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{{Infobox Torchwood|
{{title dab away}}
story name = Fragments|
{{real world}}
image = [[Image:Meet the family.jpg|300px]]|
{{ImageLinkTV}}
series= [[Torchwood]] - [[List of Torchwood television stories|TV Stories]] |
{{Infobox Story SMW
series number=[[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]]|
|image                = FragmentsTW1.jpg
number= 25 |
|series                = ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''
enemy= Captain [[John Hart]]<br>[[Blowfish]]<br>[[Milton (Fragments)|Milton]]<br>[[Weevil]]<br>Tuma alien|
|season number        = Series 2 (Torchwood)
writer= [[Chris Chibnall]]|
|series episode number = 12
director = [[Jonathan Fox Bassett]]|
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/torchwood-2-episode-12-fragments-green-revisions-15102007.pdf
producer = |
|main character        = [[Jack Harkness|Jack]], [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]], [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]], [[Owen Harper|Owen]]
broadcast date= [[21st March]] [[2008]] |
|featuring            = Gwen Cooper
previous story = [[Adrift]] |
|featuring2            = Rhys Williams
next story = [[Exit Wounds]] }}
|featuring3            = Alice Guppy
|featuring4            = Emily Holroyd
|featuring5            = Myfanwy
|featuring6            = Alex Hopkins
|featuring7            = Gray (Fragments)
|enemy                 = [[John Hart]]
|setting              = [[United Kingdom]], [[1899]] and throughout the [[2000s]]
|writer               = Chris Chibnall
|director             = [[Jonathan Fox Bassett]]
|producer             = [[Richard Stokes]]
|broadcast date       = 21 March 2008
|network              = BBC Three
|prev                  = Adrift (TV story)
|next                  = Exit Wounds (TV story)
|trailer              = TORCHWOOD Season 2 Fragments
|clip                  = Booby trapped building 1 - Torchwood - BBC
|clip2                = Booby trapped building 2 - Torchwood - BBC
|format=1x50-minute episode
}}{{you may|Fragments (short story)|n1=the Bernice Summerfield short story}}
'''''Fragments''''' was the twelfth episode of [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''. It was written by [[Chris Chibnall]], and directed by [[Jonathan Fox Bassett]]. Composed largely of flashbacks, it established how each of the main [[Torchwood Three]] members had come to work for [[Torchwood]] before the start of the series.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
A booby-trapped building explodes and knocks the [[Torchwood 3|Torchwood]] team unconscious. As each team member's life flashes before their eyes, there are a series of flashbacks for all of the main characters (except Gwen); Captain Jack was initiated into a shocked Victorian Torchwood in 1899; Toshiko went on a daring mission to trade alien technology for her mother's life; Ianto wooed Jack with coffee and a flair for alien-catching; and Owen lost his normal life to an alien inside his fiancée's brain.
A booby-trapped building explodes and knocks the [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]] team unconscious, and kills Jack again. Each team member's life flashes before their eyes. There is a series of flashbacks for all of the main characters except Gwen. Captain Jack was initiated into Torchwood in [[1899]]; Toshiko went on a mission to trade [[alien]] technology for her [[Toshiko Sato's mother|mother]]'s life; Ianto wooed Jack with [[coffee]] and a flair for alien-catching; and Owen lost his normal life to an alien in his [[Katie Russell|fiancée]]'s brain.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
The Torchwood team, minus Gwen, investigate a derelict building and are caught up in a trap as it explodes. The quartet experience flashbacks about their origins with the alien-fighting organisation.
The [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]] team, minus Gwen, investigate a derelict building and are trapped when it explodes. The four experience flashbacks about their origins with the alien-fighting organisation.


