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{{Infobox Torchwood
{{title dab away}}
|image = [[File:Ghostmachine.jpg|250px]]
{{real world}}
|story name = Ghost Machine
{{ImageLinkTV}}
|series = [[Torchwood]] - [[List of Torchwood television stories|TV Stories]]
{{Infobox Story SMW
|series number = [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|Series 1]]
|image                 = Ghost machine main img.jpg
|number = 3
|series                = ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''
|featuring = <ul><li>[[Jack Harkness]]</li><li>[[Gwen Cooper]]</li><li>[[Toshiko Sato]]</li><li>[[Owen Harper]]</li><li>[[Ianto Jones]]</ul>
|season number        = Series 1 (Torchwood)
|enemy = [[Bernie Harris]] (troubled)<br>[[Ed Morgan]] (partially reforms)
|series episode number = 3
|setting = [[Cardiff]], [[2007]]
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/torchwood-1-episode-3-ghost-machine-green-revisions-21072006.pdf
|writer = [[Helen Raynor]]
|main character        = [[Jack Harkness|Jack]], [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]], [[Owen Harper|Owen]], [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]], [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]]
|director = [[Colin Teague]]
|featuring            = [[Rhys Williams|Rhys]]
|producer = [[Richard Stokes]]<br>[[Chris Chibnall]](Co-producer)
|enemy                = [[Ed Morgan]]
|broadcast date = [[29th October]] [[2006]]
|setting              = [[Cardiff]], [[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 ''Ghost Machine'', {{cs|Greeks Bearing Gifts (TV story)}}, {{cs|Random Shoes (TV story)}}, {{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.}}
|previous story = [[Day One]]
|writer                = Helen Raynor
|next story = [[Cyberwoman]]
|director              = [[Colin Teague]]
|producer              = [[Richard Stokes]]
|broadcast date        = 29 October 2006
|network              = BBC Three
|prev                  = Day One (TV story)
|next                  = Cyberwoman (TV story)
|clip                  = Premonitions - Torchwood - BBC
|clip2                = Captain Jack Teaches Gwen How to Shoot Ghost Machine Torchwood
|clip3                = Gwen Sees A Ghost From The Past Ghost Machine Torchwood
|format                = 1x50-minute episode
}}{{you may|Ghost Devices (novel)|n1=Ghost Devices|Ghost in the Machine (audio story)|n2=Ghost in the Machine}}
'''''Ghost Machine''''' was the third episode in the [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|first series]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''. It was written by [[Helen Raynor]] and directed by [[Colin Teague]].
 
== Synopsis ==
When [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] retrieves an [[Quantum transducer|alien object]] from [[Bernie Harris|a fleeing man in a hoodie]], she's haunted by a vision of [[Tom Flanagan|a lonely young boy]]. As the team tracks down the object's owner, [[Owen Harper|Owen]] experiences an even more terrifying vision and a long-buried crime resurfaces.
 
== Plot ==
[[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] and [[Owen Harper|Owen]] are running down a city street one evening, chasing a signal that [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]] is tracking. Tosh doesn't have a visual yet. [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] is on his way, driving the [[Torchwood SUV|SUV]].
 
Tosh finds their quarry on the [[CCTV]] feed and calls out to the tracking team that it's [[Bernie Harris|a man in a hoodie]]. They chase him through a shopping area, until he ducks under a closing exit barrier at the [[High Street Arcade]]. Only Gwen has kept close enough to make it through; Owen and Jack have to pause until the mechanism can be reversed. She chases the man in the hoodie over the gate into the [[Cardiff Central Station|train station]] and through some travellers until she tackles him. The runner squirms away, leaving Gwen with his [[jacket]]. Gwen is angry that she lost him, but Tosh says the signal is still right there with her. Gwen finds a device concealed in the jacket. It's beeping, and lights on it are flashing, as she lifts it up in both hands she presses a button.
 
The world around Gwen blurs and the other people in the station disappear. She's in the same station, still night or evening. A little boy, in short pants, coat, and tie, with a little [[grey]] [[hat]], walks out of the booking hall, with a suitcase, two brown paper packages on string, a [[teddy bear]], and a tag pinned to his lapel that says he is [[Tom Flanagan|Tom Erasmus Flanagan]]. Gwen tries to talk to him. He doesn't really answer, but says he's lost and no one there knows who he is. Tom walks back towards the booking hall. Gwen fades back as Jack comes up with Owen, apologising for missing the gate. He asks Gwen if she's alright. Gwen says she's just seen a [[ghost]].
 
Back at [[the Hub]], Tosh goes over the CCTV, which shows that Gwen didn't go anywhere after pressing the button. Gwen protests that the encounter felt very real, to the point where she could actually feel the little boy's emotions. Owen suggests both [[hallucination]]s and [[dementia]], causing Gwen to shout at him. Jack examines the device while Tosh tries to backtrack the hoodie guy with the CCTV and the little boy from the vision. Owen says not to bother, he's found Thomas Erasmus Flanagan on 74 Bryaeron Terrace, [[Butetown]]... in the phone book.
 
"DI Cooper" (Gwen) and "DS Harper" (Owen) pay a visit to the address. A blonde woman answers, and she turns out to be Tom's daughter, [[Eleri Flanagan|Eleri]]. Tom is watching [[television|TV]]. When Gwen says she needs to ask about an incident the previous evening, Eleri says they were watching the ''[[Strictly Come Dancing]]'' finale. Owen and Eleri go to make [[tea]] while Gwen speaks to Tom.
 
