TW #24 : Adrift

"The scream lasts twenty hours every day. Before the rift returned him, Jonah had looked into the heart of a dark star. What he'd seen had driven him mad."

Episode 24 :            Adrift.
Companions:           Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:                 19th March 2008.

When a local teenager disappears, Gwen is drawn into an investigation that reveals a darker side to Torchwood. Hundreds of people have disappeared without a trace, but Jack is obstructing attempts to find them. The answer seems to lie in the Rift - literally - and as Gwen follows the trail, she makes a shocking discovery.

As the description above shows, Adrift is quite a simple story. What Gwen finds out during the course of the story, when not being given the cold shoulder by Jack, is that the Cardiff rift doesn't just deposit the strange and unusual into the streets of the city but it also snatches people away to somewhere, anywhere, in time and space. Seventeen of these people have been returned over the years but they never return intact. They come back scarred, both physically and mentally, and for their own benefit they have to be locked away in a remote location. It is the sort of story that Torchwood needed at this time. We see a lot of strange adventures in the show but we rarely see the repercussions of the Cardiff rift's existence.

Adrift is a story that gives Gwen plenty of screen time as well as PC Andy Davidson, a little used police colleague of hers. The episode revolves around her investigation. It seems that most episodes like this center on Jack or Gwen, and it would be nice to see everyone else get some more of the screen time.

The episode is more in keeping with the sort of episodes that I wish there had been more of during the early years of the show rather than the typical monster hunt episodes. As I mentioned we rarely see the consequences or after effects of the adventures we watch every week in the Whoniverse. In Doctor Who the titular character vanishes off after seeing the climax of his adventure but Torchwood is fixed to a single location and yet we never see the consequences. 

TW #16 : To The Last Man

Jack: [draws a line on a piece of paper] Linear time. [balls the piece of paper up] Screwed up time. Imagine your life is a straight line, from birth to death. Now, try drawing that line on the paper without flattening it out.

Gwen: It's impossible.

Jack: That's why we gotta stop it.

Episode 16:     To The Last Man.
Companions:   Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:         23rd January 2008. 

Once a year, for a single day, Tommy Brockless is defrosted in the Torchwood hub to make sure he's still working. He is kept alive until the day he is needed, when ghosts appear at a hospital and it is clear that the time has come.

Much like Greeks Bearing Gifts in season one, To The Last Man focuses on Toshiko above all other regular characters. She has fallen in love with Tommy Brockless, a soldier from the first world war but must deal with the fact that he must return to the past and die so that the present and the future can be saved. As a science fiction troupe it is nothing new but the episode is well written and perfectly acted out to carry the emotional resonance that it needs. The only issue with this particular story is that it doesn't explain the how and why of Tommy's initial crossing over which makes the loop a paradox. But hey, this the Whoniverse and such events seem to be common place.

The ghosts that are sighted are phantom images of the nurses and patients at the soldier's hospital in 1918 where Tommy was taken from by early Torchwood team members. There is some interaction but I really felt that the "ghostly" encounters could have carried a more frightening countenance than what they did. Although it is a love story for the most part, a hint of the horror of the Great War via the "ghosts" would have improved the story immensely much like they did in Ghost Machine.

To The Last Man is one of the more interesting episodes of this season and worth a watch.

TW #14 : Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

Jack: So, how was rehab?

John: Rehabs. Plural.

Jack: Drink, drugs, sex and ...?

John: Murder.

Jack: [laughs] You went to murder rehab?

John: I know. Ridiculous. The odd kill, who does it hurt?

Captain John Hart, an old friend of Jack's, appears through the Rift, and causes problems for the Torchwood team.

Episode 14:   Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang..
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:       16th January 2008.

Torchwood kicks off it's second season with an interesting start. The Torchwood team are visited by an old associate and lover of Jack's, a former time agent known as Captain John Hart. The new arrival is a violent amoral individual with as big a sense of overt sexuality as Jack's. After committing murder for no real reason, he lures the Torchwood team out with stories of hidden radiation bombs and then tries to bump them off without knowing that Jack cannot die. Ultimately he is found out and sent back through the Rift although he drops hints of something to Jack - "By the way, I found Gray" - before disappearing.

Captain Jack has returned from his sojourn with the Doctor and Martha, and must try to fit back in with his team who are understandably upset about being ditched. There is no indication just how long he was gone but it must have been many months or maybe up to a year but the feel of things. Without the friction of his return I don't think the season would have kicked off as well.

Captain John Hart is played by James Marsters who is more known for playing the vampire Spike in the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer show. I'm quite a fan of that particular role although I do feel Spike is channeled a bit too much in his role as John Hart. Marsters was a great choice for the role though in my opinion. I can't think of many other actors who could pull off that role quite as well.

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang is a good start to the season but suffers from a definitive lack of plot. The episode feels more like a filler designed to set up events later in the series rather than a full season opener. It also continues the elements of silliness appearing more and more in the modern Whoniverse. For example it starts up with the Torchwood team chasing a fish-headed alien in a sports car through the streets of Cardiff, stopping briefly to let an old lady cross the road. Really? It doesn't even look very good and the scene is just silly.

