In
the basement of the Torchwood building, Ianto Jones hides
a terrible secret. As a Japanese doctor attempts to rescue
the soul of a half-Cybernised woman, a quiet day in Torchwood
quickly becomes a living nightmare. Has Ianto unleashed
a force that will destroy his colleagues?
Four
episodes in and Torchwood has its first ‘bottle’
show. The good news it that it keeps up the frantic momentum
of the previous three.
When
a show has an episode that takes place within the main set
of the programme, it usually means that they are trying
to save some money. Actually, though, 'Cyberwoman’
is an action packed continuation of the Doctor Who
season two finale (not yet seen in the U.S.). Taking
place within the depths of Torchwood Cardiff, the show advances
the characters of Captain Jack Harkness and, of course,
Ianto Jones.
After
the destruction of Torchwood London during the war there
were bound to be repercussions and fallout from such a gargantuan
battle. This show concentrates on the character of Ianto
Jones, Torchwood’s ‘cleaner’ or the man
who covers up any evidence that the team leaves behind.
For
the first three episodes of the series, Ianto has looked
nothing more than a glorified butler, saying very little
and disappearing into the background. This show reveals
the reason why and it is a dark secret that could not only
kill the Torchwood team but also start the war all over
again.
Deep
in the lower basement of Torchwood Cardiff, Ianto has been
keeping his girlfriend Lisa alive. With the help of a Japanese
cyberneticist, he hopes to remove the machine implants the
Cybermen infused to her body as they tried to turn her into
a metal soldier. But have these implants been in her body
too long and will Lisa ever be the girl Ianto fell in love
with?
While
the comparisons between this storyline and that of the classic
Star Trek The Next Generation episode ‘I,
Borg’ are bound to be made, as Lisa battles with her
Cyberman programming to save her humanity, this is still
all action Torchwood and very ‘Whovian’
in style and storyline.
Again
we see the series grow and deliver a more adult oriented
storyline, as the series endeavours to distance itself from
the more family friendly style of the original by increasing
the blood and profanity quota again.
Ianto
Jones, as played by Gareth David-Lloyd, gets the chance
to emerge but he does become a little wet, crying far too
much for a man who has looked very tough and collected for
the first three shows. John Barrowman’s Captain Jack
Harkness is, as you’d expect, becoming the real star
of the show as the character really starts to grow and we
discover even more about his state of mind as he deals with
his own dark secret.
‘Cyberwoman’
will excite fans of the new series and the second season
of Doctor Who. With the action quota pumped up
even more, Torchwood proves that even an early
season ‘bottle’ show can continue to raise the
bar of British science fiction television.