Tom never lost his accent, despite his 66 years in [[Wales]]. He says he was evacuated with the other children from the East End in [[1941]], when he was 8, and was sent to [[Cardiff]] as a way station on his way to the country. His mother and big sister sent him off from [[Paddington station]] and he never saw them again. There was a mixup and he had been left at the Cardiff station all alone. It felt like the end of the world as he wandered around, totally lost and forgotten, looking for someone to look out for him. Eventually they realised he'd been forgotten. He was taken in by a nice family, and since he had no family left in [[London]], he never returned after the war.
 
Gwen tries out theories on Owen as they walk away, but is interrupted by a call from [[Rhys Williams|Rhys]]. He's doing the laundry, and wants to know if she's coming home tonight. She isn't sure, and he is angry. He feels that even if she needs to keep secrets for her job, she should know whether or not she'll be home. He says he's going out tonight and hangs up on her.
 
Back at the Hub, Jack and Tosh have found [[Sean Harris]], also known as Bernie, a known petty thief. They've also analysed the device, which is a [[nanotechnology|nanotechnological]] instrument of such complexity that it makes the work of [[NASA]] look like [[Toys R Us|Toys Я Us]]. Gwen notices that the machine isn't currently beeping and lighting up. Ianto shows up with snacks and coffee.
 
All except Ianto go to [[Splott]], which is listed as Bernie's neighbourhood, to look for him. They strike out rather impressively, as they discover that Bernie has managed to annoy pretty much every person who knew him, right down to his own mother, who won't let him back in her house until he pays her the 50 [[Pound|quid]] he owes her. Gwen, Tosh, and Owen have just given up when Jack walks up and keeps on walking. They follow him and ask where he's going. He says they're going to the railway station to experiment with the same conditions that were there during Gwen's experience. They all stop under the bridge to argue about how dangerous it is. Jack tosses the device to Owen and taunts them about giving up on the search for Bernie. As Owen lifts up the machine, it starts beeping and he calls for the rest to come back.
 
The world blurs for Owen and suddenly it goes from sunny afternoon to [[rain]]y night under the bridge. A girl stumbles down the wall. She's in a pretty pink coat, a nice dress, and a [[1960s]] hairstyle, but she is sobbing. She's [[Lizzie Lewis]], and she's running away from a boy called [[Ed Morgan|Eddie Morgan]]; she has realised the other girls were right, she shouldn't have gone outside with him. Eddie comes up behind her, asking if he's a bad boy. He flatters her and she stops running. He kisses her but the kiss turns hard and she starts to fight away. He slaps her as she cries, then he grabs her hair and pulls a blade. As she pleads, he drags her over towards the wall...
 
Owen blurs back to the rest of the team. He's frantic, knowing she was so scared, but he could not move and couldn't help her. He pants and starts to cry as Gwen takes the device. Back in the Hub, Jack tells Tosh it was 40-45 years ago, and she finds that the only child of [[Mabel Ann Lewis]] of Hatford Street died [[29 March|March 29th]], [[1963]]. She had been raped and murdered on Penfro Street under the bridge at age 17. No one had ever been brought to trial. As Owen asks Tosh to look for Eddie Morgan, Jack notices that the scan of the device shows a [[quantum transducer]]. This is a device for converting energy from one form to another. This particular transducer seems to amplify the energy of human emotion into ghosts. Jack says, "When you feel déjà vu, something behind you in an empty room, there was, there always is."
 
Owen pushes for more information about Lizzie's death and Jack realises that Owen wants the case reopened. He emphatically states that, no matter how it felt, Owen was not there, he was not a witness, and they can't take it to court. Tomorrow, they'll do their job — which is to find the origin and uses of the alien device and secure it. He sends Owen home and stalks off after ordering, "Gwen, with me."
 
Gwen finds Jack in an area of the base which has been set up as a shooting range. He starts with the basics, then stands back to watch her. After a somewhat rocky start, the roof is safe and she's hitting targets with a [[Firearm|gun]] in each hand. As they finish up, Gwen checks her [[watch]] and says she's got to go. She jokes that Jack lives at the Hub, in the process finding out that Jack does actually live there. He doesn't have a place to sleep because he doesn't. When Gwen asks if it gets lonely at night, he doesn't answer.
 
Gwen goes home, finding that Rhys has gone out to [[Daf]]'s to play [[poker]]. She's brought the device home and uses it to see happy scenes, such as her flirting with Rhys in the kitchen when they celebrated her new job as a police constable. Rhys comes back, and they make up. As she kisses him, she hides the device back in her purse. Owen is home drinking [[Alcohol|liquor]] from the bottle. He's taken the reports on Lizzie's murder from Torchwood. With some effort, he finds Eddie's current address on [[Pryse Avenue|Pryse Ave]]. He goes to [[46 Pryse Avenue|the address]], selecting a false ID from the Gas Supply Services. He talks his way into Eddie's home, even though Eddie doesn't have any gas service. Owen sits down with him and talks to him, saying he knows about the bridge. Owen describes the entire scene of the murder while Morgan visibly gets tense. Morgan chases him out, saying he'll get nothing from him.
 
As Owen returns to his car, he spots Bernie smoking, and chases him. People in the neighbourhood dislike Bernie, and the bystanders help Owen keep track of him. Finally, Owen corners Bernie in a fenced backyard. Bernie asks Owen not to hurt him. Owen replies, "I'm not gonna hurt you... I'm gonna bloody kill you."
 