TW #13 : End of Days

"And I heard but did not understand and I said, 'Master, what is the end of all things?' And he said, 'Go, Daniel, for the things are closed up and sealed until the end of time.'" Daniel 12, verse 10.

Episode 13:   End of Days.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:       1st January 2007.

The Rift is open and beings from all the periods of time are seeping through. What exactly does Bilis Manger know and what lurks in the rift? Can Jack save the world?

Season one of Torchwood comes to a mighty climax with an excellent ending. Bilis Manger has manipulated the team and following the events of the previous episode manages to use the Cardiff rift to orchestrate the return of Abaddon, the son of the Great Beast (see The Satan Pit) who appears to have been sealed away somewhere. Freed the monster strides across Cardiff and wherever his shadow falls people die.

First off I am going to point out something that does grate on my nerves with the current Whoniverse. In recent years there have been too many major events where there is no chance for anyone (other than Donna Noble it seems) to have missed it. Classic Who never did this. Lots of little things and events that could be covered up. The 21st century may be when everything changes but personally I find it a bit much. Especially as these events rarely get mentioned again despite being huge occurrences for the world.

Despite that we have here a really good episode and some excellent closure for events that have taken place this season. Jack's immortality is revealed to the rest of the team, the team themselves seem to have a moment where their past transgressions are forgiven and you get a sense that maybe, just maybe everything will be ok now even though we know it won't be.

Using Abaddon is a nice tie in to Doctor Who and we have had such few connections really considering this is a spin off set in the same universe. I just wish he had received more and useful screen time. 

At the end of the episode we hear a familiar whirring groaning noise and Jack takes off in a rush before anyone realizes where he has gone. It ties in to the end of the next Doctor Who series but with a small and probably forgotten at the time continuity issue.

Sadly the following seasons of Torchwood never live up this first season which I think is a real shame as it had potential to be a good adult version of Doctor Who. 

TW #12 : Captain Jack Harkness

"He would have been so proud that you took his name. 'Cause here you are, saving the world. To Captain Jack."

Episode 12:   Captain Jack Harkness.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:       1st January 2007.

Investigating reports of ghostly music, Jack and Toshiko find themselves stranded in a packed dance hall — in 1941. As Gwen, Owen and Ianto work to rescue their colleagues, Jack and Toshiko meet a handsome young American squadron leader by the name of Captain Jack Harkness.

In this episode we learn something of the back story behind our captain Jack. Drawn to strange reports in an abandoned dance hall Jack and Tosh find themselves back in the 1940's at the height of the second world war. There they encounter the real Jack Harkness whose identity was taken by our protagonist as well as a strange man named Bilis who seems able to time travel at will between the 1940's and modern day.

For an episode where nothing really happens this is an excellent and entertaining story. The two sides of Torchwood in different years trying to contact each other so theat Jack and Tosh can get home is well written and again it leads to dissension in the ranks as to how to get them home which comes to blows between Ianto and Owen. The brief romance between the two Jack's is also a nice touch. I know a few people who complained that it was Russell T Davis pushing the gay agenda once more but really I don't understand that attitude.

The character of Bilis Manger is introduced here in preparation for the following story. The actor portraying him does a wonderful job of showcasing a strange and disturbing figure with unexplained powers.

Ultimately as good an episode as this is it is purely a set up for the final episode of Torchwood's first season.

TW #10 : Out of Time

John: Good God!

Ianto: Welcome to the wonderful world of scantily-clad celebrities.

John: There are children around!

Ianto: She's a children's TV presenter.

Episode 10:    Out of Time.
Companions:  Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:        17th December 2006.

When a plane from the 1950s lands in modern Cardiff, courtesy of the Rift, the passengers are reoriented by the Torchwood team, who becomes drawn closely to their lives.

Out of Time is a wonderful drama piece. You couldn't do this sort of tale in Doctor Who without adding something monstrous or science fiction to it, which would ruin it in my opinion. Torchwood handles it fantastically. The story deals with a trio who have travelled through time accidentally via air plane through the rift from the 1950's and how they adapt to living in the 21st century. For one the shock ends quickly and she makes a life for herself but things do not go well for the others.

The episode is a truly excellent piece of television before I even consider it part of the whoniverse. The episode is well written and the acting from everyone involved in spot on. The love story for Owen really adds something to his character that has been previously missing and when it doesn't turn out well for him the rest of the series takes the events of Out of Time into consideration. It isn't quietly forgotten. The reactions from the others and how times have changed for them in 60 years is wonderfully done.

Emma, the one  traveller for whom things turn out reasonably well leaves to go to London on the same day as the events of The Christmas Invasion take place. Strangely the events of that Doctor Who episode are never mentioned in Torchwood despite it being a major event.

Although there are no scary monsters or weird science fiction technobabble in this one I do feel it is one of the best Torchwood episodes we've had. If only the show had continued with this quality after the first season.

