Torchwood 2.o6 ‘Reset’

Written by JC Wilsher

Directed by Ashley Wray

Starring John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Gareth David-Lloyd, Naoko Mori, Freema Agyeman and Alan Dale

Now a fully qualified Doctor, Martha Jones is second from UNIT to help Torchwood Three with a series of unusual medical assassinations. But when they discover a local pharmacology firm is experimenting on aliens and then covering up the results, Martha finds herself in the firing line…

This is a very odd episode, constantly shifting between intensely derivative and exactly what Torchwood should be. It’s almost like this is the set up for a story rather than a story itself, the first act, and this is something that the events of the story, and the arrival of Martha Jones for a three episode run, seems to bear out.

The central concept is, frankly, perfect; it not only makes perfect sense for the Pharm to be using aliens as a means of harvesting chemicals and pushing medical science further ahead but it’s exactly what the series is supposed to be about. The idea of Torchwood future proofing humanity is one the series has done very little with, despite it being in the opening voiceover and it makes a nice change for it to be front and centre. The plot even gives everyone’s favourite Cardiff fountain-dwellers a chance to get their investigative heads on and whilst the CSI-lite montage of Martha and Owen Being ScientistsTM is supremely derivative it’s actually relevant to the plot.

Likewise, both Alan Dale as Doctor Copley, the head of the Pharm and the Mayflies, the supremely nasty central alien are welcome additions to the mythos. Dale is one of those actors incapable of turning in bad work at this point in his career whilst the Mayflies are a wonderful, simple, horrific concept. Crucially, there’s also just a hint that they may be far more intelligent than they first appear. There’s something that looks very much like a Mayfly in the Doctor Who series 4 trailer and it’ll be interesting to see, if it is, how they fit in on the core show.

Likewise, JC Wilsher’s direction lifts the series immeasurably, using a flash cut image of the Mayfly larvae, wipes and jump cuts to move between scenes. Suddenly, the show feels faster, nimbler than it has before and the end result is an episode big on pace and incident.

However, whilst Freema Agyeman’s Martha is a surprisingly easy fit with the main characters, she also brings some problems with her. The moment Martha appears, it becomes very very clear that something very bad is going to happen to a certain member of the team. It’s not Agymen or Wilsher’s fault, and both do the best they can with what they’ve got, but her appearance effectively slaps a bullseye on another team member, something not helped by the thin reasoning for Martha being seconded to them. It should also be noted that some fans may wrankle at the thought that a late run medical student can not only be fast tracked to full Doctor but seemingly out perform and out think a Torchwood Field Officer who has five years field experience and at least one degree on her.

To make matters worse, both Torchwood Three and the writers take their eye off the ball here for absolutely no reason other than that the script calls for it. The moment Doctor Copley slips out of the examining room you know what’s coming and the fact that a perfectly viable solution is literally giving the orders (Captain Jack Scarlett to the rescue! Or not, depending) and the final five minutes are robbed of some of their drama by the fact that the mechanics of the story are so painfully visible. Throw in a brief, unwelcome return for random alien mcguffin of the week and this is an episode with some problems.

But, the dialogue’s good, the central concept’s great and if, as seems possible, this is just the first chapter in a mini trilogy, then there’s everything to play for. Another strong episode, it’ll be fascinating to see whether its apparent weaknesses become assets after the next two episodes.