They go to a [[pub]] to wait for the rest of the field team. Bernie is babbling when Jack puts down the device and says, "It's worth knowing we're probably about the only people you can tell." Bernie stole the device from a storage unit. It was with a bunch of strange coins and rocks in a tin. After he'd taken the device, it started going off near the old wharf. He saw a woman dumping her dead baby in the [[water]], and realised he knew the woman. He went and told her what he saw and she gave him money to keep quiet. Jack realises that Bernie doesn't know anything more about the device and they begin to leave. He yells after them that he's got rights, but they don't stop until he asks if they want the other half.
 
They go to Bernie's [[flat]] on [[Evelyn Street]] to collect the other half and the alien coins and rocks. Tosh finds that they fit together like [[LEGO]]. Bernie is dismayed that they're going to confiscate everything. Gwen trails behind the others and Bernie tells her that he never used the second half again, as it showed him he was going to die bleeding in the street outside. Gwen hurries down and calls out to Jack, but the machine starts beeping. Without stopping to think, Gwen holds it in both hands as Jack bolts toward her, yelling.
 
The world ripples around Gwen and she sees herself standing with her hands covered in [[blood]], holding a [[knife]]. In the vision, Gwen is asking for help. She couldn't stop it and he's dead. Owen had the knife. Gwen stands there in shock as the vision ends. Back in the Hub, Jack tries to ease Gwen's fears, telling her it's only a possible future. Gwen wants more assurance, demanding to know if any of that alien stuff they collect is ever of any use.
 
Tosh and Owen are out for a drink. She tells him she found Eddie. Owen tells her what he did and asks what she found out; Tosh found that Eddie had major issues with mental instability and hasn't left his house in years because of his [[agoraphobia]]. They realise that Bernie must have tried to blackmail Eddie. Meanwhile, Eddie calls Bernie. Gwen shows up at Bernie's to let him know what Jack said about possible futures. Jack calls Gwen to let her know that Eddie had been frightened by Owen, and they're on their way. Tosh sees Eddie on the CCTV, coming up Evelyn Street. Bernie runs for it and Gwen follows.
 
Eddie confronts Bernie with a knife and a paranoid rant. Gwen tries to calm him, but Eddie gets angrier, as he blames women for making him bad. Jack and Owen jump him, then Owen gets the knife and threatens Eddie with it. He realises what he's doing and gives the knife to Gwen, who is relieved. As Eddie goes to hug her for saving his life, he walks right into the outstretched knife in her hand. He drops to the ground, bleeding. Owen begins [[CPR]], but realises quickly that it's futile and stops. Gwen is staring in shock, blood on her hands, the picture from her earlier vision.
 
Back at the Hub, they debrief. Owen is glad that he decided not to kill Eddie. Gwen is shocked and guilty, and Tosh and Jack try to comfort her with the thought that it could have been anybody. Jack gives Ianto the device for the secure archives, then takes the silently crying Gwen to the [[Cardiff Bay|bay]] to watch the sun rise.
 
== Cast ==
* [[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]]
* [[Ed Morgan]] — [[Gareth Thomas]]
* [[Bernie Harris|Bernie]] — [[Ben McKay]]
* [[Eleri Flanagan|Eleri]] — [[Llinos Daniel]]
* [[Tom Flanagan]] — [[John Normington]]
* [[Lizzie Lewis]] — [[Emily Evans]]
* Young [[Ed Morgan]] — [[Christopher Elson]]
* Young [[Tom Flanagan]] — [[Christopher Greene]]
* [[Bernie's mum|Bernie's Mum]] — [[Julie Gibbs]]
* [[Snooker player (Ghost Machine)|Snooker Player]] [[Ian Kay]]
* [[Kid in arcade (Ghost Machine)|Kid in arcade]] — [[Ryan Conway]]
* [[Woman in shop (Ghost Machine)|Woman in shop]] — [[Kathryn Howard]]
 
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:''This article concerns the episode of [[Torchwood]]. For the device nicknamed the Ghost Machine, see [[Quantum transducer]].''


==Synopsis==
== Worldbuilding ==
When [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] retrieves an alien object from a fleeing hoodie, she's haunted by a vision of a lonely young boy. As the team tracks down the object's owner, the elusive [[Bernie Harris]], [[Owen Harper|Owen]] experiences an even more terrifying vision and a long-buried crime resurfaces. <ref>BBC Programme Information</ref>
=== Food and drink ===
* Owen and Bernie have [[beer]] while waiting for the field team.
* Bernie has a tin of [[baked bean]]s.


==Plot==
=== Cardiff ===
[[Jack Harkness|Jack]], [[Owen Harper|Owen]] and [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]] pursue a man through the [[Cardiff]] streets, while [[Toshiko Sato|Toshiko]] tracks his alien energy signature through the CCTV network. Gwen separates from the group, chasing down the suspect into a train station, and is able to grab the man's jacket but he gets out of it and runs away. Gwen discovers an alien device in the jacket pocket, and when she activates it, she finds herself seeing a brief vision of the past, that of a young lost boy wandering the train station. Gwen remembers a name tag worn by the boy, and the team is able to track the name down to a old man in Cardiff who admits that during the World War II evacuation, he was sent to Cardiff with no one to meet him and wandered lost through the train station. The group determines from further analysis that the [[nanotechnology]] of the "[[Quantum transducer|Ghost device]]" allows people to see moments of the past spurred by strong human emotions, and try to learn how their suspect came upon such technology.
* [[Cardiff Castle]] is mentioned.
* Businesses in Cardiff include [[Gap (business)|Gap]], [[Dorothy Perkins|DP]], [[Qube]] and [[Hayes Island Snack Bar]].
* Gwen and Owen chase Bernie through [[Cardiff Central Station]]. Bernie runs out from the [[High Street Arcade]]. The shops on either side are [[EccentriX]] and [[Wales Tartan Centres]].
* During [[the Blitz]], Tom was [[Evacuation|evacuated]] to [[Cardiff]] and then the countryside.