TW #1 : Everything Changes

"There you go! I can taste it! Oestrogen. Definitely oestrogen. Take the pill, flush it away, it enters the water cycle. Feminizes the fish. Goes all the way up into the sky then falls all the way back down onto me. Contraceptives in the rain. Love this planet. Still, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again."

Episode 1:     Everything Chnages.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Ianto Jones and Suzie Costello.
Air Date:       22nd October 2006.

The Torchwood Three team arrives at the scene of a brutal murder. PC Gwen Cooper's curiosity is challenged by their attitude; their approach and their technology is at odds with everything she believes in. As she investigates them, she begins to uncover a dark, mysterious and dangerous world right in the heart of Cardiff.

The Torchwood spin off series starts here. Several months on from the battle of Canary Wharf and Torchwood is now pretty much just a handful of operatives in Cardiff led by Jack Harkness. We don't know how he got back from the future but now he's in charge.

The story itself isn't actually anything specific but instead is an introduction to the Torchwood team, the Cardiff Rift and the Weevils. It has a short plot involving Suzie Costello and the murders but that won't be resolved for some time. But even so the episode is well written and the characters well described. Oddly I enjoy science fiction shows where the main characters are flawed and/or unlikeable. That pretty much covers all of them in Torchwood.

Unlike Doctor Who this show is much more adult in nature both in regards to the profanity and the sexual references. Although part of the Whoniverse which is very family friendly this format work wells as a spin off.

The episode introduces the Weevils, an aggressive almost-feral alien species that has crossed through into Cardiff via the rift. They become a regular feature of the early shows though we never learn anything about them unfortunately.

I like how this episode plays out. Utilising the Doctor Who universe to tell more grown up stories was very clever. Whatever you say about RTD's time on Doctor Who, the man can write an excellent episode.

Episode #168 : Boom Town

Margaret Blaine: Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?

The Doctor: You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet.

Margaret Blaine: Apart from that.

Episode 168:   Boom Town.
Companions:   9th Doctor, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness
Air Date:         4th June 2005.

The Ninth Doctor, and his companions, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness travel to modern-day Cardiff and meet up with Rose's boyfriend, Mickey. There, they discover that their "enemy", Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen, is very much alive, if without an easy escape route from Earth, and is willing to rip apart the planet to ensure her freedom.

Boom Town is a sequel of sorts to Aliens of London / World War Three, as we learn that one of the Slitheen escaped at the end and is now hiding out in Cardiff plotting to escape the Earth, destroying it in the process. It is a very well thought out story that touches on the morality of the Doctor. Is he willing to kill, even second hand, a relatively "harmless" enemy? This plot element would never have come up before though it becomes fairly common throughout the new series.

Other than dealing with the Slitheen survivor, the adventure sets up the heart of the TARDIS for the season finale, and the Cardiff rift again for Torchwood. References are made back to The Unquiet Dead about the rift. It's a good fun episode but does feel more like a filler to set up future elements. I had the same issue with The Long Game but at least Boom Town has a self contained story and isn't so bad.

The time travellers get their first direct impression of the Bad Wolf meme in this story. The name of a local nuclear power plant is Welsh for Bad Wolf. Blon says that the name just came to her and the companions ignore it afterwards.

Boom Town has some interesting moral instances that we don't see previously. Does the punishment fit the crime if the punishment is going to be death? Can you take an individual back to their home world knowing full well that a painful execution awaits them? I'm not sure I could and you do see the Doctor and his friends wrestling with that question.

Episode #162 : The Unquiet Dead

"I saw the Fall of Troy! World War Five! I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party! Now I'm gonna die in a dungeon...  in Cardiff!"

Episode 162:   The Unquiet Dead.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         9th April 2005.

The dead are roaming the streets of 1869 Cardiff when the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler arrive, just in time for Christmas. Teaming up with Charles Dickens, the TARDIS team encounter the Gelth, creatures sucked through the Cardiff Rift from the other end of the universe, their home lost. Surely inhabiting dead bodies is wrong, though! Can both sides be helped, or are these gaseous creatures not to be trusted?

The Unquiet Dead is an excellent story that focuses on a horror element to good effect. I've always enjoyed the horror stories in Doctor Who but the new series does it so much better. Here we have a story based featuring Charles Dickens, aliens spirit creatures animating the bodies of the dead and another reference to the Time War. Three episodes in and finally I think the new show has found its new roots with this one.

We get more interaction between the Doctor and Rose as they discuss the morality of allowing these entities to use dead human bodies to continue existing. It is a tough question and is handled well here within the confines of the story. Ultimately however the Doctor continues to come across as a little arrogant here and it is hard to like this incarnation at times.

The Bad Wolf reference here comes from the serving girl Gweneth, who has the psychic gift, who sees into the future for Rose and mentions the big bad wolf. Gweneth is played by Eve Myles who would later appear in Torchwood, which ironically is based around the very time/space rift that the alien Gelth use in this episode. I do wonder whether Torchwood was first thought up around this episode and then much later transferred into it's own show.

The Undead Quiet is a very good episode, of much better quality than the previous two. I don't think there are any faults to this one at all though more of the Gelth might have been interesting.