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{{Real world}}
{{title dab away}}
{{real world}}
{{Infobox Merchandise
|image        = Torchwood title.jpg
|publisher    = BBC Wales
|publisher2  = Starz
|publisher3  = Big Finish Productions
|type        = TV, prose, audio, and comic series
|release date = [[22 October (releases)|22 October]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]] - [[9 September (releases)|9 September]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]], [[10 August (releases)|10 August]] [[2017 (releases)|2017]] -
|trailer      = Torchwood Season 1 Trailer
|trailer2    = Torchwood Children of Earth Trailer - BBC One
|bts          = Torchwood At 10
}}{{dab page|Torchwood (disambiguation)}}'''''Torchwood''''' was a multi-media ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Doctor Who spin-offs|spin-off]] series about the adventures of [[Jack Harkness]] and the [[Torchwood Institute]].


''For the in-story organization, see [[Torchwood Institute]]''
Originally created as a television show by [[Russell T Davies]] in [[2005 (production)|2005]], ''Torchwood'' was the first TV spin-off of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' to be commissioned for a full 13-part series. The first four series, produced by [[BBC Wales]], were supplemented by [[BBC Books]] [[BBC Torchwood novels|novels]], [[BBC Audio]] [[BBC Torchwood audio stories|audio stories]], and [[Titan Publishing Group]] [[Torchwood comic stories|comics]] and [[Torchwood short stories|short stories]]. The [[Series 4 (Torchwood)|fourth series]], released in [[2011 (releases)|2011]], was co-produced with the American cable network [[Starz]] and was accompanied by [[Web of Lies|an animated online serial]].


'''''Torchwood''''' is a British television science fiction and crime drama created by [[Russell T. Davies]] and commissioned by the [[BBC]] as a [[Doctor Who spin-offs|spin-off]] of the long-running science fiction series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. An in-house [[BBC Wales]] production for digital television station [[BBC Three]], it is the first television spin-off of ''Doctor Who'' since the unsuccessful pilot of ''[[K-9 and Company]]'' in [[1981]] and the first to be commissioned for a full 13-part series. The title "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who." The spin-off series has not yet starred the Doctor as such, though in the Torchwood series Captain Jack tries to protect a hand suspended in liquid -- the Doctor's hand.  This is the hand severed during [[The Christmas Invasion]], and the TARDIS is heard materializing in the final episode of season one.
In [[2015 (releases)|2015]], [[Big Finish Productions]] began an [[Torchwood - Monthly Range|series of monthly ''Torchwood'' audio dramas]], and in [[2017 (releases)|2017]] they began an official continuation of the television show under the title ''[[Torchwood: The Story Continues]]''.


==Details==
== History ==
In [[2002 (production)|2002]], before the revival of ''Doctor Who'', Russell T Davies began to develop an idea for a science-fiction/crime drama in the style of American fantasy drama series like ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and its spin-off series, ''Angel''.{{fact}}


''Torchwood'' is set in contemporary [[Cardiff]], and features a group of "renegade" criminal investigators. Aside from investigating human and alien crime, they are also charged by the British government to covertly investigate alien technology without the knowledge of the [[UNIT|United Nations]]. Confirmed writers include [[P.J. Hammond]] and [[Chris Chibnall]].
This idea, originally titled ''Excalibur'', was abandoned until [[2005 (production)|2005]], when BBC Three Controller [[Stuart Murphy]] invited Davies to develop a post-{{w|watershed (television)|watershed}} science fiction series for the channel. The word "Torchwood" (an [[anagram]] of "Doctor Who") originated during production of the new ''Doctor Who'' series, when television pirates were eager to get their hands on the tapes. Someone in the production office suggested that the tapes be labelled "Torchwood" instead of "Doctor Who" to disguise their contents as they were being sent to [[London]]. Davies thought that this was a clever idea and remembered the name.


In the announcement, BBC Three controller [[Stuart Murphy]] said "Torchwood is sinister and psychological... as well as being very British and modern and real." Davies himself has characterised the series concept as "a dark, clever, wild, sexy, British crime/sci-fi paranoid thriller cop show with a sense of humour — ''The X-Files'' meets ''This Life''."
Davies connected the word Torchwood to his earlier ''Excalibur'' idea and decided to make the series a ''Doctor Who'' spin-off.{{fact}} Subsequently, the word Torchwood was seeded in several ''Doctor Who'' episodes and other media which aired in 2005 and 2006.


The series will star [[John Barrowman]] as [[Jack Harkness]], one of the [[Ninth Doctor]]'s [[companion]]s from the [[Season 27|2005 season]] of ''Doctor Who''. Although no crossovers with the parent series are planned, Barrowman reported on his website that the story of ''Torchwood'' would be "seeded" in the [[The Christmas Invasion|Christmas special]] and [[Season 28|2006 season]] of ''Doctor Who''.
The series was set in contemporary [[Cardiff]] and followed the Welsh branch of a covert agency called the [[Torchwood Institute]], which investigates extraterrestrial incidents on Earth and scavenges alien technology for its own use. As established in the ''Doctor Who'' episodes ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]'' and ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]'', the Institute had been formed by [[Victoria|Queen Victoria]] following an incident involving the [[Tenth Doctor]] and a [[Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform|werewolf]], ostensibly to protect the [[British Empire]] from aliens and other creatures — as well as from [[the Doctor]] himself.


According to Davies, the name originated during production of the new ''Doctor Who'' series, when television pirates were eager to get their hands on the tapes. Someone in the production office suggested that the tapes be labelled "Torchwood" instead of "Doctor Who" to disguise their contents as they were being sent to [[London]]. Davies thought that was a clever idea and remembered the name.
To paraphrase [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood Three's]] commander-in-chief, [[Jack Harkness]], the organisation was separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the [[United Nations]] (the last reference thereby placing Torchwood in a different realm than [[UNIT]]).


As it is scheduled to be shown post-watershed, that is after 9:00 pm, it is also expected to have more mature content than the parent series. Davies joked to a BBC Radio Wales interviewer that he was "not allowed" to refer to the series as "''Doctor Who'' for grown-ups." BBC Wales Head of Drama [[Julie Gardner]] will serve as executive producer alongside Davies. ''Torchwood'' is set to premiere in Autumn [[2006]] on BBC Three. The date of the premiere is '''Sunday 22nd October 2006.'''
Although a secret organisation, the existence of Torchwood was known by the public, and Torchwood operatives made no secret of their identity when on duty. Their public perception was as merely a "special ops" group, with their true responsibilities kept secret to all but a select few. Regular characters included [[Gwen Cooper]], [[Jack Harkness]], [[Ianto Jones]], [[Toshiko Sato]], [[Owen Harper]], [[Rex Matheson]] and [[Esther Drummond]]. [[Martha Jones]], [[Suzie Costello]], and [[Vera Juarez]] have also been portrayed as part of the Torchwood team led by Harkness. Semi-regulars [[Rhys Williams]] and [[Andy Davidson|Sgt Andy Davidson]] are the only non-Torchwood members who recurred across all televised series.


Interviewed on ITV1's afternoon chat show ''Loose Women'' on [[18 October]] 2005, Barrowman suggested that the series might be repeated on [[BBC One]] sometime after its initial BBC Three airing. He also stated that it will not be revealed in the series how Jack Harkness has arrived in the early 21st century.
The events of the first series took place some time after the ''Doctor Who'' ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' series two finale, in which Torchwood's London headquarters was destroyed, and just before the series three finale. Though the series has not yet featured [[the Doctor]] himself, the materialisation sound of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]] was heard in the final episode of season one, which led directly into the ''Doctor Who'' episode ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'', and other dialogue references have been made, notably in the ''[[Torchwood: Miracle Day]]'' arc. Likewise, the appearance of [[Martha Jones]] in the second series provided vital continuity between [[Series 3 (Doctor Who 2005)|third]] and [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|fourth series]] of ''Doctor Who''. Conversely, Jack, as well as his team of [[Gwen Cooper]] and [[Ianto Jones]] featured (and former team members [[Owen Harper]] and [[Toshiko Sato]] are mentioned) in the last two episodes of [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|the fourth series]] of ''Doctor Who''.


