Dead Man Walking (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image                = Dead man walking main.jpg
|image                = Dead man walking main.jpg
|series                = ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''
|series                = ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''
|season number        = Series 2 (Torchwood)
|season number        = Series 2 (Torchwood)
|series episode number = 7
|series episode number = 7
|main character        = [[Jack Harkness|Jack]], [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]], [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]], [[Owen Harper|Owen]], [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]], [[Martha Jones|Martha]]
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/torchwood-2-episode-7-dead-man-walking-tan-revisions-03102007.pdf
|enemy                = [[Death (Dead Man Walking)|Death]], [[Weevil]]s
|main character        = [[Owen Harper|Owen]], [[Jack Harkness|Jack]], [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]], [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]], [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]]
|featuring            = [[Rhys Williams|Rhys]]
|featuring            = Martha Jones
|setting              = [[Cardiff]], [[2000s]]
|featuring2            = Rhys Williams
|writer                = [[Matt Jones (writer)|Matt Jones]]
|featuring3            = Janet (Everything Changes){{!}}Janet
|enemy                = [[Death (mythology)|Death]]
|setting              = [[Cardiff]], [[2000s]]<!--While the setting of this story is given the year after ''Everything Changes'', the year of ''Everything Changes'' itself is heavily contentious with both The New World explicitly placing it in 2006 and Random Shoes heavily implying a 2006 setting for series 1 as well.-->
|writer                = Matt Jones (writer)
|director              = [[Andy Goddard]]
|director              = [[Andy Goddard]]
|producer              = [[Richard Stokes]]
|producer              = [[Richard Stokes]]
|network              = [[BBC Three]]
|network              = BBC Three
|broadcast date        = [[20 February (releases)|20 February]] [[2008 (releases)|2008]]
|broadcast date        = 20 February 2008
|prev                  = Reset (TV story)
|prev                  = Reset (TV story)
|next                  = A Day in the Death (TV story)
|next                  = A Day in the Death (TV story)
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|clip2                = Owen versus Death battle - Torchwood - BBC Sci-Fi
|clip2                = Owen versus Death battle - Torchwood - BBC Sci-Fi
|clip                  = Owen back from the dead! - Torchwood - BBC Sci-Fi
|clip                  = Owen back from the dead! - Torchwood - BBC Sci-Fi
|format                = 1x50-minute episode
}}{{you may|Dead Man Walking (TD episode)|n1=the ''Torchwood Declassified'' episode}}
}}{{you may|Dead Man Walking (TD episode)|n1=the ''Torchwood Declassified'' episode}}
'''''Dead Man Walking''''' was the seventh episode of [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''. It was written by [[Matt Jones (writer)|Matt Jones]] and directed by [[Andy Goddard]]. It featured [[John Barrowman]] as [[Jack Harkness]], [[Eve Myles]] as [[Gwen Cooper]], [[Burn Gorman]] as [[Owen Harper]], [[Naoko Mori]] as [[Toshiko Sato]], [[Gareth David-Lloyd]] as [[Ianto Jones]] and [[Freema Agyeman]] as [[Martha Jones]].
'''''Dead Man Walking''''' was the seventh episode of [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''. It was written by [[Matt Jones (writer)|Matt Jones]] and directed by [[Andy Goddard]]. It was the middle of a loose trilogy that featured [[Martha Jones]] as a guest character and was linked by the resurrection of Owen after his death in [[Reset (TV story)|the previous episode]].


In the same vein as ''[[They Keep Killing Suzie]]'', it saw the resurrection of a principal cast member. The story continued almost directly on from ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]''.
This episode examined the nature of the afterlife. It revealed that one place where people can end up after death is an empty netherworld of darkness, inhabited by a [[Death (mythology)|demonic creature]] that expunges all life with which it comes into contact.
 
This episode examined the nature of the afterlife. It revealed that one place where people can end up after death is an empty netherworld of darkness, inhabited by a [[Duroc|demonic creature]] that expunges all life with which it comes into contact. Another possible afterlife, [[Limbo]], would be revealed in ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' episode ''[[Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?]]''.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
''"I'm bringing Owen back."''


"I'm bringing Owen back."
[[Owen Harper]] has died. [[Jack Harkness]] decides to return him to life for a few minutes. No one could have guessed the consequences.
 
