Gabrielle Ketley reviews the latest Torchwood release
Torchwood: Ianto’s Inferno (Roland Moore) finds our cast trapped not in the layers of hell, but the layers of a car park, with a penis on one of the walls and a murderous alien out to devour them all.
Anthony (James Glyn) and Dean (Robert Vernon) are childhood friends and small-time crooks, planning to meet and mug a contact who is offering to sell them a bit of alien kit on the sly.
We establish off the bat that Dean is the more ruthless of the two, with Anthony expressing qualms against using any violence. Dean has less scruples. He will use force if he must, but he’s quick to assure Anthony that they probably won’t need to use too much. After all, it’s two against one.
Of course, that one is Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd).
There’s a lot of fun in seeing Ianto through the eyes of Anthony and Dean. He’s funny, friendly, polite, playful, manipulative, a little bit sadistic, and gloriously so.
While we’re more in the know than Dean or Anthony, Ianto’s motives remain ambiguous throughout. First he claims to be double dealing his team, selling kit on the side out of petty vengeance for treating him like the tea boy. Then he “admits” to having brought them to the Hub with the intent of retconning the pair (begging the question why he didn’t simply do so back at the pub where they rendezvoused).
Ianto’s true intent for Dean and Anthony is hinted at throughout, as he drops hints of knowing more about the pair than he’s letting on.
The final twist has devastating consequences for all, as the full extent of Dean’s villainy is revealed to the unsuspecting Anthony.
Ianto’s gleeful manipulation of events has unforeseen consequences, when Anthony’s broken faith and loss of trust results in tragedy.
Anthony’s loss of faith and poignant reflection that he and Dean had known each other since their first days of school is a genuinely moving amidst the dry, biting humour, while Dean’s mounting panic, excellently played by Robert Vernon, lends some humanity to an otherwise loathsome character.
David-Lloyd plays Ianto with his typical comedic excellence, bringing the laughs and the chills, as he combines playful banter with cruel, righteous vengeance.
Even in Ianto’s final confrontation with Dean, it remains unclear whether Ianto is genuine in his offer to save Dean, or is simply stringing him along with false promises of escape.
(His delight in Dean’s suffering is rather less ambiguous. He’s loving it.)
Ianto’s Inferno is witty, creepy, fast paced, with excellent acting and a gripping script.
Torchwood: Ianto’s Inferno is available on CD or as a download from
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