After the BBC announced ''Torchwood'', tabloid newspaper ''The Daily Star'' wrote that singer [[Charlotte Church]] would be appearing as a Satan-worshipping villain in the series.  The accuracy of this claim is false. However, rumours are sufacing that [[Rachel Stevens]] will be joining the cast.
The initial main writer alongside Davies was [[Chris Chibnall]], creator of the BBC light drama show {{wi|Born and Bred}} (who later moved over to work on {{wi|Law & Order: UK}}). Other writers include [[P.J. Hammond]], [[Toby Whithouse]], ''Doctor Who'' [[script editor]] [[Helen Raynor]], [[Catherine Tregenna]], and ''Doctor Who'' cast member [[Noel Clarke]].


[[Martha Jones]] has been revealed to be joining ''Torchwood'' Series 2 during the middle of the episodes. She will be a fully qualified doctor at this time when she joins the team, but if she replaces [[Owen Harper]] as the resident doctor is unknown.
In a [[17 October (production)|17 October]] [[2005 (production)|2005]] announcement unveiling the series, BBC Three controller [[Stuart Murphy]] described Torchwood as "sinister and psychological...As well as being very British and modern and real." Davies further described it as "a British sci-fi paranoid thriller, a cop show with a sense of humour. [...] Dark, wild and sexy, it's ''[[The X-Files]]'' meets {{wi|This Life}}."<ref>Frame, Anna (2006-10-25). The X-Files meets This Life. Daily Express p. 49. [note: potentially originated in a RadioTimes piece]</ref> Davies later denied ever making this comparison, instead describing the show as "alleyways, rain, the city".{{fact}}


==References in Doctor Who==
As ''Torchwood'' was a post-{{w|watershed (television)|watershed}} show — that is, after 9 p.m. — it had more mature content than ''Doctor Who''. Davies told ''[[SFX (magazine)|SFX]]'': "We can be a bit more visceral, more violent, and more [[sexuality|sexual]], if we want to. Though bear in mind that it's very teenage to indulge yourself in blood and gore, and ''Torchwood'' is going to be smarter than that. But it's the essential difference between [[BBC One]] at 7 pm, and [[BBC Three]] at, say, 9 pm. That says it all — instinctively, every viewer can see the huge difference there."{{fact}}


The word "Torchwood" first occured in the 2005 ''Doctor Who'' episode ''[[Bad Wolf (TV story)|Bad Wolf]]'', during a deadly version of the game show, ''[[The Weakest Link]]''. One of the answers was that the [[Great Cobalt Pyramid]] was built on the ruins of the famous Old Earth [[Torchwood Institute]].
Davies also joked to a [[BBC Radio|BBC Radio Wales]] interviewer that he was "not allowed" to refer to the programme as "''Doctor Who'' for grown-ups".{{fact}} The first and second series included content never before seen or heard in televised ''Doctor Who'', including intense [[sex]] scenes (e.g. ''[[Day One (TV story)|Day One]]'', ''[[Out of Time (TV story)|Out of Time]]'', ''[[Dead of Night (TV story)|Dead of Night]]''), [[homosexuality|same-sex]] kissing in a romantic/sexual context (e.g. ''[[Cyberwoman (TV story)|Cyberwoman]]'', ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]''), and use of extreme profanity in several episodes. Such content was controversial,{{fact}} and, as the series progressed, such scenes were minimised, to the point where, by [[series 3 (Torchwood)|series 3]], relatively little of this content remained.


In the episode [[Tooth and Claw ]] it is revealed at the very end that [[Queen Victoria]] founded the [[Torchwood Institute]], taking the name from the estate, with a remit to investigate paranormal events such as the werewolf in this episode.
The show's first two series shared the format used by ''Doctor Who'' at the time, thirteen episodes aired weekly over a span of months. However, the format changed in the third season, which was one five-part story, ''[[Children of Earth]]'', written by Russell T. Davies and released over the course of a week in [[July (releases)|July]] [[2009 (releases)|2009]]. The fourth season, a 2011 coproduction between [[BBC Wales]] and [[Starz]], similarly took the form of one long story, '' [[Torchwood: Miracle Day|Miracle Day]]'', but stretched across ten episodes. No fifth series followed on television.


In the [[Season 28]] episode of [[Doctor Who|Dr Who]], "[[Rise of the Cybermen]]", the [[Pete Tyler]] asks a guest (off camera) at [[Jackie Tyler]]'s birthday party how things are in Torchwood. Since this story is set on a parallel [[Earth]], the specific Torchwood referenced ''could'' be something completely different.
In 2015, [[Big Finish Productions]] began [[Torchwood - Monthly Range|monthly ''Torchwood'' audios]], including some set following the events of ''Miracle Day''. This led to their 2017 announcement that, with the cooperation of Russell T. Davies, they would be releasing a fifth series of ''Torchwood'' on audio.<ref>[https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/russell-t-davies-season-5-torchwood-audio-drama Season 5 of Torchwood is finally coming, just as an audio drama]</ref> Like series 3 and 4, it was marketed under a new subtitle, ''[[Aliens Among Us]]''. It was followed by series 6, ''[[God Among Us]]'', in 2018, and ''[[Torchwood: The Story Continues#Among Us|Among Us]]'', in 2023.<ref>[https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/cult/a860252/torchwood-big-finish-series-6/ Torchwood returning for official series 6 at Big Finish]</ref><ref>[https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/torchwood-is-among-us Torchwood is Among Us!]</ref>


It is later established in "[[Doomsday]]" that the parallel Torchwood is similar to that of Rose's universe.
[[12 October (production)|12 October]] [[2016 (production)|2016]] marked the 10th anniversary of ''Torchwood''. In celebration, cast and crew were invited to the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, and a special screening of [[Everything Changes (TV story)|the first episode]] was shown for the fans.<ref>http://www.bafta.org/wales/whats-on/special-screening-10-years-of-torchwood</ref> [[Big Finish]] also produced a special audio story to celebrate the show's anniversary, entitled ''[[The Torchwood Archive (audio story)|The Torchwood Archive]]''.
Characters
The series two cast, including special guest star Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones
Torchwood, unlike its parent programme, centres on a team instead of a single character and companion(s). The show is oriented on Torchwood Three, the Cardiff branch of the Torchwood Institute, tasked (among other things) with keeping an eye on the space/time Rift that runs through the city, and on whatever washes through it. Torchwood Three is a team of five operatives, led by Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), with Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) as the "new girl" who joins up in the first episode and acts as a point-of-view character for the viewer. Aside from the team, one recurring character is Rhys Williams, Gwen's live-in boyfriend, who is unaware of the nature of Gwen's new job.
Other characters who have appeared in more than one episode include Tom Price as PC Andy, Caroline Chikezie as Lisa Hallett, and Louise Delamere as Diane Holmes. Toward the end of the first series, the character of Bilis Manger was introduced as a villain. It has not been indicated whether these characters will reappear in the second series.
Prior to the programme's debut, publicity materials prominently featured Indira Varma as Suzie Costello among the other regular cast members, giving the impression that she would appear beyond the first episode. However, Suzie was unexpectedly killed off at the end of the first episode, though she has appeared once since as a villain.
Series Two is set to feature Doctor Who's Martha Jones[15] — played by Freema Agyeman — who will crossover to Torchwood for three episodes in the second series before returning to Doctor Who midway through its fourth season. Other guest stars in Torchwood's second series include former Buffy and Angel star James Marsters who plays Captain John, another Time Agent. He is set to have a "horny and violent" sexual encounter with Captain Jack.[16][17] The series will also star veteran actor Richard Briers (as "Parker, a reclusive millionaire who is the keeper of alien secrets"),[18] and New Zealand-born actor Alan Dale.[2]


