Norton Folgate is adamant that Torchwood needs to come to the aid of Flight 405… but can he be trusted?

Lou Morgan’s debut story for the Torchwood range feels a little disconnected from the main thrust of the ongoing saga but for its top and tail scenes, making me wonder if it had been originally intended as a standalone adventure. That opener, between Mr Colchester and Jack, is a much-needed discussion about the realities of resurrection in the Torchwood universe (and you can imagine a certain Paul Metcalfe wanting to add his two-pennorth to the conversation), while the end confirms certain things that we’ve suspected about at least one of the characters.

The core of it is a well-written race against time for Norton Folgate, Yvonne Hartman and Sergeant Andy Davidson, a fascinating trio whose personal interactions provide plenty of material without the threat of crashing to Earth at a go-kart site on a 60 year old plane being added. Samuel Barnett, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Tom Price make a great team and when they’re giving strong material like this, you can be sure of an entertaining hour. Scott Handcock’s direction, Steve Foxon’s sound design (with some neat touches) and Blair Mowat’s score combine to maintain the tension.

The disc concludes with James Goss’ Cardiff Confidential, which carefully recreates all the annoying sides of a podcast as it teases past and future adventures. As a one-off, it’s intriguing.

Verdict: A clever tale, well-told. 9/10

Paul Simpson