Random Shoes (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{Doctorwhobox
{{title dab away}}
| serial_name = 09 - Random Shoes
{{real world}}
| writer = [[Jacquetta May]]
{{ImageLinkTV}}
| director = [[James Erskine (director)|James Erskine]]
{{Infobox Story SMW
| production_code = Series 1, Episode 9
|image                = Hit and run.jpg
| producer = [[Richard Stokes]]<br/>[[Sophie Fante]]<br/>[[Chris Chibnall]] (co-producer)
|series                = ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''
| executive_producer = [[Russell T. Davies]]<br/>[[Julie Gardner]]
|season number        = Series 1 (Torchwood)
| script_editor = [[Brian Minchin]]
|series episode number = 9
| series = [[List of Torchwood episodes#Series 1 (2006-2007)|Series 1]]
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/torchwood-1-episode-9-random-shoes-goldenrod-revisions-11102006.pdf
| length = 50 mins
|main character        = [[Eugene Jones|Eugene]], [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]]
| date = [[10 December]], [[2006]]
|featuring            = Jack Harkness
| preceding = [[They Keep Killing Suzie]]
|featuring2            = Owen Harper
| following = [[Out of Time (Torchwood)|Out of Time]]
|featuring3            = Toshiko Sato
| imdb_id = 0898059
|featuring4            = Ianto Jones
|enemy                = [[Josh (Random Shoes)|Josh]]
|setting              = [[Cardiff]] and [[Aberystwyth]], [[2000s]]{{note|Episodes 1-10 of the [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|first series]] of ''[[Torchwood (series)|Torchwood]]'' are set anywhere from [[2006]]-[[2009]] as a result of [[Aliens of London dating controversy|conflicting evidence]] shown in the episodes {{cs|Ghost Machine (TV story)}}, {{cs|Greeks Bearing Gifts (TV story)}}, ''Random Shoes'', {{cs|To the Last Man (TV story)}}, {{cs|Reset (TV story)}}, {{cs|Adrift (TV story)}}, {{cs|Fragments (TV story)}}, {{cs|Exit Wounds (TV story)}}, and {{cs|The New World (TV story)}}. As episode 10, {{cs|Out of Time (TV story)}}, is set at the end of [[December]], this means that episodes 11-13 are almost certainly set the year after episodes 1-10.}}
|writer                = Jacquetta May
|director              = [[James Erskine]]
|producer              = [[Richard Stokes]], [[Sophie Fante]]
|broadcast date        = 10 December 2006
|network              = BBC Three
|prev                  = They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)
|next                  = Out of Time (TV story)
|clip                  = Spare body part - Torchwood - BBC
|clip2                = "I Don't Want This to End" Random Shoes Torchwood
|clip3                = Eugene Saves Gwen's Life Random Shoes Torchwood
|format                = 1x50-minute episode
}}
}}
'''''Random Shoes''''' is an [[List of Torchwood episodes|episode]] in the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[science fiction on television|science fiction television]] series ''[[Torchwood]]'', which was broadcast on [[10 December]] [[2006]].
'''''Random Shoes''''' was the ninth episode in the [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|first series]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''. It was written by [[Jacquetta May]] and directed by [[James Erskine]].
 
Similar to the ''[[Doctor Who (TV series)|Doctor Who]]'' episode {{cs|Love & Monsters (TV story)}}, it side-lined the regular cast in favour of a guest character, centring almost entirely around [[Gwen Cooper]]'s independent investigation of [[Eugene Jones]]' death, and following Eugene himself as he watches and develops feelings for her. The rest of the [[Torchwood Three]] team barely appeared.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
A hit-and-run victim, obsessed with aliens in life, realises only one person can solve the mystery of his death: Gwen Cooper.
[[Eugene Jones|A hit-and-run victim]], obsessed with [[alien]] life, realises only one person can solve the mystery of his death: [[Gwen Cooper]].


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
{{spoiler}}
Finding himself lying in the middle of the road, [[Eugene Jones]] makes his way to the [[police]] tape blocking off a crime scene. An officer lifts the tape for an exiting officer, and Eugene slips past. He recognises the staff of [[Torchwood Three]], a group to whom he has been trying to speak for quite a while. As the team try to determine what happened to the victim, Eugene realises that the dead body on the ground is him. He tries to touch [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]], but his hand runs right through her. "Am I dead?"
[[Image:Random Shoes.jpg|thumb|350px|Gwen investigates the death and life of Eugene Jones.]]
 
A young man named Eugene Jones wakes up to find himself lying on a road in the country. He makes his way to where police are cordoning off a section of the road, and the [[Torchwood Institute|Torchwood team]] are gathered. He calls [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]], [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] and [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]] by name but they do not hear him. He then notices them examining a bloodied body on the side of the road, killed in a hit-and-run accident: his body. When his hand passes through Tosh, Eugene realises that he might be dead…
Eugene's [[mobile phone]] rings. Tosh answers it, and hands it to [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] to tell [[Bronwen Jones|Eugene's mother]] of the accident. As the team leave for Eugene's home, he climbs in the [[car]], and finally realises that he must be a [[ghost]].
 
During the drive, Eugene recalls his childhood: the day his father left home, and the beginnings of his interest in aliens, in particular, an artefact given to him by a teacher: an [[Dogon|alien eye]]. He thinks of his prior encounters with Torchwood and how he never got the chance to tell them about the eye.
 
At Eugene's home, Gwen notifies his mother and brother, [[Terry Jones|Terry]], of Eugene's death, while [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]] and [[Owen Harper|Owen]] look at the [[alien]] "artefacts" in his room. Most are fakes, including an "alien" [[rock]] made with painted [[Rice Krispies]]. One empty stand interests Gwen. Eugene follows the Torchwood team in hope of finding out what happened to him.
 