Captain Jack is picked up by the all-female Torchwood in Victorian times once they become aware of his immortality. They torture him in order to extract information about The Doctor, to no avail, but soon decide to enlist him as an agent. After many decades pass, Jack discovers that one of his colleagues has murdered everyone else in the Hub because of his fear of the new Millennium and the horrors it may hold.
=== Captain Jack Harkness (1,392 deaths earlier) ===
[[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack]] is picked up by the all-female Torchwood Three in [[Victorian era|Victorian]] times when they become aware of his [[immortality]]. They torture him to extract information about [[the Doctor]] to no avail, but soon decide to enlist him as an agent. After many decades have passed, Jack now works for [[Alex Hopkins]], and it is [[New Year's Eve]], [[1999]]. Jack discovers that his boss has [[murder]]ed everyone else in the Hub because of his fear of the [[2000s|new millennium]] and the horrors it may hold. Alex has used a piece of [[alien]] technology that showed him the future and decided to eliminate his team as "mercy killings", knowing that if they lived, their fates would perhaps be even worse. He cannot do the same to Jack because of his immortality. He turns Torchwood Three over to Jack, telling him, "The [[21st century]] is when it all changes... and we're not ready". Hopkins puts his [[firearm|gun]] to his head and takes his own life. Jack is now left without a team, but he is now in command of Torchwood Three. After 100 years of servitude under supervising authority, Jack is free to act as he desires.


Toshiko joins Torchwood after Jack finds her in a top secret prison because she leaked information from her Ministry Of Defence job to a vicious gang holding her mother captive. Jack is impressed by her ability to assemble a Sonic Modulator despite flawed instructions and ensures she is released and given a pardon once she accepts the Torchwood job.
=== Toshiko Sato (5 years earlier) ===
[[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]] joins Torchwood after Jack finds her in a top secret prison. She leaked information from her [[Ministry of Defence]] job to a vicious gang holding her [[Toshiko's Mother|mother]] captive. [[UNIT]] raid the building and take Tosh, [[Milton (Fragments)|Milton]] and her henchmen to a secret prison where she is told she will be kept forever. However, Jack is impressed by her ability to assemble a [[sonic modulator]] despite flawed instructions. He has her released and given a pardon once she accepts the Torchwood job.


Ianto harasses Jack for a job following the demise of Torchwood One, where he initially worked. Helping Jack fight off a Weevil and repeatedly praising his coat doesn't work at first, but the pair successfully capture a pterodactyl together - with the help of some chocolate - and Ianto is enlisted.
=== Ianto Jones (21 months earlier) ===
[[Ianto Jones|Ianto]] harasses Jack for a job after the demise of [[Torchwood One]], where he worked. Helping Jack fight off a [[Weevil]] and repeatedly praising his coat doesn't work at first, but they capture a [[Myfanwy|pterodactyl]] together — with the help of some [[chocolate]] — and Ianto is enlisted.


Owen encounters Jack when he bursts into a hospital room during brain surgery on Owen's ailing fiancée Katie. He removes an alien from her brain and knocks out all the witnesses, including Owen. Katie immediately dies and Owen wakes up to discover a massive cover up. He encounters Jack when visiting Katie's grave and, after a fight, agrees to join Torchwood as a medic.
=== Owen Harper (4 years earlier) ===


Back in the present, Gwen and Rhys help to pull everyone from the debris in the building. However, Jack receives a hologram message from Captain John in which he claims responsibility for the bombs and claims to have taken Jack's brother Gray captive.
[[Owen Harper|Owen]] meets Jack when he bursts into a [[hospital]] room after brain surgery on Owen's ailing [[fiancée]] [[Katie Russell|Katie]]. Despite warnings from Torchwood, the surgeon tried to remove an [[Tumour alien|alien]] from her brain. When the alien lifeform was threatened, it emitted a toxic gas, killing all the [[human]]s in the operating room. Jack arrives too late. After explaining the situation to Owen, Jack knocks him out. Owen wakes to discover a massive cover up. He encounters Jack when visiting Katie's grave. After a fight, he agrees to join Torchwood as a medic.


==Cast==
Back in the present, [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] and [[Rhys Williams|Rhys]] help to pull everyone from the debris in the building. However, Jack receives a [[hologram|holographic]] message from [[John Hart]] in which he claims responsibility for the bombs and says he has taken Jack's brother [[Gray (Fragments)|Gray]] captive.
*Captain [[Jack Harkness]] - [[John Barrowman]]
*[[Gwen Cooper]] - [[Eve Myles]]
*[[Toshiko Sato]] - [[Naoko Mori]]
*[[Ianto Jones]]  - [[Gareth David-Lloyd]]
*[[Owen Harper]] - [[Burn Gorman]]
*[[Rhys Williams]] - [[Kai Owen]]
*Captain [[John Hart]] - [[James Marsters]] (uncredited)
*[[Weevil]]-[[Paul Kasey]]
*[[Blowfish]] — [[Paul Kasey]]
*[[Toshiko Sato's mother|Toshiko's Mother]] — [[Noriko Aida]]
*[[Alice Guppy]] — [[Amy Manson]]
*[[Emily Holroyd]] — [[Heather Craney]]
*[[Little Girl]] - [[Skye Bennett]]
*[[Alex Hopkins]] — [[Julian Lewis Jones]]
*[[Bob (Fragments)|Bob]] — [[Simon Shackleton]]
*[[Security Guard (Fragments)|Security Guard]]— [[Gareth Jones]]
*[[Milton (Fragments)|Milton]] — [[Clare Clifford]]
*[[Katie Russell]] — [[Andrea Lowe]]
*[[Doctor (Fragments)|Doctor]] — [[Richard Lloyd-King]]
*[[Nurse (Fragments)|Nurse]] — [[Catherine Morris]]
*[[Psychiatrist (Fragments)|Psychiatrist]] — [[Selva Rasalingham]]