They determine the suspect is Sean "Bernie" Harris, a petty thief from [[Splott]], and travel there to find him. Unsuccessful, they return to the train station to try the device again when Owen activates it while under a bridge, where he witnesses the raping and murder of a young woman named Lizzie Lewis in the 1960s by a man named Ed Morgan. Returning to the Hub, the team investigates the crime to confirm what Owen saw, but that Ed was interrogated but never accused of the crime. Owen insists on trying to bring Ed to justice despite that the case has long since closed, and starts to track Ed on his own. Owen confronts the elderly Ed but gets no information out of him; however, upon leaving his house, he spots Bernie and gives chase, catching up with him. Owen takes Bernie to a pub to learn more about the device while the rest of Torchwood is en route. Bernie explains he found the device in a tin of random objects from an old lady, and that he too saw the murder of Lizzie, and wonders if the team wants the "other half". Torchwood follows Bernie back to Bernie's home to retrieve the other half as well as the other objects in the tin, all alien objects that fell out from the Rift. Bernie explains that he only used the other half once, as it showed him bleeding to death outside his home at his current age. As they leave, Gwen accidentally triggers the second half, and has a vision of herself holding a bloody knife, calling out in vain to Owen. Jack tries calms Gwen down, claiming it just may be a possible future.
=== Animals and insects ===
* Gwen doesn't even kill [[spider]]s in the bath.
* Owen runs through a flock of [[chicken]]s in a backyard.


As the team recollects, they realize that Ed is paranoid and depressed, and that based on Owen's conversation with him, that he was being blackmailed by Bernie to have Bernie remain quiet about Lizzie's murder; Jack becomes concerned that Owen may have triggered Ed to take action. Learning that Ed has left his home and is heading towards Bernie's, Jack, Gwen, and Owen arrive just in time to disarm Ed from stabbing Bernie with a knife. Owen takes the knife and gives to Gwen, when suddenly Ed rushes Gwen, stating "I knew you'd come for me", and impales himself on the knife. As Gwen realizes she is experiencing the future she saw, Jack and Owen attempt CPR on Ed but are unable to revive him. Jack attempts to comfort Gwen, telling her Ed was suicidal and his death was not her fault, and the device makes people act in ways to try to change the future. The team returns to the Hub, and the device is put into the secure archives.
=== Popular culture ===
* Owen is playing a game called ''[[Laser Ghost]]''.
* The "[[Natasha Kaplinsky (in-universe)|newsreader]]" won ''[[Strictly Come Dancing]]''.
* "[[Feeling a Moment]]" by [[Feeder]] is playing when Owen and Tosh have a drink together.


==Cast==
=== Miscellaneous ===
*Captain [[Jack Harkness]] - [[John Barrowman]]
* Before being evacuated, Tom lived on [[Poppythorn Lane]].
*[[Gwen Cooper]] - [[Eve Myles]]
* Owen has false IDs from the [[Regional Water Division]], [[Gas Supply Services]], and [[UNIT]].
*[[Owen Harper]] - [[Burn Gorman]]
* Ed Morgan was prescribed [[SSRI]].
*[[Toshiko Sato]] - [[Naoko Mori]]
*[[Ianto Jones]] - [[Gareth David-Lloyd]]
*[[Rhys Williams]] — [[Kai Owen]]
*[[Ed Morgan]] — [[Gareth Thomas]]
*[[Bernie Harris]] — [[Ben McKay]]
*[[Eleri Flanagan|Eleri]] — [[Llinos Daniel]]
*[[Tom Flanagan]] — [[John Normington]]
*[[Lizzie Lewis]] [[Emily Evans]]
*Young [[Ed Morgan]] — Christopher Elson
*Young [[Tom Flanagan]] — Christopher Greene
*Bernie's Mum — Julie Gibbs
*Snooker Player — Ian Kay
*Kid in arcade — Ryan Conway
*Woman in shop — Kathryn Howard