Back at [[the Hub]], Eugene is amazed by all of the [[technology]] and alien artefacts. Owen tries to convince Gwen that Eugene's death was only a road accident. Owen has too much paperwork to perform an autopsy on Eugene's body. Gwen will do it herself. As she presses the scalpel to Eugene's body, Eugene faints; Gwen looks up, thinking she saw movement. As she looks down to start the autopsy again, Ianto enters with the news that a drunk driver in a red car has been pulled over, and admits to striking someone near Cardiff.
 
Eugene awakens, lying on the floor of the Hub, and walks home. Seeing his mother crying, he walks on.
 
In the conference room at the Hub, Gwen cannot let go of Eugene's death. Owen and Tosh point out there is no evidence of involvement of anything mysterious or alien.
 
In the morning, Gwen finds Owen watching a [[DVD]] he stole from Eugene's room. Gwen, upset, offers to return the DVD to the rental shop while she grabs lunch. As she leaves, she takes Eugene's [[mobile phone]] from the evidence box.
 
The video store is closed. Gwen stops at a cafe around the corner, followed by Eugene. Gwen asks the waiter about Eugene, but he does not remember him. Eugene, upset because the cafe is his usual lunch spot, recites his usual order, two [[egg]]s, [[ham]] and [[chips]]. Gwen places the same order. Gwen sits at a table, and flips through the pictures on Eugene's phone. The most recent are of random [[shoe]]s. Eugene says he doesn't really remember anything from the last few weeks, and that Gwen should call his friend [[Gary (Random Shoes)|Gary]] to see if he knows anything. Gwen flips through his list of contacts and phones Gary. She leaves a message.
 
Stopping at the hardware store, Gwen meets [[Josh (Random Shoes)|Josh]], who works there. Repeatedly hitting on Gwen, Josh tells her Eugene was a nice guy, but a loser — a complete failure. He asks if Eugene committed [[suicide]]. Gwen returns the DVD, pays a £34 fine and leaves the store. Eugene himself contemplates on Josh's words: has his whole life really just been one big failure?


Eugene's mobile phone rings near his body. It is Eugene's mother, and Gwen tells her that she has some bad news. Gwen checks the phone, and just finds a few pictures of random shoes. The invisible Eugene cannot remember what happened to him, so he follows the team into the [[List of Torchwood items#S|Torchwood SUV]].  
Gwen's next stop is Eugene's old employer, a telesales business. As Gwen wanders through the office, she glances at the phones and the floor, trying to find the shoes from the picture. She spots a pair of Converse All Stars from the pictures, worn by Gary. She asks him if he saw Eugene the day he died. Gary says that he hadn't. He goes off on another office worker for writing, "Good luck on your new job!" on the sympathy card. As Gwen follows Gary between a row of cubes, she is stopped by [[Linda (Random Shoes)|Linda]], a friend of Eugene, broken up by his death.


Eugene thinks back to 1992, when despite being good at mathematics, he blanked during a inter-school maths competition and was responsible for his team losing the final, disappointing his father. To cheer Eugene up, Mr Garrett, his science teacher, gave him an eye-like object that had fallen from the sky during a golf game. That evening, Eugene's father left the family, and Eugene believed his losing was the cause. Eugene also believed the Eye belonged to an alien, and that the alien would return one day to reclaim it. This began his interest in UFOs and alien artefacts. As an adult, he approached Torchwood several times, trying to speak to them — Gwen in particular — but they simply ignored him as a crank.
Concerned she may get in trouble for talking during work hours, Gwen agrees to meet Linda for lunch. While she looks around Gary's desk, Owen calls. Gwen tells him she's taking care of a few personal things and will be back soon.
[[File:Eye eBay.jpg|thumb|Eugene's Dogon eye on eBay.]]
At lunch, Linda fills in some of the missing pieces of Eugene's last weeks. A few weeks before, Eugene was depressed. When Linda came into work one day after an argument with her boyfriend, Eugene agreed to help her move to [[Australia]] to start a new life. He told Linda he would sell his alien artefact. When he brought the eye to his office, a few of his friends laughed; ignoring them, though, he still placed it on [[eBay]]. The price soon climbed to £[[15005.50 (number)|15,005.50]]. Gwen's phone rings. It is Eugene's mother asking Gwen to come by. She thanks Linda and leaves.


Gwen speaks with a grieving Mrs Jones as the team searches Eugene's room. They find a flyer to a lecture about [[black hole]]s at [[University of Wales, Aberystwyth|Aberystwyth University]]'s Science and Natural History Museum, and a cabinet of dubious alien artefacts. One, however, appears to be missing. The team take the rest of Eugene's possessions to the Hub for study. Eugene follows.
Gwen and Mrs Jones watch a video of a [[maths]] competition that Eugene lost when he was a boy. She explains to Gwen that Eugene was given a plastic eye by [[Garret (Random Shoes)|a teacher]] as a consolation. Terry tells Gwen that the night Eugene lost the competition was the same night their father left, and that Eugene blamed himself. Mrs Jones tells Gwen the boys' father really left for a job in [[America]], but Terry tells his mother that he and Eugene found out the truth two weeks back: their father still lives in the area, working in a garage across town. Suddenly Eugene begins to remember why he sold the eye: after discovering the lie, he realised that he'd been believing in fantasies his whole life, waiting for something that'll never come. So why not sell it?


Gwen wants to find out more about Eugene's death, but [[Owen Harper|Owen]] accuses Gwen of feeling guilty since Eugene had a "thing" for her. Before the autopsy on Eugene can be carried out, [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]] informs them that the driver who hit Eugene has been found. However, Gwen still wants to investigate further, feeling that something odd is going on, although the others try to convince her otherwise.
Gwen drives to the garage to tell Eugene's father about his death. Eugene talks about how finding his father made him believe that everything he had hoped for was for naught and he might as well sell the eye and get something for it. As Gwen opens her car door, Eugene asks her not to go. As if hearing him, she reconsiders, and closes it again. He tells Gwen he doesn't want anything to do with his father, and when he apologises Gwen tells him it is alright.