==Production crew==
== Cast ==
''to be added''
* [[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack Harkness]] - [[John Barrowman]]
* [[Gwen Cooper]] - [[Eve Myles]]
* [[Owen Harper]] - [[Burn Gorman]]
* [[Toshiko Sato]] - [[Naoko Mori]]
* [[Ianto Jones]] - [[Gareth David-Lloyd]]
* [[Rhys Williams]] - [[Kai Owen]]
* [[Alice Guppy]] - [[Amy Manson]]
* [[Emily Holroyd]] - [[Heather Craney]]
* [[Blowfish]]/[[Weevil]] - [[Paul Kasey]]
* [[Little girl (Dead Man Walking)|Little Girl]] - [[Skye Bennett]]
* [[Alex Hopkins|Alex]] - [[Julian Lewis Jones]]
* [[Toshiko Sato's mother|Toshiko's Mother]] - [[Noriko Aida]]
* [[Bob (Fragments)|Bob]] - [[Simon Shackleton]]
* [[Security guard (Fragments)|Security Guard]] - [[Gareth Jones (Torchwood actor)|Gareth Jones]]
* [[Milton (Fragments)|Milton]] - [[Clare Clifford]]
* [[Katie Russell|Katie]] - [[Andrea Lowe]]
* [[Jim Garrett|Doctor]] - [[Richard Lloyd-King]]
* [[Nurse (Fragments)|Nurse]] - [[Catherine Morris]]
* [[Psychiatrist (Fragments)|Psychiatrist]] - [[Selva Rasalingam]]
 
==== Uncredited cast ====
* [[Natasha Kaplinsky (in-universe)|Natasha Kaplinsky]] - [[Natasha Kaplinsky|Self]]
* [[John Hart|Captain John Hart]] - [[James Marsters]]
* [[Gray (Fragments)|Gray]] - [[Lachlan Nieboer]]
 
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== Worldbuilding ==
=== Individuals ===
* Jack references [[Lisa Hallett]].
* Jack has died [[1392 (number)|1392]] times since his enlistment into Torchwood in [[1899]].
 
=== Organisations ===
* Jack took control of [[Torchwood Three]] at the turn of the [[21st century]].
* Ianto mentions the destruction of [[Torchwood One]] and the [[Battle of Canary Wharf]].
 
=== Species ===
* Ianto finds [[Myfanwy|a pterodactyl]] with a [[rift monitor]].
* Jack and Ianto wrestle with a [[Weevil]].


==References==
=== Technology ===
*Jack mentions [[Suzie Costello]] during a flashback sequence as he gives orders to each team member who respond as they are mentioned. However, Susie's response is cut off by Ianto stopping Jack's car.
* Toshiko constructs a [[sonic modulator]].
*Ianto mentions the destruction of [[Torchwood 1]] and the [[Battle of Canary Wharf]].
* Alex Hopkins is driven mad by [[Last of Erebus|a psychic locket]] that gives him a glimpse of the future.
*Toshiko constructs a [[sonic modulator]].
*[[The Doctor]] is named explicitly for the first time in the series.
[[Image:No indoor barbecues.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Booby-trap]]
*First and, to date, only appearance of [[UNIT]] soldiers or a UNIT facility in the series. In fact, since UNIT's involvement in [[DW]]: ''[[Aliens of London]]''/''[[World War Three]]'' and ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'' was in the background (mostly confined to verbal references), this is actually the first major appearance of the organization since 1989's ''[[Battlefield]]'', as it predates the organization's return in ''[[The Sontaran Strategem]]''.
*Alex's last words to Jack are a variation of the "the 21st century is when it all changes..." monologue from the start of every ''Torchwood'' episode. Jack also uttered the phrase to the Doctor in ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]''.


