Looking for a mysterious energy signal, Suzie Costello bumps into Hywel, who is having doubts about getting married tomorrow.

The next morning, they wake up with a baby and a whole lot of problems…

Suzie Costello (Indira Varma) is out on the town. It’s a work thing. Hywell (Arthur Hughes) is out on the town. It’s a marriage thing. But when the energy Suzie’s tracking leads to a high-speed collision between some drinks and Hywel’s chest, they get talking. And then they get… a BABY?!

I listened to this and The Boy Who Never Laughed on the same day and I can’t think of a better demonstration of how versatile this range is. The former is It’s A Wonderful Life shot through with Northern sardonic wit and hope borne from the realisation that we aren’t just our damage. The latter, made more poignant by Suzie’s eventual fate on the show, is a rom-com that’s also a brilliant counterpoint to the ‘aliens are evil’ default response that so many SF stories had and that’s at the core of a lot of the worst things happening in the news right now.

Key to all this is Suzie Costello, Torchwood’s patron saint of lost causes. Indira Varma is a generational talent and she’s found new levels to Suzie every time she’s played her. That’s true here too, as we see a version of Suzie that’s dented but not broken by what she’s been through. She’s cheerful, open and brilliantly, has a one night stand with Arthur that’s just that. Torchwood did a lot of things incredibly well, and several very very badly, and seeing a story set in the world be so cheerfully, pragmatically sex positive is a breath of fresh air for anyone who had to sit through the first season in particular.

That openness meets a delightful, crumpled foil in Hywel. Arthur Hughes brings similar energy to the role as Kai Owen does to Rhys but Hywel has none of Rhys’ machismo or hard-won field skills. Instead, he’s just a guy, not sure about his life, a little fuzzy on morality but fundamentally trying his best. Neither he or Suzie are hero material, or parent material, but together? They get by.

Which brings us to the baby. Holly Robinson and George Fletcher’s script shifts genre with elegance, starting as a rom-com, turning into action and finishing as a surprising, and touching, character study. The baby is both a character in her own right and a lens we explore Suzie and Hywel’s lives through. But she’s also got an agenda of her own and my favourite moment in the whole story is when Suzie figures this out. She isn’t just an alien. She isn’t just a baby. She isn’t just anything. None of us are, and all of deserve to be treated with compassion and respect. Especially Hywel and Suzie.

Verdict: Funny, sparky, surprising and hopeful this is another great entry in a great series and another subtle, meaningful exploration of what a Torchwood story actually means. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart

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