eve-3-6The gang face their darkest hour…

This is going to be a spoiler-filled review of this episode so if you’ve not watched it yet, head over to iPlayer and catch up with it now, because it’s a huge gamechanger – and, on many series, would have enough going on to be a season ender.

Apart from a briefly comic moment when Abe falls in with Eve’s military ways at the top of the episode, this is one of the most serious – and definitely the darkest – episode of the entire run of Eve to date. I’m sure there are plenty of people dismissing the show (as they did The Sarah Jane Adventures) as kids’ sci-fi whose producers wouldn’t dream of getting into the sort of dilemmas that are being faced on Humans. Well, that couldn’t be further from the case: at the end of the episode a key character realizes that he’s made mistakes and tries to atone for them by leaping in front of a deadly weapon. And pays the price. No ifs, no buts: Cain is dead. At the hands of a robot in the form of a small child. Not your average teatime drama – and full marks to Chris Hegarty for never allowing his performance to become overly melodramatic!

Mark Stevenson’s script ratchets up the tension on all fronts, with the return to corporeal (and rather expensive in terms of the effects required) form of Jane Asher’s Mary Douglas, and her hold over both Eve and KT increasing. The confrontation between her and Rhona Croker’s Katherine promises much for the rest of the series while the effects on Will look as if they’re going to be far reaching too.

The show has proved over the last three years that it doesn’t just press a reset button when things go awry for the characters; it’s going to be fascinating to watch the next few episodes to see how Eve, KT, Will, and Lily handle what they’ve just been part of.

Verdict: An excellent piece of work. 9/10

Paul Simpson