Cyberwoman

"In order to save what we love, we must risk losing it."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 5 November 2006

Series: Torchwood 1.04

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

Synopsis

Ianto Jones is hiding a terrible secret beneath the Torchwood Hub, but when the situation gets out of control, Ianto is forced to come clean to the Torchwood team who must then fight for their lives...

Verdict

Cyberwoman was an excellent episode in my rewatch of Torchwood! This might just be my favourite episode of the series so far and even though in my revised ratings for the four stories thus far have all decreased (I was a massive fan back in the day and I think I've just become sterner as I've got older despite still being relatively generous), this was a thoroughly enjoyable watch. I was excited for Gemma to watch this one given its obvious links to Doctor Who and Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and I loved how much the Battle of Canary Wharf was known as an event. I'd love to know what Jack got up to during that event, but Owen showing his knowledge when having sight of the Cyber conversion unit was fantastic. The very idea of a Cyberwoman is brilliant and I think the design really works well. Lisa looks so impressive in her partially converted form and Ianto's explanation as to why it wasn't just her brain that was harvested was very good. I like that it was addressed from the off and with the Daleks running rampant, the Cybermen resorted to even using human technology to convert human stock. It's really good to learn of Ianto and Lisa's relationship and how they both worked at Torchwood One and it seems to be a bit of a fall from grace for him since joining Torchwood Three. He's nothing more than a coffee guy which I often forget about these early episodes. Jack's reaction when Owen relays the news about a Cyber presence is fantastic and I also love how he knew about the Cybermen being created on a parallel world and then supposedly being destroyed on this one. Except there was a survivor and Ianto had been housing her in the Hub! His secrecy was good and the reaction when Jack found out what he'd been doing was superb. That relationship was clearly tarnished in this episode which was fantastic to explore and I love the strains this has on future episodes. Gwen has another strong episode and she's amore than settled into the team now. Her scene with Owen when hiding from Lisa in the storage unit was fun given the sexual tension and Owen putting a last kiss on her that she wasn't doing a good job of preventing. Who could blame Owen? He got a little excited and Gwen made sure everyone knew about his excitement downstairs. Gemma was stunned to see Gwen kissing someone who wasn't Rhys yet again! I really enjoyed how this episode was contained within the Hub and having just the Torchwood team against the Cyberwoman with the addition of the doctor who was rewarded with a metallic upgrade was brilliant. Containing the threat showed just how substantial it was and I liked how Tosh was considered the last line of defence as well. Lisa transplanting herself into the pizza delivery girl made for an emotional end and I'm glad that things didn't end with the pterodactyl attack despite how impactful that was. The image of all four of the Torchwood team shooting Lisa dead after her self-inflicted surgery was brilliant and I enjoyed the different reactions of each person holding the gun. It was powerful stuff. There was so much emotion in the episode which is ironic given that we had a Cyberwoman, but as a whole this was an excellent story! 

Rating: 9/10