Radio Times

• Episode 1/13 Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

  Following Jack's disappearance, the Torchwood team are determined to continue their work. But when they find themselves in a stand-off with a rogue alien, Jack arrives to save the day. Things are momentarily back to normal, until a face from Jack's past reappears. Time Agent Captain John Hart (James Marsters) causes havoc as he goes in search of a hidden artefact. With Gwen's life in danger, and cluster bombs scattered across the city, can the team be sure that Jack is on their side?

  RT Choice (Mark Braxton, 16 January 2008)

  For anyone who missed the first series of this wham-bam sci-fi thriller, the opening minutes of this series-two-kick-off are a handy brochure.
  
  As with the first run, there's a certain heartlessness that undermines the slick action and impressive visuals. But there are encouraging signs that the characters will be more likeable this time around.

• Episode 2/13 Sleeper

  When some burglars meet with an inexplicably gory end, the police call in Torchwood. The men's injuries are extensive but there's no sign of a weapon. The chief suspect, a woman named Beth, is taken back to the Hub where the team resort to rather brutal interrogation methods in an attempt to find out what she knows. Then, similar attacks begin across the city, and Jack realises that the entire planet is in danger.

  RT Choice (Mark Braxton, 23 January 2008)

  The story wants to be meaningful but slaps down on the side of schlock, so what begins as an intense and claustrophobic mystery ends with violent pandemonium.

• Episode 3/13 To the Last Man

  Toshiko falls in love with a handsome soldier trapped outside his time, who unwittingly holds the key to saving the world. At an old hospital haunted by the ghosts of 1918, a crisis foreseen by Torchwood 90 years previously is about to reach its climax. Time zones are colliding. With life-and-death decisions to be made, can the team prevent an explosive end for the city of Cardiff?

  RT Choice (Mark Braxton, 30 January 2008)

  It's slow but engaging, and delightfully acted by the two leads [Naoko Mori and Anthony Lewis]. When the characters come first, Torchwood really can hit the spot.

• Episode 4/13 Meat

  Gwen's fiancé Rhys finally discovers what her special ops work really involves - and he wants in. As the newly bolstered Torchwood team investigate a mysterious alien meat supply, Gwen finds herself under pressure as never before. Rhys is in increasing danger. Has Jack asked too much of him? And can they save an alien being from ending up as someone's dinner?

  RT Choice (Mark Braxton, 6 February 2008)

  The human dimension of tonight's tale[…] gets another big tick in the series' plus column, with Eve Myles (Gwen) and Kai Owen (her fiancé Rhys) cutely conveying True Lies-style deceptions and repercussions.
  
  Rather less successful is the sci-fi component[…] A shame: buried beneath the plotline is a thoughtful comment on our carnivorous ways.
  
  A mixed grill of an episode, then. And, presiding over it all, Cap'n Jack (John Barrowman) is again let loose on innuendos that would embarrass the cast of Carry On. The hussy.

• Episode 5/13 Adam

  What's wrong with the Torchwood team? Jack has lost all his confidence, Ianto's become a murderous brute, Tosh is sexually voracious, Gwen doesn't even recognise her husband Rhys and the usually cocksure womaniser Owen has become a timid, cardigan-wearing geek. There's a new member of the team too - but everyone is treating him as if they've known him for years…

  RT Choice (Mark Braxton, 13 February 2008)

  Those expecting special effects à gogo, or the usual up-tempo japes, may feel short-changed; others who like their drama - even their sci-fi - to be character-centred, won't. The back story for Captain Jack is especially rewarding. And if the plot doesn't make complete sense, there's plenty to compensate. It's taken a while but now, at last, we really care. Hurrah!

• Episode 6/13 Reset

  Captain Jack enlists the help of The Doctor's former sidekick Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to investigate a series of mysterious deaths. When the trail leads to a sinister medical testing centre, Martha must go undercover. But has Jack underestimated how far those at the centre are prepared to go in their search for medical breakthroughs?

  RT Choice (Mark Braxton, 20 February 2008)

  Torchwood has raised its game dramatically in recent weeks, and those who've stuck with it are being rewarded…
  
  Agyeman illuminates the Hub with her instant likeability - her flirty familiarity with Jack is especially appealing - and there's some cute awkwardness between Tosh and Owen.
  
  The question is: can Torchwood maintain the pace?

• Episode 7/13 Dead Man Walking

  In deep shock following the tragic events at the medical testing centre, the team are facing their darkest hour. Desperate to make amends, Jack uses a resurrection glove to bring Owen back to life momentarily, giving his friends a chance to say their final goodbyes. It's a big mistake. The process allows a primal being to take possession of Owen - and use Torchwood as a conduit to wreak havoc across the Earth.

• Episode 8/13 A Day in the Death

  After seemingly cheating Death, Owen is racked with guilt and believes he must do something to earn absolution. Does the answer lie with a lonely girl on a rooftop or a mission to retrieve an alien device that's becoming more lethal by the second? And after Toshiko's impassioned declaration, and the pair's subsequent refusal to face the issue, how far will she go to help him?

• Episode 9/13 Something Borrowed

  Gwen has a hen-party hangover from hell when she wakes up very pregnant. It looks to be the result of a bite from a shape-shifter, sustained the night before on a Torchwood op, and she faces walking up the aisle to some very puzzled looks. As everyone gathers for the ceremony, Jack is set to destroy Gwen's big day - unless one of the three mothers present finds a way to stop him.

• Episode 10/13 From Out of the Rain

  When an old cinema re-opens, past horrors emerge to stalk the streets of Cardiff. As bodies are found in a state between life and death, Torchwood must act fast. Who are the Night Travellers? And how can Jack and his team capture these mysterious killers?

• Episode 11/13 Adrift

  Gwen is reluctant to get involved when her old friend Andy asks for help investigating the disappearance of local teenager Jonah Bevin. But once the case gets under way, she realises that Jack has been suppressing reports of people vanishing in identical circumstances. The key to the mystery seems to lie in the rift - but even when Jonah is finally traced, there is still a shock in store for his distraught mother.

• Episode 12/13 Fragments

  The Torchwood team see their lives flash before their eyes when a series of explosions knock them unconscious as they search a warehouse. We are shown how Captain Jack's initiation into Torchwood took place, and how Toshiko risked her life to save her mother. We also discover how Ianto first came to Jack's attention - and what changed the way Owen sees the world.

• Episode 13/13 Exit Wounds

  Captain John Hart vowed to have his revenge on Torchwood and, true to his word, he returns to seize Jack and take him back in time. With Jack out of the way, Weevils flood into the city, bringing it to the brink of destruction. But it soon becomes apparent that Captain John is acting on the orders of someone else. Can the team make the sacrifice that will save the world?

  RT Choice (Mark Braxton, 4 April 2008)

  It's a devastating episode - the story title (Exit Wounds) is as apt as ever - and a fitting climax to series two.

Go to Series one