Torchwood: Deadbeat Escape

To be honest, this story doesn't have much to do with Torchwood. They're mentioned, briefly, just the once and none of the regulars appear. The only reason that this is a Torchwood story is that Bilis Manger is one of the two main characters in it, and it could just as well have been written for somebody else given that we don't really know much about who Manger is from the TV series. (Nor do we learn much in this). If anything, what this reminded me of most was Sapphire and Steel, with its themes of time as an enemy.

But, having said all that, it's a good story, and that's what counts. It features a motorist seeking a room for the night in an isolated hotel outside of Cardiff and then finding things increasingly unnerving. It's spooky and claustrophobic, with Manger as the suave host at the hotel slowly giving out crumbs of information about what's really happening as it becomes more and more obvious that something isn't right - and that there seems no escape. The result is an effective piece of psychological horror, with much of the detail shrouded in mystery, and Manger's real role in it all being left ambiguous until the very end.