There’s a secret organisation working with aliens to destroy our way of life – and only Brent Hayden can expose them.

After the moderately linear opening episode, things go a little screwy in this second part of God Among Us, with a large portion of the story devoted to flashbacks bringing us to the “present day” – along with a large number of scenes that could be used as the dictionary definition of “unreliable narrator”. Guy Adams has really got inside the mindset of someone like Hayden (excellently played by Tom Forrister), a man empowered by the internet into believing that he’s far more important than he actually is – and for reasons of his own, Tyler seems to be helping him. (The efficacy of Adams’ writing is demonstrated by some of the reactions to this episode, which have conflated the views of writer and character and had a go at Adams for basically doing his job too well!)

The status of Paul Clayton’s Mr Colchester also seems more nebulous than it was before – as both Samantha Beart and Clayton note in the extras, they really don’t know where this story is going – and I’m still hoping we’re not going to get a miraculous resurrection, but it’s still good to hear Clayton in the flashbacks, and Jonny Green deserves special mention for the way he handles the scene in which Brent discusses Colchester.

The “unreliable” scenes give the other Torchwood members a chance to have fun – the All-American Action Hero Captain Jack (you can almost see the broad beam on John Barrowman’s face as he delivers lines about the Limeys); his co-worker, Cor! (it’s got to have the exclamation mark!); their boss, Yvonne, channelling Jessica Rabbit a thousandfold… Whether Adams is making a few points about the way Torchwood is sometimes seen, who knows?

Verdict: Some unpleasant moments are par for the course in a Torchwood tale, but this one takes that in a different direction. Uncomfortable listening at time, but very well told. 9/10

Paul Simpson