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

“What? No, not the mind probe!” Admittedly, it’s a somewhat predictable Doctor Who-fan response to the Torchwood team’s chosen method of extracting information in Sleeper.

“And I thought the end of the world couldn’t get any worse.”

Ianto, Sleeper

I don’t know which is the more irritating: that the first part of this episode sees the Torchwood team go all Guantonamo or the pride on Gwen’s face as she’s showing off the Hub to potentially-innocent-party-in-all-this Beth? Or perhaps it’s the stupidity of Gwen showing off to a potentially-guilty-party-in-all-this Beth in the first place that galls? Maybe it’s all the NYPD Blue-style twitchy camera work?

Also, as my son pointed out, they’ve decided to make Ianto “the funny one” in the team this week. He always seems to be on hand with a quip. And who knew Owen was in charge of watering the plants?

It’s not all bad. I must confess I did laugh at Owen’s typically Owen response to apparently impending doom: “Let’s all have sex.” There are a couple of terrific explosions, especially the one that takes out the civic building, which results in a stuntwoman clattering into a parked car with a impressive thud.

And Nikki Amuka-Bird gives it absolutely everything as Beth. She’s easily the best thing about the episode, even if Beth’s self-sacifice is at predictable as my initial response to the Torchwood team’s decision to use the mind probe.