N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

It’s going to take a lot more than some excess blood and additional scenes of kissy face to convince me Torchwood is the adult version of Doctor Who some of us thought we might have wanted when it was off-air and The X Files was all the rage in the 90’s, but Everything Changes nevertheless remains a promising start to the first series of Doctor Who‘s spin-off.

True, Torchwood as an organisation seems to have the same relationship with secrecy that UNIT had, although admittedly without the signpost telling people you were at their headquarters. It’s supposed to be top secret, yet seemingly yer regular copper knows enough about it to explain it to Gwen, and, thanks to Owen, so does the pizza delivery guy.

Of course, I’d also completely forgotten they advertise their presence by turning up in a eminently recognisable black souped-up SUV.

“I saw nothing. Oh, my God. There’s nothing.”

John Tucker, Everything Changes

There’s also Owen’s questionable use of alien tech while out “on the pull”. It’s played almost as if he’s using a comical Midsummer Night’s Dream-style love philtre, but it can also be seen in the far more sinister light of him drugging his victims. I don’t imagine that was the intention, but it’s a more grievous misstep in tone than any we’ve seen in Nu-Who to date.

Still, if you can set aside the dodgy morality, there is potential — the glove that brings people back to life for two minutes is a genuinely disturbing concept and Jack’s getting shot in the head is quite the shock. (Speaking of Jack, how did he end up in Cardiff after the events on Satellite Five?)

But even my son noticed the amusing amount of standing around on top of tall buildings looking moody that goes on here. Perhaps they spent a huge chunk of budget on a helicopter shoot and didn’t want to waste it?

So — all things considered — yes, it does go a bit silly in its pursuit of supposed maturity.

It’s a pity Indira Varma as Suzie had to be the one to go to make room for Gwen. She’s the best of Jack’s team here, just as she was one of the best things about the more recent Obi-wan Kenobi. And I’m not quite sure how Suzie managed to pull off the murder at the beginning of the episode, given she turns up five minutes later with the rest of the Torchwood team. (Incidentally, I don’t know whether it’s the Blu-ray sound mix or my TV setup, but the rain in that scene was ridiculously loud!)

So yes, there’s flaws galore, but Torchwood is worth a second look.