Actor Character Position
== Cast ==
John Barrowman
=== Main cast ===
Captain Jack Harkness
* [[Jack Harkness]] - [[John Barrowman]]
Leader, Torchwood Three
* [[Gwen Cooper]] - [[Eve Myles]]
Eve Myles
* [[Rhys Williams]] - [[Kai Owen]]
Gwen Cooper
* [[Owen Harper]] - [[Burn Gorman]] (series 1-2)
Police liaison
* [[Toshiko Sato]] - [[Naoko Mori]] (series 1-2)
Burn Gorman
* [[Ianto Jones]] - [[Gareth David-Lloyd]] (series 1-3)
Dr. Owen Harper
* [[Rex Matheson]] - [[Mekhi Phifer]] (series 4)
Medical Officer; second-in-command
* [[Esther Drummond]] - [[Alexa Havins]] (series 4)
Naoko Mori
* [[Oswald Danes]] - [[Bill Pullman]] (series 4)
Toshiko Sato
Computer specialist
Gareth David-Lloyd
Ianto Jones
General support
Crew
Richard Stokes produces Torchwood. Originally, Doctor Who director James Hawes was lined up as producer. After directing the BBC Four drama The Chatterley Affair, Hawes backed out of the project. Davies told Doctor Who Magazine that Hawes "has been having such a good time... that he's decided directing is his greatest passion, and as a result, he's stepped down." [19][20]
Helen Raynor and Brian Minchin are the programme's script editors.[19] The series also shares Doctor Who's production designer, Edward Thomas. The show's theme tune is written by Doctor Who 's composer Murray Gold, and music for the series is composed by Ben Foster and Murray Gold.
In Finland, it premiered on December 3, 2007 on YLE TV2.
Setting


"With Doctor Who we often had to pretend that bits of Cardiff were London, or Utah, or the planet Zog. Whereas this series is going to be honest-to-God Cardiff. We will happily walk past the Millennium Centre and say, 'Look, there's the Millennium Centre'."
=== Secondary cast ===
Russell T Davies, "Dr Who spin-off based in Bay", South Wales Echo, 17 April 2006.
* [[Andy Davidson]] - [[Tom Price]]
* [[Martha Jones]] - [[Freema Agyeman]] (series 2)
* [[Lois Habiba]] - [[Cush Jumbo]] (series 3)
* [[John Frobisher]] - [[Peter Capaldi]] (series 3)
* [[Vera Juarez]] - [[Arlene Tur]] (series 4)
* [[Jillian Kitzinger]] - [[Lauren Ambrose]] (series 4)


== Main series ==
=== Series 1 - 2006-2007 ===
Roald Dahl Plass, outside the Millennium Centre, acts as the exterior of the Hub.
{{main|Series 1 (Torchwood)}}
Torchwood is filmed and set in Cardiff. The makers of Torchwood deliberately portray Cardiff as a modern urban centre, contrasting with past stereotypical portrayals of Wales. "There's not a male voice choir ... or a miner in sight," said BBC Wales Controller Menna Richards.[42] Conservative MP Michael Gove described the debut of Torchwood as the moment confirming "Wales' move from overlooked Celtic cousin to underwired erotic coquette." [43][44]
The team's headquarters, referred to as the Hub, is beneath Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff Bay — formerly known as the Oval Basin. This is where the TARDIS landed in the Doctor Who episodes "Boom Town" and "Utopia" to refuel, and is the location of the spacetime rift first seen in "The Unquiet Dead". The Hub itself is around 3 stories high, with a large column running through the middle that is an extension of the fountain above (which in turn acts as an emergency escape route from the Hub).
Reception
•
Reviews
Press reactions to Torchwood have ranged from positive to puzzled. The Daily Record said, "the show is truly fabulous. John Barrowman is first-class as Jack, while the whole set up of characters should lend itself to some great adventures. A two thumbs up, five-star, 10 out of 10, gold-encrusted hit".[1] A reviewer for SFX "absolutely bloody loved it".[2] But The Guardian's "Organ Grinder" reviewer was more guarded, arguing that:
"despite its pretensions to a more adult audience, Torchwood never threatens to stray into the sort of darker, seamier territory explored by, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or ... Ultraviolet, of which it is occasionally reminiscent."[3]
Similarly, Metro commented on its "endearingly slightly crap kiddie TV production values", but adding "there are hopeful flickers of more maturely 'adult' content".[4] Charlie Brooker, writing in The Guardian, also commented on the tensions between Torchwood's Doctor Who roots in family drama and its adult aspirations:
"It contains swearing, blood and sex, yet still somehow feels like a children's programme. Thirteen-year-olds should love it; anyone else is likely to be more than a little confused. Which isn't to say Torchwood is bad. Just bewildering. And very, very silly."[5]
Subsequent episodes were treated more sympathetically in both The Guardian and its sister newspaper The Observer, and Torchwood episodes have been among the three terrestrial programmes singled out per day by The Guardian Guide in its Pick of the Day column and also among the five per day singled out as OTV Choice in the Observer Television supplement. [6][7] Jim Shelley, writing in the Daily Mirror was heavily critical, calling the show "irritatingly inconsistent" and concluding:
"I can't help thinking there's something inappropriate about a Doctor Who spin-off where one character asks another, 'When was the last time you came so hard, you forgot where you were?' It's further proof that Davies just couldn't decide what sort of show Torchwood was meant to be. Funnily enough, when one of the team goes missing, the name they call out - 'Tosh! Tosh! Tosh!' - is exactly the word I would use to describe it... "[8]
Halfway through the first run the BBC's own listings magazine Radio Times said:
"There's quality here: nice effects, pacy action and fluid photography. But somehow it doesn't gel. Does Torchwood want to be The X-Files or Hollyoaks:After Hours? Seven episodes in, it's still hard to tell."[9]
Charlie Brooker, again in The Guardian Guide, eventually made a sort of virtue of Torchwood's multifaceted nature, granting it his ironic "Year's Most Jarring Show Award" for the way in which it "somehow managed to feel like both a multi-coloured children's show and a heaving sex-and-gore bodice-ripper at the same time". "Interesting," he concluded, "but possibly aimed at madmen."[10] And, naming the final double-episode of Torchwood a Pick of the Day for New Year's Day, The Guardian Guide offered some praise:
"Russell T Davies' gnarly Doctor Who spin-off, it was recently announced, will be back for another season. Good, because, for all that Torchwood dipped mid-season, its finale is terrific." [11]
Awards
In April 2007, Torchwood beat its parent series to win the Best Drama Series category at the BAFTA Cymru Awards. The awards, given by the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, celebrate the achievements of film and television productions made in Wales. Eve Myles won the Best Actress category at the same awards, ahead of Doctor Who's Billie Piper.[12]
Ratings
The first episodes of Torchwood on BBC Three gave the channel its highest ever ratings, and the highest ratings of any digital non-sports channel, at 2.519 million viewers. The audience share was 12.7%, increasing to 13.8% for the second episode (shown immediately after the first episode on the same day), despite viewership dropping to 2.498 million.[13]
Ratings for later episodes dropped to around 1.2-1.3 million viewers during the first showing on BBC Three, and 2.2-2.3 million on during the repeat showing on BBC Two (dropping to under 1.1 and 1.8 respectively for the week ending 10/12/06), but nevertheless, the show remained the most viewed programme on BBC Three by a wide margin.[14]
Parodies
Although fewer in number than Doctor Who spoofs, there have been a number of parodies of Torchwood in various media. Verity Stob, a technology columnist for online newspaper The Register, wrote a parody of Torchwood called Under Torch Wood. The piece is in the style of Under Milk Wood, a Dylan Thomas radio play. The piece comments on the level of swearing present in Torchwood and the role of Rhys Williams, who the piece describes as "Barry Backstory".[15]
Satirical impressionist television series Dead Ringers also parodied Torchwood, with Jon Culshaw playing Captain Jack and Jan Ravens as Gwen Cooper. The sketches parodied the level of sex in Torchwood, claiming "we never deal with an alien unless at least one [of the team] has shagged it", and describing the lack of motivations of the characters. Each character wore a badge with their respective personality type written on it. Owen is described as "Annoying" whilst Ianto is "Dull and Annoying", Captain Jack is "Camp and Annoying", and Gwen is simply "Welsh." It also parodies the bisexuality of the characters with Captain Jack arbitrarily kissing a policeman on the lips and the melodramatic personality of Jack, who in the sketch walks extremely dramatically, swinging his coat about himself. Barrowman is described as a "pound shop Tom Cruise", and the perceived low-budget of the show is referenced, with Owen describing the Torchwood equipment as "an Apple Mac with stickers on the case". They also make fun of Toshiko Sato's nickname, which is Tosh, after one member of the cast says "Where's Tosh?" and the other replies "I think we've got enough Tosh here to be going on with" one of the other things parodied is the constant cuts to the roof in the actual Torchwood show with the character playing the pariody Gwen asking the parody Jack, "why are we on the roof" and his reply "we often cut to the roof with no explanation, it adds to the theme!"[16][17] Later spoofs in the final episode of the 2007 series of Dead Ringers featured Jack Harkness in a threesome with two Attack of the Cybermen era Cybermen and an elderly version called Driftwood, who claim to be "separate from the Post Office, beyond the bingo hall and outside the Oxfam", a parody of Torchwood's pledge. It also featured Albert Steptoe of Steptoe and Son as the leader of the team, claiming "a terrible event in my past means that I can't die. It's called UKTV Gold", and parodied its use of amnesia pills (unnecessary for this team due to the onset of senile amnesia).
In an interview with John Barrowman on Al Murray's Happy Hour, Murray jokingly suggested a spin-off with a similar "anagram" title - "Your Rum Slappy Har Har".


