Adrift - Torchwood 2.11

In which Gwen Cooper is approached by her old colleague, PC Andy Davidson, to help him look into the case of a missing person - a boy named Jonah Bevan. Gwen discovers that there have been many disappearances, which she suspects were due to the Space / Time Rift running through Cardiff. On checking CCTV of Jonah's last known movements, her fears are conformed as she witnesses him vanish in a flash of light. Tosh confirms that the disappearance occurred just as the Rift demonstrated a negative reaction - something the team had always put down to the equivalent of an aftershock following an earthquake. The team are used to dealing with things coming through the Rift into the city, but Gwen becomes worried about it taking people away. She approaches Jack for help in investigating further, but he seems reluctant to do so, and advises her not to waste time following this up. Andy then introduces Gwen to Jonah's mother, Nikki, who runs a support group for relatives of missing people, and she sees the scale and emotional impact of the problem.

Gwen becomes obsessed by her investigation, frustrated by Jack's insistence that she forget about it. Her work starts to put a strain on her relationship with Rhys, and things are not helped when Andy confesses that he has always been in love with her, and is jealous of her husband. This is why he did not attend her wedding. Gwen goes to the Hub late one night, and walks in on Jack and Ianto making love. Jack again refuses to help her, but Ianto gives her some GPS co-ordinates - which lead her to Flat Holm Island, which lies off Cardiff Bay. Gwen goes there and discovers a secret Torchwood installation built beneath the island. Here a number of people who have been returned from the Rift are looked after by nursing staff. All have been physically and mentally scarred by the experience. Amongst them is Jonah, though he is now some 40 years older. He was badly burned when deposited on an alien world, witnessing an entire solar system burn.

Gwen decides to take Nikki to visit her son. At first she refuses to believe that this older man is Jonah, but he tells her things only her son would know. As she is about to accept him, he emits a terrible scream, and the staff reveal that he does this for 20 hours every single day - his experiences having snapped his mind. Jack appears on the island and tells Gwen that he set up this sanctuary once he took over Torchwood Three - to care for people who wash up out of the Rift after being taken by it. His view is that the relatives are better off not knowing the truth, which is why he tried to deflect Gwen away from looking into things too deeply. Later, Nikki confirms that this is how she feels. She urges Gwen never to show anyone else the island - and tells her that she wishes she had never been shown what happened to her son. At least now she has some closure, and can pack away Jonah's things from his room, knowing he will never return home. Gwen returns to her flat and is comforted by Rhys as she tells him of her investigation.

Adrift was written by Chris Chibnall, and was first broadcast on 19th March, 2008. It is very much a Gwen-heavy storyline, with a more prominent role for Tom Price's PC Andy.
Unless you count the Rift itself, there is no villain to be defeated, or alien threat to be neutralised. It is simply the story of the human consequences of the world in which Torchwood operates.
A certain section of fandom particularly rates this episode, as it features a Jack-Ianto love scene. They've kissed before, and there has been a lot of sexual badinage between them, but here we have them caught in a shirtless embrace. You wouldn't believe the number of gifs I came across researching this piece, and the sites they led me to.
For such an intimate story, and I'm not still on about Jack and Ianto, there is a small cast, with just the two main guest artists. Playing Nikki is Ruth Jones, who came to fame through her co-writing of (with James Corden), and co-starring in, the popular BBC 3 comedy series Gavin and Stacey.
The older Jonah is played by Robert Pugh, who later featured as Tony Mack in The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, and had a memorable role in Game of Thrones as the monstrous Craster (who coincidentally met his well-deserved fate at the hands of Burn Gorman's Night's Watch rebels). There are very few UK TV dramas which Pugh has not appeared in over recent years.

Overall, a rather disturbing story, which is quite heartbreaking to watch.
Things you might like to know:

• Flat Holm is a real island in the Bristol Channel off Cardiff Bay. In the past it was actually used as an isolation hospital - for people suffering from cholera.
• It was originally intended that Jonah's scream would be added later, with Pugh miming, but the actor wanted to give it a go himself. His scream then had some additional sound effects layered on top.
• Russell T Davies had been thinking of stopping the series after season two, but this episode convinced him that they should continue, but with more emotional storylines and family dynamics for the characters. This fed into what would become the third season - the single storyline of Children of Earth.
• This episode was triple-banked with two other stories - From Out Of The Rain and Fragments - which is why some of the regulars have so little to do.
• Last, but not least, an entirely gratuitous picture of Ianto, with his shirt open. The handsome devil...
  

