Cyberwomen

"She worked for Torchwood London. It was the end of the Canary Wharf battle. The Cybermen needed soldiers fast. They started upgrading whole bodies instead of transplanting brains using Earth technology. Lisa was halfway through the process when the machinery shut down."

Writer: Chris Chibnall
Format: TV
Broadcast: 5th November 2006
Series: Torchwood 1.04

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

Synopsis

Ianto has a dark secret, tied to the basement of the Hub - a secret he will protect at any cost: a semi-converted Cyberwomen! Will Torchwood Three fix things in time before the Cybermen, ripe from battle with their greatest enemy, the Doctor, convert the world?

Verdict

Cyberwomen is a cleverly executed episode of Torchwood and shows perfectly that once the Doctor saves the day, things aren't all okay once he leaves. There's still things needed to be mopped up and that job is left to the Torchwood team here. Just like Owen in Ghost Machine, Ianto comes into his own here. Gareth David-Lloyd puts in a sensational performance and shows the emotion of losing the one you love incredibly! The fact that he's hiding a half-converted Cyberman in the basements of the Torchwood hub is brilliant and shows us a new side to Ianto, who in the three prior episodes has been relatively quiet and sub-standard. He's just the tea boy. But after this episode there's no chance of that! The plot is full of great twists and confrontation between the team. Jack gets extremely angered by Ianto, rightfully so, and it's interesting to see. The continuation from Doomsday is very good and I really liked the references and originally made flashbacks. Lisa's alternation between being in control and not, leaving Earth prone to a Cyber invasion from within Cardiff is an exciting prospect from a story entertainment view. It's a tremendous danger! The action of Lisa in converting herself into the pizza girl was shockingly gross, and to Ianto that wasn't the girl he fell in with. She'd been too affected and in transplanting herself into another girl, she'd lost her lover and then her life. The altercations between Jack and Ianto were interesting and it's certainly going to be interesting to see how the relationship between Jack and Ianto pans out after these events. But overall, outstanding!

Rating: 10/10