==Story Notes==
== Story notes ==
*Jack died 1,392 times between meeting Torchwood and the explosion at the beginning of the episode, and at least 14 more times prior to the first Torchwood encounter.
* This episode aired 40 minutes after the [[BBC Two]] repeat of ''[[Adrift (TV story)|Adrift]]'' at 10:30pm on [[BBC Three]]; and was repeated on BBC Two in its usual 9:00pm timeslot the next week, on Friday [[28 March (releases)|28 March]] [[2008 (releases)|2008]].
*Jack took control of [[Torchwood 3]] at the end of [[1999]] (or the beginning of [[2000]]), after spending a century with the organization.
* A family friendly pre-watershed edit of this episode aired at 7:00pm, six days later, on Thursday [[3 April (releases)|3 April]] [[2008 (releases)|2008]] on [[BBC Two]].
*It was Ianto who found the [[Torchwood Pteranodon]] with a rift monitor.
* [[The Doctor]] is named explicitly for the first time in the series.
* This is the first appearance of [[UNIT]] soldiers and a UNIT facility in the series. UNIT is depicted as a somewhat malevolent organisation, in contrast to previous depictions in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', more in line with the portrayal of its evil [[parallel universe]] counterpart on [[Inferno Earth]], the [[Republican Security Forces]] (RSF). Jack suggests this may be due to the political climate.


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
''to be added''
* 3.0 million [[BBC Two]] viewers, with an [[AI]] of 88%
* 7.17 million [[BBC Three]] viewers
* 3.69 million viewers<ref>[https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-10/ BARB Ratings - April, 2008]</ref>


=== Myths ===
=== Filming locations ===
''to be added''
* Caerwent Military Training Area


=== Filming Locations ===
=== Production errors ===
''to be added''
''to be added''


=== Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors ===
== Continuity ==
*Jack is "killed" by the blast, Ianto gets at least a hand injury and head wound, and Tosh breaks her arm and some ribs, yet Owen - arguably the most fragile of the group and unable to heal - somehow manages to escape completely unscathed. ''Martha had said in an earlier episode that Owen can't bruise, and as was revealed by him cutting his hand open in Dead Man Walking, he doesn't bleed either. If one considers this and the fact that he can't feel pain and was wearing clothes that covered most of his body, he could have suffered considerable physical trauma and he and the viewer would not be aware of it''
{{Torchwood discontinuity}}
*The depiction of UNIT as a rather malevolent organization that keeps human prisoners in stark conditions (including filthy cells with no beds) with no rights is at odds with the depiction of the organization in the 1968-89 episodes, as well as the later ''[[The Sontaran Strategem]]''/''[[The Poison Sky]]''. ''Jack covers this by referring to the then-current (political/security) climate; UNIT's behaviour parallels real-world criticisms of the United States and others in the War on Terror era. Also, UNIT was never thoroughly profiled; it may have had a dark side, much as Torchwood did. This is also implied in dialogue when [[Martha Jones]] tells the Doctor she wants to change the organization from the inside out in [[The Sontaran Strategem]]. Also it is not known who is in charge of UNIT at this point in time as the relationship of former UNIT head [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]] -- a more benevolent character -- have not been fully established; note, for example, UNIT's involvement with the world-destroying [[Osterhagen Key]] in [[Journey's End]].''
* When Jack begins to work with Torchwood, they know about the [[Tenth Doctor]]. However, they are operating in accordance with [[Queen]] [[Victoria]]'s declaration that the Doctor is an enemy of the Crown and Torchwood because of her vehement reaction towards him in [[TV]]: {{cs|Tooth and Claw (TV story)}}.
*The killing of the Torchwood 3 team on Dec. 31, 1999 take place on the same day as the [[Eighth Doctor]] fought [[the Master]] in [[San Francisco]], an incident punctuated by news coverage of unusual weather and other odd events. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who: the Movie]]'') Yet there's no mention of this at Torchwood, an organization that should know. ''Time zones: midnight in the UK occurred many hours before midnight in San Francisco, and most of the odd weather and other events surrounding the Master's scheme did not manifest until only a few hours prior to the New Year in San Francisco.''
* Jack mentions that he has no clue about the whereabouts of the Doctor, as he left Jack behind in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Parting of the Ways (TV story)}}.
*The team think about how they came to join Torchwood while they are trapped. But how could Jack think back when he is apparently killed by the blast?
* The [[Little girl (Dead Man Walking)|tarot card reading girl]] who Jack visited in the 2000s in [[TV]]: {{cs|Dead Man Walking (TV story)}} appears to Jack in 1899, and predicts that "two turns of the century" will pass before Jack finally meets up with the Doctor again. This came true in [[TV]]: {{cs|Utopia (TV story)}}.
* Alex says that the [[21st century]] is when "everything's gonna change". Jack later says a similar thing to Gwen in [[TV]]: {{cs|Everything Changes (TV story)}}.
* [[UNIT]] has become more stern and callous in the early 21st century, an attitude displayed in [[TV]]: {{cs|Aliens of London (TV story)}}, {{cs|World War Three (TV story)}} and {{cs|The Christmas Invasion (TV story)}}. Martha Jones would express a desire to improve the organization from the inside, which she went on to do in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)}} [[Kate Stewart]] eventually steers the organisation back towards benevolence by the 2010s in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Power of Three (TV story)}}.
* It was once noted that Toshiko and UNIT were "not mates" in the story [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Twilight Streets (novel)|The Twilight Streets]]''. Ironically, Tosh was working with UNIT (albeit as a Torchwood liason) when she met the [[Ninth Doctor]] during the events of [[TV]]: {{cs|Aliens of London (TV story)}}.
* Ianto mentions Torchwood One's destruction and the [[Battle of Canary Wharf]] in [[2007]] seen in [[TV]]: {{cs|Doomsday (TV story)}}.
* Jack mentions [[Lisa Hallett]] and Ianto says she's dead, a lie he repeated in [[TV]]: {{cs|Cyberwoman (TV story)}}.
* Jack indicates that he was on Earth following the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs. Unknown to Jack, however, the impact was actually caused by a freighter in a failed attempt by the [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] to change Earth history in the events of [[TV]]: {{cs|Earthshock (TV story)}}.
* Captain John Hart is apparent behind the bomb attack, something he planned back in [[TV]]: {{cs|Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (TV story)}} and Gray is seen in a hologram, as displayed in [[TV]]: {{cs|Adam (TV story)}} John had previously told Jack how he had "found Gray". ([[TV]]: {{cs|Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (TV story)}} Gray would soon be discovered to be the true mastermind behind the bomb attack. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Exit Wounds (TV story)}}.


== Continuity ==
== Home video releases ==
*A Blowfish appears in a flashback, one last appeared in ''[[Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]''.
* ''{{StoryTitle}}'', along with the rest of [[series 2 (Torchwood)|series 2]], was released in a complete series box set in [[2008 (releases)|2008]].
*Captain John Hart is behind the bomb attack, he last appeared in ''[[Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]''.
* It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)
*Gray is seen in a hologram, he was last seen (in a flashback as a child) in ''[[Adam (Torchwood story)| Adam]]''.
*The [[Little Girl|tarot card reading girl]] appears in a flashback, she was last seen in ''[[Dead Man Walking]]'', except in the modern day. Here she predicts that "two turns of the century" will pass before Jack finally meets up with the Doctor again, an event that occurs in [[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]''. The nature of this girl, including why she appears in two different time periods, has yet to be revealed. One of her tarot cards includes an image of Jack.
*When Jack begins to work with Torchwood, they know of [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] based on events in [[DW]]: ''[[Tooth and Claw]]''.
*The flashbacks showing Torchwood in the period 1890s-2000 depict its cold, manipulative ways as seen in [[DW]]: ''[[Army of Ghosts]]'', et al. Jack mentions on several occasions how he wants to turn it into an organization that helps people; it is suggested that the cold-blooded killing of the blowfish by an early Torchwood operative might have been one of the inspirations for this.
*[[UNIT]] is referenced, although it is depicted as a somewhat malevolent organization, in contrast to previous depictions in ''Doctor Who''. Jack suggests it may be due to the current political climate of the day; a reference to the internment camp at Guantanimo Bay in [[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Strategem]]'' and a reference to a war in Iraq in [[TW]]: ''[[To the Last Man]]'' suggest an event or events similar to 9/11 and War on Terror occur in the ''Doctor Who''/''Torchwood'' universe.
*The killing of the blowfish alien parallels Jack's killing of a similar creature in ''[[Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]'' (although in the earlier case it wasn't cold-blooded).
*The events surrounding Alex's killing of the Torchwood 3 team are current with the events surrounding the "birth" of the [[Eighth Doctor]] and his battle with the [[Master]] as seen in the [[Doctor Who (1996)|1996 telefilm]].
*Jack indicates that he was on Earth following the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs. Unknown to Jack, however, the impact was actually caused by a freighter in a failed attempt by the [[Cybermen]] to change Earth history ([[DW]]: ''[[Earthshock]]'')