E is for... European Controller

When the Daleks used time travel technology to change history and launch a successful invasion of the Earth in the 22nd Century, they employed human agents to govern the planet on their behalf. One of these was made Controller of the European Zone, and he was based in England. He came from a family of collaborators. One of their jobs was to ensure high productivity levels in the mines and factories where slave labour was employed. When members of a resistance unit stole a Dalek time travel machine in order to create their own, the Controller was tasked with tracking them down and destroying them. He argued with the Daleks about the best approach to take with these guerrilla fighters, preferring more subtle approaches to ensnaring them. When Jo Grant was accidentally transported to the 22nd Century, he kept the Daleks from interrogating her - deciding that she could be talked into helping by treating her like a guest. He convinced her that the guerrillas were bloodthirsty fanatics. When the Doctor arrived in the time zone to rescue her, the Controller attempted the same approach with him, but he was not going to be fooled so easily. After the Doctor was recaptured following an escape attempt, he insisted on trying the same approach again. However, the Doctor was able to convince him that he should have been using his talents to fight the Daleks rather than collaborate with them. He saved the Controller's life when guerrilla fighters broke in to rescue him. As the Doctor was about to travel back to the 20th Century to prevent this time-line from ever having existed, the Controller allowed him to evade capture, having taken on board what the Doctor had said. For his treason, the Daleks exterminated him - but he told them before he died that, in letting the Doctor escape, he had probably just helped destroy them.

Played by: Aubrey Woods. Appearances: Day of the Daleks (1972).

• One of Woods' earliest screen roles was opposite the British horror movie icon Tod Slaughter - playing "Daft Jamie" in his version of the Burke and Hare tale called The Greed of William Hart (1948). The US version is called Horror Maniacs.
• When he passed away in 2013, it was his role as Bill, the candy store owner, in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory that was noted by the media.

E is for... Ettis

A rebellious miner from the planet of Peladon. The miners were angered that membership of the Federation was not making their lives better, whilst the nobles at court were prospering. As resentment grew towards open rebellion, Ettis was a firebrand, wanting to overthrow the nobles by force and to expel the Federation staff from his world - but the miners' leader, Gebek, advocated a more peaceful approach. Ettis decided to lead a force to capture the Federation arsenal, against Gebek's wishes. The attack was a failure, as the weapons store was protected. Ettis then attacked the control centre where he forced Alpha Centauri to deactivate the defences after threatening Sarah Jane Smith. He also seized the sonic cannon - intended for mining work - and used it to seal the Doctor in a cavern just as the spirit of Aggedor appeared. This vision had been striking down miners, leading them to believe that their gods were angry with the Federation presence. Gebek rescued the Doctor in time. When Ice Warrior troops arrived on the planet and declared martial law, Gebek and the Doctor got the miners and nobles to work together in order that the Martians would have no cause to stay on the planet. Ettis was enraged by what he saw as capitulation by his colleagues, so he took the sonic cannon to a cave overlooking the citadel, determined to destroy it. The Doctor tracked him there and the two men fought. Ettis overpowered the Doctor and activated the cannon - not realising that it had been sabotaged by the Ice Warrior Commander Azaxyr. He was killed as it self destructed.

Played by: Ralph Watson. Appearances: The Monster of Peladon (1974).

• Watson had previously appeared as Captain Knight in The Web of Fear - the role which Nicholas Courtney was originally to have played. He later appeared as lighthouse keeper Ben in The Horror of Fang Rock.

E is for... Etta

Wife of the Varosian miner Arak. She enjoyed watching the various punishments which were screened on their TV by way of entertainment, as a means of social control. There was little love lost between husband and wife, and Etta was prepared to denounce her partner when he employed her vote against the sitting Governor. When the Doctor brought the broadcasts to an end, Etta was amongst many who wondered what the future would hold for the planet.

Played by: Sheila Reid. Appearances: Vengeance on Varos (1985).

