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

I realise it might sound like I’m damning with faint praise, but honestly, Ghost Machine isn’t all that bad!

“The problem with seeing the future is you can’t just sit and look at it.”

Jack, Ghost Machine

True, I remembered pretty much nothing of it going in, and yes, the “sexy”, fetishised gun training scene with Jack and Gwen is awful — the kind of scene that’s barely tolerable in dumb action movies — but it’s one of the few bum notes here in Torchwood’s immature attempts at maturity. (I was also amused to see they had Torchwood-branded ear muffs in this scene.)

It’s another solid episode for Gwen, and a particularly good one for Owen, and with strong support from Roj Blake and Trevor Sigma themselves, this for me is the best of the three episodes of Torchwood so far. Ghosts as recordings may not be an original idea but when has that ever bothered anyone writing in the Doctor Who universe?

Although, what’s with the kitchen sink in the background during the climactic scene with Bernie and Edwin? Are they trying to tell us they plan on throwing everything into Torchwood — and making it the TV equivalent of an ELO song?