I'm going to be honest with you. I've never really gone for Torchwood. I understand why Russell T Davies wanted to create an adult sci-fi series - there was definitely a gap in the market for one - but every time I've tuned in I just haven't bought it. If you're going to do an adult sci-fi series do an adult sci-fi series, not just a sci-fi series that has a few swearwords and some men kissing every now and again. Do it properly. Make it really dark and complex and weird. But no, Torchwood, to my mind, has always been not much more than a Saturday teatime drama - infuriating, naff, sometimes good but mostly not. Now, in a week's time, we'll have five episodes back-to-back, one every week night. Will Children Of Earth be up to it?

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Before I start, don't worry all you Doctor Who freaks... I'm not going to give too much away. I know from experience that when you breath a whisper of plot you plunge yourself into a whole world of time travelling do-do.

What I will say is that the episode starts like most Torchwood episodes (ie. rubbish) and gets considerably better as it progresses. In the end I was left wanting more, which is always good sign when there's four more episodes to go.

The basic plot is this - there's only three of Torchwood left, but things are still weird out there and Jack still flirts with every beef bus out there. Ianto, meanwhile, is having relationship status difficulties. All this melts into the background when all the world's children stop in unison and start chanting weird slogans ("we are coming", or something like that). This attracts the attention of John Frobisher (played by a quivering Peter Capaldi, although you keep expecting him to launch into a potty-mouthed put-down every minute a la Thick Of It), a civil servant who's in charge of the Ministry Of Shady Goings On and Cover-Ups. He's so scared by all this kid stuff, he decides he wants Jack and the team dead.

In comes this dominatrix type assassin woman (corny) and some big explosions all, erm, explode. So it's quite an adventure, but like most of Doctor Who, the kids all speaking at the same time and trying to look scary just aren't scary at all. They look like kids all speaking at the same time, staring into the distance (apart from one young girl in the trailer who's got it down to a tee. Have a look here if you don't believe me).

What's nice about this episode is that we get to see some of Jack's family, and some of Ianto's family. You sense that some quite big things might happen to Jack and Ianto in this five-episode run, so this background info will help to ratchet up the emotion if and when it does.

So pretty much a success then. Not brilliant (I don't think Torchwood will or can ever be brilliant), but fairly enjoyable. Starts next Monday.