=== Series 2 - 2008 ===
{{main|Series 2 (Torchwood)}}


Homosexuality and bisexuality
=== Series 3 - 2009 ===
{{main|Torchwood: Children of Earth}}
Toshiko and Mary kiss
Torchwood deals with several LGB themes, specifically bisexuality. Each of the main characters in Torchwood has same-sex encounters at some point in the first season,[1] with The Sun describing all of the characters on Torchwood as bisexual.[2] Series creator Russell T. Davies has said that he hopes to defy audience expectations of monosexual characters:
“ Without making it political or dull, this is going to be a very bisexual programme. I want to knock down the barriers so we can't define which of the characters is gay. We need to start mixing things up, rather than thinking, 'This is a gay character and he'll only ever go off with men.'[1]
”
Davies has also described Jack Harkness as omnisexual:
“ He'll shag anything with a hole. Jack doesn't categorise people: if he fancies you, he'll do it with you.[3]
”
Similarly, Toshiko Sato describes Jack as someone who'll "shag anybody as long as they're gorgeous enough!". In "Everything Changes", Ianto Jones jokingly refers to Jack's appreciation of his good looks in a suit as sexual harassment. At the end of "They Keep Killing Suzie", Ianto subtly presents Jack with a sexual proposition, which the latter appears only to understand after a few seconds - he accepts by telling Ianto to meet him in his office in ten minutes, once the rest of the team have left the Hub. This is again alluded to in the Instant Messenger Transcript provided on the official website, which represents a conversation between the pair in the time remaining before their tryst.[4] Earlier in the same episode, Jack claims to have had a sexual relationship with twin brothers, both acrobats; however, it is unclear whether he is speaking sincerely or simply trying to distract Gwen from asking difficult questions. Ianto and Jack's relationship is referred to by Owen in "Captain Jack Harkness" and displayed for the first time in "End of Days" in which Ianto and Jack kiss after finding Jack is alive.
In "Captain Jack Harkness", a subplot of the episode revolves around Jack's namesake's sexual orientation. His uneasy behaviour and his dismay at having convinced his girlfriend that they were in love combined with his flirtatious interaction with Jack suggested he was gay and trapped in an unwanted heterosexual relationship, unable to come out in his era. At the episode's climax, at a dance and knowing he was going to die the next day, the two Jacks danced and kissed, to the amazement of the 1940s guests all around them, before they had to part.
In "Everything Changes", Owen Harper seduces a woman and then her boyfriend using alien technology. Gwen Cooper has a boyfriend, but she reciprocates the advances of a sex-driven alien in a woman's body in "Day One", albeit under the influences of alien-enhanced pheromones. Later in that episode, when the possessed woman attempts to absorb the orgasmic energy of various men at a sperm bank, one of them briefly protests that he's gay. Toshiko also exhibits bisexual behaviour: she carries a torch for her teammate, Owen, but in "Greeks Bearing Gifts" she has a sexual relationship with "Mary".
Existentialism
Torchwood contains numerous existentialist themes including the meaning of life and the possibility of an afterlife. Suzie Costello tells Gwen in "They Keep Killing Suzie" that there is no meaning to life and that "we're just animals howling in the night." The nihilistic Mark Lynch describes his fellow regulars at the Weevil "fight club" as "ordinary blokes trying to find meaning in a world that doesn't have any" - hence their hobby of cage-fighting tortured captive Weevils. Mark Lynch tells Owen that the latter are not aliens but what "we" (i.e. humans, or perhaps only men) will be in a thousand years, "when we have nothing left but our rage." Toshiko also compares humans to Weevils when the pendant Mary gives her allows her to read minds causing her to fall into deep depression and utter disappointment with existence.
A dead man remembers... nothing
The issue of mortality is also a common existentialist theme in Torchwood, raised through repeated discussion of and reference to the possibility or impossibility of an afterlife. For example, episode one features Jack questioning a recently deceased, though temporarily resurrected, man on the afterlife, who is shocked to discover he can remember nothing. Episode three, "Ghost Machine" presented the scientific view that ghostly phenomena were due to imprints of strong emotions on time. In "They Keep Killing Suzie", Suzie Costello, a recurring villain, states she can remember nothing having been resurrected. She says that "there's something moving in the dark" and it is after Jack. During episode eleven, "Combat", Mark Lynch also tells Owen about something coming "in the darkness." In episode ten, "Out of Time", Jack warns a suicidal man that on the other side there is absolutely nothing: "It just goes black." In episode 9 "Random Shoes", Eugene Jones dies but remains on earth as a ghost until he has saved the life of and subsequently kissed Gwen Cooper, with whom he was in love: this done, he is able to "move on", ascending - the final frame is black; it is left unclear what this symbolises.
In the season finale, "End of Days", Jack expresses existentialist sentiments regarding the religious referring to the apocalypse. Continuing the ghost theme carried in several episodes of Torchwood, what appear to be the spirits of Lisa and Toshiko's mother appear, as well as Diane who may be dead or trapped in another time. Toshiko's mother warned of something "coming in the darkness", as Suzie Costello had done before. It is left unclear whether these were spirits or the machinations of the villain, Bilis Manger, as they urged Torchwood staff to do as he desired. In the episode's climax, biblical demon Abaddon is released from his prison beneath the Rift only to be defeated by Jack.
This is contrasting with optimistic themes presented in parent series Doctor Who, where frequently the idea of life being "beautiful", and individual existence being significant is touched upon. Also contrasting in Doctor Who are the explicit examples of destiny and theism in the narrative, presented by the characters of the Black Guardian and White Guardian (both of whom are apparently representatives of an even higher power) and the Beast, who claims to have been imprisoned by a group called the 'Disciples of the Light,' a name that echoes traditional Christian and Zoroastrian theology.
Value of human life
Jack surrenders a child for the sake of the world
In several episodes, particularly revolving around the character of Jack Harkness, the value of human life is touched upon with Jack depicted as willing to sacrifice, murder and assist in suicide in several episodes. In episode five, "Small Worlds", Jack allows a small girl to be sacrificed to the "fairies" to save the world. Episode four, "Cyberwoman", has him kill Ianto's girlfriend Lisa, with full certainty she was no longer human. In "Countrycide", he tells one of the cannibal villagers that he used to be a professional torturer, though of course this may simply be a lie calculated to intimidate the man. In "They Keep Killing Suzie", Jack riddles Suzie Costello with bullets, claiming responsibility for her death - "Death by Torchwood". It is implied that Jack would like to die, and he seems sympathetic when others wish to end their own lives: in "Out of Time" he holds the hand of a man who wants (but is afraid) to die, and in "Combat" he turns his back to allow Mark Lynch to surrender himself into the claws of a Weevil.
Corruption
Gwen's actions echo Suzie's as she drugs her boyfriend
Starting in episode one, with the character of Suzie Costello and continuing primarily with neophyte employee Gwen Cooper, the theme of corruption is present in the narrative, frequently drawing parallels between Suzie and Gwen. In the aforementioned pilot, Suzie comments on how you cannot go back from working for Torchwood, suggesting it has changed her, after she commits a series of murders and an eventual suicide. Later in the series, Gwen finds herself unable to tell her boyfriend Rhys about her double life, and finds herself drawn into a sexual relationship with teammate Owen in "Countrycide" - as had Suzie before her, revealed in "They Keep Killing Suzie". Gwen laments that as Suzie had said, Torchwood had changed her, and in "Greeks Bearing Gifts", she explained to Toshiko that she knew what she and Owen were doing was wrong, but that she had no intention of stopping.
In "They Keep Killing Suzie", the team is shocked to learn that Gwen is the only person other than Suzie who possesses a sufficient degree of empathy to operate the resurrection gauntlet. A resurrected Suzie explains she would drug people with amnesia pills to tell them about her life - in Combat, Gwen drugs Rhys as she confesses her affair with Owen so she can receive his forgiveness but not have to live with what she's done, echoing Suzie's actions. In the finale, "End of Days", after Rhys is murdered, Gwen fights Jack for the rift manipulator so that she may resurrect him, going as far as to hit Jack and even allow Owen to shoot him. In the episode's conclusion, with the rest of the team, she receives Jack's forgiveness as he understands she had been manipulated by villain, Bilis Manger.
Characters other than Gwen have had their morality tested. "Ghost Machine" depicts Owen filled with rage after experiencing a young woman's rape, capable of murdering her rapist. In Combat, having lost his lover Diane, Owen succumbs to a nihilistic underground belly in which he attempts suicide-by-Weevil. In "Greeks Bearing Gifts" Toshiko, consumed with the loneliness of her job and feeling isolated amongst her peers, accepts a gift from an alien which allows her to read her co-workers' thoughts. Ianto, unable to let his dying girlfriend go, risks the life of his entire team in "Cyberwoman", even threatening to one day betray his future lover, Jack. In "End of Days", Jack berates his entire team for their destructive personal lives, at which point Owen shoots him, answering questions as to whether or not Owen is actually capable of murder.


