Torchwood: Fall to Earth

Writer: James Goss
Director: Scott Handcock
Script Editor: Steve Tribe
Cover Illustration: Lee Binding
Music: Blair Mowat
Sound Design: Neil Gardner
Producer: James Goss

Starring Gareth David-Lloyd
Released October 2015

After the paranoid intrigue of The Conspiracy, writer/producer James Goss takes Torchwood in a completely different direction with an episode comprised entirely of a cold call Ianto receives whilst on a crashing spaceship.

Wanting to prove to the rest of Torchwood that he does deserve his place on the team after the revelations about his ex Lisa, Ianto has got himself aboard the star-studded first commercial space flight, only something's gone wrong and now the SkyPuncher is plummeting back to Earth.

Goss' script is typically witty, inventive and gripping in equal measure. Using only Ianto and Turkish phone operator Zeynep, Goss paints a vivid picture as the situation somehow grows increasingly dire and director Scott Handcock effectively sustains and defuses tension across the course of Fall to Earth's hour-long runtime. And The Committee are revealed to be pulling the strings once again, this time with billionaire Ephraim Salt, Torchwood's answer to Richard Branson, in the crosshairs. Not satisfied with simply killing him, they murder him on his own plane during his highest-profile event and then use it to take out his satellite and one of his call centres for good measure. If that doesn't say James Goss, I don't know what does.

While Lisa Zahra is flawless as Zeynep, Gareth David-Lloyd fares less well. Although this is an extreme situation and Ianto is way out of his depth, David-Lloyd gives one of his most deficient performances, on audio at least, sounding out of step with the rest of the production and frequently missing the emphasis of lines. But maybe I'm biased; Ianto was never my favourite on TV and the news of his return did little for me. Happily, he becomes increasingly likeable, and David-Lloyd more assured, with successive releases. It's hardly surprising that it takes a bit of time to get back up to speed after more than six years away from the part, and this script really does throw Ianto in at the deep end.

In total, Fall to Earth is an excellent second entry to this series and, in its two-hander, real time presentation, serves as the holotype for much of the range. Once again the production values are first-rate and help to sell the unlikely situation one of Torchwood's most beloved staff finds himself in. Highly recommended.