For the final detour into Torchwood before returning to Doctor Who, today’s retrospective focuses on They Keep Killing Suzie, the eighth episode of the series. Written by Paul Tomalin and Dan McCulloch, and directed by James Strong, this is one of the most memorable Torchwood stories, and one that left a significant impact upon its first broadcast. With a blend of psychological horror, moral ambiguity, and an unsettlingly tragic villain, it was a standout in Season 1. However, revisiting it in 2025, does it still hold up?
The episode revolves around the return of Suzie Costello, played by Indira Varma, who was originally killed in the series premiere after betraying Torchwood. Through the use of the Resurrection Glove—an alien artifact that revives the dead temporarily—Suzie is brought back to life to assist in solving a series of murders seemingly connected to her. However, things take a dark turn when it becomes clear that Suzie had planned for this moment all along, manipulating Torchwood from beyond the grave.
What makes They Keep Killing Suzie so compelling is its slow, creeping horror. Unlike other Torchwood episodes that focus on external threats, this story is about paranoia, control, and the lingering consequences of past mistakes. The way Suzie slowly regains control, draining Gwen’s life force to sustain her own existence, is deeply unsettling. Indira Varma delivers a haunting performance, playing Suzie as a woman who is both pitiable and terrifying. She does not rage or cackle like a traditional villain—her menace is quiet, calculated, and disturbingly intimate.
Gwen Cooper, once again serving as the emotional core of the show, finds herself trapped in Suzie’s web. Her empathy, often her greatest strength, becomes her vulnerability. Watching her body weaken as Suzie grows stronger is a chilling metaphor for toxic relationships—Suzie is feeding off Gwen’s compassion, twisting it to serve her own ends. By the time Gwen realizes she has been manipulated, it is almost too late.
Jack Harkness, ever the pragmatist, is placed in an impossible situation. His relationship with Suzie is complex; she was once his second-in-command, someone he trusted, and yet she betrayed him in the worst possible way. His frustration at being outmaneuvered by a woman who has been dead for months is evident, and John Barrowman’s performance captures the tension beautifully. There is a sense of deep exhaustion in Jack during this episode—his attempts to control the chaos are met with increasing failure, reinforcing the idea that Torchwood is always one step away from falling apart.
The episode also explores Torchwood’s lack of accountability. The fact that Suzie was able to manipulate events from beyond the grave, orchestrating her resurrection and subsequent escape, speaks volumes about the organization’s flaws. The team, for all their experience, are reactive rather than proactive, often failing to see the bigger picture until it is too late. Torchwood’s reliance on alien technology, particularly the Resurrection Glove, comes back to bite them yet again, highlighting how dangerous their unchecked experimentation truly is.
One of the episode’s most unnerving moments comes in the final act when Suzie, nearly unkillable, continues to recover from every gunshot wound. The fear in the team’s eyes as they realize they have created something unstoppable is genuinely gripping. The final solution—cutting off the Glove’s power by literally shutting off life support—is both clever and poetic, ensuring that Suzie’s second chance at life is taken away by her own manipulations.
So, does They Keep Killing Suzie hold up in 2025? The answer is a resounding yes. While Torchwood’s early episodes were often inconsistent, this one remains as gripping as ever. The psychological horror, the morally complex characters, and the eerie sense of inevitability make it one of the strongest entries in the series. It is an episode that lingers long after the credits roll, a testament to how Torchwood could tell stories that Doctor Who never could. As the last Torchwood episode in this rewatch before returning to the main show with The Runaway Bride, it serves as a perfect reminder of the spin-off’s strengths—dark, bold, and unafraid to explore the ugliest parts of human nature.
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