Writer James Moran takes Jack and Ianto to Serenity Plaza, exclusive gated community. It’s very much Stepford Wives meets that X-files episode where Mulder & Scully pretend to be married (Arcadia). Neither of these are bad ideas and perhaps nowhere as bad as moving to Serenity Plaza to look for aliens! Welcome to Torchwood: Serenity!

Serene or not?

Serenity is great fun to listen to as Ianto and Jack explore the world of barbecue, best kept lawns and later a little extra-marital dalliance as required. It’s obviously a great one for the cast and the story gets nicely dark just when it needs to.

Of course the alien hunt is just a MacGuffin for a chance to have Ianto and Jack explore their relationship. This brings some interesting moments in an entertaining story that, perhaps, doesn’t bear deep analysis. To work the idea is Jack and Ianto have lived there for some weeks. I can’t quite go for this as other Torchwood business must surely have arisen, and if Ianto spends his days getting to know the neighbours, who is making the coffee?

Overall Serenity is fun and well worth a listen.