Robert Craven used to be a spy. Now she’s broken. Now she’s Torchwood. Now she’s needed.

Guy Adams is one of the best writers working today. He has an understanding of character, a sharp sense of humour and an ocean of compassion and empathy that his work draws from as often as it draws from the twin ocean of righteous fury. Adams’ work is varied, essential and unified by a deep-seated need for empathy. This is some of his absolute best.

It’s the 1970s and Torchwood is being run by Roberta Craven, brilliant in every sense. A wickedly smart, incredibly perceptive spy. Roberta can assemble patterns faster than she can see them and she deals with this, badly, by drinking. Her intellect, and her gender, have landed her in charge of a Torchwood which is quietly overlooked. But for Roberta, all that means is a quantum of peace and quiet and a chance to get something done. Maybe. Even if that is drinking herself unconscious.

Roberta also has Asperger’s and is hyperkinetic. She sees everything, perceives everything and the nature of her job means she sees far more than most. Adams never, ever makes Roberta’s conditions her superpower or her curse. They’re just her. Part of who she is, how she makes her way through the world. Colleague and old legbreaker Cornwell (Anthony Howell on magnificent form) solves problems with violence. Roberta solves problems by understanding them to death. Far past death. Maybe even kicks them a few times. Because the genius of what Adams does here is threefold: crafting a fascinating and inclusive neuro-divergent lead, placing her in the most morally ambiguous profession and time in modern history, and refusing to let anyone get in her way. Even her. Especially her.

Roberta, played with flinty, brittle brilliance by Louisa Jameson, may be the most interesting new character Torchwood has ever had. She’s surrounded by a great cast too, especially Omari Douglas as the desperately good natured Neal Hart, a journalist who seems to be the only person besides Roberta who’s spotted the awful truth: there’s an alien invasion. And it’s politically expedient for the government to look the other way. Or, aided by Toby Hrycek-Robinson’s magnificently unpleasant sound design, suffocate their enemies with the latest plastics

Verdict: How do you do the right thing in a situation like that? Is it even possible? Adams maps the complexities of Roberta’s brain onto the complexities of her situation and her time to create a story that feels both entirely different and entirely Torchwood. Better still, it feels like it still has cards to play. Part two can’t arrive fast enough. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart

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