Torchwood One review: The Rockery is a bittersweet and emotional ending to Latter Days

Torchwood One boss Yvonne Hartman has faced many challenges. But The Rockery presents her with perhaps her greatest yet: her mother…

Torchwood One: Latter Days ends perfectly with The Rockery. While the previous two episodes had more or less been typical problems for Torchwood to deal with, in The Rockery, Yvonne has a far bigger challenge, one that she might not be able to deal with: her mother.

Tim Foley’s episode is a surprisingly low-key story. (At least, in some ways.) The story focuses on Yvonne’s mother, Anne Hartman, and her retirement to the countryside. Over time, we get an idea of her relationship with Yvonne, as well as what Anne’s like as a person.

What’s perhaps most surprising is that, in many ways, Anne is very different to her daughter. Whereas Yvonne tends to put on a nice, friendly exterior, Anne’s the kind of woman who doesn’t exactly suffer fools gladly.

However, she’s also far more genuine than her daughter. While Yvonne continues to be devious and manipulative (even with her own mother), Anne at least is generally more honest and more open. There are a few things that she finds difficult to talk about, but it’s not because she’s trying to deliberately hide anything, not in the same way that Yvonne does. Just that she is going through a rather difficult period in her life, one she finds difficult to open up about. And that’s essentially what The Rockery is really about.

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Perfect casting

When I found out that Anne was going to be played by Barbara Flynn, I practically punched the air. I couldn’t think of anyone better to play Yvonne’s mother. She was fantastic as Fitz’s long-suffering wife in the brilliant UK crime series Cracker, and she’s just as brilliant playing the long-suffering mother of Yvonne Hartman. (Well, maybe “long-suffering” is an exaggeration in this case. Maybe “mildly to greatly annoyed” would be more accurate.)

A great character like Anne needs a great actress, so it’s fantastic to see Flynn take on this role. Especially when the script is this good. As the episode goes on, we see more and more sides to Anne revealed. We find out how vulnerable she really is – and how her daughter is affected by it.

The episode has a very bittersweet ending, one that you can see coming from a long way off. Don’t worry, it’s not meant to be a surprise. But the moment you start hearing about a new widespread phenomenon, you know exactly how this story will end. In more ways than one…

The Rockery isn’t the most epic or exciting episode of Torchwood One. But it’s a beautiful character piece, one that gives us fantastic performances from both Tracy-Ann Oberman and Barbara Flynn (although it should be noted that Michael Maloney is also great as the extremely nice William). Possibly the best out of a very strong set of episodes, and indeed, maybe the whole of Torchwood One.

Which member of Torchwood would you like to know more about? Whose background should be explored in more detail in a later audio? Let us know in the comments below.