Released October 2018
SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW

As Cardiff continues through its long night with the Black Sun arriving through the Rift and bringing sleep with it, Tom Foley’s ‘Night Watch’ closes out the first part of God Among Us with a surprising character piece that explores the internal demons and the deeper resolves alike that fuel the current iteration of Torchwood Three. With Orr the guardian appointed to look over the city as slumber embraces it, no secret is left guarded as she forms the narrative anchor between reality and fiction.

Whether the role of Colin Colchester-Price was initially intended to be a recurrent one or not as he provided a more intimate and humanising look at the team’s own Mr Colchester, Ramon Tikaram has absolutely taken what could have been a one-note supportive character and quickly added an incredible amount of nuance and pathos to help craft a believably sympathetic and well-rounded presence. Given his recent harrowing past, Colin rightfully gets ample time to explore the very intimate and fresh scars that still sting so terribly, and Tikaram once more excels as the pain of losing his husband washes over him afresh. With assumptions of truth called into question as the face of his assumed dream state interrupts a moment of passion, Colin must confront his grieving process and the very relatable process of packing up a loved one’s life while placing stories to every item no matter now important or seemingly inconsequential. Though he may not officially be a member of Torchwood, Colin is a fascinating presence within the franchise, and the arrival of Orr as the importance of memories becomes paramount opens up a fascinating cliffhanger to be explored in future stories.

Of course, even the true Torchwood team finds itself affected, and with Yvonne supplying a limited means of staying awake as sleep beckons so strongly, Jack’s overt discomfort with Ng being welcomed to the team and promoted after her treatment of Gwen finally comes to the forefront. Even Yvonne still harbours a glimmer of doubt that does not allow her to implicitly trust Ng when a decision of whom to ally with must be made, a fact that she staggeringly later apologises for, and this continuing conflict continues to develop a sense of change and growth rather than allowing any degree of stagnation. With Yvonne also confronting the prospect of somebody truly knowing her and Tyler giving into easy indulgence rather than being alone, each character is given a unique angle to play while exploring their more shrouded inner workings without betraying any previous characterisation, and the blending of fact and fiction that Orr traverses from the outside while piecing together fragments of God’s truth and love is a fascinating one to behold.

Wisely, this first part of God Among Us does not delve too deeply into the proposed God at this time, offering just enough of a tease to continue building up the mystery around this being but still leaving unexplored the true extent of its power and motivations. The truth behind the mysterious blue light that manifests throughout the story and the discussions of balance certainly hint at a power the likes of which Torchwood has not yet encountered, and the pairing of Jacqueline King and Samantha Béart help enmesh familiar with unfamiliar to ensure that the truth is kept tantalizingly just out of reach. With Orr’s fate quite literally unknown as she embraces God’s love and a familiar figure from Torchwood’s past appearing to warn of imminent doom, the resolution to the current series of plights will ultimately factor into just how successful the story as a whole is, but in isolation all of the pieces have been set in motion for a strong overall arc that focuses just as much on characters as it does intrigue and action.