==Crew==
== Story notes ==
{|width="75%"
* The episode was repeated on [[BBC Two]], three days later at 9:00pm on Wednesday [[1 November (releases)|1 November]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]].
|-valign="top"
* The circled "P" emblem of [[the Preachers]] from the television story ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]'' can be seen as faded graffiti on rusty bins outside Bernie's flat.
|width="25%"|
* According to this episode, [[Tom Flanagan]] stayed in Cardiff for 66 years after arriving in [[1941]], placing the story in [[2007]]. Tom and [[Eleri Flanagan|Eleri]] watching the ''Strictly Come Dancing'' finals and knowing who won the contest implies a December 2007 setting, if real world TV programming is the same as that of the [[DWU]] ([[T:NO RW|which, per this wiki's policies, is not always the case]]). A 2007 setting, whether in December or earlier, [[Aliens of London dating controversy|clashes with and contradicts dates given in several other stories]].
*[[Executive Producer]]s - [[Russell T Davies]], [[Julie Gardner]], [[Marcus Prince]]
* [[Russell T Davies]] picked [[Helen Raynor]] to write ''[[Daleks in Manhattan (TV story)|Daleks in Manhattan]]/[[Evolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Evolution of the Daleks]]'' based on the strength of this episode.
*[[Assistant Producer]] - [[Sophie Fante]]
*[[Co-Producer]] – [[Chris Chibnall]]
*[[Associate Producer]] – [[Terry Reeve]]
*[[Script Editor]] - [[Brian Minchin]]
*Casting Director - [[Andy Pryor]]
*Unit Manager - [[Geraint Havard Jones]]
*Senior Production Accountant - [[Endaf Emyr Williams]]
*Production Accountant – [[Ceri Tothill]]
*Sound Recordist - [[Jeff Matthews]]
*Costume Designer - [[Ray Holman]]
*Make-Up Designer - [[Marrie Dorris]]
*Music – [[Ben Foster]], [[Murray Gold]]
*Visual Effects - [[The Mill]]
*Visual FX Producers - [[Will Cohen]], [[Marie A. Jones]]
*Visual FX Supervisor – [[Dave Houghton]]
*On-Set Visual FX Supervisor - [[Barney Curnow]]
*[[Production Designer]] - [[Edward Thomas]]
*[[Editor]] - [[Mike Hopkins]]
*[[Director of Photography]] – [[Mark Waters]]
*[[First Assistant Director]] - [[Nick Rae]]
*[[Second Assistant Director]] - [[Lynsey Muir]]
*[[Third Assistant Director]] - [[Rhian Salisbury]]
*[[Location Manager]] - [[Paul Davies]]
*[[Production Coordinator]] - [[Carmelina Palumbo]]
*[[Continuity]] - [[Vicky Cole]]
*[[Camera Operator]] - [[Gareth Huges]]
*[[Camera Assistant]] – [[Mani Paliwala-Blaxter]]
|width="25%" style="border-left: 1px solid #E0E0E0; padding-left:1em;"|
*[[Focus Puller]] - [[Duncan Fowlie]]
*[[Grip]] - [[Dai Hopkins]]
*[[Boom Operator]] - [[Jeff Welch]]
*[[Gaffer]] - [[Dave Fowler]]
*[[Best Boy]] - [[Steve Slocombe]]
*[[Stunt Coordinator]] - [[Tom Lucy]]
*[[Stunt Performer]]s - [[Gary Hoptrough]], [[JoMcLaren]]
*[[Stunt Double]] – [[Curtis Rivers]] for John Barrowman
*[[Art Department Coordinator]] - [[Matthew North]]
*[[Concept Artist]] - [[Peter McKinstry]]
*[[Production Buyer]] - [[Catherine Samuel]]
*[[Chief Supervising Art Director]] - [[Stephen Nicholas]]
*[[Stand-by Art Director]] - [[Leonie Rintler]]
*[[Property Master]] - [[Nick Thomas]]
*[[Construction Manager]] - [[Matthew Hywel-Davies]]
*[[Stand-by Props]] - [[Brian Henry]]
*[[Costume Supervisor]] - [[Debra Haggett]]
*[[Costume Assistant]]s – [[Sam Benbow]], [[Bobbie Peach]]
*[[Make-Up Supervisor]] - [[Claire Pritchard]]
*[[Make-Up Artist]]s - [[Sarah Astley]], [[Kate Roberts]]
*[[Casting Associate]] - [[Andy Brierley]]
*[[Assistant Editor]] - [[Matt Mullins]]
*[[Post Production Supervisor]]s - [[Chris Blatchford]], [[Helen Vallis]]
*[[On-Line Editor]] - [[Matthew Clarke]]
*[[Colourist]] - [[Mick Vincent]]
*[[2D VFX Artist]]s - [[Astrid Busser-Casas]], [[Joseph Courtis]]
*[[Dubbing Mixer]] - [[Tim Ricketts]]
*[[Sound FX Editor]] - [[Howard Eaves]]
|}


==References==
=== Ratings ===
*Gwen's words after Morgan's death do not exactly mirror those in her earlier vision, perhaps indicating that Jack was correct about it merely being a possible future. Similarly, it appears that Bernie's vision of his own death has also been averted.
* 1.77 million viewers<ref>[https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-10/ BARB Ratings - October, 2006]</ref>
*As Owen flips through his various fake ID cards, one can be seen for [[UNIT]].
===Music===
*''Can't Stand me Now ''- [[The Libertines]]
*''Feeling a Moment'' - [[Feeder]]


==Story Notes==
=== Filming locations ===
''to be added''
* The Friary, Cardiff (Gwen and Owen chase the signal.)
* Queen Street, Cardiff (Gwen and Owen chase the signal.)
* High Street, Cardiff (Bernie is pursued into the arcade.)
* High Street Arcade, Cardiff (The chase through the arcade)
* Hayes Island, Cardiff (Gwen and Owen chase the signal.)
* Cardiff Central Station, Cardiff (Gwen first shifts time.)
* Adamsdown Place, Cardiff (Bernie's Mum's House.)
* Barry Shooting Rang, Cardiff (Gwen's shooting lesson.)
* St. David's Hotel, Cardiff (Owen's Flat.)
* Adamsdown Squre, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
* Kames Place, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
* Inchmarnock Street, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
* Lady Margret's Place, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
* Gwendoline Place, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
* Taff Meed Embankment, Cardiff(Owen witnesses an old murder.)
* Royal Close, Cardiff (Bernie's estate.)
* Cardiff Bay Barrage, Cardiff (Jack and Gwen on the waterfront.)
* [[Upper Boat Studios]], Cardiff


===Ratings===
=== Broadcasts ===
*BBC3 - 1.8 million viewers
{| class="wikitable sortable"
*BBC2 - 2.5 million viewers
!Date
!Time
!Channel
!class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|[[Sunday]] [[29 October (releases)|29 October]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
|22:00
|[[BBC Three]]
|First broadcast.
|-
|[[Wednesday]] [[1 November (releases)|1 November]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
|21:00
|[[BBC Two England]]
|
|-
|[[Sunday]] [[21 January (releases)|21 January]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
|22:00
|[[BBC Three]]
|
|-
|[[Friday]] [[28 September (releases)|28 September]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
|21:00
|[[BBC Three]]
|
|-
|[[Saturday]] [[29 September (releases)|29 September]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
|02:40
|[[BBC Three]]
|
|-
|[[Friday]] [[30 April (releases)|30 April]] [[2010 (releases)|2010]]
|00:10
|[[BBC HD]]
|
|}


===Myths===
=== Production errors ===
''to be added''
{{Torchwood discontinuity}}
* Tosh tells Owen that Ed Morgan is [[Claustrophobia|claustrophobic]], but when she checks his records on the computer, she says he is [[Agoraphobia|agoraphobic]].