The next day, Gwen decides to return Eugene's DVDs to his video shop. She goes to the lunch café that he used to frequent, but the owner does not remember him. Eugene sits next to Gwen as she browses the contents of his phone, frustrated that he cannot remember anything. He suggests that Gwen telephone Gary, and somehow, Gwen picks up on it and does so, leaving a message.
[[File:Dogon Sixth Eye.jpg|thumb|left|Eugene's alien eye.]]
Back in the Hub, [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] confronts Gwen about turning off her phone. She tries to explain to Jack what she is feeling, and mentions the alien eye. Jack believes it might be a [[Dogon]] sixth eye, an item that allows its user to see his past and put it in perspective. They were traded for the novelty factor. Gwen tells Jack that she has almost tracked it down, and he gives her the weekend to finish her investigation.


At the video shop, Gwen speaks to the clerk, Josh, who remembers Eugene but dismisses him as ordinary and a loser. Gwen then proceeds to Eugene's place of work, a telemarketing firm, and some more of Eugene's memory comes back. Gwen finds Gary (recognising his shoes from the photographs in Eugene's phone) and another co-worker, Linda, both of whom seem quite upset about Eugene's death. Gwen makes an appointment with Linda for lunch and finds the same lecture flyer found in Eugene's room in Gary's cubicle.
Gwen's next stop is a lecture at [[Aberystwyth University]] called "[[Black Holes and the Uncertainty Principle]]". Gwen runs into Gary, who initially runs away from her. He finally admits to her that he bid up the price of the eye to cheer Eugene up, but Eugene started to think that the bids were made by an alien. Gary says that the £15,000 bid was real. When she asks Gary again if he saw Eugene the day he died, he says that he had [[coffee]] with Eugene before he went to meet the auction-winning alien. Gwen asks him about the shoe photographs. He says they are random shoes, and he misses Eugene.


Linda tells Gwen that when she was depressed about her life, Eugene offered to buy her a ticket to Australia. To get the money, he was going to sell the Eye on [[eBay]], bringing it in to show his colleagues. The eye did not get any bids at first, but slowly, then rapidly, began to accumulate bids, ending at £15,005.50. However, Linda does not know who the final buyer was.
In a hotel room in Aberystwyth, as Gwen looks through some of Eugene's belongings, Eugene tells Gwen that he took the eye and called a taxi to take him to the meeting place. As he talks, he realises that he really enjoys the time he is spending with Torchwood, and Gwen in particular, and doesn't want it to end. He tells Gwen that he loves her. She stands and walks to the window near where Eugene is standing, and Eugene blows on her hair to make it move slightly. She brushes the hair from her face, closes the window and heads to bed. Eugene lies down next to her.
[[File:Josh demands eye.jpg|thumb|Josh insists Eugene hand over the eye.]]
As Gwen returns from Aberystwyth, Eugene recognises the [[Happy Cook]] restaurant as the location of the drop off. Gwen enters and recognises [[Jen (Random Shoes)|the waitress]]'s [[shoes]]. Eugene begins to remember coming in and meeting Gary and Josh. At first he thinks they came for moral support, but Josh makes it clear that they were the real buyers and did it as a joke and to cheer him up. Although someone made a real bid of £15,000, Josh got carried away, and although they only had £34 with them, Josh still expects to be given the eye so he can turn around and resell it. Eugene uses his phone to take a few photographs of the shoes under the table. When Eugene doesn't hand over the eye, Josh tries to take it from him.


Gwen receives a call from and goes to see Mrs Jones, who tells her about who the Eye came from. Eugene's brother Terry reveals that two weeks before his death, Eugene found that his father was working as a cashier at a [[Cardiff]] petrol station, rather than holding a glamourous position in America as he had previously believed. Eugene remembers that once he found this out, he felt everything in his life was worthless, including the Eye, so he decided to sell it. At the Hub, Gwen tells Jack about what she has learned. Jack guesses that the Eye is a [[List of Torchwood items#D|Dogon Sixth Eye]] — there used to be a trade in them. Jack gives Gwen permission to find the Eye.  
Gwen, meanwhile, is hearing the same story from the waitress' point of view. Apparently, the two men began to fight over the eye. When the waitress picked it up, Josh grabbed it and headed for the door, only to be tackled by Eugene, who grabbed the eye and swallowed it. Josh tried to get the eye out of Eugene, who then escaped.


Gwen drives to [[Aberystwyth]] for the lecture, and finds Gary there. He and Eugene had arranged to go to the lecture together. Gary confesses that he used aliases to raise the bid price on the eye to cheer Eugene up. However, when the bid jumped to £15,000, Eugene believed that the buyer was the alien, trying to reclaim the Eye. Gwen tries to find out where the exchange was going to take place, but Gary is evasive. Gwen asks why Eugene would take photographs of Gary's shoes and who the other pairs belong to, but Gary just says they are random shoes.
As the waitress finishes her story, Josh and Gary come into the restaurant, and Josh begins to talk to the waitress to tell her not to mention anything to anyone asking questions.


Eugene spends the night lying next to Gwen in her hotel room. Gwen finds a piece of napkin among Eugene's possessions, with a logo that she traces the next day to a roadside restaurant, the Happy Cook, near where Eugene's body was found. She spots the waitress wearing one of the pairs of shoes on Eugene's phone.  
As Josh talks, Gary sees Gwen standing off to the side. Josh turns to run. Gary trips him and tells Josh he misses Eugene. Eugene remembers all of what happened. Josh and Gary chased him from the restaurant and then lost him.


