The poor citizens of Cardiff don’t get a break as the Night Sun arrives… as does someone from Jack and Colin’s pasts…

This is a dense episode, with Tim Foley’s script and Scott Handcock’s deft direction ensuring that each thread is given due weight, and we’re never too far from hearing the continuation of the story.

Let’s start with Mr Colchester’s return: as I said last time, part of me was disappointed, but this isn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, a Marvel Comics “ah ha you thought I was dead, but I wasn’t really” get out. Paul Clayton and Ramon Tikaram have some very powerful scenes, and I’ll admit that I muttered, “you bastards” as the final scene cut away at exactly the right/wrong moment. This builds on the power of the opening episode but now without knowing quite where it’s going to go, it’s harder to say if that has been in any way lessened.

Samantha Béart’s Orr also gets some strong material to work with, appointed the guardian of the night, while Jonny Green’s Tyler is the centre of a most unusual scene (the splitscreen effects needed to visualise this would be interesting, to say the least). Alexandria Riley’s Ng spars with John Barrowman and Tracy Ann Oberman, with Yvonne once again showing her ruthless side when necessary.

The final scene touches on something that has been raised many times before, with – what I can only hope is – a definitive declaration that the idea won’t be allowed to come to fruition. But with this new Torchwood, who can tell?

Verdict: A strong conclusion to the first set. 9/10

Paul Simpson