From creator Russell T Davies, the fourth series of Torchwood finally arrives in the UK tomorrow night, introducing a host of brand new characters.

“One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging – they get hurt and sick – but they never die.”

> Pre-order the DVD on Amazon.

> Pre-order the Blu-ray on Amazon.

Episode 1, ‘The New World’, airs at 9pm on Thursday 14th July on BBC One.

Here’s our verdict on Miracle Day‘s newcomers…

Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins) has the toughest gig. Blond, American and perky, she’s clearly meant to be the gateway character to bring the incoming US viewers up to speed on all things Torchwood. However, it’s because of that that she’s saddled with a horrific amount of exposition dumps, mainly to explain who Gwen is (RTD is resolutely – and rightly – steadfastly loyal to Eve Myles, refusing to bump her importance in favour of anyone who might not be able to understand her accent).

This means that in Episode 1 she’s not allowed to do much more than ask questions, look confused, run away from good-looking men, forget important plot details (yes, really) and get chucked out of windows. She tries very hard, but all the interesting stuff is given to everyone else. It’s likely that as the episode ends, hers will not be the character you remember.

Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer) fares much better than his CIA colleague, despite beginning the day by getting himself involved in a painful, fatal road accident. Since he finds himself unable to die, he spends most of the rest of the episode wincing and grimacing manfully (perhaps he’d belatedly discovered how little actors working on a UK production normally get paid) before collapsing at Gwen Cooper’s feet.

His go-get-‘em attitude provides him with much of the best dialogue, including the sequence where he’s clearly more upset and confused by Wales than he is by his own enforced immortality and a very neat sleight of hand which manages to explain why the CIA bother to get Torchwood involved rather than their own experts. At first glance he’s a ‘shoot first’ type of character, but Rex is written (and performed) more intelligently than that, with the added weight that, in the main cast, he is one of the walking dead – setting up a potential dilemma when a reversal for the miracle is inevitably discovered.

Dr. Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur) comes with the attitude and funk of having watched too much Grey’s Anatomy, and it’s clear that RTD is much at home writing for her than for CIA agent Esther. Even exposition sounds much more natural from her mouth and so it’s to her that we turn to ask the audience’s ‘but why/how/when’ questions.

This is mainly because she provides the moral fibre to the show – it’s she that raises the question of the logistics of a murder charge when murder itself is impossible and also she that voices concerns when Captain Jack wants to chop a body up into smaller bits to test if it can die. Certainly a shoe-in for a series regular when this Day comes to a close, Dr. Juarez is smart, independent and probably the only character genuinely able to pull Jack up short.

Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) is clearly the ‘big name’ draw for the more casual viewer, unused to Torchwood. It’s quite clear that he’ll be a major player in the forthcoming episodes, so very wisely, his appearances are rationed out in Episode 1 – he doesn’t even get any dialogue before his execution.

Speaking of which, since he’s the most high-profile ‘survivor’, the convicted paedophile and child-killer’s (relatively few) appearances throughout the episode exude both menace and charm, like an unholy cross between Hannibal Lector and Pullman’s own president from Independence Day. When he does get to speak, his voice is drawling, serene and given to crawling up initially confusing conversational cul-de-sacs. It’s likely that the resolution of Miracle Day will hinge on whatever happens to this character.

Watch the BBC One trailer for Miracle Day…

> Follow us on Twitter to get the latest Torchwood teasers and reviews first.