Eugene remembers that when he arrived at the Happy Cook, Gary and Josh were there. They revealed that they had artificially raised the bid at first, but when they saw someone else — a collector and not an alien like Eugene believed — was willing to pay £15,000, they decided to raise the bid up by £5.50. However, no more bids came, leaving them the final buyers. Eugene realised that Josh and Gary simply wanted to take the Eye without paying and re-sell it, and so he secretly took photographs of their shoes with his phone. Josh then tried to grab the Eye but Eugene swallowed it and ran from the Happy Cook.
Eventually, Eugene stops running to catch his breath and, as he walks across the road, he is struck by a car. Gwen calls Eugene's father to tell him the news.


Gwen finds out most of this from the waitress. At that moment, Gary and Josh come in, trying to get the waitress not to speak to anyone before they spot Gwen in the corner. Josh tries to make a run for it, but Gary trips him up. Josh demands to know why, and Gary says that he misses Eugene. Gwen gets the rest of the story from the two: they chased Eugene for a distance but then lost him. Gwen telephones Eugene's father to tell him about Eugene's death. Eugene finally remembers how he ran across a field, stopped in the middle of a road, and did not see the car coming.  
Gary, Gwen, Eugene and his family are at Eugene's [[funeral]]. For the first time, Eugene sees his father as a normal man, and begins to wish he had more time with him.


Eugene attends his own funeral, seeing his father sing "[[Danny Boy]]" as the coffin goes in to be incinerated. Gwen collects the Eye from Eugene's ashes, and brings it along to the Jones house, as the rest of the team show up in the SUV. However, Eugene is still puzzled as to why he is still around since the Eye had been removed from his body. Gwen sees Mr Jones reunite with Terry and does not notice a car about to run her down. Eugene calls out to Gwen and runs forward throwing Gwen to the ground, saving her; he has become solid and visible. Everyone looks on in amazement.
At the back of the funeral home, Gwen is handed a paper bag containing the eye by the mortician. Eugene doesn't understand why he's still around, now that the eye is no longer in his body. Gwen is giving a last speech to the dead man, almost seeming to know he's there, when the [[Torchwood SUV]] pulls up. Gwen hands the bag to Jack and asks if she can have a few minutes to speak with Eugene's family.


Gwen thanks Eugene for saving her and kisses him. Despite her pleas for him not to go, he realises he has to. Eugene bids her good-bye as a white glow surrounds him and he rises into the sky, zooming upwards until the Earth is no longer visible.
As she crosses the street, a [[car]] comes around the corner and nearly hits Gwen. Charging from the pavement, Eugene yells her name and knocks Gwen to the ground. Not only can Gwen see him, but so can everyone else. Gwen gives him a huge kiss. For a moment he can say thank you to Gwen, before he floats up into the light.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
*[[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack Harkness]] — [[John Barrowman]]
* [[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack Harkness]] — [[John Barrowman]]
*[[Gwen Cooper]] — [[Eve Myles]]
* [[Gwen Cooper]] — [[Eve Myles]]
*[[Owen Harper]] — [[Burn Gorman]]
* [[Owen Harper]] — [[Burn Gorman]]
*[[Toshiko Sato]] — [[Naoko Mori]]
* [[Toshiko Sato]] — [[Naoko Mori]]
*[[Ianto Jones]] — [[Gareth David-Lloyd]]
* [[Ianto Jones]] — [[Gareth David-Lloyd]]
*Eugene — Paul Chequer
* [[Eugene Jones|Eugene]] — [[Paul Chequer]]
*Young Eugene — Luke Bromley
* Young [[Eugene Jones|Eugene]] — [[Luke Bromley]]
*Bronwen Jones — [[Nicola Duffett]]
* [[Bronwen Jones]] — [[Nicola Duffett]]
*Mr Garret — Roger Ashton-Griffiths
* [[Garret (Random Shoes)|Mr Garret]] — [[Roger Ashton-Griffiths]]
*Josh — Steven Meo
* [[Josh (Random Shoes)|Josh]] — [[Steven Meo]]
*Gary — Celyn Jones
* [[Gary (Random Shoes)|Gary]] — [[Celyn Jones]]
*Linda — Robyn Isaac
* [[Linda (Random Shoes)|Linda]] — [[Robyn Isaac]]
*Shaun Jones — Gareth Potter
* [[Shaun Jones]] — [[Gareth Potter]]
*Terry Jones — Joshua Hughes
* [[Terry Jones]] — [[Joshua Hughes]]
*Waitress — Amy Starling
* [[Jen (Random Shoes)|Waitress]] — [[Amy Starling]]
*Café owner — Leroy Liburd
* [[Café owner (Random Shoes)|Café owner]] — [[Leroy Liburd]]
*Pete — Ryan Chappell
* [[Pete (Random Shoes)|Pete]] — [[Ryan Chappell]]
 
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== Worldbuilding ==
* Eugene calls [[28 (number)|28]] a perfect number.
 
=== Cultural references from the real world ===
* Owen calls Gwen's fascination with Eugene's death a "[[Disney (in-universe)|Disney]] moment".
* ''[[Walking with Dinosaurs]]'' can be seen playing in the video store.
* Eugene had rented ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' in the video store.
* Other movie titles seen on display are ''Hitch'', ''Monster in Law'', ''Legally Blonde'', ''A Cinderella Story'', ''Bratz: Rock Angelz'', ''Ice Princess'' and ''The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement''.
 
=== Foods and beverages ===
* Eugene visits a [[Happy Cook]] restaurant.
* Eugene orders a [[banana]] [[milkshake]].
 
=== Influences ===
 
* Producer [[Richard Stokes]] likened this episode to ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'', in which the main character is afforded the chance to look back over his own life and reevaluate it, while remaining invisible to the other characters.
 