Episodes
=== Series 4 - 2011 ===
{{main|Torchwood: Miracle Day}}


The premiere episode "Everything Changes" was written by Russell T. Davies and served to introduce the main characters and roles within the series, using newcomer Gwen as the audience surrogate in a similar style to the introduction of the companion characters in Doctor Who. The second episode, aired immediately afterwards followed on with Gwen's neophyte role, titled "Day One", with a classic "sex monster" science fiction storyline[48] in the vein of The Outer Limits episode "Caught in the Act" and Angel's second episode "Lonely Hearts".
=== Series 5 - 2017-2018 ===
The 13-episode series similarly ended with a two-parter on January 1, 2007. The first part entitled "Captain Jack Harkness" was a love story set in wartime Britain, with a subplot which served to push the setting towards an "apocalypse" for series finale "End of Days" that dealt with the ramifications of diseases and persons from throughout history falling through time and across the universe to arrive in the present day, and particularly in Cardiff. The episode also set up Jack's return in the Doctor Who episode "Utopia". The second series of Torchwood will also comprise 13 episodes, and will feature "Torchwood's encounter with a rogue Time Agent, a tragic time-slip from World War One, and a memory-thief who uncovers long-forgotten secrets among the entire team."[2]
{{main|Aliens Among Us}}
Spin-offs
Torchwood has "a heavy online presence".[49] At the Edinburgh International Television Festival, BBC Director of Television Jana Bennett said that the online features will include the ability to explore the Hub, an imaginary desktop, weekly 10-minute behind-the-scenes vodcasts. Due to digital media rights restrictions most video content on the BBC3 websites is only accessible to users within the UK. "You can join the corporation of Torchwood and be one of its employees," said Bennett.[50] The Flash-based interactive website, including the Hub Tour, debuted on 12 October 2006.[51]
BBC Three is airing Torchwood Declassified, a making-of programme not unlike Doctor Who Confidential. Each Declassified episode runs under ten minutes, in contrast to Confidential 's 45 (formerly 30).[52] Torchwood Declassified is also available online at the BBC's Torchwood site.
Accompanying the main series of Torchwood are several pieces of adult-focused [53] spin-off media including novels and audiobooks. On 4 January 2007, BBC Books published the first three original novels based upon Torchwood - Another Life by Peter Anghelides, Border Princes by Dan Abnett, and Slow Decay by Andrew Lane. The books were published in paperback-sized hardcover format, the same format BBC Books uses for its New Series Adventures line for Doctor Who. These novels were later released, abridged, as audiobooks. BBC Books has released details on the second trio of Torchwood books. The Twilight Streets by Gary Russell, Something in the Water by Trevor Baxendale, and Horaizan by David Llewellyn are currently due for release in March 2008. On 11 July 2007, Steven Savile revealed that he has been approached to write the first original audiobook for Torchwood, entitled Hidden. [54]
February 2008 will see a trio of Torchwood audios released; In The Shadows, Hidden, and Everyone Says Hello are all listed for release on February 4. No further plot or narration information is available at this time.
Merchandise
Titan Magazines are offering subscriptions to a Torchwood magazine[55] which will launch in January 2008 in both the United Kingdom and the United States. According to Titan's website, the magazine will feature interviews, behind the scenes features and original fiction.


