"There was a light, a tiny speck of light and I was rushing towards it, like down a corridor, and it got brighter, and brighter, then suddenly there were these gates... these big,pearly gates and there was this old geezer and he said, "You've been a very naughty boy!"
Episode 20 : Dead Man Walking.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Ianto Jones, and Martha Jones.
Air Date: 20th February 2008.
Owen has died. Jack decides to return him to life for a few minutes. No one could have guessed the consequences.
Owen has been shot dead. Jack decides to seek the aid of a psychic girl who guides him to the location of the second resurrection glove whilst hinting that it would be unwise (use shows us the tarot card Death). Jack has to enter an abandoned church now used by a large number of Weevils to recover it. When used on Owen it brings him back but keeps him around, a walking talking corpse. Unfortunately this has allowed the entity Death to enter the mortal world and begin a killing spree to allow it to remain.
This story is a bit of a strange departure but I kind of like it anyway. I find it odd that the entity of Death is a real thing. It doesn't quite fit the Whoniverse but at the same time it does. Death appears as a skeletal figure sheathed in a black fog and drains the life out of it's victims leaving them looking like they died of old age. It is hinted at this is the shape moving in the dark that has been mentioned before when someone has been killed and revived. Maybe it was this and not Abaddon? It also implies strongly that there is an afterlife even though throughout Doctor Who we are told (admittedly by the Doctor who may not know any different) that there is no such thing. If there is then it sheds a dark light over the whole universe when you consider how many people have died during the Doctor's adventures. And do Daleks and the like go there too?
Ultimately Death is defeated as it can't use Owen and he keeps the entity at bay until it is forced to return whence it came. But at the end Owen is still very much undead and walking around. This version of immortality is very different to Jack's. Owen doesn't degenerate but he retains any injuries now caused to him and suffers the problem of not being able to eat, drink, sleep, have sex or use the bathroom. It is more a living hell really than immortality. At this point I am beginning to reconsider the show somewhat. We are told that Torchwood is about protecting mankind and preparing them for the future when in fact, as you look back, the underlying theme of nearly everything in the show (past and future) is death.
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