TV: Torchwood - Season 2, Episode 2

Sleeper by James Moran

The central premise of this second episode is an excellent one: there are a group of aliens in Cardiff, who don't know they're aliens, gathering information to eventually mount an attack so their race can seize the planet. It's a play on the idea of sleeper cells -- groups of terrorists in hiding in a country, working on plans to attack. Thankfully this analogy is never made too blatant: rather than using sci-fi to make a 'clever' comment, it uses a very modern, real concept to launch its own strong tale.

The episode is a bit of a slow burn, surely closer to the sort of adult drama many critics were demanding of Torchwood, though it's neatly decorated with action, blood and gore when appropriate. The whole episode hinges on Beth, who is magnificently portrayed by Nikki Amuka-Bird. I've seen her in a few other things and not always been that impressed, to be honest, but here she shines, carrying all of the episode's emotion -- and there's a lot of it. Beth is one of those aliens-who-doesn't know, who comes to the attention of Torchwood following an accidental manifestation of her alien abilities. The plot then makes a beeline through their discoveries about her true identity to a plot involving a secret nuclear missile base and the destruction of the planet.

This is the sort of episode where Torchwood can really shine: a mix of powerful human emotion, original and well-considered science-fiction, and a nice bit of action and gore to round things off. The adult time slot and focus also allow it to be more uncertain than Doctor Who ever will be, in terms of the moral compass of the characters (even the good guys) and the sorts of endings we might find -- in this case, one both downbeat and with several key threads unresolved.

If Torchwood can keep up the level of quality and variety displayed in the first two episodes then we're in for an excellent season, one where the show doesn't so much find its feet as pull on its boots and sprint off. With a gun. To kick some alien arse.