Following a tip, Ianto investigates a very unusual Cardiff office.

Doctor Who – and, by extension, Torchwood – can often be at its best when it’s borrowing from other sources and James Goss uses a venerable TV institution as the basis for this story, as he freely admits in the extras. It’s the sort of set up that pretty much any series can use – our hero gets a tip off that there’s Something Wrong and Goes to Investigate, discovering… well, there’s usually a murder or two involved, a nutter of some description and a Dark Secret. All of these are present and correct here, and it’s the way that Goss and director Scott Handcock mix the elements up that makes it work.

Gareth David-Lloyd’s Ianto is on his own for quite a bit of this, and Goss uses the opportunity to expand his character. Bearing in mind one of the BBC Radio Torchwood audios, there’s bound to be a few questions at the back of the listener’s mind as to exactly when this story is set, and that ambiguity works in its favour. Goss also takes this chance for some discussion of the morality of one of the key weapons in Torchwood’s armoury – and in so doing shows a steel in Ianto that is sometimes overlooked.

Verdict: A nightmarish scenario portrayed well. 8/10

Paul Simpson