Gabrielle Ketley reviews the latest Torchwood release
Torchwood: Inseparable (Malcolm Devlin & Helen Marshall) is creepy, cringey, comic, tragic, and utterly enthralling.
Torchwood agents Yvonne Hartman (Tracy-Ann Oberman), and her partner, the ready to pack it all in, Tommy Pierce (Timothy Bentinck) are undercover at a B&B couple’s retreat, trying to track down the source of a strange signal. They’re surrounded by happy, loved up couples, who are held in a cult-like sway by retreat owner, the sinister and saccharine Gloria (Jaye Griffiths). Not a fun place to be for either Tommy, pining away for his long ago love, or ice queen Yvonne.
(Especially as they’re sharing a bedroom wall and an ensuite with enthusiastic young lovers, Shannon (Rameet Rauli) and Harvey.)
Tommy and Yvonne are a fascinating duo. From the first, it’s clear that Yvonne is the one pulling the strings, even doing up Tommy’s tie for a cocktail party, as she talks him through their game plan. But as the pressures of the mission kick in, and stone hearted Yvonne is confronted with quite possibly her greatest fear (emotional intimacy), we see an almost paternal attitude emerge in the otherwise henpecked Tommy.
Despite the idyllic surroundings, there is a constant sense of unease. The soundscape of kissing couples is just a little too loud (thank you, Shannon and Harvey), the couples’ fervent agreements with Gloria’s pronouncements on love and companionship are just too in time, and there’s a mysterious folly in the grounds, that Yvonne and Tommy will only be permitted to see when Gloria declares them “ready”.
Yvonne and Tommy’s attempts to follow the signal are randomly interspersed with private counselling sessions with Gloria, whose gentle probing dives into Tommy and Yvonne’s personal vulnerabilities, and their doubts in each other.
These sessions, combined with the revelation that Gloria knows all about Torchwood, and the hints that neither Tommy nor Yvonne, nor any of the other couples , can fully remember how they got there or how long they’ve been there, amps up the creepiness.
Gloria is the ultimate puppet master. Everyone is dancing along to her song, it’s just not until the end we find out what that song is.
And it’s a love song, sort of. A love song, with a lot of agonised groaning for lyrics, and the rather disturbing sound of bodies being fused together for music.
The Whoniverse doesn’t lack stories in which “love saves the day”. In Torchwood: Inseparable, love nearly destroys it. The importance of companionship and love isn’t denied, and Tommy and Yvonne’s grudging affection for each other certainly plays a crucial role in the resolution, but just as important is the ability to move on from love when love has failed.
Fittingly for the months of love, Torchwood: Inseparable is a a story about love, but one that can’t help but make you agree, at times with Yvonne that love is something best avoided. At least, the sort of love results in being fused into a giant human flesh tower.
A giant, sentient human flesh tower.
Yeah. Single life doesn’t seem so bad, in comparison.
Torchwood: Bad Connections is available on CD or as a download from
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