Sleeper (Torchwood)

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15 – "Sleeper"
Torchwood episode

Beth reveals her true identity under the influence of the mindprobe.
Cast
Guest stars
  • Paul Kasey – Janet the Weevil
  • Nikki Amuka-Bird – Beth Halloran[1]
  • Dyfed Potter – Mike Lyndon
  • Doug Rollins – David
  • Claire Cage – David's wife
  • Sean Carlson – Mr. Grainger
  • Victoria Pugh – Mrs. Grainger
  • Luke Rutherford – Burglar 1 (Leonard Bull)[2]
  • Alex Harries – Burglar 2 (Gareth Hopkins)[3]
  • Dominic Coleman – Police officer
  • William Hughes – Boy
  • Millie Philippart – Girl
  • Matthew Arwel – Pegram Driver
  • Derek Lea – Paramedic
Production
Writer James Moran
Director Colin Teague
Script editor Brian Minchin
Producer Richard Stokes
Chris Chibnall (co-producer)
Executive producer(s) Russell T. Davies
Julie Gardner
Production code 2.2
Series Series 2
Length 50 mins
Originally broadcast 23 January 2008
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by →
"Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" "To the Last Man"
IMDb profile

"Sleeper" is the second episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast by BBC Two on 23 January 2008.[4] A specially edited pre-watershed repeat was shown the following day.[4]

Contents

[edit] Plot

[edit] Synopsis

Two burglars break into a flat owned by a woman called Beth and her husband. There is a struggle and the burglars are suddenly terrified as a flash of light fills the room. Soon, Torchwood are on the scene investigating the fatal injuries sustained by the burglars.

Beth cannot remember events and is taken into custody by Torchwood, who suspect she is an alien. When they take her to a cell, she passes a Weevil and it cowers in her presence. Captain Jack decides to take drastic measures and subject Beth to a mind probe.

Despite no initial reaction, the probe eventually uncovers alien technology buried under the skin of her right forearm. It emerges that she is an alien ‘sleeper agent’, yet to be activated and oblivious to her real identity, having been given memory implants.

Around Cardiff, other sleeper agents are suddenly activated, with their right arms transforming into bayonet-like weapons. They carry out a series of suicide bombings at key locations such as a telecommunications center taking out the Cardiff phone lines, killing the Leader of the City Council who is in charge of the city during emergencies, and taking out a military fuel pipeline, paving the way for their leader - a former doting husband - to head for an army base containing nuclear warheads.

Beth manages to escape and is found with her ailing husband at the hospital. She struggles to remain human but accidentally stabs her husband in his bed. Jack and Gwen manage to apprehend her and convince her to help them track the locations of the other sleeper agents.

Captain Jack manages to find the leading sleeper agent at an army base moments before the agent can detonate the nuclear weapons that are held within. Jack is stabbed in the process and the agent warns him that there are others of his kind on Earth before blowing himself up. Jack, Gwen and Beth barely escape from the explosion. Back at Torchwood, Beth tells Gwen she cannot live knowing that one day she will not be herself anymore. She uses the weapon in her arm to threaten Gwen, forcing the others to shoot and kill her. Beth uses her last piece of humanity to kill herself.

The episode ends with Gwen telling Jack that if more agents come, Torchwood is prepared against them.

[edit] Outside references

Owen calls Gwen "Jessica Fletcher", the lead character from television series Murder, She Wrote.

When Beth is being put into cryogenic sleep, the cryogenic storage location is 007, a reference to the James Bond books and films.

[edit] Production

The explosion of a building that was scheduled to be filmed in Cardiff on 1 July 2007, the day after 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack, was in danger of being cancelled. Instead, the filming was announced via the local media to warn the public that there would be a controlled explosion, and not another terrorist attack. [5]

[edit] Cast notes

William Hughes, who plays the Graingers' son, previously appeared as the eight-year-old version of the Master in the 2007 Doctor Who episode The Sound of Drums.

[edit] Reception

Broadcast at 9pm on BBC 2 on Jauary 23, 2008, the episode achieved 3.4 million viewers, a 14% share, "a solitary share point" down on the share of the season 2 debut episode on January 17, according to The Guardian's report of overnight returns.[6] BARB later listed the episode as BBC2's top audience draw for week ending 27 January, 2008, on a certified estimate of 3.78 million viewers including timeshift.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ www.torchwood.co.uk - Police Incident Report. BBC (2008-01-23). Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  2. ^ www.torchwood.co.uk - Police Incident Report. BBC (2008-01-23). Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  3. ^ www.torchwood.co.uk - Police Incident Report. BBC (2008-01-23). Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  4. ^ a b BBC - Press Office (10 January 2008). "Week 4 Unplaced". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-01-10.
  5. ^ "Torchwood Declassified". 2. 2008-01-24. No. 2.
  6. ^ Crimewatch mugs ratings rivals, January 24, 2007, The Guardian
  7. ^ BARB Weekly Viewing Summary, Terrestrial Top 30, BBC2, week ending 27 January, 2008

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
Torchwood series 2 episodes
"Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" • "Sleeper" • "To the Last Man" • "Meat" • "Adam" • "Reset" • "Dead Man Walking" • "A Day in the Death" • "Something Borrowed" • "From Out of the Rain" • "Adrift" • "Fragments" • "Exit Wounds"