Owen Harper has died. Jack Harkness decides to return him to life for a few minutes. No one could have guessed the consequences.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
[[Owen Harper]] lies dead of a gunshot wound, about to be opened up for autopsy by [[Martha Jones]] at [[the Hub]]. [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] orders [[Torchwood 3|the team]] to do nothing until he arrives. Jack enters a strange café where a [[Little girl (Dead Man Walking)|girl]], that appears twelve years old, reads [[tarot]]. She tells Jack he owes her a favour and where to find what he is looking for. As he leaves, she holds the [[Tarot|Death card]].
[[Owen Harper]] lies dead of a gunshot wound, about to be opened up for autopsy by [[Martha Jones]] at [[the Hub]]. [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] orders [[Torchwood Three|the team]] to do nothing until he arrives. Jack enters a strange café where a [[Little girl (Dead Man Walking)|girl]], that appears twelve years old, reads [[tarot]]. She tells Jack he owes her a favour and where to find what he is looking for. As he leaves, she holds the [[Tarot|Death card]].


Jack goes to [[St Mary's Church (Cardiff)|St Mary's]], an abandoned church where [[Weevil]]s sleep and store collected bric-a-brac. He breaks into a safe and retrieves from it a box. When Jack returns to the Hub with the box, to the astonishment of the team, it holds a left-handed [[resurrection gauntlet]]. [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] objects to what Jack is about to do, reminding him of what happened with [[Suzie Costello|Suzie]]. Jack ignores her. He hopes to bring Owen back for two minutes for everybody to say their goodbyes. He resurrects Owen, who is confused and scared. [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]] tells Owen that she loves him, and Jack — after initially upsetting Owen by asking for the morgue access code — tries to prepare Owen for death. The connection is lost, Owen stops breathing and Jack holds his hand, believing him dead. Then, Owen says that he will need his hand back.
Jack goes to [[St Mary's Church (Cardiff)|St Mary's]], an abandoned church where [[Weevil]]s sleep and store collected bric-a-brac. He breaks into a safe and retrieves from it a box. When Jack returns to the Hub with the box, to the astonishment of the team, it holds a left-handed [[resurrection gauntlet]]. [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] objects to what Jack is about to do, reminding him of what happened with [[Suzie Costello|Suzie]]. Jack ignores her. He hopes to bring Owen back for two minutes for everybody to say their goodbyes. He resurrects Owen, who is confused and scared. [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]] tells Owen that she loves him, and Jack — after initially upsetting Owen by asking for the morgue access code — tries to prepare Owen for death. The connection is lost, Owen stops breathing and Jack holds his hand, believing him dead. Then, Owen says that he will need his hand back.
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The glove has brought Owen back from death permanently. Unlike Suzie, there is no obvious source of life energy. No energy is being drained from Jack as Suzie drained energy from Gwen, but Owen is getting energy from somewhere. Toshiko tells Owen she didn't mean it when she told him that she loved him. Owen says that this is a textbook reaction to grief, but does not want to discuss it further. He changes the subject and leaves the room.
The glove has brought Owen back from death permanently. Unlike Suzie, there is no obvious source of life energy. No energy is being drained from Jack as Suzie drained energy from Gwen, but Owen is getting energy from somewhere. Toshiko tells Owen she didn't mean it when she told him that she loved him. Owen says that this is a textbook reaction to grief, but does not want to discuss it further. He changes the subject and leaves the room.


Owen has visions of himself in a place shrouded in darkness, full of eerie whispers. He temporarily loses control of his body. During this incident, his pupils turn black and he speaks in an unknown language. Although he has been put in quarantine, Owen escapes and goes to a bar in [[Cardiff]]. He finds he can no longer get drunk or get an erection (which depends on [[blood]] flow), so he can no longer have [[sex]] as all his life processes have stopped. He is now the walking dead.
Owen has visions of himself in a place shrouded in darkness, full of eerie whispers. He temporarily loses control of his body. During this incident, his pupils turn black and he speaks the phrase "melenkurion abatha, duroc minas mill khabaal". Although he has been put in quarantine, Owen escapes and goes to a bar in [[Cardiff]]. He finds he can no longer get drunk or get an [[erection]] (which depends on [[blood]] flow), so he can no longer have [[sex]] as all his life processes have stopped. He is now the walking dead.


