A burglary results in a mysterious death. Can a meek woman really have been responsible for such a gruesome demise? Just how much power can a human find when their life is at stake?
Length 48’06”
First Transmitted
9:00pm, 23rd January 2008 (and in edited form at 7pm the day after), BBC Two.
Guest Cast
Nikki Amuka-Bird (Beth); Dyfed Potter (Mike); Doug Rollins (David); Claire Cage (David’s Wife); Sean Carlsen (Mr Grainger); Paul Kasey (Weevil); Victoria Pugh (Mrs Grainger)
Writer James Moran
Director Colin Teague
Setting
Across two nights and days in Cardiff – probably shortly after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (ie March 2008).
Did You Spot?
The saga sell (missing from last week’s episode) has changed significantly this year.
Twisted Reality
Jack’s interrogation of Beth uncomfortably mirrors some of the accusations of treatment at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. Beth begins seeing images of real nuclear blasts as her personality begins to break down.
Love is in the Air
Jack suggests a policeman comes home with him to see how he can use a hockey stick in the bedroom. Beth and Mike are married and seem like a very close couple. Ianto seems to have spoken to Gwen about Jack’s manners in bed.
If it’s Alien, it’s Ours
The mind probe may be based on alien technology. Certainly the fact that it’s deadly to humans suggests it wasn’t designed by us. We meet Cell 114. Tosh suggests using alien cryogenics.
Captain Jack’s Large Weapon
A cricket bat gets used as makeshift defense. Cell 114 have arms that turn into massive sword-like implements. Much use of machine guns in the final scenes, and Jack gets out his trusty handgun.
Torchwood Shop: Now Open for Business
The logo on the SUV is displayed prominently towards the end.
Cymru am Byth
Many sightings of Heddlu – the Welsh word for Police.
To Live and Die in Cardiff
One of the two burglars is killed at the start, and the second shortly after dies of cardiac arrest with a BP of 139/81. David, one of the sleepers, snaps his wife’s neck and then kills Patrick Grainger. We don’t get confirmation whether Mike dies as a result of Beth impaling him with her arm-sword – but there was an awful lot of blood. All four sleepers that we see get killed – two by Jack and two in suicide bombings.
Quotables
Jack: We’re not charging you with anything. We don’t have to. And there’ll be no lawyer, no phone calls, just us and this room for as long as it takes!
Beth: It’s so big. This is crazy. I suddenly feel very very small…
Jack: That species has extremely high blood pressure.
Ianto: Oh, right, their heads must explode all the time then.
Tosh: Take it easy Jack, stop at the first sign of trouble.
Ianto: Or the first sign of exploding.
Ianto: They know more about this place than I do. NOBODY knows more than I do!
Gwen: Do you feel human?
Beth: Yes.
Gwen: Well then you are. What make us human is in our minds, not our bodies .
Ianto: Mobiles. Landlines. Tin cans with bits of string. Everything, absolutely everything. No phones, phones all broken. Hello? Anyone there? No! Because the phones aren’t working.
Weren’t You In?
Nikki Amuka-Bird played Paula Miles in Bad Girls (2004). She recently appeared in Whistleblowers (2007) as Helen Errol, and the miniseries Five Days (2007) as PC Simone Farnes. Sean Carlsen played a policeman in The Christmas Invasion (2005).
Unanswered Questions
Beth was among us long enough to meet Mike and marry him – how did she get through that period without getting a single cut, scrape or bruise and he not notice? Jack seemed to get much happier after meeting the Doctor again in Utopia (2007), and yet seems to be back to his old grumpy self again here – what happened? Does Jack have a history with Cell 114? How long were the sleepers around before they activated? They have been fully trained in jobs, got married and even possibly procreated. One of the sleepers has a pram – is the baby hers, and if so why did the sleepers have that ability built into their genetic makeup? How do they know about Torchwood? When will Cell 114 return?
Fuck Ups
The concept of the sleepers fully integrating with society is interesting – they must’ve had the technology to not only perfectly emulate human behaviour but also to know enough about UK laws for these spies to be legally employed. The cardiac display unit next to the hospitalized burglar beeps like crazy as he goes into cardiac arrest, but his blood pressure stays fixed at 139/81, generally considered just a little towards the high end of healthy. Although Beth may not be aware of this, it’s a common fallacy that people under arrest have the right to a phone call – they do not, only the right to have someone notified of the arrest. Owen wears a clinical white suit to perform a blood test but then flouts all safety standards by covering it in badges, defeating the object somewhat. How did Beth’s ears get pierced? How could Owen possibly know what combination of chemicals would sedate this particular alien? None of the Doctors at Mike’s bedside stop to ask what happened before they leap in and start trying to help. All communication methods (hardwired and wireless) are down, and yet the internet still works. Ten nuclear warheads in Cardiff protected by a flimsy barrier and half a dozen soliders? Terrifying.
Torchwood: Declassified Episode 2.02
Broadcast BBC Two, Thursday 24th January, 7:50pm, immediately after the edited version of the main episode.
(Writeup to follow)
Site Review by Arthur Penn
Now this is more like it!
I refer you, dear reader, to my review of End of Days, in which I extolled the virtues of Eve Myles’ acting by referring to a scene in which we, the viewers, were made to feel like we had intruded on a very private moment…
…now flash forwards 14 months. An actress every bit as good as Myles (something I didn’t think I’d ever hear myself say!) gives a performance hitting just that note again and again and AGAIN. True, if the whole season plays out this way I’ll be worn out by episode five. But taken in isolation, Moran’s scripting and Amuka-Bird’s portrayal of someone so terrified and alone (none moreso than in the moments following the accidental death of her husband) are works of poetry.
Playing against this terror and breathless frustration is something else happening that’s equally magical. Last year writers struggled to script for teaboy Ianto Jones. It was easy to imagine that his character was summed up with one line in the show’s Writers’ Guide and he ended up woefully underused, save a couple of humorous moments that David-Lloyd managed to inject in. It’s clear here that Moran saw his excellent comic timing and played to it, providing Sleeper with some much needed comic relief. Every line uttered by Ianto Jones is comedy gold, and makes an episode that would otherwise be challenging viewing all the more bearable.
As I’ve said, I hope this isn’t the tone every episode takes this year, as this isn’t an episode that’s easy to watch (and I have a feeling I may, unfairly, skip it on my DVDs occasionally, preferring something more in the vein of Out of Time)… but if this is a representation of the quality of this year’s episodes, it’s going to be a wonderful three months…