===Filming locations===
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* Jack remembers that Gwen told him she didn't know how to shoot as seen in [[TV]]: {{cs|Day One (TV story)}}
* Tom mentions how he was evacuated during the Second World War because of the extensive bombing occurring there. This bombing was depicted during [[TV]]: {{cs|The Empty Child (TV story)}}.


===Production Errors===
== Home video releases ==
[[File:TWS1Part1.jpg|thumb|Series one, part one DVD cover]]


==Continuity==
=== DVD releases ===
*The circled "P" emblem of the [[Preachers]] from [[DW]]: ''[[Rise of the Cybermen]]'' can be seen as faded graffiti on rusty bins outside Bernie's flat.
* This episode, with four others, was first released on a DVD entitled ''Torchwood: Series 1, part 1'' on [[26 December (releases)|26 December]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]].
*The explanation Jack gives for the ghosts matches the one Sarah Jane Smith would later give in [[SJA]]: ''[[Eye of the Gorgon]]''.
* It was later released in ''Torchwood: The Complete First Series'' on [[19 November (releases)|19 November]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]].
* It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)


==Timeline==
=== Blu-ray releases ===
*Ghost Machine occurs before: [[TWN]]: ''[[Another Life]]''
* Released in the US with the rest of Series 1 as a Complete First Season set on 16 September 2008.


==DVD Releases==
* 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.
*Included in the Series 1 DVD box set.
* It was also released in the Series 1-4 Blu-ray boxset. (Region 2 release: [[14 November (releases)|14 November]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]])


==See also==
== External links ==
''to be added''
{{dwrefguide|torchwood_03.htm|Ghost Machine}}
* {{briefhistory|torchwood/2006c.html|Ghost Machine}}
* {{locguide|ghostmachine|Ghost Machine}}
* {{whoniverse|tw1_03|Ghost Machine}}


==External Links==
== Footnotes ==
*{{dwrefguide|torchwood_03.htm|Ghost Machine}}
=== Notes ===
*{{briefhistory|torchwood/2006c.html|Ghost Machine}}
{{notelist}}
*{{locguide|ghostmachine|Ghost Machine}}
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}
{{TWTV}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[cy:Ghost Machine (stori deledu)]]
[[de:T 03 - Ghost Machine]]
[[fr:Ghost Machine]]
[[he:מכונת רפאים (סיפור טלוויזיה)]]
[[ro:Ghost Machine]]
[[ru:Машина призраков]]


==Footnotes==
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
<references/>
[[Category:Torchwood television stories]]
{{Torchwood series 1}}
[[Category:2006 television stories]]
{{wikipedia|Ghost Machine (Torchwood)}}
[[Category:Series 1 (Torchwood) stories]]
{{TV stub}}
[[Category:Torchwood episodes]]
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2007]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 2000s]]
[[Category:2006 television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1963]]
[[Category:Stories set in World War II]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1941]]

Latest revision as of 18:45, 10 November 2024

RealWorld.png

You may be looking for Ghost Devices or Ghost in the Machine.

Ghost Machine was the third episode in the first series of Torchwood. It was written by Helen Raynor and directed by Colin Teague.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

When Gwen retrieves an alien object from a fleeing man in a hoodie, she's haunted by a vision of a lonely young boy. As the team tracks down the object's owner, Owen experiences an even more terrifying vision and a long-buried crime resurfaces.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gwen and Owen are running down a city street one evening, chasing a signal that Tosh is tracking. Tosh doesn't have a visual yet. Jack is on his way, driving the SUV.

Tosh finds their quarry on the CCTV feed and calls out to the tracking team that it's a man in a hoodie. They chase him through a shopping area, until he ducks under a closing exit barrier at the High Street Arcade. Only Gwen has kept close enough to make it through; Owen and Jack have to pause until the mechanism can be reversed. She chases the man in the hoodie over the gate into the train station and through some travellers until she tackles him. The runner squirms away, leaving Gwen with his jacket. Gwen is angry that she lost him, but Tosh says the signal is still right there with her. Gwen finds a device concealed in the jacket. It's beeping, and lights on it are flashing, as she lifts it up in both hands she presses a button.

The world around Gwen blurs and the other people in the station disappear. She's in the same station, still night or evening. A little boy, in short pants, coat, and tie, with a little grey hat, walks out of the booking hall, with a suitcase, two brown paper packages on string, a teddy bear, and a tag pinned to his lapel that says he is Tom Erasmus Flanagan. Gwen tries to talk to him. He doesn't really answer, but says he's lost and no one there knows who he is. Tom walks back towards the booking hall. Gwen fades back as Jack comes up with Owen, apologising for missing the gate. He asks Gwen if she's alright. Gwen says she's just seen a ghost.