Jack catches him and they have a bar brawl. When Owen shouts that he belongs to Torchwood "special ops", Jack assumes a fake [[English]] accent and denies it. This results in them both being put in a [[police]] cell. As they bicker, Owen hears the drinks in his stomach sloshing and realises that he can no longer digest them so they'll just sit there if left. Also unable to force himself to be sick by sticking his fingers down his throat, he is forced to stand on his head until the liquid comes back through his throat allowing him to vomit, much to Jack's amused disgust. After a moment of panic, Owen and Jack bond. Jack says that he once dated [[Marcel Proust]] and that his immortality, which Owen covets in his position, is not the gift that Owen envies. They leave after Jack reveals his thoughts on immortality. Outside they encounter Weevils which chase Owen and Jack until they are cornered on a rooftop. Instead of killing them, the Weevils bow to Owen, who again temporarily loses control of his body and addresses the Weevils in the same unknown language.
Jack catches him and they have a bar brawl. When Owen shouts that he belongs to Torchwood "special ops", Jack assumes a fake [[England|English]] accent and denies it. This results in them both being put in a [[police]] cell. As they bicker, Owen hears the drinks in his stomach sloshing and realises that he can no longer digest them so they'll just sit there if left. Also unable to force himself to be sick by sticking his fingers down his throat, he is forced to stand on his head until the liquid comes back through his throat allowing him to vomit, much to Jack's amused disgust. After a moment of panic, Owen and Jack bond. Jack says that he once dated [[Marcel Proust]] and that his immortality, which Owen covets in his position, is not the gift that Owen envies. They leave after Jack reveals his thoughts on immortality. Outside they encounter Weevils which chase Owen and Jack until they are cornered on a rooftop. Instead of killing them, the Weevils bow to Owen, who again temporarily loses control of his body and addresses the Weevils in the same unknown language.
[[File:Jack_and_owen_bond.jpg|left|thumb|Jack and Owen bond over their immortality.]]
[[File:Jack_and_owen_bond.jpg|left|thumb|Jack and Owen bond over their immortality.]]


At the Hub, the team learn that Owen's cells are changing slowly. When complete, something will take over Owen's body. Research shows a similar incident occurred in legend, at the town that predated Cardiff during the time of the [[Black Death]]: a little girl died, and the town priest (undoubtedly using the same resurrection gauntlet that has brought Owen back) subsequently performed a miracle to resurrect her, but [[Death (Dead Man Walking)|Death itself]] came back with the revived girl. Death sought to kill thirteen victims, as doing so would allow it to enter the world permanently. But before Death could take more than twelve victims, what the story simply describes as "faith" stopped the entity.
At the Hub, the team learn that Owen's cells are changing slowly. When complete, something will take over Owen's body. Research shows a similar incident occurred in legend, at the town that predated Cardiff during the time of the [[Black Death]]: a little girl died, and the town priest (undoubtedly using the same resurrection gauntlet that has brought Owen back) subsequently performed a miracle to resurrect her, but [[Death (mythology)|Death itself]] came back with the revived girl. Death sought to kill thirteen victims, as doing so would allow it to enter the world permanently. But before Death could take more than twelve victims, what the story simply describes as "faith" stopped the entity.


Believing this legend is recurring, Owen suggests he must have his neural pathways closed by embalming to stop Death from using him as a gateway. As the team are getting Owen ready for the process, the resurrection gauntlet springs to life and attacks Martha. Owen destroys the gauntlet with a gunshot, but not before it has drained Martha's life and reduced her to an old woman. Before the team can get Martha help or do anything about Owen, the cellular conversion completes, allowing Death to fully possess and then emerge from Owen.
Believing this legend is recurring, Owen suggests he must have his neural pathways closed by embalming to stop Death from using him as a gateway. As the team are getting Owen ready for the process, the resurrection gauntlet springs to life and attacks Martha. Owen destroys the gauntlet with a gunshot, but not before it has drained Martha's life and reduced her to an old woman. Before the team can get Martha help or do anything about Owen, the cellular conversion completes, allowing Death to fully possess and then emerge from Owen.
[[File:Owen_tangles_with_Death.jpg|thumb|right|Owen tangles with Death.]]
[[File:Owen_tangles_with_Death.jpg|thumb|right|Owen tangles with Death.]]
Upon manifesting, Death kills Jack, and heads to a [[St. Helen's Hospital|hospital]], drawn to those close to death. It begins going after patients who are helpless or alone, sucking each one dry and adding their death to its count. As Jack resurrects, the Torchwood team rush Martha to the hospital in her greatly aged state, where a nurse says that as her red blood cell count is low and as she is over eighty, her chances of survival are slim. Upon realising from the Weevils gathering outside that Death is here, the team evacuates everyone from the building, while Death, after taking twelve souls, chases after [[Jamie Burton]], a young leukaemia patient who has been left behind.
Upon manifesting, Death kills Jack, and heads to a [[St. Helen's Hospital|hospital]], drawn to those close to death. It begins going after patients who are helpless or alone, sucking each one dry and adding their death to its count. As Jack resurrects, the Torchwood team rush Martha to the hospital in her greatly aged state, where a nurse says that as her red blood cell count is low and as she is over eighty, her chances of survival are slim. Upon realising from the Weevils gathering outside that Death is here, the team evacuates everyone from the building, while Death, after taking twelve souls, chases after [[Jamie Burton]], a young leukaemia patient who has been left behind.