=== Locations ===
* The hit and run driver who killed Eugene was stopped in [[Caernafon]].
 
=== Technology ===
* The [[Internet]] auction website [[eBay]] is referenced.
* One of the bidders for the Eye was [[C. Blackstaff]].
* A mechanical device appears behind [[the Tenth Doctor's hand]], which Eugene calls the [[Head of Vexor 11]].
 
== Story notes ==
* This episode was originally titled ''Invisible Eugene'' up until two weeks before it aired. It was then changed to its present title. It was still listed as ''Invisible Eugene'' in ''[[Radio Times]]'' and other television listings.
* This episode is the second episode of Torchwood to be rated 18 by the {{w|Irish Film Classification Office}}, the other being ''[[Countrycide (TV story)|Countrycide]]''. Yet strangely it is one of the only episodes to be rated 12 by the BBFC.
* This story bears some structural similarities to the ''Doctor Who'' story ''[[Love & Monsters (TV story)|Love & Monsters]]'', in particular the heavy use of flashbacks and voice-overs by a guest character as narrative devices. In addition, both Eugene Jones and [[Elton Pope]] are lonely young men with fixations on the respective main characters of each series and both come to similar epiphanies about taking life as it comes rather than waiting for the unobtainable while confronting painful memories. Also, ''Love & Monsters'' featured an organisation called "[[LINDA]]" and ''Random Shoes'' featured a woman named "Linda." Both of these episodes do not feature the main characters as much as other episodes.
* The episode was repeated on [[BBC Two]], three days later at 9:00pm on Wednesday [[13 December (releases)|13 December]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]].
* For the first six minutes of the original broadcast of this episode, the [[BBC Three]] digital on-screen graphic identifier was absent, with the DOG of [[CBBC]] in its place. After this, the DOG disappeared.
* The song used while Eugene wanders around the Hub is "[[Hope There's Someone]]" by [[Anohni]].
* The answer to the final question that Eugene missed in the Interschool Maths Final, "What curve is represented by y-squared = 4ax?" is a [[parabola]].
* The [[Happy Cook]] has a similar name and logo to the real life {{w|Happy Eater}} restaurant chain.
* Screenshots of Eugene's website as posted on the Torchwood Institute website suggest it to be hosted on the fictional [[Cheapserve]] webhost. Cheapserve has been used before by the ''Doctor Who'' production team.
* Eugene mentions that his father [[Shaun Jones|Shaun]] returned for Eugene's funeral 14 years after Shaun abandoned his son following the maths competition in [[1992]], in [[2006]]. [[Aliens of London dating controversy|This clashes with and contradicts dates given in several other stories]].
 
=== Ratings ===
* 1.08 million viewers<ref>[https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-10/ BARB Ratings - October, 2006]</ref>
 
=== Filming locations ===
* The National Museum of Wales in [[Cardiff]] was used in place of [[Aberystwyth University]]. Time and financial limitations meant the journey to Aberystwyth would have been impractical, especially considering the short amount of time it appears onscreen.
 
=== Broadcasts ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Date
!Time
!Channel
!class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|[[Sunday]] [[10 December (releases)|10 December]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
|22:00
|[[BBC Three]]
|First broadcast.
|-
|[[Wednesday]] [[13 December (releases)|13 December]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
|21:00
|[[BBC Two England]]
|
|-
|[[Monday]] [[5 March (releases)|5 March]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
|02:00
|[[BBC Three]]
|
|-
|[[Friday]] [[23 November (releases)|23 November]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
|21:00
|[[BBC Three]]
|
|-
|[[Saturday]] [[24 November (releases)|24 November]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
|04:05
|[[BBC Three]]
|
|-
|[[Thursday]] [[17 June (releases)|17 June]] [[2010 (releases)|2010]]
|23:50
|[[BBC HD]]
|
|}
 
=== Production errors ===
{{Torchwood discontinuity}}
''to be added''
 
== Continuity ==
* Jack is seen handling an object that resembles the [[bolt gun]] shown in [[TV]]: {{cs|The Satan Pit (TV story)}}.
 
== Home video releases ==
[[File:TWS1Part2.jpg|thumb|Series one, part two DVD cover.]]
 
=== DVD releases ===
* This episode was first released on DVD, with three other episodes entitled ''Torchwood: Series 1, part 2'' on [[26 February (releases)|26 February]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]].
* It was later released in ''Torchwood: The Complete First Series'' on [[19 November (releases)|19 November]] 2007.
* It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)


==Continuity==
=== Blu-ray releases ===
*It is stated that Eugene's father works nights at a garage, but Gwen calls the garage in the daytime and is able to speak to him.
* Released in the US with the rest of Series 1 as a Complete First Season set on 16 September 2008.
*It is established that Eugene's father left in 1992, and Eugene narrates at his funeral that his father is "14 years too late", seemingly placing the story in 2006. However, Gwen joined Torchwood some time after the [[Battle of Canary Wharf]], which took place sometime in 2007.
*The [[Tenth Doctor]]'s severed hand is seen once more in the Torchwood Hub.
*During the scene in the conference room, Jack is handling an object that resembles the bolt gun from ''[[The Satan Pit]]''.
*In the Happy Cook, Gary says that they failed to catch up with Eugene because Josh was wearing new shoes. However the shoes in the picture on the phone do not look new.