DVD releases
=== Series 6 - 2018-2019 ===
The complete first series has been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK. A North American Region 1 release has been announced for January 22, 2008, following the broadcast of Series 1 on BBC America in the United States and the CBC in Canada.
{{main|God Among Us}}
DVD Name Release Date
Series One Part One (Episodes 1-5): 26 December 2006


Part Two (Episodes 6-9): 26 February 2007
=== Series 7 - 2023 ===
{{main|Among Us}}


Part Three (Episodes 10-13): 26 March 2007
== Other media ==
=== Prose ===
==== Novels ====
''[[BBC Torchwood novels|See list of Torchwood novels]]''


Complete (Episodes 1-13): 19 November 2007[56]
==== Short stories ====
''[[Torchwood short stories|See list of Torchwood short stories]]''


=== Video games ===
* ''[[Torchwood Mission Game (video game)|Torchwood Mission Game]]''


==See also==
=== Comics ===
[[List of Torchwood television stories]]
''[[Torchwood comic stories|See list of Torchwood comic strips]]''


{{stub}}
=== Reference books ===
* ''[[Torchwood: The Encyclopedia]]''
* ''[[The Torchwood Archives]]''


==External links==
=== Audio ===
==== Audiobooks ====
* ''[[Another Life (novel)|Another Life]]'' Read by [[John Barrowman]] (abridged)
* ''[[Border Princes (novel)|Border Princes]]'' Read by [[Eve Myles]] (abridged)
* ''[[Slow Decay (novel)|Slow Decay]]'' Read by [[Burn Gorman]] (abridged)


[http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/ Official BBC website]
==== Audio stories ====
* ''[[Hidden (audio story)|Hidden]]'' Read by [[Naoko Mori]]
* ''[[Everyone Says Hello (audio story)|Everyone Says Hello]]'' Read by [[Burn Gorman]]
* ''[[In the Shadows (audio story)|In the Shadows]]'' Read by [[Eve Myles]]


[[Category:Torchwood|*]]
* ''[[The Sin Eaters (audio story)|The Sin Eaters]]'' Read by [[Gareth David-Lloyd]]
[[Category:Doctor Who spin-offs]]
* ''[[Department X (audio story)|Department X]]'' by [[James Goss]]
* ''[[Ghost Train (audio story)|Ghost Train]]'' by [[James Goss]]
 
* ''[[Army of One (audio story)|Army of One]]'' by [[Ian Edginton]]
* ''[[Fallout (audio story)|Fallout]]'' by [[David Llewellyn]]
* ''[[Red Skies (audio story)|Red Skies]]'' by [[Joseph Lidster]]
* ''[[Mr Invincible (audio story)|Mr Invincible]]'' by [[Mark Morris]]
 
==== Torchwood ====
{{Main|Big Finish Torchwood series }}
 
==== Radio ====
* ''[[Lost Souls (audio story)|Lost Souls]]''
* ''[[Asylum (audio story)|Asylum]]''
* ''[[Golden Age (audio story)|Golden Age]]''
* ''[[The Dead Line (audio story)|The Dead Line]]''
* ''[[The Devil and Miss Carew (audio story)|The Devil and Miss Carew]]''
* ''[[Submission (audio story)|Submission]]''
* ''[[The House of the Dead (audio story)|The House of the Dead]]''
 
=== Web series ===
''[[Web of Lies (webcast)|Web of Lies]]''
 
=== Magazines ===
''[[Torchwood The Official Magazine]]'' was a title launched in 2008 and published by [[Titan Publishing Group]], that ran for twenty-five issues. The licence expired as a consequence of a realignment of ''Torchwood'' merchandising in response to the [[BBC]]'s co-production agreement with [[Starz]].
 
In 2010, Titan began publishing a monthly comic book for the North American market, ''[[Torchwood The Official Comic]]'', reprinting comic strips and short stories from the UK magazine. Material from the magazine was also used in the [[Torchwood The Official Magazine Yearbook (2008)]] and the [[Torchwood The Official Magazine Yearbook (2009)]].
 
== Continuity ==
* In ''Torchwood'' [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|Series 1]], the episodes [[TV]]: ''[[Everything Changes (TV story)|Everything Changes]]'' and [[TV]]: ''[[Cyberwoman (TV story)|Cyberwoman]]'' make direct reference to the [[Cyberman (Pete's World)|Cybermen]] in [[TV]]: ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]'' and [[TV]]: ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' as well as the [[Battle of Canary Wharf]].
* The presence of [[the Doctor's hand]] in [[the Hub]] alludes to his losing it in [[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]''.
* Graffiti seen in [[the Ritz]] in [[TV]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]'' continues the presence of the [[Bad Wolf meme]] and [[Harold Saxon]] posters are seen on the walls.
* ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'' continues directly from the closing moments of the "Torchwood" [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|Series 1]] finale [[TV]]: ''[[End of Days (TV story)|End of Days]]'', in which both Jack Harkness and the audience hear the sound of [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]].
* [[Abaddon]] from [[TV]]: ''[[End of Days (TV story)|End of Days]]'' is referred to as the son of [[The Beast (The Impossible Planet)|the great Beast]] from [[TV]]: ''[[The Impossible Planet (TV story)|The Impossible Planet]]'' and [[TV]]: ''[[The Satan Pit (TV story)|The Satan Pit]]''.
* In "Torchwood" [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Series 2]], [[Freema Agyeman]] reprised her role of [[Martha Jones]] in the episode [[TV]]: ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]''. Her alias [[Sam Jones]] references a companion of the [[Eighth Doctor]].
* [[UNIT]], an organisation closely associated with the [[Third Doctor]] in particular, appears in a flashback in [[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'' as well as throughout ''[[Series 3 (Torchwood)|Torchwood: Children of Earth]]''.
* [[Toshiko Sato]] explains her appearance as the doctor in [[TV]]: ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]'' as her filling in for Owen, who had a hangover.
* A [[Hoix]] makes a small appearance in [[TV]]: ''[[Exit Wounds (TV story)|Exit Wounds]]''. The Hoix first appeared in [[TV]]: ''[[Love & Monsters (TV story)|Love & Monsters]]''.
* The episode [[TV]]: ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]'' presents [[parallel world (Turn Left)|a parallel world]], where, by saving the Earth from [[Sontaran invasion of Earth|a Sontaran invasion]] (an event shown in the usual timeline in [[TV]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' and [[TV]]: ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]''), [[Gwen Cooper]] and [[Ianto Jones]] die, while [[Jack Harkness]] is captured and taken to [[Sontar]]. (In this parallel world, as in the normal one, [[Toshiko Sato]] and [[Owen Harper]] have already died.)
* In [[TV]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'' and [[TV]]: ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'', the surviving Torchwood team and [[the Hub]] appear. While Jack goes off to save the [[Tenth Doctor]], Gwen and Ianto remain in the Hub to fight off a [[Dalek]]. [[TV]]: ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'' concludes with Jack offering Martha a job with Torchwood.
* After leaving Earth in [[TV]]: '' [[Children of Earth: Day Five (TV story)|Day Five]]'', following all the deaths he's claimed responsibility for up to and including [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]] and [[Steven Carter|Steven]], Jack Harkness is seen at a [[Zaggit Zagoo bar|bar]] drinking his sorrows. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
* [[Captain John Hart]] makes a cameo appearance in [[TV]]: ''[[Time Heist (TV story)|Time Heist]]'', his image appearing alongside other criminals.
 
