To the Last Man (TV story)

To the Last Man
Key crew
Writer:	Helen Raynor
Director:	Andy Goddard
Release details
Release number:	16
Premiere broadcast:	30th January 2008

Synopsis

Once a year, for a single day, Tommy Brockless is defrosted in the Torchwood hub to make sure he's still working. He is kept alive until the day he is needed, and when ghosts appear at a hospital it's clear that time has come...

Plot

to be added

Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness — John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper — Eve Myles
• Owen Harper — Burn Gorman
• Toshiko Sato — Naoko Mori
• Ianto Jones — Gareth David-Lloyd
• Tommy Brockless — Anthony Lewis
• Gerald Carter — Roderic Culver
• Harriet Derbyshire — Siobahn Hewlett
• Nurse — Lizzie Rogan
• Foreman — Ricky Fearon

Production crew

to be added

References

• There is a scan of a Cyberman in the medical area of the Hub.
• Bilis Manger's antique shop was also described as a "stitch in time".
• The episode establishes that some form of military conflict in Iraq is taking place in the Doctor Who Universe as it is taking place in the real world. Tommy asks Tosh if it's a war and she replies "not really" leaving it ambiguous as to whether this is the same conflict initiated by the United States in 2003 in the real world, or if it is a different conflict.
• The partnership of Gerald and Harriet appears similar to that of Mulder and Scully on The X-Files, or that of Sapphire & Steel.

Story notes

to be added

Ratings

• Unofficial Overnight - 3.2 million viewers

Myths

to be added

Filming Locations

to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• This episode shows a calendar dated Friday 20th (June 2008, Feb 2009 or March 2009). However, a poster in a hospital in Last of the Time Lords showed it was October, and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang seems to be only hours after that. The hospital is in a state of disrepair so it could be an old calendar
• Gwen witnesses Tommy's annual revival procedure for the first time, suggesting her adventures so far with Torchwood have taken place over less than a year, however this is not consistent with some of the dates provided for season 1 episodes which suggest she was with Torchwood during the previous defrosting. Jack may have chosen to not reveal this aspect of Torchwood to her at that time; or, it could simply have happened on her day off.

Continuity

• Tommy remarks how silly it would be to save the world in pyjamas, a side reference to DW: The Christmas Invasion.
• A Torchwood team from another era is seen for the first time.

DVD releases

• This story along with the rest of Torchwood Series 2 is due to be released in a complete series boxset.

See also

to be added

External links

to be added