Torchwood/Recap/S2 E10 From Out of the Rain

Gwen, Owen and Ianto go to the movies. It's a classic theatre where old silent film reels are shown.

Instead of the film that was supposed to play, they instead see clips of old freak show acts. One of the performers is Jack, who once made a living by shooting himself in the head over and over.

The projectionist is appropriately freaked out by this new film suddenly appearing. Torchwood takes the reels back to the Hub. Jack recognizes some of the performers from the old days, but notices that some others were never in his own freak show gang. Also, Ianto realizes that some people have disappeared from the reels: the hammy MC, and a woman named "Pearl", who performed as a human mermaid. Jack realizes what's happening: the Night Circus, an old hushed legend, was trapped on that film and is now freed.

The MC and Pearl traipse about town, stealing people's breath and rendering them comatose. The reason: by trapping these people's souls, they can have an eternal loyal audience.

Owen realizes he's immune to the MC (he has no breath to steal) and tries to capture him. Ianto secures the vial containing the victims' souls, but he only manages to save one of them. All of the villains escape from the reel, but Jack films them and exposes the film to sunlight, killing them again.

The moral: don't neglect the old film reels in your attic, because they could contain murderous clowns.