Back at the Hub, Tosh goes over the CCTV, which shows that Gwen didn't go anywhere after pressing the button. Gwen protests that the encounter felt very real, to the point where she could actually feel the little boy's emotions. Owen suggests both hallucinations and dementia, causing Gwen to shout at him. Jack examines the device while Tosh tries to backtrack the hoodie guy with the CCTV and the little boy from the vision. Owen says not to bother, he's found Thomas Erasmus Flanagan on 74 Bryaeron Terrace, Butetown... in the phone book.

"DI Cooper" (Gwen) and "DS Harper" (Owen) pay a visit to the address. A blonde woman answers, and she turns out to be Tom's daughter, Eleri. Tom is watching TV. When Gwen says she needs to ask about an incident the previous evening, Eleri says they were watching the Strictly Come Dancing finale. Owen and Eleri go to make tea while Gwen speaks to Tom.

Tom never lost his accent, despite his 66 years in Wales. He says he was evacuated with the other children from the East End in 1941, when he was 8, and was sent to Cardiff as a way station on his way to the country. His mother and big sister sent him off from Paddington station and he never saw them again. There was a mixup and he had been left at the Cardiff station all alone. It felt like the end of the world as he wandered around, totally lost and forgotten, looking for someone to look out for him. Eventually they realised he'd been forgotten. He was taken in by a nice family, and since he had no family left in London, he never returned after the war.

Gwen tries out theories on Owen as they walk away, but is interrupted by a call from Rhys. He's doing the laundry, and wants to know if she's coming home tonight. She isn't sure, and he is angry. He feels that even if she needs to keep secrets for her job, she should know whether or not she'll be home. He says he's going out tonight and hangs up on her.

Back at the Hub, Jack and Tosh have found Sean Harris, also known as Bernie, a known petty thief. They've also analysed the device, which is a nanotechnological instrument of such complexity that it makes the work of NASA look like Toys Я Us. Gwen notices that the machine isn't currently beeping and lighting up. Ianto shows up with snacks and coffee.

All except Ianto go to Splott, which is listed as Bernie's neighbourhood, to look for him. They strike out rather impressively, as they discover that Bernie has managed to annoy pretty much every person who knew him, right down to his own mother, who won't let him back in her house until he pays her the 50 quid he owes her. Gwen, Tosh, and Owen have just given up when Jack walks up and keeps on walking. They follow him and ask where he's going. He says they're going to the railway station to experiment with the same conditions that were there during Gwen's experience. They all stop under the bridge to argue about how dangerous it is. Jack tosses the device to Owen and taunts them about giving up on the search for Bernie. As Owen lifts up the machine, it starts beeping and he calls for the rest to come back.

The world blurs for Owen and suddenly it goes from sunny afternoon to rainy night under the bridge. A girl stumbles down the wall. She's in a pretty pink coat, a nice dress, and a 1960s hairstyle, but she is sobbing. She's Lizzie Lewis, and she's running away from a boy called Eddie Morgan; she has realised the other girls were right, she shouldn't have gone outside with him. Eddie comes up behind her, asking if he's a bad boy. He flatters her and she stops running. He kisses her but the kiss turns hard and she starts to fight away. He slaps her as she cries, then he grabs her hair and pulls a blade. As she pleads, he drags her over towards the wall...

Owen blurs back to the rest of the team. He's frantic, knowing she was so scared, but he could not move and couldn't help her. He pants and starts to cry as Gwen takes the device. Back in the Hub, Jack tells Tosh it was 40-45 years ago, and she finds that the only child of Mabel Ann Lewis of Hatford Street died March 29th, 1963. She had been raped and murdered on Penfro Street under the bridge at age 17. No one had ever been brought to trial. As Owen asks Tosh to look for Eddie Morgan, Jack notices that the scan of the device shows a quantum transducer. This is a device for converting energy from one form to another. This particular transducer seems to amplify the energy of human emotion into ghosts. Jack says, "When you feel déjà vu, something behind you in an empty room, there was, there always is."

Owen pushes for more information about Lizzie's death and Jack realises that Owen wants the case reopened. He emphatically states that, no matter how it felt, Owen was not there, he was not a witness, and they can't take it to court. Tomorrow, they'll do their job — which is to find the origin and uses of the alien device and secure it. He sends Owen home and stalks off after ordering, "Gwen, with me."

Gwen finds Jack in an area of the base which has been set up as a shooting range. He starts with the basics, then stands back to watch her. After a somewhat rocky start, the roof is safe and she's hitting targets with a gun in each hand. As they finish up, Gwen checks her watch and says she's got to go. She jokes that Jack lives at the Hub, in the process finding out that Jack does actually live there. He doesn't have a place to sleep because he doesn't. When Gwen asks if it gets lonely at night, he doesn't answer.

Gwen goes home, finding that Rhys has gone out to Daf's to play poker. She's brought the device home and uses it to see happy scenes, such as her flirting with Rhys in the kitchen when they celebrated her new job as a police constable. Rhys comes back, and they make up. As she kisses him, she hides the device back in her purse. Owen is home drinking liquor from the bottle. He's taken the reports on Lizzie's murder from Torchwood. With some effort, he finds Eddie's current address on Pryse Ave. He goes to the address, selecting a false ID from the Gas Supply Services. He talks his way into Eddie's home, even though Eddie doesn't have any gas service. Owen sits down with him and talks to him, saying he knows about the bridge. Owen describes the entire scene of the murder while Morgan visibly gets tense. Morgan chases him out, saying he'll get nothing from him.

As Owen returns to his car, he spots Bernie smoking, and chases him. People in the neighbourhood dislike Bernie, and the bystanders help Owen keep track of him. Finally, Owen corners Bernie in a fenced backyard. Bernie asks Owen not to hurt him. Owen replies, "I'm not gonna hurt you... I'm gonna bloody kill you."

