So tonight we had the first episode of series two of Torchwood. I have to say, on first watching, it still didn’t exactly blow me away, although it was certainly better than it was in series one.

James Marsters as Captain John Hart was good in the guest star role, but to be honest it felt a bit light on plot – once Marsters had appeared and his relationship to Jack had been established, it was basically a run around Cardiff looking for the mysterious canisters that Captain John was looking for.

Captain John double-crossed the Torchwood team, and then discovers he’s been double-crossed as well and the canisters only contain a trap – a trap into which he also sucks Gwen.

Having said that, perhaps the plot wasn’t really the point of this episode. As Captain John disappears he tells Jack that he’s found somebody. Jack dismisses it, but based on the trailer before the credits for the rest of the series, which again includes Marsters I’m thinking the purpose of this one was to re-establish the characters, set the slightly changed team dynamics (there is a definite feeling that they’ve been doing very well without Jack), and introduce Captain John as part of an ongoing plot arc across the series, something that has been hinted at in some of the pre-publicity.

One final little comment to consider if you watch the repeat showing of the episode though, in this months SFX James Marsters claims that John Barrowman is a better kisser than Sarah Michelle Gellar…