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

For the most part, To the Last Man holds up pretty well. Ghosts and a spooky hospital combined with a World War / time shift plotline almost give it a Sapphire and Steel feel. Even the Tosh/Tommy love story is well done, at least until you realise it’s only actually been four days’ long, but even then you can forgive it.

“He’s a frozen soldier from 1918.”

Gwen, To the Last Man

After all, as the popular Internet meme informs us, Romeo and Juliet was a three-day teen romance that caused multiple deaths, so we know people do love an old-fashioned, doomed romance, regardless of its plausibility. The speed of the relationship also brings to mind first season episode Out of Time; the parallels, of course, are deliberate as it provides an explanation for Owen’s sudden sensitivity and sympathetic nature. (But wasn’t Tosh supposedly pining for Owen?)

Only when all the psychic projection nonsense comes out does To the Last Man really falls off the rails. Up until then, there’s not been any cringe-inducing silliness, awful flirting or clunking innuendo. And it was nice to see, albeit briefly, an earlier incarnation of Torchwood.

Ultimately, it is no Sapphire and Steel, despite the similarities, but by Torchwood standards, and certainly when compared to the opening two episodes of the second season, To the Last Man isn’t too bad.