Ghost Machine

"No, wait. It was as real as this is. More real. I didn't just see that boy. I could... I could hear what he was thinking. I could feel it. Like I was lost."

Writer: Helen Raynor
Format: TV
Broadcast: 29th October 2006
Series: Torchwood 1.03

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Owen, Tosh, Ianto

Synopsis

When Gwen retrieves an alien object from a fleeing man in a hoodie, she's haunted by a vision of a lonely young boy. As the team tracks down the object's owner, the elusive Bernie Harris, Owen experiences an even more terrifying vision and a long-buried crime resurfaces...

Verdict

Ghost Machine was another sensational episode of Torchwood and thus far, the early standard set in the spin off has been fantastic. The story really saw Owen step up and introduce himself properly to the audience. Burn Gorman put in a wonderful performance and showed the emotion that the ghost machine brought outstandingly! I really liked the idea of the tool and what it did. The sub story regarding Bernie was quite funny but fitted perfectly with the plot. He'd seen both the past and the future through the machine and it had clearly affected him. As with Gwen and Owen. Eddie was a  sadistic character, at least the youth of him that we saw was. Rape is a horrifying crime and he committed it without regret. He didn't care about Lizzy and to be frank, that just sickens me. Elderly in present day, he was living his life as if he'd done no wrong. But he'd killed an innocent girl for pleasure. And Owen taunted him, pressured him, made him uneasy and that was great to see. The vision that was seen by Gwen, of herself holding a knife and hands covered in blood, was unbelievable. Gwen would never do such a thing. And she didn't, of course. But the vision came true as Eddie was inadvertently killed. Gwen was horrified as her vision came true. Justice for Lizzy? Perhaps. But Torchwood didn't want it to happen that way. Overall, an emotional but brilliant story and I really liked how Owen came into his own for the first time. Outstanding.

Rating: 10/10