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* [[Amy Carysfort|Nurse]] - [[Joanna Griffiths]]
* [[Amy Carysfort|Nurse]] - [[Joanna Griffiths]]
* [[Jamie Burton]] - [[Ben Walker]]
* [[Jamie Burton]] - [[Ben Walker]]
* [[Hen night girl|Hen Night Girl]] - [[Lauren Phillips]]
* [[Hen night girl (Dead Man Walking)|Hen Night Girl]] - [[Lauren Phillips]]
* [[Angela Connolly|Doctor]] - [[Golda Reshhuevel]]
* [[Angela Connolly|Doctor]] - [[Golda Rosheuvel]]
* [[Hospital patient (Dead Man Walking)|Hospital Patient]] - [[Janie Booth]]
* [[Hospital patient (Dead Man Walking)|Hospital Patient]] - [[Janie Booth]]
* [[Police officer (Dead Man Walking)|Police Officer]] - [[Rhys Ap Williams]]
* [[Police officer (Dead Man Walking)|Police Officer]] - [[Rhys Ap Williams]]
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}}
}}


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* Martha asks Jack why he didn't inform [[UNIT]] about his ability to bring back the dead.
* Martha asks Jack why he didn't inform [[UNIT]] about the [[resurrection gauntlet]] and its ability to bring back the dead.
* Jack visits a [[psychic]] [[Little girl (Dead Man Walking)|fortune teller]].
* Jack visits a [[psychic]] [[Little girl (Dead Man Walking)|fortune teller]].
* Gwen mentions the resurrection glove's last use on [[Suzie Costello]].
* Gwen mentions the resurrection glove's last use on [[Suzie Costello]].
* Owen has previously shown a connection with the [[Weevil]]s.
* Owen has previously shown a connection with the [[Weevil]]s.
* After escaping from the Hub, the [[pub]] Owen visits is in the midst of a costume party where a number of people are dressed as [[angel (mythology)|angels]].
* After escaping from the Hub, the [[pub]] Owen visits is in the midst of a costume party where a number of people are dressed as [[angel]]s.
* Acting as a [[drunk]], Jack claims that Owen is [[special needs]].
* Acting as a [[drunk]], Jack claims that Owen is [[special needs]].
* Owen calls a police officer a [[meathead]].
* After Owen is resurrected from the dead, he soon loses many bodily functions, including the ability to produce [[flatulence]] or enjoy [[sex]].
* After Owen is resurrected from the dead, he soon loses many bodily functions, including the ability to produce [[flatulence]] or enjoy [[sex]].
* A ''[[Shrek]]'' poster is pinned to the wall of the children's ward.
* A ''[[Shrek]]'' poster is pinned to the wall of the children's ward.
* Owen mentions [[necrophilia]].