== Production ==
* It was released in the Series 1-3 Blu-ray boxset on 26 October 2009 in the UK. The US release was on 19 July 2011.
*This episode was originally titled "Invisible Eugene" up until two weeks before it aired. It was then changed to its present title. It was still listed as "Invisible Eugene" in the ''[[Radio Times]]'' and other television listings.
* It was also released in the Series 1-4 Blu-ray boxset. (Region 2 release: [[14 November (releases)|14 November]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]])
*Screenshots of Eugene's website as posted on the Torchwood Institute website suggest it to be hosted on the fictional [[Doctor Who tie-in websites#Cheapserve|Cheapserve]] webhost.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.torchwood.org.uk/html/eugene/| publisher= BBC Online| title=Torchwood External Hub Interface - Investigation - Eugene| accessdate=2006-12-10}}</ref> Cheapserve has been used before by the ''Doctor Who'' production team.
*For the first 8 minutes or so of this episode, the [[BBC Three]] [[digital on-screen graphic]] identifier was absent, with the DOG of the [[CBBC Channel]] in its place. After this, the DOG disappeared.
*Toshiko only has two lines in this episode, in the first scene when she claims that Eugene "couldn't even die properly" and in the final scene when she says that they need to go.


=== Music ===
== External links ==
* The songs "[[Starman (song)|Starman]]" by [[David Bowie]] and "Hope There’s Someone" by [[Antony and the Johnsons]] feature in this episode.
{{dwrefguide|torchwood_09.htm|Random Shoes}}
* Eugene's father sings "[[Danny Boy]]" at the funeral.
* {{briefhistory|torchwood/2006i.html|Random Shoes}}
* {{locguide|randomshoes|Random Shoes}}
* {{whoniverse|tw1_09|Random Shoes}}


== Outside references ==
== Footnotes ==
* This story bears some structural similarities to the ''Doctor Who'' episode ''[[Love & Monsters]]'', in particular the heavy use of flashbacks and voice-overs by a guest character as  narrative devices. In addition, both Eugene Jones and Elton Pope (from ''Love and Monsters'') are lonely young men with fixations on the respective main characters of each series and both come to similar epiphanies about taking life as it comes rather than waiting for the unobtainable while confronting painful memories. Also, ''Love & Monsters'' featured an organization called "LINDA" and ''Random Shoes'' featured a woman named "Linda."
=== Notes ===
* The [[Internet]] auction website [[eBay]] is referenced, although the page displayed in this episode does not match eBay's current page layout.
{{notelist}}
* The DVD Owen is watching is the 1960s version of the BBC science fiction drama ''[[A for Andromeda]]''.
=== Citations ===
* The name and logo of the "Happy Cook" resemble those of the [[Happy Eater]] chain of roadside restaurants.
{{reflist}}


==References==
{{TWTV}}
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
{{TitleSort}}
[[fr:Random Shoes]]
[[he:נעליים אקראיות (סיפור טלוויזיה)]]
[[ru:Случайные ботинки]]


==External links==
[[Category:Torchwood television stories]]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/epguides.shtml?ep=9 ''Random Shoes''  episode guide entry on the BBC website]
[[Category:2006 television stories]]
* {{Brief torch| id=2006i | title=Random Shoes}}
[[Category:Series 1 (Torchwood) stories]]
* {{Doctor Who RG | id=torchwood_09 | title=Random Shoes}}
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Torchwood episodes]]
[[Category:Stories set in Wales]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 2000s]]

Latest revision as of 20:26, 3 November 2024

RealWorld.png

Random Shoes was the ninth episode in the first series of Torchwood. It was written by Jacquetta May and directed by James Erskine.

Similar to the Doctor Who episode Love & Monsters [+]Loading...["Love & Monsters (TV story)"], it side-lined the regular cast in favour of a guest character, centring almost entirely around Gwen Cooper's independent investigation of Eugene Jones' death, and following Eugene himself as he watches and develops feelings for her. The rest of the Torchwood Three team barely appeared.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

A hit-and-run victim, obsessed with alien life, realises only one person can solve the mystery of his death: Gwen Cooper.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Finding himself lying in the middle of the road, Eugene Jones makes his way to the police tape blocking off a crime scene. An officer lifts the tape for an exiting officer, and Eugene slips past. He recognises the staff of Torchwood Three, a group to whom he has been trying to speak for quite a while. As the team try to determine what happened to the victim, Eugene realises that the dead body on the ground is him. He tries to touch Tosh, but his hand runs right through her. "Am I dead?"

Eugene's mobile phone rings. Tosh answers it, and hands it to Gwen to tell Eugene's mother of the accident. As the team leave for Eugene's home, he climbs in the car, and finally realises that he must be a ghost.

During the drive, Eugene recalls his childhood: the day his father left home, and the beginnings of his interest in aliens, in particular, an artefact given to him by a teacher: an alien eye. He thinks of his prior encounters with Torchwood and how he never got the chance to tell them about the eye.

At Eugene's home, Gwen notifies his mother and brother, Terry, of Eugene's death, while Ianto and Owen look at the alien "artefacts" in his room. Most are fakes, including an "alien" rock made with painted Rice Krispies. One empty stand interests Gwen. Eugene follows the Torchwood team in hope of finding out what happened to him.

Back at the Hub, Eugene is amazed by all of the technology and alien artefacts. Owen tries to convince Gwen that Eugene's death was only a road accident. Owen has too much paperwork to perform an autopsy on Eugene's body. Gwen will do it herself. As she presses the scalpel to Eugene's body, Eugene faints; Gwen looks up, thinking she saw movement. As she looks down to start the autopsy again, Ianto enters with the news that a drunk driver in a red car has been pulled over, and admits to striking someone near Cardiff.

Eugene awakens, lying on the floor of the Hub, and walks home. Seeing his mother crying, he walks on.

In the conference room at the Hub, Gwen cannot let go of Eugene's death. Owen and Tosh point out there is no evidence of involvement of anything mysterious or alien.

In the morning, Gwen finds Owen watching a DVD he stole from Eugene's room. Gwen, upset, offers to return the DVD to the rental shop while she grabs lunch. As she leaves, she takes Eugene's mobile phone from the evidence box.

