Yvonne Hartman (Tracy-Ann Oberman) and Tommy (Timothy Bentinck) are tracking a mysterious signal. The source is a couple’s retreat run by Gloria (Jaye Griffiths) and she wants them to talk. Whether they want to or not…

Malcolm Devlin & Helen Marshall’s script is described in the interviews here as a rom com without much romance and that’s a perfect summation of it. They take the fast-talking Thin Man style pseudo screwball comedy that naturally happens whenever Yvonne and Tommy are in the same scene through a filter that’s one part David Cronenberg and one part Abigail’s Party. It’s a character study with added body horror, a nightmarish sprint into altered reality with added comedy and an unflinching look at Torchwood’s finest.

Oberman and Bentinck are superb as always and they both revel in getting a chance to find yet another new dimension for their characters. Bentinck’s Tommy, always the most laconic Northern dad in Torchwood, is shown to be a man trapped by a past that’s escaped from him and working every day to make his peace with that. Oberman’s Yvonne Hartman is as glacially cold as ever, as charmingly ruthless and at several points here, terrified. They can’t stand each other. They can’t stand everyone else far more. The clear view both characters have of each other becomes central as the story crescendos and both actors have moments of quiet, determined kindness here that stand as some of the best work they’ve done. Griffiths, whose fundamentally warm, kind presence is curdled in a really fun here, excels too. She’s Yvonne’s equal in every way, she’s flawed in the same ways too and she ends the story in a very interesting place. Maybe alive. Maybe dead. But still seeing everything Yvonne would rather she didn’t.

This jet black core is orbited by some great performances from the rest of the cast and some wonderfully organic, squishy sound design from Toby Hrycek-Robinson. The tension here is genuine and unsettling and the horrific nature of the signal is both brilliantly written and portrayed. This story feels alien, doubly so given the mundane, humane core of its characters.

Verdict: Arch, funny, terrifying and another very strong entry in a very strong series. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart

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