• Reid is probably best known for playing the cantankerous chain-smoking, mobility scooter-riding Madge in the first eight series of ITV comedy Benidorm. More recently, she was seen as Clara Oswald's gran in The Time of the Doctor and Dark Water.

E is for... Eternals

A race of immortal beings who exist outside space and time in the wastes of eternity. They had long ago exhausted their imaginations, and so relied on ephemeral beings, such as humans, to provide entertainment and diversion for them. One of their amusements was a race around the solar system in a range of ships created from the minds of captured sailors from throughout Earth's history. Planets would act as marker buoys. The goal of the race was to attain Enlightenment - knowledge of all things, which would recharge their empty existence. The race would be overseen by the Black and White Guardians. The White Guardian directed the Doctor to land the TARDIS on the sailing ship belonging to Captain Striker. he and his officers - including Mr Marinner - were Eternals, though the bulk of the crew were humans who had had their minds altered to accept sailing through space. Marriner became infatuated with Tegan. A number of the ships taking part in the race were destroyed, and the Doctor suspected sabotage. The Doctor's other companion, Turlough, was at this time under the control of the Black Guardian. Condemned to stay on the ship for all eternity for having failed to kill the Doctor, he threw himself overboard. he was rescued by the pirate Captain Wrack, another Eternal.

She had allied herself with the Black Guardian, and was being helped to sabotage the other ships through small red crystals planted on the vessels, which could harness destructive powers. One such crystal was hidden in Tegan's tiara after she attended a party on Wrack's ship with the Doctor, who wanted to try and rescue Turlough. The crystal was thrown overboard. When it looked like Wrack was going to win the race, the Doctor cast her and her First Mate, Mansell, overboard. The Eternals were all sent by the White Guardian back to their empty wastelands, including Marriner who had wanted to stay with Tegan.
In ancient times, when the universe was still young, the Eternals had helped to banish the Carrionites  to a limbo dimension. The Doctor claimed that the Void between parallel universes was known as "The Howling" by the Eternals.

Played by: Keith Barron (Striker), Christopher Brown (Marriner), Lynda Baron (Wrack) and Leee John (Mansell). Appearances: Enlightenment (1982).

• Striker was to have been played by Peter Sallis, but he had to withdraw due to commitments on his series Last of the Summer Wine when industrial action pushed back production dates.
• Lynda Baron had previously been heard, not seen, in The Gunfighters, having sung the "Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon" which ran throughout the story. She later appeared in the 2011 story Closing Time as the Doctor's shop assistant colleague Val.
• Leee John (yes, with three "e's") was lead singer with the pop group Imagination. 
• Christopher Brown had previously featured alongside Peter Davison in a couple of episodes of All Creatures Great and Small.

E is for... Estelle

Estelle Cole was an elderly Cardiff resident who was interested in New Age beliefs. She began to investigate a piece of woodland which contained an ancient stone circle, following reports of strange lights there. Her investigations revealed the existence of Faerie-like creatures. Captain Jack Harkness took his colleague Gwen Cooper to a lecture which Estelle presented on what she had witnessed. She was convinced the creatures were benign, but Jack warned her that this was not the case. At her home, Gwen noticed photographs of Gwen with Jack, but from 40 years before. Estelle believed that Jack was the son of the man who had once been her lover, but Gwen guessed the truth. That night, the Torchwood team identified a freak patch of torrential rainfall centred directly over Estelle's home. She had gone outside to fetch her cat, after hearing strange noises in the garden. By the time the team arrived, Estelle was dead - drowned in her own back garden by the Faeries to protect their secrets.

Played by: Eve Pearce. Appearances: TW 1.5: Small Worlds.

E is for... Ergon

The Doctor described the Ergon as one of Omega's less successful experiments in psychosynthesis, resembling as it did a tall skeletal chicken. Like the Gellguards before it, the Ergon was created by Omega's will to act as a tool for him. It was armed with a matter converter weapon which was used to capture people who might be of use to the Time Lord, transferring them to his TARDIS and converting them to a stable state. It could also read minds for him, as when it identified Tegan as a former companion of the Doctor. The creature was destroyed when its own weapon was used against it.

Played by: Malcolm Harvey. Appearances: Arc of Infinity (1983).