Toshiko the lezzer??

Okay, the eagle-eyed amongst you will probably have noted that I haven't yet written about the most recent episode of Torchwood. So I will now proceed to do so.

After the atrocity that was "Countrycide", I am pleased to report that "Greeks Bearing Gifts" was a marked improvment. Finally the characater of Toshiko was given a greater focus and the story was relatively decent, all about an alien called Mary (?? erm...okay) who has been exiled to Earth by her own people as punishment for crimes and is seeking escape. Landing in Cardiff in the 19th Century (which seems to be an increasingly popular destination with extra-terrestials visiting Earth) she (it?) takes over the body of a young prostitute and maintains this form into the present day, looking every bit as young and alluring in 2006 as she did then ... handy eh? The transportation device which brought to Mary to Earth is now the property of Torchwood and she wants it back. She is also carrying with her a mysterious pendant which, in addition to being her communications device, enables the wearer to read other people's minds ... spooky! And then Toshiko meets Mary and gets hold of the pendant ...

As I said this was a much better episode than the preceding one. Daniella Denby-Ashe (anyone remember her from Eastenders and My Family?) played Mary with a nicely vampy quality and was also a decent villainess ; a shame we didn't get to find out more about her alien origins though. Her seduction of Toshiko was quite raunchy with lots of girl-on-girl action and kissing, which must have pleased straight male and lesbian viewers. I'm not sure how convinced I was by Tosh falling so easily for another woman however. Is she meant to be a closet dyke? Or was it just that Mary had such a powerful influence over her? One can't help thinking that all the lezzer stuff was put in there for titilation. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude, but in virtually every episode to date there has a been continuous diet of swearing, nudity and sh*gging to the point where it's becoming gratuitous. It's like the show is trying to prove how many different sexual situations it can show and the rudeness seems to have been shoved in (so to speak) in a very self-conscious way. Look Mummy! Naked men and women!! Shagging!! Naughty, naughty!!

Those reservations aside, there were other things to enjoy in the episode. The pendant was an interesting plot device, ultimately leading Mary back to her abandoned spacecraft and a final confrontation with the Torchwood team in the Hub which was quite exciting and tense. But the pendant also raised a number of issues about voyeurism and having access to other people's thoughts and the problems this can create. Tosh becomes privy to the private thoughts and feelings of her team and she doesn't like all she hears (particularly when some of it involves some bitchy criticisms of herself). More alarmingly, when she tries to read Jack's mind, she cannot. But as well as the negative effects of the pendant, it is also a force for good - in one scene it allows to Tosh to hear the thoughts of a man who is planning to murder his family. She follows the man to his home and is able to prevent him for slaughtering his wife and child, just in time. However ultimately Tosh decides that the pendant could be dangerous in the wrong hands and destroys it. (My friend Stephen has since informed me that a lot of these ideas were ripped off from an episode of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" - in which Buffy gains the ability to read thoughts, discovers about a secret sexual relationship, stops a murder and and fails to read the thoughts of a dead person ... oh well, so much for originality).

There was also a nasty twist at the end when we found out how "Mary" had survived over the years - she'd been feeding on human hearts, torn from various victims whose deaths had, up until that point, been unexplained. The ripping out hearts concept was a horrific but intriguing one that needed a little bit more exposition, I felt. Was this the only means of sustenance for Mary and her race? Why hearts?

Overall then this episode marked a rise in quality - just as I was moaning about it going downhill the week before. And that seems to be a bit of a problem with the show overall - it does seem very up and down in calibre - of writing, characterisation and ideas. As I think I've already said, I've found "T-Wood" entertaing enough so far, but wouldn't rank it anywhere near as highly as "Dr Who". It's slick, fast-moving and exciting in places, but it just doesn't grab me enough. I think it lacks the fundamental warmth and humanity of Dr Who. It has a coldness at it's heart. After a number of weeks I'm still finding it hard to really engage with the characters. Even though we're now getting more of a focus on individuals in particular episodes, none of the team are all that likeable (in my view). Sh*ggable perhaps, but not likeable! And as for Gwen ... your boyfriend is bound to find out about your saucy shenanigans soon, you wanton minx! Let that be a lesson to all of us. And while we're on the subject of the Welsh hussy, it's about time she got that annoying gap closed in her teeth as well. So there.