Torchwood One – Nightmares

#4.01. My Guest Tonight ~ 7/10

◆ An Introduction

I think we can all agree that Torchwood is at its best when it either does something experimental, or something deeply character focused. So imagine how delighted I was when Tim Foley decided to do both!

Get ready for a chat-show experience like no other.

◆ Publisher’s Summary

Many people have poured out their souls on Nigel Best's sofa. His guest tonight is Yvonne Hartman.

◆ DISCLAIMER

It was only after pre-ordering ‘I Hate Mondays’ that I was made aware of the Islamophobic and transphobic rhetoric that Tracy-Ann Oberman continues to share on social media.

For this reason, I will not be purchasing any further releases featuring Oberman. I refuse to support someone with such despicable views.

I previously covered the first four sets for TimeScales, so will be porting those reviews over to this site: each of them will carry this disclaimer. They were all written prior to May 2023. Please remember not to take any of my comments in this review about Oberman’s performance – positive or negative – as condoning her frankly awful views.

◆ Nigel Best

Most character breakdowns focus on victims of tragedy that you can feel sympathy for, but this episode focuses on a talkshow host that is rather reminiscent of Piers Morgan. ‘My Guest Tonight’ makes you sympathise with this character whilst also making you despise him. Nigel Best is far from being a black or white character, which makes him all the more interesting.

Jon Culshaw is one of the most masterful impressionists in the country, but his performance as Best reminded me of when he worked on an ITV show called Newzoids: it’s the same voice he did when portraying the puppet of Nigel Farage. The performance is excellent, but the notion of the vile former UKIP leader hosting a talkshow will definitely haunt my nightmares!

◆ Yvonne Hartman

Yvonne barely appears in this episode, but several characters encountered by Best take on her form. It’s similar to ‘Retirement Plan’ in that respect, but this is a much darker script.

Tracy-Ann Oberman delivers a fantastic performance in ‘My Guest Tonight’, taking on many guises as Yvonne walks through these mind-boggling scenarios, trying her damnedest to escort Nigel to his penance: to end his living nightmare.

◆ Story Recap

Many years ago, a strange pod fell from the skies and landed somewhere in the countryside. It was found by a young boy named Nigel Best: when he touched it, the pod passed its gift onto him… a gift which was also a curse.

Nigel was critically ill and residing in a hospice at the time, but beat all the odds when he survived. He was the only one, as his newfound gift took all the life force from the children’s ward of the hospice. He was only a kid at the time, and had no idea what his power could do.

It was only when Nigel grew up that the pod’s gift presented a problem: he became a vile talk show host that insulted and fed on the misery of his guests. He even insulted the audience! Now he’s on his deathbed, trapped in a nightmare and kept alive by his gift.

Yvonne Hartman has come to offer him penance, and possibly an end to this waking nightmare.

◆ Sound Design

‘My Guest Tonight’ is an odd beast: it features an incredibly trippy soundscape as we follow Nigel through his waking nightmare. Toby Hrycek-Robinson did a marvellous job.

We flit from scenario to scenario; canned laughter on the talkshow set suddenly fades away, as Nigel begins cracking up; someone knocks on the walls of Nigel’s bedroom as he climbs the stairs in his home. There’s also a scene where his car crashes straight into a tree which is rather violent.

◆ Conclusion

“Did he have the spark?”

Nigel Best is a talkshow host that constantly insults both his guests and members of the audience. He came across an alien pod when he was younger that passed on special powers: he can literally drain people of their hopes and dreams, drain them of their lust for life. Now he’s trapped in a waking nightmare, forced to confront the people he drained. He’s got a chance at penance, but will he take it?

Tim Foley has proven himself to be one of the finest Torchwood writers, but this episode feels like it would be more suited to the ‘Monthly Range’: the focus is barely on the Canary Wharf crew, so it makes me wonder why they’re even here?

I’ll admit that I had fun with this one. It was a dark little experimental piece, and those are always entertaining. Let’s not forget the outstanding performance Jon Culshaw gave either.