== Story notes ==
== Story notes ==
* This episode continues on directly from ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]'', at the end of which Owen was killed.
* This episode aired 10 minutes after the [[BBC Two]] repeat of ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]'' at 10:00pm on [[BBC Three]]; and was repeated on BBC Two in its usual 9:00pm timeslot the next week, on Wednesday [[27 February (releases)|27 February]] [[2008 (releases)|2008]].
* This episode, ''Reset'' and the following episode, ''[[A Day in the Death (TV story)|A Day in the Death]]'', all take place within a period of about three days (based upon dialogue in the third episode).
* A family friendly pre-watershed edit of this episode aired at 7:00pm, the following day, Thursday [[28 February (releases)|28 February]] [[2008 (releases)|2008]] on [[BBC Two]].
* [[Suzie Costello]]'s resurrection in ''[[They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)|They Keep Killing Suzie]]'', as well as her statement about what the afterlife was like, are mentioned and referenced to several times in this episode. Her final warning to Jack before her second death also comes to fruition when the [[Duroc|creature]] lurking in the darkness escapes and comes after him.
* [[Suzie Costello]]'s resurrection in ''[[They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)|They Keep Killing Suzie]]'', as well as her statement about what the afterlife was like, are mentioned and referenced to several times in this episode. Her final warning to Jack before her second death also comes to fruition when [[Duroc|the creature]] lurking in the darkness escapes.
* Jack appears to have a thing for writers. After mentioning a relationship with [[Christopher Isherwood]] in ''Reset'', in this episode he mentions having a short-lived relationship with [[Marcel Proust]].
* The phrase "Melenkurion abatha, duroc minas mill khabaal" is a reference to Stephen R. Donaldson's dark fantasy series ''The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant''. In the series's setting, the Land, they are part of a powerful incantation known as the Seven Words. "Melenkurion" means bastion or source; "abatha" means endurance, or the need for it; "duroc" means Earthpower, a type of energy, in a theurgic sense; "minas" means Earthpower as a foundation; and "khabaal" has numerous meanings. The sixth word, "harad", which signifies a commitment not to use Earthpower for dark purposes, is omitted here; it had not been revealed until the then-recent eighth volume, so it is unclear whether its omission from the episode is significant or intentional. When a fan told Donaldson, who had never heard of ''Torchwood'', about the reference, he replied that "if it isn't a) an "homage" or b) an in-joke, then it's just stupid. I suggest that we all simply enjoy it for whatever we think it is. Unless the makers of "Torchwood" know something I don't? <muffled gasp>"<ref>https://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/fromtheauthor/gi_view.php?Year=2008&Month=03</ref> However, Donaldson was impressed when an anonymous fan subsequently told him that Davies was a huge fan of the ''Covenant'' books and re-read them once a year.<ref>https://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/fromtheauthor/gi_view.php?Year=2008&Month=04</ref>
* Jack's immortality is shown to be so complete that even an entity claiming to be the embodiment of death itself cannot kill him permanently. This was previously alluded to in ''[[End of Days (TV story)|End of Days]]'', when the demon [[Abaddon]] could not kill him for long.
* When asked by Jack to give him the passcode for the alien morgue, Owen gives the code “[[231165 (Dead Man Walking)|231165]]” - this may be a reference to the date 23/11/1963 when the [[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|first episode of Doctor Who]] was aired, although the last digit is incorrect.


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
* 3.3 million [[BBC Two]] viewers, with an [[AI]] of 87%
* 3.3 million [[BBC Two]] viewers, with an [[AI]] of 87%
* 1.0 million [[BBC Three]] viewers
* 1.0 million [[BBC Three]] viewers
* 4.32 million viewers - final BARB rating<ref>[https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-10/ BARB Ratings - April, 2008]</ref>


=== Filming locations ===
=== Filming locations ===
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=== Production errors ===
=== Production errors ===
{{Torchwood discontinuity}}
* At 41:30, while Gwen and Jack are walking during the conversation "I'm getting reports of twelve people dead", the camera can be clearly seen reflected in the glass as they approach the door.
* At 41:30, while Gwen and Jack are walking during the conversation "I'm getting reports of twelve people dead", the camera can be clearly seen reflected in the glass as they approach the door.
* When the black smoke it coming out of Owens mouth you can see the screen that is keeping progress of how human he is and the screen shows 5%, probably discluding{{What?}} the tens place. But the flash to the screen a couple moments later says 100%.
* When the black smoke is coming out of Owens mouth, the projection behind him can be seen flashing 95%, despite having previously shown 100%. Flashing back a couple moments later and it once again reads 100%.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The resurrection gauntlet [[Suzie Costello]] used is mentioned, as are the events that occurred when Gwen used it revive her. ([[TV]]: ''[[Everything Changes (TV story)|Everything Changes]]'', ''[[They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)|They Keep Killing Suzie]]'')
* The resurrection gauntlet [[Suzie Costello]] used in [[TV]]: {{cs|Everything Changes (TV story)}} is mentioned, as are the events that occurred when Gwen used it revive her in [[TV]]: {{cs|They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)}}.
* Owen remembers shortly after his resurrection that he got shot. ([[TV]]: ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]'') Most of the victims that got resurrected, including Suzie, remembered how they died. ([[TV]]: ''[[Everything Changes (TV story)|Everything Changes]]'', ''[[They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)|They Keep Killing Suzie]]'')
* Owen remembers that he got shot during the events of [[TV]]: {{cs|Reset (TV story)}}.
* Owen displayed a connection with the Weevils before. ([[TV]]: ''[[Combat (TV story)|Combat]]'')
* The concept of the afterlife as an empty black nothingness inhabited by a lurking entity in the dark has been addressed before, by [[John Tucker]], [[Suzie Costello]] and Jack himself in [[TV]]: {{cs|Everything Changes (TV story)}}, {{cs|They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)}}, and {{cs|Out of Time (TV story)}} respectively.
* The Weevils recoiled in the presence of a [[sleeper agent]] in a way similar to Owen. ([[TV]]: ''[[Sleeper (TV story)|Sleeper]]'') Owen also made them recoil once before in [[TV]]: ''[[Combat (TV story)|Combat]]'' through intimidation.
* Owen has displayed a connection with the Weevils before in [[TV]]: {{cs|Combat (TV story)}}.
* Martha is rapidly aged by the [[resurrection gauntlet]]. She and Jack had previously witnessed the [[Tenth Doctor]] being rapidly aged by {{Simm}} using his [[laser screwdriver]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums (TV story)|The Sound of Drums]]'')
* Tosh uses the translator she once stole from the Hub in [[TV]]: {{cs|Everything Changes (TV story)}} to translate what Owen says while possessed by Duroc.
* The fortune teller Jack visits once told him that he would have to wait over a century for [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] to return to Cardiff; she appears not to have aged since then. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'')
* Before being shown in this episode, the concept of the afterlife as an empty black nothingness inhabited by a lurking entity in the dark was addressed by Jack and Suzie before. ([[TV]]: ''[[Everything Changes (TV story)|Everything Changes]]'', ''[[They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)|They Keep Killing Suzie]]'', ''[[Out of Time (TV story)|Out of Time]]'')
* Tosh uses the translator she once stole from the hub to translate what Owen says while possessed by Duroc. ([[TV]]: ''[[Everything Changes (TV story)|Everything Changes]]'')


