Torchwood Season 2 Episode 10 From Out of the Rain

Torchwood From Out of the Rain 10/13

After the old cinema "Electro" re-opens, the old scenes of a black and white flick are interrupted by mysterious sequences which show a travelling company in the early 20th Century before the age of cinema. The Ghostmaker (the leader of the company) and Pearl ("the mermaid woman"), once captured on film, manage to escape that film. Ianto witnesses the escape, noticing that two characters have suddenly disappeared from the film, and informs Captain Jack Harkness. The escaped characters start roaming the streets of Cardiff.

They steal the last breath of innocent people, keeping their breath in a silver flask, leaving the victims only half alive with a heartbeat, but no breath. Torchwood starts investigating the casualties and begin research on these old traveling companies. Jack used to be a member on one of the companies, performing the act of "the man who couldn't die". He tells of the "Night Travellers", who only perform during night.

The ghosts begin to bring all their other travelling carnival fellows to our reality at the old cinema but, finally, it occurs to Jack that, being filmed again, the loosened entities may be recaptured onto celluloid. Effectively, Jack manages to achieve this with a home movie camera, filming all phantasmagoric creatures. He exposes the reel to the sun then, vanishing the carnival ghosts forever. However, for its last act before disappearing, the Ghostmaker throws the open silver flask and, despite Ianto's quick catch, most human souls are lost in the air so the coma-like affected victims of Cardiff die, except a child. The silver flask ends stored by Jack, into his safe at Torchwood.

Though the threat of the Night Travellers have been stopped now, Jack speculates that there could be more films with their ghosts trapped inside, confirmed by a scene at a boot-sale where a man and his son purchase an old film reel. The metal case of the film is briefly opened and back at the Hub, Jack hears a sliver of the Night Traveller's carnival music.