== DVD releases ==
== Footnotes ==
*This story, along with the rest of Torchwood [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]], has been released in a complete series boxset.
=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}


==See also==
== External links ==
''to be added''
{{dwrefguide|torchwood_25.htm|Fragments}}
* {{briefhistory|torchwood/2008l.html|Fragments}}
* {{whoniverse|tw2_12|Fragments}}
* {{locguide|fragments|Fragments}}
{{TWTV}}
{{UNIT stories}}
{{TitleSort}}


==External links==
[[Category:Needs crew check]]
''to be added''
[[Category:Torchwood television stories]]
{{Torchwood series 2}}
[[Category:Series 2 (Torchwood) stories]]
[[Category:Torchwood episodes]]
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2009]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1899]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1899]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1999]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1999]]
[[Category:Gray arc]]
[[Category:Stories set at New Year]]
[[Category:2008 television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2000]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 2000s]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Weevil television stories]]
[[Category:Blowfish television stories]]
[[Category:UNIT television stories]]
 
[[fr:Fragments]]
[[he:רסיסים (סיפור טלוויזיה)]]

Latest revision as of 00:25, 22 October 2024

RealWorld.png

You may be looking for the Bernice Summerfield short story.

Fragments was the twelfth episode of Series 2 of Torchwood. It was written by Chris Chibnall, and directed by Jonathan Fox Bassett. Composed largely of flashbacks, it established how each of the main Torchwood Three members had come to work for Torchwood before the start of the series.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

A booby-trapped building explodes and knocks the Torchwood team unconscious, and kills Jack again. Each team member's life flashes before their eyes. There is a series of flashbacks for all of the main characters except Gwen. Captain Jack was initiated into Torchwood in 1899; Toshiko went on a mission to trade alien technology for her mother's life; Ianto wooed Jack with coffee and a flair for alien-catching; and Owen lost his normal life to an alien in his fiancée's brain.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Torchwood team, minus Gwen, investigate a derelict building and are trapped when it explodes. The four experience flashbacks about their origins with the alien-fighting organisation.

Captain Jack Harkness (1,392 deaths earlier)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Captain Jack is picked up by the all-female Torchwood Three in Victorian times when they become aware of his immortality. They torture him to extract information about the Doctor to no avail, but soon decide to enlist him as an agent. After many decades have passed, Jack now works for Alex Hopkins, and it is New Year's Eve, 1999. Jack discovers that his boss has murdered everyone else in the Hub because of his fear of the new millennium and the horrors it may hold. Alex has used a piece of alien technology that showed him the future and decided to eliminate his team as "mercy killings", knowing that if they lived, their fates would perhaps be even worse. He cannot do the same to Jack because of his immortality. He turns Torchwood Three over to Jack, telling him, "The 21st century is when it all changes... and we're not ready". Hopkins puts his gun to his head and takes his own life. Jack is now left without a team, but he is now in command of Torchwood Three. After 100 years of servitude under supervising authority, Jack is free to act as he desires.

Toshiko Sato (5 years earlier)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Tosh joins Torchwood after Jack finds her in a top secret prison. She leaked information from her Ministry of Defence job to a vicious gang holding her mother captive. UNIT raid the building and take Tosh, Milton and her henchmen to a secret prison where she is told she will be kept forever. However, Jack is impressed by her ability to assemble a sonic modulator despite flawed instructions. He has her released and given a pardon once she accepts the Torchwood job.

Ianto Jones (21 months earlier)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ianto harasses Jack for a job after the demise of Torchwood One, where he worked. Helping Jack fight off a Weevil and repeatedly praising his coat doesn't work at first, but they capture a pterodactyl together — with the help of some chocolate — and Ianto is enlisted.