== DVD releases ==
== Home video releases ==
* ''Dead Man Walking'' along with the rest of ''Torchwood'' [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]] was released in a complete series box set in [[2008 (releases)|2008]].
* ''Dead Man Walking,'' along with the rest of ''Torchwood'' [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]], was released in a complete series box set in [[2008 (releases)|2008]].
* It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)
 
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
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* {{briefhistory|torchwood/2008g.html|Dead Man Walking}}
* {{briefhistory|torchwood/2008g.html|Dead Man Walking}}
* {{locguide|deadmanwalking|Dead Man Walking}}
* {{locguide|deadmanwalking|Dead Man Walking}}
* {{whoniverse|tw2_07|Dead Man Walking}}
{{TWTV}}
{{TWTV}}
{{Weevil stories}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[fr:Dead Man Walking]]
[[he:איש מת מהלך (סיפור טלוויזיה)]]


[[fr:Dead Man Walking]]
[[Category:Torchwood television stories]]
[[Category:Torchwood television stories]]
[[Category:Series 2 (Torchwood) stories]]
[[Category:Series 2 (Torchwood) stories]]
[[Category:Weevil television stories]]
[[Category:Weevil television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 2000s]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 2000s]]

Latest revision as of 19:23, 3 November 2024

RealWorld.png

You may be looking for the Torchwood Declassified episode.

Dead Man Walking was the seventh episode of Series 2 of Torchwood. It was written by Matt Jones and directed by Andy Goddard. It was the middle of a loose trilogy that featured Martha Jones as a guest character and was linked by the resurrection of Owen after his death in the previous episode.

This episode examined the nature of the afterlife. It revealed that one place where people can end up after death is an empty netherworld of darkness, inhabited by a demonic creature that expunges all life with which it comes into contact.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

"I'm bringing Owen back."

Owen Harper has died. Jack Harkness decides to return him to life for a few minutes. No one could have guessed the consequences.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Owen Harper lies dead of a gunshot wound, about to be opened up for autopsy by Martha Jones at the Hub. Jack orders the team to do nothing until he arrives. Jack enters a strange café where a girl, that appears twelve years old, reads tarot. She tells Jack he owes her a favour and where to find what he is looking for. As he leaves, she holds the Death card.

Jack goes to St Mary's, an abandoned church where Weevils sleep and store collected bric-a-brac. He breaks into a safe and retrieves from it a box. When Jack returns to the Hub with the box, to the astonishment of the team, it holds a left-handed resurrection gauntlet. Gwen objects to what Jack is about to do, reminding him of what happened with Suzie. Jack ignores her. He hopes to bring Owen back for two minutes for everybody to say their goodbyes. He resurrects Owen, who is confused and scared. Tosh tells Owen that she loves him, and Jack — after initially upsetting Owen by asking for the morgue access code — tries to prepare Owen for death. The connection is lost, Owen stops breathing and Jack holds his hand, believing him dead. Then, Owen says that he will need his hand back.