They go to a pub to wait for the rest of the field team. Bernie is babbling when Jack puts down the device and says, "It's worth knowing we're probably about the only people you can tell." Bernie stole the device from a storage unit. It was with a bunch of strange coins and rocks in a tin. After he'd taken the device, it started going off near the old wharf. He saw a woman dumping her dead baby in the water, and realised he knew the woman. He went and told her what he saw and she gave him money to keep quiet. Jack realises that Bernie doesn't know anything more about the device and they begin to leave. He yells after them that he's got rights, but they don't stop until he asks if they want the other half.

They go to Bernie's flat on Evelyn Street to collect the other half and the alien coins and rocks. Tosh finds that they fit together like LEGO. Bernie is dismayed that they're going to confiscate everything. Gwen trails behind the others and Bernie tells her that he never used the second half again, as it showed him he was going to die bleeding in the street outside. Gwen hurries down and calls out to Jack, but the machine starts beeping. Without stopping to think, Gwen holds it in both hands as Jack bolts toward her, yelling.

The world ripples around Gwen and she sees herself standing with her hands covered in blood, holding a knife. In the vision, Gwen is asking for help. She couldn't stop it and he's dead. Owen had the knife. Gwen stands there in shock as the vision ends. Back in the Hub, Jack tries to ease Gwen's fears, telling her it's only a possible future. Gwen wants more assurance, demanding to know if any of that alien stuff they collect is ever of any use.

Tosh and Owen are out for a drink. She tells him she found Eddie. Owen tells her what he did and asks what she found out; Tosh found that Eddie had major issues with mental instability and hasn't left his house in years because of his agoraphobia. They realise that Bernie must have tried to blackmail Eddie. Meanwhile, Eddie calls Bernie. Gwen shows up at Bernie's to let him know what Jack said about possible futures. Jack calls Gwen to let her know that Eddie had been frightened by Owen, and they're on their way. Tosh sees Eddie on the CCTV, coming up Evelyn Street. Bernie runs for it and Gwen follows.

Eddie confronts Bernie with a knife and a paranoid rant. Gwen tries to calm him, but Eddie gets angrier, as he blames women for making him bad. Jack and Owen jump him, then Owen gets the knife and threatens Eddie with it. He realises what he's doing and gives the knife to Gwen, who is relieved. As Eddie goes to hug her for saving his life, he walks right into the outstretched knife in her hand. He drops to the ground, bleeding. Owen begins CPR, but realises quickly that it's futile and stops. Gwen is staring in shock, blood on her hands, the picture from her earlier vision.

Back at the Hub, they debrief. Owen is glad that he decided not to kill Eddie. Gwen is shocked and guilty, and Tosh and Jack try to comfort her with the thought that it could have been anybody. Jack gives Ianto the device for the secure archives, then takes the silently crying Gwen to the bay to watch the sun rise.

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]]

Food and drink[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Owen and Bernie have beer while waiting for the field team.
  • Bernie has a tin of baked beans.

Cardiff[[edit] | [edit source]]

Animals and insects[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Gwen doesn't even kill spiders in the bath.
  • Owen runs through a flock of chickens in a backyard.

Popular culture[[edit] | [edit source]]

Miscellaneous[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 1.77 million viewers[1]

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

  • The Friary, Cardiff (Gwen and Owen chase the signal.)
  • Queen Street, Cardiff (Gwen and Owen chase the signal.)
  • High Street, Cardiff (Bernie is pursued into the arcade.)
  • High Street Arcade, Cardiff (The chase through the arcade)
  • Hayes Island, Cardiff (Gwen and Owen chase the signal.)
  • Cardiff Central Station, Cardiff (Gwen first shifts time.)
  • Adamsdown Place, Cardiff (Bernie's Mum's House.)
  • Barry Shooting Rang, Cardiff (Gwen's shooting lesson.)
  • St. David's Hotel, Cardiff (Owen's Flat.)
  • Adamsdown Squre, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
  • Kames Place, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
  • Inchmarnock Street, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
  • Lady Margret's Place, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
  • Gwendoline Place, Cardiff (Owen Chases Bernie.)
  • Taff Meed Embankment, Cardiff(Owen witnesses an old murder.)
  • Royal Close, Cardiff (Bernie's estate.)
  • Cardiff Bay Barrage, Cardiff (Jack and Gwen on the waterfront.)
  • Upper Boat Studios, Cardiff

Broadcasts[[edit] | [edit source]]

Date Time Channel Notes
Sunday 29 October 2006 22:00 BBC Three First broadcast.
Wednesday 1 November 2006 21:00 BBC Two England
Sunday 21 January 2007 22:00 BBC Three
Friday 28 September 2007 21:00 BBC Three
Saturday 29 September 2007 02:40 BBC Three
Friday 30 April 2010 00:10 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.
  • Tosh tells Owen that Ed Morgan is claustrophobic, but when she checks his records on the computer, she says he is agoraphobic.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Jack remembers that Gwen told him she didn't know how to shoot as seen in TV: Day One [+]Loading...["Day One (TV story)"]
  • Tom mentions how he was evacuated during the Second World War because of the extensive bombing occurring there. This bombing was depicted during TV: The Empty Child [+]Loading...["The Empty Child (TV story)"].

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

Series one, part one DVD cover

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

  • This episode, with four others, was first released on a DVD entitled Torchwood: Series 1, part 1 on 26 December 2006.
  • 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, Greeks Bearing Gifts [+]Loading...["Greeks Bearing Gifts (TV story)"], Random Shoes [+]Loading...["Random Shoes (TV story)"], 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]]