Owen Harper (4 years earlier)[[edit] | [edit source]]

Owen meets Jack when he bursts into a hospital room after brain surgery on Owen's ailing fiancée Katie. Despite warnings from Torchwood, the surgeon tried to remove an alien from her brain. When the alien lifeform was threatened, it emitted a toxic gas, killing all the humans in the operating room. Jack arrives too late. After explaining the situation to Owen, Jack knocks him out. Owen wakes to discover a massive cover up. He encounters Jack when visiting Katie's grave. After a fight, he agrees to join Torchwood as a medic.

Back in the present, Gwen and Rhys help to pull everyone from the debris in the building. However, Jack receives a holographic message from John Hart in which he claims responsibility for the bombs and says he has taken Jack's brother Gray captive.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Organisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This episode aired 40 minutes after the BBC Two repeat of Adrift at 10:30pm on BBC Three; and was repeated on BBC Two in its usual 9:00pm timeslot the next week, on Friday 28 March 2008.
  • A family friendly pre-watershed edit of this episode aired at 7:00pm, six days later, on Thursday 3 April 2008 on BBC Two.
  • The Doctor is named explicitly for the first time in the series.
  • This is the first appearance of UNIT soldiers and a UNIT facility in the series. UNIT is depicted as a somewhat malevolent organisation, in contrast to previous depictions in Doctor Who, more in line with the portrayal of its evil parallel universe counterpart on Inferno Earth, the Republican Security Forces (RSF). Jack suggests this may be due to the political climate.

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Caerwent Military Training Area

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • When Jack begins to work with Torchwood, they know about the Tenth Doctor. However, they are operating in accordance with Queen Victoria's declaration that the Doctor is an enemy of the Crown and Torchwood because of her vehement reaction towards him in TV: Tooth and Claw [+]Loading...["Tooth and Claw (TV story)"].
  • Jack mentions that he has no clue about the whereabouts of the Doctor, as he left Jack behind in TV: The Parting of the Ways [+]Loading...["The Parting of the Ways (TV story)"].
  • The tarot card reading girl who Jack visited in the 2000s in TV: Dead Man Walking [+]Loading...["Dead Man Walking (TV story)"] appears to Jack in 1899, and predicts that "two turns of the century" will pass before Jack finally meets up with the Doctor again. This came true in TV: Utopia [+]Loading...["Utopia (TV story)"].
  • Alex says that the 21st century is when "everything's gonna change". Jack later says a similar thing to Gwen in TV: Everything Changes [+]Loading...["Everything Changes (TV story)"].
  • UNIT has become more stern and callous in the early 21st century, an attitude displayed in TV: Aliens of London [+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"], World War Three [+]Loading...["World War Three (TV story)"] and The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"]. Martha Jones would express a desire to improve the organization from the inside, which she went on to do in TV: The Sontaran Stratagem [+]Loading...["The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)"] Kate Stewart eventually steers the organisation back towards benevolence by the 2010s in TV: The Power of Three [+]Loading...["The Power of Three (TV story)"].
  • It was once noted that Toshiko and UNIT were "not mates" in the story PROSE: The Twilight Streets. Ironically, Tosh was working with UNIT (albeit as a Torchwood liason) when she met the Ninth Doctor during the events of TV: Aliens of London [+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"].
  • Ianto mentions Torchwood One's destruction and the Battle of Canary Wharf in 2007 seen in TV: Doomsday [+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"].
  • Jack mentions Lisa Hallett and Ianto says she's dead, a lie he repeated in TV: Cyberwoman [+]Loading...["Cyberwoman (TV story)"].
  • Jack indicates that he was on Earth following the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs. Unknown to Jack, however, the impact was actually caused by a freighter in a failed attempt by the Cybermen to change Earth history in the events of TV: Earthshock [+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"].
  • Captain John Hart is apparent behind the bomb attack, something he planned back in TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang [+]Loading...["Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (TV story)"] and Gray is seen in a hologram, as displayed in TV: Adam [+]Loading...["Adam (TV story)"] John had previously told Jack how he had "found Gray". (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang [+]Loading...["Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (TV story)"] Gray would soon be discovered to be the true mastermind behind the bomb attack. (TV: Exit Wounds [+]Loading...["Exit Wounds (TV story)"].

Home video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Fragments, along with the rest of series 2, was released in a complete series box set in 2008.
  • It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Citations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ BARB Ratings - April, 2008

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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