The video store is closed. Gwen stops at a cafe around the corner, followed by Eugene. Gwen asks the waiter about Eugene, but he does not remember him. Eugene, upset because the cafe is his usual lunch spot, recites his usual order, two eggs, ham and chips. Gwen places the same order. Gwen sits at a table, and flips through the pictures on Eugene's phone. The most recent are of random shoes. Eugene says he doesn't really remember anything from the last few weeks, and that Gwen should call his friend Gary to see if he knows anything. Gwen flips through his list of contacts and phones Gary. She leaves a message.

Stopping at the hardware store, Gwen meets Josh, who works there. Repeatedly hitting on Gwen, Josh tells her Eugene was a nice guy, but a loser — a complete failure. He asks if Eugene committed suicide. Gwen returns the DVD, pays a £34 fine and leaves the store. Eugene himself contemplates on Josh's words: has his whole life really just been one big failure?

Gwen's next stop is Eugene's old employer, a telesales business. As Gwen wanders through the office, she glances at the phones and the floor, trying to find the shoes from the picture. She spots a pair of Converse All Stars from the pictures, worn by Gary. She asks him if he saw Eugene the day he died. Gary says that he hadn't. He goes off on another office worker for writing, "Good luck on your new job!" on the sympathy card. As Gwen follows Gary between a row of cubes, she is stopped by Linda, a friend of Eugene, broken up by his death.

Concerned she may get in trouble for talking during work hours, Gwen agrees to meet Linda for lunch. While she looks around Gary's desk, Owen calls. Gwen tells him she's taking care of a few personal things and will be back soon.

Eugene's Dogon eye on eBay.

At lunch, Linda fills in some of the missing pieces of Eugene's last weeks. A few weeks before, Eugene was depressed. When Linda came into work one day after an argument with her boyfriend, Eugene agreed to help her move to Australia to start a new life. He told Linda he would sell his alien artefact. When he brought the eye to his office, a few of his friends laughed; ignoring them, though, he still placed it on eBay. The price soon climbed to £15,005.50. Gwen's phone rings. It is Eugene's mother asking Gwen to come by. She thanks Linda and leaves.

Gwen and Mrs Jones watch a video of a maths competition that Eugene lost when he was a boy. She explains to Gwen that Eugene was given a plastic eye by a teacher as a consolation. Terry tells Gwen that the night Eugene lost the competition was the same night their father left, and that Eugene blamed himself. Mrs Jones tells Gwen the boys' father really left for a job in America, but Terry tells his mother that he and Eugene found out the truth two weeks back: their father still lives in the area, working in a garage across town. Suddenly Eugene begins to remember why he sold the eye: after discovering the lie, he realised that he'd been believing in fantasies his whole life, waiting for something that'll never come. So why not sell it?

Gwen drives to the garage to tell Eugene's father about his death. Eugene talks about how finding his father made him believe that everything he had hoped for was for naught and he might as well sell the eye and get something for it. As Gwen opens her car door, Eugene asks her not to go. As if hearing him, she reconsiders, and closes it again. He tells Gwen he doesn't want anything to do with his father, and when he apologises Gwen tells him it is alright.

Eugene's alien eye.

Back in the Hub, Jack confronts Gwen about turning off her phone. She tries to explain to Jack what she is feeling, and mentions the alien eye. Jack believes it might be a Dogon sixth eye, an item that allows its user to see his past and put it in perspective. They were traded for the novelty factor. Gwen tells Jack that she has almost tracked it down, and he gives her the weekend to finish her investigation.

Gwen's next stop is a lecture at Aberystwyth University called "Black Holes and the Uncertainty Principle". Gwen runs into Gary, who initially runs away from her. He finally admits to her that he bid up the price of the eye to cheer Eugene up, but Eugene started to think that the bids were made by an alien. Gary says that the £15,000 bid was real. When she asks Gary again if he saw Eugene the day he died, he says that he had coffee with Eugene before he went to meet the auction-winning alien. Gwen asks him about the shoe photographs. He says they are random shoes, and he misses Eugene.

In a hotel room in Aberystwyth, as Gwen looks through some of Eugene's belongings, Eugene tells Gwen that he took the eye and called a taxi to take him to the meeting place. As he talks, he realises that he really enjoys the time he is spending with Torchwood, and Gwen in particular, and doesn't want it to end. He tells Gwen that he loves her. She stands and walks to the window near where Eugene is standing, and Eugene blows on her hair to make it move slightly. She brushes the hair from her face, closes the window and heads to bed. Eugene lies down next to her.

Josh insists Eugene hand over the eye.

As Gwen returns from Aberystwyth, Eugene recognises the Happy Cook restaurant as the location of the drop off. Gwen enters and recognises the waitress's shoes. Eugene begins to remember coming in and meeting Gary and Josh. At first he thinks they came for moral support, but Josh makes it clear that they were the real buyers and did it as a joke and to cheer him up. Although someone made a real bid of £15,000, Josh got carried away, and although they only had £34 with them, Josh still expects to be given the eye so he can turn around and resell it. Eugene uses his phone to take a few photographs of the shoes under the table. When Eugene doesn't hand over the eye, Josh tries to take it from him.

Gwen, meanwhile, is hearing the same story from the waitress' point of view. Apparently, the two men began to fight over the eye. When the waitress picked it up, Josh grabbed it and headed for the door, only to be tackled by Eugene, who grabbed the eye and swallowed it. Josh tried to get the eye out of Eugene, who then escaped.

As the waitress finishes her story, Josh and Gary come into the restaurant, and Josh begins to talk to the waitress to tell her not to mention anything to anyone asking questions.

As Josh talks, Gary sees Gwen standing off to the side. Josh turns to run. Gary trips him and tells Josh he misses Eugene. Eugene remembers all of what happened. Josh and Gary chased him from the restaurant and then lost him.

