Twelve years ago, Molly disappeared. Her mum Allison has never recovered. Her dad, Stewart, did and that split tore them apart. Now, Molly is back, older but with no memory of where she’s been and Ianto Jones, newly arrived at Torchwood Three and desperate to prove himself, has been sent to find out why.

I talk a lot in the reviews I do here about why it’s important to listen to the interview at the end of the story. That’s never been more true than it is for this story. Lisa Bowerman, while driving no less, walks us through just how phenomenal the cast are while Gareth-David Lloyd (not driving), talks about the story. I learned something from the whole piece and David-Lloyd’s comments in particular informed this review.

This is a story about grief, and grief viewed through the lens of rescue. Rescue can take many forms, from the sort of swooping last minute bravura salvation the Doctor excels at to being shown how to move past trauma. This story is very much the second one and it’s one of the best examples of what Torchwood can do I’ve heard in a long time. The show, like everything in Doctor Who, is a very broad church. But Torchwood is uniquely equipped to do small, kind stories about the impossible trauma of living a normal life in the 21st century This is one of the best they’ve done to date.

Gwyneth Keyworth’s performance is the deeply unsettling anchor everything else is tethered to. As Molly she’s both a polite, happy little girl and something very different. We don’t know, as the story starts, whether that difference is trauma or something more sinister. As the story closes, we have a much stronger idea but her performance is still a fascinating, unsettling point of ambiguity. It’s almost domestic cosmic horror. Something colossal brushes past us in the mist, but this time it’s probably a little girl who wants to play. There’s a deep kindness encoded into her work that makes her scenes really shine and much of the story plays like a tiny, domestic first contact. Alison trying to reach out to someone she hopes is her daughter. Molly just trying to reach out.

The genius of Bowerman’s direction lies in the space she gives this remarkable cast to explore their shattered definitions of normalcy. Keyworth’s earnest little girl is orbited by Nia Roberts’ superb, fractured and fractious Alison. An alcoholic, a pariah, a mum but never a victim, Reynolds has the hardest work to do here and does it all brilliantly. There’s one scene, where she’s doing anything to get an emotional response from Molly which is profoundly uncomfortable precisely because of how good Keyworth and Roberts are. Matthew Gravelle excels too as the polar opposite to Allison. Determined, moving on. Fine and prepared to fight anyone who says different. Welsh machismo wrapped around grief, horror, hope and terror. Stewart and Nia connected in ways they hate but can’t bring themselves to break. Kitchen sink drama mixed with the gentle otherworldliness of Torchwood Cardiff. Finally, David-Lloyd himself plays a very particular era of Ianto. Clearly in his early days at Torchwood Three he’s buttoned down, furious, grieving and desperate to do One Good Thing. He does here, although he doesn’t let himself see it.

Verdict: This is a stunning script that demands a stunning cast and director. It has them. A meditation on grief and an exploration of the terrible beauty and hope that can come from living on the edge of the rift. It’s the 21st century. No one’s ready for Molly. But everyone needs to listen to her story. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart

Click here to order from Big Finish