=== Crossover characters/aliens ===
==== ''Doctor Who'' ====
===== From ''Doctor Who'' =====
* [[Toshiko Sato]] ''(Series 1 and 2)''
* Captain [[Jack Harkness]] ''(Series 1 through 4)''
* [[Cyberman (Pete's World)|Cyberman]] (partially converted) ''([[Cyberwoman (TV story)|Cyberwoman]])''
* [[Hoix]] ''([[Exit Wounds (TV story)|Exit Wounds]])''
* [[Martha Jones]] ''([[Reset (TV story)|Reset]], [[Dead Man Walking (TV story)|Dead Man Walking]], [[A Day in the Death (TV story)|A Day in the Death]])''
 
===== To ''Doctor Who'' =====
* [[Gwen Cooper]] ''([[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]], [[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]])''
* [[Ianto Jones]] ''([[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]], [[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]])''
* [[Weevil]]s ''([[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]])''
* [[Blowfish]] ''([[The Pandorica Opens (TV story)|The Pandorica Opens]]'', ''[[Nightmare in Silver (TV story)|Nightmare in Silver]]'', ''[[The Magician's Apprentice (TV story)|The Magician's Apprentice]]'')
 
==== ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' ====
===== To ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' =====
* [[Arcateenian]] ''([[Invasion of the Bane (TV story)|Invasion of the Bane]])''
 
===== From ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' =====
* [[Trickster's Brigade]] ''([[Immortal Sins (TV story)|Immortal Sins]])''
 
== Future ==
John Barrowman, in an 2010 interview with ''The Scottish Sun'', said that he expected Torchwood to run until 2017.<ref>http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/torchwood-2017-13416.htm</ref>
 
However, Russell T Davies stated in October 2012 that for personal reasons the show was on an indefinite hiatus.<ref>http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/russell-t-davies-on-the-future-of-torchwood/22566/russell-t-davies-on-the-future-of-torchwood</ref><ref>http://screenrant.com/torchwood-season-5-delay-scott-163133/</ref>
 
=== Video game ===
In an interview with Robert Nashak of BBC Worldwide, it was revealed that the BBC were looking into creating a game for ''Torchwood''. Whether these would be in the form of [[The Adventure Games]], or for retail on platforms, is unknown. <ref>http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/torchwood-the-game-8995.htm</ref>
 
== Aborted ideas ==
=== Musical ===
According to Russell T Davies in ''[[The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter]]'', two former members of the pop group [[ABBA]] issued a proposal for a stage musical based upon ''Torchwood''. The proposal was rejected, and in his book Davies strongly indicates that the idea was never taken seriously.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8441444.stm BBC News - Abba duo linked to Torchwood musical] <small>accessed 22nd March 2010</small></ref>
 
=== American series ===
In January 2010 US media reported that Davies, [[Julie Gardner]] and [[Jane Tranter]] were planning a US version of ''Torchwood'' for the Fox network, which had previously aired the [[Doctor Who (TV story)|1996 ''Doctor Who'' TV movie]]. According to the reports, Barrowman and other original cast members may have appeared. The media coverage did not indicate whether or not the series was expected to be a remake/standalone, or if it would tie in with existing Whoniverse continuity. On the 20th January 2010 it was announced that Fox had ordered a pilot script for a US version of ''Torchwood'' from BBC Worldwide.<ref>http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=1&article=53791 C21Media - Fox ignites Torchwood pilot script <small>accessed 22nd March 2010</small></ref>
On 21st April 2010, however, BBC Worldwide announced that Fox had chosen not to proceed with the series, which according to the BBC was to have been a 13-episode, serialised programme, similar to the UK original.<ref>[http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2010/04/american-torchwood-on-hold.html Doctor Who News Page - Fox Withdraw from American Torchwood] <small>accessed 22nd April 2010</small></ref>
 
The show was later picked up by the American network Starz, which co-produced the [[Series 4 (Torchwood)|fourth series]].
 
== Merchandising ==
''Torchwood''-themed product ranges included:
* [[Torchwood merchandise|calendars]]
* [[Torchwood - Series 1 and 2 (soundtrack)|a soundtrack release]] for series 1 and 2
* [[SciFi Collector Torchwood action figures|an action figure line]]
 
== External links ==
{{official website|www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/}}
{{YouTube|channel/UC8EY2Nlow8wdUMCBucHEaOg}}
{{youtube|torchwoodofficial}}
 
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{TWTV}}
{{Spin-offs}}
 
[[de:Torchwood (TV-Serie)]]
[[fr:Torchwood]]
[[it:Torchwood]]
[[pt:Torchwood]]
[[ro:Torchwood (TV)]]
[[ru:Торчвуд]]
 
[[Category:Torchwood (TV series)| *]]
[[Category:Television overviews]]

Latest revision as of 20:17, 3 November 2024

RealWorld.png

You may wish to consult Torchwood (disambiguation) for other, similarly-named pages.

Torchwood was a multi-media Doctor Who spin-off series about the adventures of Jack Harkness and the Torchwood Institute.

Originally created as a television show by Russell T Davies in 2005, Torchwood was the first TV spin-off of Doctor Who to be commissioned for a full 13-part series. The first four series, produced by BBC Wales, were supplemented by BBC Books novels, BBC Audio audio stories, and Titan Publishing Group comics and short stories. The fourth series, released in 2011, was co-produced with the American cable network Starz and was accompanied by an animated online serial.

In 2015, Big Finish Productions began an series of monthly Torchwood audio dramas, and in 2017 they began an official continuation of the television show under the title Torchwood: The Story Continues.

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

In 2002, before the revival of Doctor Who, Russell T Davies began to develop an idea for a science-fiction/crime drama in the style of American fantasy drama series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel.[source needed]

This idea, originally titled Excalibur, was abandoned until 2005, when BBC Three Controller Stuart Murphy invited Davies to develop a post-watershed science fiction series for the channel. The word "Torchwood" (an anagram of "Doctor Who") originated during production of the new Doctor Who series, when television pirates were eager to get their hands on the tapes. Someone in the production office suggested that the tapes be labelled "Torchwood" instead of "Doctor Who" to disguise their contents as they were being sent to London. Davies thought that this was a clever idea and remembered the name.

Davies connected the word Torchwood to his earlier Excalibur idea and decided to make the series a Doctor Who spin-off.[source needed] Subsequently, the word Torchwood was seeded in several Doctor Who episodes and other media which aired in 2005 and 2006.

The series was set in contemporary Cardiff and followed the Welsh branch of a covert agency called the Torchwood Institute, which investigates extraterrestrial incidents on Earth and scavenges alien technology for its own use. As established in the Doctor Who episodes Tooth and Claw and Army of Ghosts, the Institute had been formed by Queen Victoria following an incident involving the Tenth Doctor and a werewolf, ostensibly to protect the British Empire from aliens and other creatures — as well as from the Doctor himself.

To paraphrase Torchwood Three's commander-in-chief, Jack Harkness, the organisation was separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the United Nations (the last reference thereby placing Torchwood in a different realm than UNIT).

Although a secret organisation, the existence of Torchwood was known by the public, and Torchwood operatives made no secret of their identity when on duty. Their public perception was as merely a "special ops" group, with their true responsibilities kept secret to all but a select few. Regular characters included Gwen Cooper, Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Rex Matheson and Esther Drummond. Martha Jones, Suzie Costello, and Vera Juarez have also been portrayed as part of the Torchwood team led by Harkness. Semi-regulars Rhys Williams and Sgt Andy Davidson are the only non-Torchwood members who recurred across all televised series.

The events of the first series took place some time after the Doctor Who Doomsday series two finale, in which Torchwood's London headquarters was destroyed, and just before the series three finale. Though the series has not yet featured the Doctor himself, the materialisation sound of the Doctor's TARDIS was heard in the final episode of season one, which led directly into the Doctor Who episode Utopia, and other dialogue references have been made, notably in the Torchwood: Miracle Day arc. Likewise, the appearance of Martha Jones in the second series provided vital continuity between third and fourth series of Doctor Who. Conversely, Jack, as well as his team of Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones featured (and former team members Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato are mentioned) in the last two episodes of the fourth series of Doctor Who.

