Day One

"I know there's something living inside you."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast:

Series: Torchwood 1.02

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

Synopsis

Gwen begins working for Torchwood, and her first day on the job proves to be a trying one as the team must track down a sex-crazed alien that has taken human farm and is wreaking havoc throughout Cardiff.

Verdict

Day One was a decent and incredibly interesting episode of Torchwood to continue my rewatch of the show from the start! I'm watching this with Gemma as she embarks on the spinoff series for the first time ever and I was keen to ensure that she went into this one blind with no knowledge because obviously it's a bit of a strange one in the Doctor Who universe! It even has more meaning now given that it was penned by Chris Chibnall and seeing him take on sex so explicitly in an episode like this was a marked contrast to the kind of issues he has highlighted in his writing as head of the Thirteenth Doctor's run on television. I was trying to be subtle in my efforts of catching Gemma's reaction to what was going on in this episode and her face at the moment where the bouncer was jerking off to the sex scene in the bathroom through the CCTV was an absolute picture. I can be sure that she wasn't expecting that! The very idea of an alien menace that killed at the point of orgasmic climax was just incredible for a huge number of reasons and it really is such a brave and bold move for the second episode of a series. I can imagine this might have been off-putting for some viewers and whilst I definitely didn't enjoy this episode as much as I previously did (probably owing to maturing considerably), it's still a good story to serve as Gwen's first day on the job. The meteor going over Cardiff was an exciting start and Gwen being called in early was excellent. I really like the interaction she has with Andy when investigating the sexual killer and her giving instructions showed she had settled in quickly, even if she wasn't quite embracing all of the Torchwood tech as her own. She was still very much a copper at heart and I loved that Jack wanted to ensure that she didn't let her new job consume to keep her human perspective. They needed it. Gwen being challenged to show Torchwood what it meant to be human with Carys and the way she pulled up all of her school reports and old photographs was wonderful. That was a touching moment. I thought Owen was a lot of fun in this episode and we obviously saw his potency to sex in Everything Changes so the image of him naked in handcuffs after letting Carys escape was great. I also enjoyed his reaction to seeing that Gwen and Carys were snogging which was quite the scene. There was a lot going on for sure. Tosh had a solid episode as well and I thought Ianto was his usual fun with offering the Chinese. I loved the way that the device Owen uses to essentially create a portable prison comes back into play at the end of the episode when Gwen entices the sex-craved creature out of Carys because she believes she would be stronger and had confidence in Jack to save her. It was really clever and well-worked writing. For a first day on the job, it was quite an eventful day for Gwen and her being the cause of the gaseous entity exiting the meter was terrific. She feels guilty and does well in coping with all of the death that went back to the fertility clinic which was another fun element. Everything ties up quite nicely and whilst the cause of death is pretty on the nose, it's still a solid episode. I can't help but laugh at the came and went comment as well. Great humour. Overall, a brave episode to keep us rolling! 

Rating: 7/10