Eventually, Eugene stops running to catch his breath and, as he walks across the road, he is struck by a car. Gwen calls Eugene's father to tell him the news.

Gary, Gwen, Eugene and his family are at Eugene's funeral. For the first time, Eugene sees his father as a normal man, and begins to wish he had more time with him.

At the back of the funeral home, Gwen is handed a paper bag containing the eye by the mortician. Eugene doesn't understand why he's still around, now that the eye is no longer in his body. Gwen is giving a last speech to the dead man, almost seeming to know he's there, when the Torchwood SUV pulls up. Gwen hands the bag to Jack and asks if she can have a few minutes to speak with Eugene's family.

As she crosses the street, a car comes around the corner and nearly hits Gwen. Charging from the pavement, Eugene yells her name and knocks Gwen to the ground. Not only can Gwen see him, but so can everyone else. Gwen gives him a huge kiss. For a moment he can say thank you to Gwen, before he floats up into the light.

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

Movement

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]]

  • Eugene calls 28 a perfect number.

Cultural references from the real world[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Owen calls Gwen's fascination with Eugene's death a "Disney moment".
  • Walking with Dinosaurs can be seen playing in the video store.
  • Eugene had rented Night of the Living Dead in the video store.
  • Other movie titles seen on display are Hitch, Monster in Law, Legally Blonde, A Cinderella Story, Bratz: Rock Angelz, Ice Princess and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

Foods and beverages[[edit] | [edit source]]

Influences[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Producer Richard Stokes likened this episode to It's a Wonderful Life, in which the main character is afforded the chance to look back over his own life and reevaluate it, while remaining invisible to the other characters.

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The hit and run driver who killed Eugene was stopped in Caernafon.

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

  • This episode was originally titled Invisible Eugene up until two weeks before it aired. It was then changed to its present title. It was still listed as Invisible Eugene in Radio Times and other television listings.
  • This episode is the second episode of Torchwood to be rated 18 by the Irish Film Classification Office, the other being Countrycide. Yet strangely it is one of the only episodes to be rated 12 by the BBFC.
  • This story bears some structural similarities to the Doctor Who story Love & Monsters, in particular the heavy use of flashbacks and voice-overs by a guest character as narrative devices. In addition, both Eugene Jones and Elton Pope are lonely young men with fixations on the respective main characters of each series and both come to similar epiphanies about taking life as it comes rather than waiting for the unobtainable while confronting painful memories. Also, Love & Monsters featured an organisation called "LINDA" and Random Shoes featured a woman named "Linda." Both of these episodes do not feature the main characters as much as other episodes.
  • The episode was repeated on BBC Two, three days later at 9:00pm on Wednesday 13 December 2006.
  • For the first six minutes of the original broadcast of this episode, the BBC Three digital on-screen graphic identifier was absent, with the DOG of CBBC in its place. After this, the DOG disappeared.
  • The song used while Eugene wanders around the Hub is "Hope There's Someone" by Anohni.
  • The answer to the final question that Eugene missed in the Interschool Maths Final, "What curve is represented by y-squared = 4ax?" is a parabola.
  • The Happy Cook has a similar name and logo to the real life Happy Eater restaurant chain.
  • Screenshots of Eugene's website as posted on the Torchwood Institute website suggest it to be hosted on the fictional Cheapserve webhost. Cheapserve has been used before by the Doctor Who production team.
  • Eugene mentions that his father Shaun returned for Eugene's funeral 14 years after Shaun abandoned his son following the maths competition in 1992, in 2006. This clashes with and contradicts dates given in several other stories.

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 1.08 million viewers[1]

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

  • The National Museum of Wales in Cardiff was used in place of Aberystwyth University. Time and financial limitations meant the journey to Aberystwyth would have been impractical, especially considering the short amount of time it appears onscreen.

Broadcasts[[edit] | [edit source]]

Date Time Channel Notes
Sunday 10 December 2006 22:00 BBC Three First broadcast.
Wednesday 13 December 2006 21:00 BBC Two England
Monday 5 March 2007 02:00 BBC Three
Friday 23 November 2007 21:00 BBC Three
Saturday 24 November 2007 04:05 BBC Three
Thursday 17 June 2010 23:50 BBC HD

Production errors[[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.

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Jack is seen handling an object that resembles the bolt gun shown in TV: The Satan Pit [+]Loading...["The Satan Pit (TV story)"].

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

Series one, part two DVD cover.

DVD releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This episode was first released on DVD, with three other episodes entitled Torchwood: Series 1, part 2 on 26 February 2007.
  • It was later released in Torchwood: The Complete First Series on 19 November 2007.
  • It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)

Blu-ray releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Released in the US with the rest of Series 1 as a Complete First Season set on 16 September 2008.
  • It was released in the Series 1-3 Blu-ray boxset on 26 October 2009 in the UK. The US release was on 19 July 2011.
  • It was also released in the Series 1-4 Blu-ray boxset. (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011)

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Episodes 1-10 of the first series of Torchwood are set anywhere from 2006-2009 as a result of conflicting evidence shown in the episodes Ghost Machine [+]Loading...["Ghost Machine (TV story)"], Greeks Bearing Gifts [+]Loading...["Greeks Bearing Gifts (TV story)"], Random Shoes, To the Last Man [+]Loading...["To the Last Man (TV story)"], Reset [+]Loading...["Reset (TV story)"], Adrift [+]Loading...["Adrift (TV story)"], Fragments [+]Loading...["Fragments (TV story)"], Exit Wounds [+]Loading...["Exit Wounds (TV story)"], and The New World [+]Loading...["The New World (TV story)"]. As episode 10, Out of Time [+]Loading...["Out of Time (TV story)"], is set at the end of December, this means that episodes 11-13 are almost certainly set the year after episodes 1-10.

Citations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ BARB Ratings - October, 2006
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Torchwood television stories
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