The initial main writer alongside Davies was Chris Chibnall, creator of the BBC light drama show Born and Bred (who later moved over to work on Law & Order: UK). Other writers include P.J. Hammond, Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who script editor Helen Raynor, Catherine Tregenna, and Doctor Who cast member Noel Clarke.

In a 17 October 2005 announcement unveiling the series, BBC Three controller Stuart Murphy described Torchwood as "sinister and psychological...As well as being very British and modern and real." Davies further described it as "a British sci-fi paranoid thriller, a cop show with a sense of humour. [...] Dark, wild and sexy, it's The X-Files meets This Life."[1] Davies later denied ever making this comparison, instead describing the show as "alleyways, rain, the city".[source needed]

As Torchwood was a post-watershed show — that is, after 9 p.m. — it had more mature content than Doctor Who. Davies told SFX: "We can be a bit more visceral, more violent, and more sexual, if we want to. Though bear in mind that it's very teenage to indulge yourself in blood and gore, and Torchwood is going to be smarter than that. But it's the essential difference between BBC One at 7 pm, and BBC Three at, say, 9 pm. That says it all — instinctively, every viewer can see the huge difference there."[source needed]

Davies also joked to a BBC Radio Wales interviewer that he was "not allowed" to refer to the programme as "Doctor Who for grown-ups".[source needed] The first and second series included content never before seen or heard in televised Doctor Who, including intense sex scenes (e.g. Day One, Out of Time, Dead of Night), same-sex kissing in a romantic/sexual context (e.g. Cyberwoman, Captain Jack Harkness), and use of extreme profanity in several episodes. Such content was controversial,[source needed] and, as the series progressed, such scenes were minimised, to the point where, by series 3, relatively little of this content remained.

The show's first two series shared the format used by Doctor Who at the time, thirteen episodes aired weekly over a span of months. However, the format changed in the third season, which was one five-part story, Children of Earth, written by Russell T. Davies and released over the course of a week in July 2009. The fourth season, a 2011 coproduction between BBC Wales and Starz, similarly took the form of one long story, Miracle Day, but stretched across ten episodes. No fifth series followed on television.

In 2015, Big Finish Productions began monthly Torchwood audios, including some set following the events of Miracle Day. This led to their 2017 announcement that, with the cooperation of Russell T. Davies, they would be releasing a fifth series of Torchwood on audio.[2] Like series 3 and 4, it was marketed under a new subtitle, Aliens Among Us. It was followed by series 6, God Among Us, in 2018, and Among Us, in 2023.[3][4]

12 October 2016 marked the 10th anniversary of Torchwood. In celebration, cast and crew were invited to the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, and a special screening of the first episode was shown for the fans.[5] Big Finish also produced a special audio story to celebrate the show's anniversary, entitled The Torchwood Archive.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Secondary cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main series[[edit] | [edit source]]

Series 1 - 2006-2007[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 1 (Torchwood)

Series 2 - 2008[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 2 (Torchwood)

Series 3 - 2009[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Torchwood: Children of Earth

Series 4 - 2011[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Torchwood: Miracle Day

Series 5 - 2017-2018[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Aliens Among Us

Series 6 - 2018-2019[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: God Among Us

Series 7 - 2023[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Among Us

Other media[[edit] | [edit source]]

Prose[[edit] | [edit source]]

Novels[[edit] | [edit source]]

See list of Torchwood novels

Short stories[[edit] | [edit source]]

See list of Torchwood short stories

Video games[[edit] | [edit source]]

Comics[[edit] | [edit source]]

See list of Torchwood comic strips

Reference books[[edit] | [edit source]]

Audio[[edit] | [edit source]]

Audiobooks[[edit] | [edit source]]

Audio stories[[edit] | [edit source]]

Torchwood[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Big Finish Torchwood series

Radio[[edit] | [edit source]]

Web series[[edit] | [edit source]]

Web of Lies

Magazines[[edit] | [edit source]]

Torchwood The Official Magazine was a title launched in 2008 and published by Titan Publishing Group, that ran for twenty-five issues. The licence expired as a consequence of a realignment of Torchwood merchandising in response to the BBC's co-production agreement with Starz.

In 2010, Titan began publishing a monthly comic book for the North American market, Torchwood The Official Comic, reprinting comic strips and short stories from the UK magazine. Material from the magazine was also used in the Torchwood The Official Magazine Yearbook (2008) and the Torchwood The Official Magazine Yearbook (2009).

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crossover characters/aliens[[edit] | [edit source]]

Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]

From Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
To Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Sarah Jane Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]

To The Sarah Jane Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]
From The Sarah Jane Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]

Future[[edit] | [edit source]]

John Barrowman, in an 2010 interview with The Scottish Sun, said that he expected Torchwood to run until 2017.[6]

However, Russell T Davies stated in October 2012 that for personal reasons the show was on an indefinite hiatus.[7][8]

Video game[[edit] | [edit source]]

In an interview with Robert Nashak of BBC Worldwide, it was revealed that the BBC were looking into creating a game for Torchwood. Whether these would be in the form of The Adventure Games, or for retail on platforms, is unknown. [9]

Aborted ideas[[edit] | [edit source]]

Musical[[edit] | [edit source]]

According to Russell T Davies in The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter, two former members of the pop group ABBA issued a proposal for a stage musical based upon Torchwood. The proposal was rejected, and in his book Davies strongly indicates that the idea was never taken seriously.[10]

American series[[edit] | [edit source]]

In January 2010 US media reported that Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter were planning a US version of Torchwood for the Fox network, which had previously aired the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. According to the reports, Barrowman and other original cast members may have appeared. The media coverage did not indicate whether or not the series was expected to be a remake/standalone, or if it would tie in with existing Whoniverse continuity. On the 20th January 2010 it was announced that Fox had ordered a pilot script for a US version of Torchwood from BBC Worldwide.[11] On 21st April 2010, however, BBC Worldwide announced that Fox had chosen not to proceed with the series, which according to the BBC was to have been a 13-episode, serialised programme, similar to the UK original.[12]

The show was later picked up by the American network Starz, which co-produced the fourth series.

Merchandising[[edit] | [edit source]]

Torchwood-themed product ranges included:

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Frame, Anna (2006-10-25). The X-Files meets This Life. Daily Express p. 49. [note: potentially originated in a RadioTimes piece]
  2. ↑ Season 5 of Torchwood is finally coming, just as an audio drama
  3. ↑ Torchwood returning for official series 6 at Big Finish
  4. ↑ Torchwood is Among Us!
  5. ↑ http://www.bafta.org/wales/whats-on/special-screening-10-years-of-torchwood
  6. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/torchwood-2017-13416.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/russell-t-davies-on-the-future-of-torchwood/22566/russell-t-davies-on-the-future-of-torchwood
  8. ↑ http://screenrant.com/torchwood-season-5-delay-scott-163133/
  9. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/torchwood-the-game-8995.htm
  10. ↑ BBC News - Abba duo linked to Torchwood musical accessed 22nd March 2010
  11. ↑ http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=1&article=53791 C21Media - Fox ignites Torchwood pilot script accessed 22nd March 2010
  12. ↑ Doctor Who News Page - Fox Withdraw from American Torchwood accessed 22nd April 2010
v • e
Torchwood television stories
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Children of Earth: Day One • Day Two • Day Three • Day Four • Day Five
Series 4
Stories listed here are only those that have been officially licensed by the BBC.
v • e
Spin-offs and connected series
 
Licensed by the BBC
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PROSE
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