The glove has brought Owen back from death permanently. Unlike Suzie, there is no obvious source of life energy. No energy is being drained from Jack as Suzie drained energy from Gwen, but Owen is getting energy from somewhere. Toshiko tells Owen she didn't mean it when she told him that she loved him. Owen says that this is a textbook reaction to grief, but does not want to discuss it further. He changes the subject and leaves the room.

Owen has visions of himself in a place shrouded in darkness, full of eerie whispers. He temporarily loses control of his body. During this incident, his pupils turn black and he speaks the phrase "melenkurion abatha, duroc minas mill khabaal". Although he has been put in quarantine, Owen escapes and goes to a bar in Cardiff. He finds he can no longer get drunk or get an erection (which depends on blood flow), so he can no longer have sex as all his life processes have stopped. He is now the walking dead.

Jack catches him and they have a bar brawl. When Owen shouts that he belongs to Torchwood "special ops", Jack assumes a fake English accent and denies it. This results in them both being put in a police cell. As they bicker, Owen hears the drinks in his stomach sloshing and realises that he can no longer digest them so they'll just sit there if left. Also unable to force himself to be sick by sticking his fingers down his throat, he is forced to stand on his head until the liquid comes back through his throat allowing him to vomit, much to Jack's amused disgust. After a moment of panic, Owen and Jack bond. Jack says that he once dated Marcel Proust and that his immortality, which Owen covets in his position, is not the gift that Owen envies. They leave after Jack reveals his thoughts on immortality. Outside they encounter Weevils which chase Owen and Jack until they are cornered on a rooftop. Instead of killing them, the Weevils bow to Owen, who again temporarily loses control of his body and addresses the Weevils in the same unknown language.

Jack and Owen bond over their immortality.

At the Hub, the team learn that Owen's cells are changing slowly. When complete, something will take over Owen's body. Research shows a similar incident occurred in legend, at the town that predated Cardiff during the time of the Black Death: a little girl died, and the town priest (undoubtedly using the same resurrection gauntlet that has brought Owen back) subsequently performed a miracle to resurrect her, but Death itself came back with the revived girl. Death sought to kill thirteen victims, as doing so would allow it to enter the world permanently. But before Death could take more than twelve victims, what the story simply describes as "faith" stopped the entity.

Believing this legend is recurring, Owen suggests he must have his neural pathways closed by embalming to stop Death from using him as a gateway. As the team are getting Owen ready for the process, the resurrection gauntlet springs to life and attacks Martha. Owen destroys the gauntlet with a gunshot, but not before it has drained Martha's life and reduced her to an old woman. Before the team can get Martha help or do anything about Owen, the cellular conversion completes, allowing Death to fully possess and then emerge from Owen.

Owen tangles with Death.

Upon manifesting, Death kills Jack, and heads to a hospital, drawn to those close to death. It begins going after patients who are helpless or alone, sucking each one dry and adding their death to its count. As Jack resurrects, the Torchwood team rush Martha to the hospital in her greatly aged state, where a nurse says that as her red blood cell count is low and as she is over eighty, her chances of survival are slim. Upon realising from the Weevils gathering outside that Death is here, the team evacuates everyone from the building, while Death, after taking twelve souls, chases after Jamie Burton, a young leukaemia patient who has been left behind.

Owen saves Jamie and helps Tosh and him escape. Ianto, who is waiting with Martha, explains to the team that according to research he's uncovered, the "faith" which defeated Death before was the resurrected child, whose name was Faith. Owen realises that he is the only one who can fight Death; he is already dead and has nothing to lose. After kissing Tosh (and stealing her alien lockpick device), Owen locks the other team members out of the hospital and begins a brawl with Death, finally consuming its energy and forcing it back into the darkness.

On returning to the Hub, Martha explains to Owen that the energy keeping him "alive" is dissipating but it could take anywhere between thirty seconds and thirty years to die out completely and end Owen's "life." Owen asks Jack to let him work again, as by doing his job as a doctor, he can try to repay the twelve lives that have been lost as a consequence of his resurrection. Toshiko and Jack discuss Owen literally fighting off Death in the hospital; Jack gravely declares, "Ah, you can never really beat Death. Never escape it. It's always in the shadows, waiting!"

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.
          

