Norton and Tyler swap bodies, as do Jack and Mr Colchester, Andy and Yvonne. Hilarity ensues. For a time.

I must admit wen I started listening to this episode, I did wonder if it was designed as something of a palate cleanser after the dark drama of the previous story – body swapping is one of the standard tropes of sci-fi TV, giving the actors the opportunity to let rip for a time, taking the mickey out of their colleagues without necessarily giving offence.

I underestimated Messrs. Foley, Goss, Hancock (and I suspect Davies).

Yes, there’s a certain amount of the aforementioned mickey taking (and Tom Price has far too much fun as Yvonne in her thread) but there’s also considerable forward movement on the overarching plot, as Ng encounters God, and “Yvonne” (i.e. Andy) attends a meeting of the Committee. The plotline between “Colchester” (i.e. Jack) and Colin is beautifully played by Paul Clayton and Ramon Tikaram, with John Barrowman’s contribution small but vital. The Tyler/Norton portion throws up a fascinating question about the latter’s corporeal state that’s (quite deliberately, I suspect) brought up and immediately ignored.

Tim Foley incorporates some sharp observations about the Torchwood team with Scott Handcock’s direction never allowing the episode to become too comic while still appreciating the innate humour.

Verdict: Very much a character based piece that works well. 9/10

Paul Simpson