"
Sleeper" is the second
episode of the second series of British
science fiction televisionScience fiction first appeared on television during the golden age of science fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium for...
series
TorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme, created by Russell T Davies. It deals with the machinations and activities of the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, who deal mainly with incidents involving extraterrestrials...
, which was first broadcast by
BBC Two
on 23 January 2008. A specially edited
pre-watershedThe Watershed is a term used to describe a time in television schedules which divides the period when it is permissible to show television programmes which have 'adult content' from the period when it is not...
repeat was shown the following day.
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.
"
Sleeper" is the second
episode of the second series of British
science fiction televisionScience fiction first appeared on television during the golden age of science fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium for...
series
TorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme, created by Russell T Davies. It deals with the machinations and activities of the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, who deal mainly with incidents involving extraterrestrials...
, which was first broadcast by
BBC Two
on 23 January 2008. A specially edited
pre-watershedThe Watershed is a term used to describe a time in television schedules which divides the period when it is permissible to show television programmes which have 'adult content' from the period when it is not...
repeat was shown the following day.
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 agentA sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated....
’, 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 all immediately kill someone close to them - a doting husband snaps his wife's neck, a paramedic walks away from a terminal patient and a young woman simply abandons her baby to let it roll into the road - and 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 - the former 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.
Outside references
Owen calls Gwen "
Jessica FletcherJessica Fletcher is a fictional character portrayed on the American television series Murder, She Wrote by veteran Tony-winning actress Angela Lansbury. She portrayed her for 12 years on the show, and from 1997-2003 in four TV movies, giving her a 19-year run...
", the lead character from television series
Murder, She WroteMurder, She Wrote was an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for twelve seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series, The Law & Harry McGraw...
.
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 attackThe 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack occurred on Saturday 30 June 2007, at 15:11 BST, when a dark green Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters was driven into the glass doors of the Glasgow International Airport terminal and set ablaze...
, 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.
Cast notes
William Hughes, who plays the Graingers' son, previously appeared as the eight-year-old version of the
MasterThe Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
in the 2007
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
episode "
The Sound of Drums"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
".
Derek Lea, who plays the Sleeper Agent/Paramedic; also appears as a worker being examined by
Martha JonesDr Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler in the primary companion role...
at the ATMOS factory in the 2008
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
episode "
The Sontaran Stratagem"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008. The episode features the return of former companion Martha Jones, as well as the return of the alien Sontarans to the series. It...
" and as a taxi driver in "
Partners in Crime"Partners in Crime" is the first episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 April 2008. The episode reintroduced comedienne Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, who previously appeared in "The Runaway Bride"...
".
Reception
Broadcast at 9pm on BBC 2 on January 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 GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
's report of overnight returns. 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
timeshiftTime shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts....
.