This episode did not have a "created by Russell T Davies" credit.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Martha asks Jack why he didn't inform UNIT about the resurrection gauntlet and its ability to bring back the dead.
  • Jack visits a psychic fortune teller.
  • Gwen mentions the resurrection glove's last use on Suzie Costello.
  • Owen has previously shown a connection with the Weevils.
  • After escaping from the Hub, the pub Owen visits is in the midst of a costume party where a number of people are dressed as angels.
  • Acting as a drunk, Jack claims that Owen is special needs.
  • Owen calls a police officer a meathead.
  • After Owen is resurrected from the dead, he soon loses many bodily functions, including the ability to produce flatulence or enjoy sex.
  • A Shrek poster is pinned to the wall of the children's ward.
  • Owen mentions necrophilia.

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

  • This episode aired 10 minutes after the BBC Two repeat of Reset at 10:00pm on BBC Three; and was repeated on BBC Two in its usual 9:00pm timeslot the next week, on Wednesday 27 February 2008.
  • A family friendly pre-watershed edit of this episode aired at 7:00pm, the following day, Thursday 28 February 2008 on BBC Two.
  • Suzie Costello's resurrection in They Keep Killing Suzie, as well as her statement about what the afterlife was like, are mentioned and referenced to several times in this episode. Her final warning to Jack before her second death also comes to fruition when the creature lurking in the darkness escapes.
  • The phrase "Melenkurion abatha, duroc minas mill khabaal" is a reference to Stephen R. Donaldson's dark fantasy series The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. In the series's setting, the Land, they are part of a powerful incantation known as the Seven Words. "Melenkurion" means bastion or source; "abatha" means endurance, or the need for it; "duroc" means Earthpower, a type of energy, in a theurgic sense; "minas" means Earthpower as a foundation; and "khabaal" has numerous meanings. The sixth word, "harad", which signifies a commitment not to use Earthpower for dark purposes, is omitted here; it had not been revealed until the then-recent eighth volume, so it is unclear whether its omission from the episode is significant or intentional. When a fan told Donaldson, who had never heard of Torchwood, about the reference, he replied that "if it isn't a) an "homage" or b) an in-joke, then it's just stupid. I suggest that we all simply enjoy it for whatever we think it is. Unless the makers of "Torchwood" know something I don't? <muffled gasp>"[1] However, Donaldson was impressed when an anonymous fan subsequently told him that Davies was a huge fan of the Covenant books and re-read them once a year.[2]
  • When asked by Jack to give him the passcode for the alien morgue, Owen gives the code “231165” - this may be a reference to the date 23/11/1963 when the first episode of Doctor Who was aired, although the last digit is incorrect.

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 3.3 million BBC Two viewers, with an AI of 87%
  • 1.0 million BBC Three viewers
  • 4.32 million viewers - final BARB rating[3]

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

to be added

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.
  • At 41:30, while Gwen and Jack are walking during the conversation "I'm getting reports of twelve people dead", the camera can be clearly seen reflected in the glass as they approach the door.
  • When the black smoke is coming out of Owens mouth, the projection behind him can be seen flashing 95%, despite having previously shown 100%. Flashing back a couple moments later and it once again reads 100%.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The resurrection gauntlet Suzie Costello used in TV: Everything Changes [+]Loading...["Everything Changes (TV story)"] is mentioned, as are the events that occurred when Gwen used it revive her in TV: They Keep Killing Suzie [+]Loading...["They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)"].
  • Owen remembers that he got shot during the events of TV: Reset [+]Loading...["Reset (TV story)"].
  • The concept of the afterlife as an empty black nothingness inhabited by a lurking entity in the dark has been addressed before, by John Tucker, Suzie Costello and Jack himself in TV: Everything Changes [+]Loading...["Everything Changes (TV story)"], They Keep Killing Suzie [+]Loading...["They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)"], and Out of Time [+]Loading...["Out of Time (TV story)"] respectively.
  • Owen has displayed a connection with the Weevils before in TV: Combat [+]Loading...["Combat (TV story)"].
  • Tosh uses the translator she once stole from the Hub in TV: Everything Changes [+]Loading...["Everything Changes (TV story)"] to translate what Owen says while possessed by Duroc.

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

  • Dead Man Walking, along with the rest of Torchwood 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]]

  1. ↑ https://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/fromtheauthor/gi_view.php?Year=2008&Month=03
  2. ↑ https://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/fromtheauthor/gi_view.php?Year=2008&Month=04
  3. ↑ BARB Ratings - April, 2008

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

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