‘SLEEPER’ (TW)
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Sleeper Agent For Cell 114 Awakes
I didn’t get to watch the second episode of ‘Torchwood’: Series 2 on its original transmission in 2008. I missed it due to university exams. But I got to watch it afterwards when I purchased the Series 2 DVD.
The second episode called ‘Sleeper’ is by James Moran. He would go on to write the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘The Fires of Pompeii’, which was transmitted in the same year as this ‘Torchwood’ episode.
‘Sleeper’ has a ‘Terminator’-style to it and is a pretty gripping episode to watch with action; big explosions and lots of drama going on between characters. A very typical ‘Torchwood’ high drama! 😀
The story has a young married couple getting burgled in the night at their home. During the burglary, the burglars get atrociously killed. The Torchwood team investigate. It transpires the wife killed them!
Nikki Amuka-Bird guest stars as Beth Halloran, the one who killed the burglars. Jack soon discovers that Beth is a sleeper agent for Cell 114. Pretty soon, more sleeper agents begin to wake within Cardiff.
A potential invasion is about to commence. I like how this episode explores Beth as a character. She appears and acts human but is really an alien in disguise, living a false life and married to her husband.
Beth’s arm can transform into a sharp blade when she becomes alien. She uses it to stab the burglars when they attack her. Jack is pretty ruthless dealing with Beth, whilst Gwen is the carer in the episode.
Gwen and Beth share a close bond. It’s interesting how Beth copes with the reality of her true identity and the episode ends on a sad tragedy for her. I was very moved by how tragic it all was for Beth here.
The DVD special features on this episode in ‘The Complete Series 2’ of ‘Torchwood’ are as follows. On Disc 5, there’s the ‘Torchwood Declassified’ episode ‘Sleepless in Cardiff’.
‘Sleeper’ (TW) rating – 8/10
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