuine, honest young man who has adopted to his circumstances as best he can. He’s clearly well liked by Torchwood and his interaction with them both neatly echoes the views of authority at the time (Tommy never questions what he’s told to do) and emphasises the unique nature of their job. Only an unsubtle reference to the Iraq war, which whilst expressing sentiments this reviewer shares smacks of preaching, blots the copybook somewhat.
Smart, focussed and surprisingly adult without having to resort to random profanity this is another good entry in what seems to be a thoroughly reinvigorated season.
Alasdair Stuart