Torchwood review: Sargasso features Rhys battling the Autons

In a sea of plastic debris, Rhys Williams finds himself up against a very old and dangerous Doctor Who monster, in this month’s Torchwood episode Sargasso.

As well as the final volume of God Among Us, this week also saw the release of the latest installment in Torchwood‘s monthly range, Sargasso. And, like previous episodes in recent months, it features a Torchwood character going up against a Doctor Who monster. In this case, the Autons.

What stands out about this particular encounter is that it’s not an official member of the team who gets caught up in this adventure, but Gwen’s husband Rhys Williams. Rhys has always been “the average guy” of the show – the one who doesn’t quite belong in that world but, through being married to someone like Gwen, always finds himself caught up in it.

This is especially true of Sargasso. He doesn’t find himself facing plastic monsters through helping Torchwood out, but by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. As such, what’s interesting about this episode is that Rhys has no clue what he’s fighting. He learns bits and pieces about it over the course of the story, but not much. It’s interesting having a story where the audience knows far more about a monster than the main character does.

Old monsters, new take

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We’re also given a fresh take on the Autons in this story. With Rhys being out at sea, there are no plastic dummies that he and fellow surviving passenger Kaitlin go up against. Instead, they come across a huge mass of plastic waste. As such, we’re introduced to a lot of brand new ways for the Nestene Consciousness to attack.

Writer Christopher Cooper does a great job of giving us a fresh take on a monster that’s so familiar to Doctor Who fans. Sargasso isn’t a retread of the typical Auton invasion story that we got with Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons or even Rose. (All of which are fantastic stories, by the way.)

Sargasso is more of a survival horror, as Rhys struggles to find ways of fighting back against something unlike anything he’s ever fought before. Focusing on him just trying to survive, as well as bonding with Kaitlin as they try to find out what’s going on, makes Sargasso rather refreshing, especially as an Auton story. The fact that, like earlier release The Green Life, it has a strong environmental message also helps to make it stand out.

Sargasso is a darker and mature take on a much-loved Doctor Who monster, and is a strong story to end the great run we’ve had over the past few months with Torchwood versus Monsters.

Are you a fan of the Autons? Do you think they work well in a Torchwood story? Let us know in the comments below.