Torchwood SUV

Torchwood SUV
Type:	SUV
Used by:	Torchwood Three
First appearance:	Everything Changes
Appearances:	see list

The Torchwood SUV was the main mode of transport that Torchwood Three used to travel during missions. For several years, it remained in their care, until 2009, when it was parked in a bad neighbourhood and left poorly guarded. Humiliatingly, it fell into the hands of carjacking delinquents and was driven off to parts unknown. Ng replaced it with a smart car.

Profile

The SUV was a converted large, black Range Rover Vogue with dark-tinted windows and blue lights running along the A pillars. The vehicle had a white-on-black non-standard typeface for the registration plate, usually found only on military vehicles and vehicles from before 1973. Despite having a registration number, CF06 FDU, which indicated that the vehicle was registered in Cardiff between March and September 2006, the car did not appear in the DVLA vehicle register; (TV: Everything Changes) like its owners, the SUV officially didn't exist. The boot was large enough to fit a full-sized body, such as a Weevil or an alien blowfish. (TV: Combat)

History

The SUV was, presumably, used by the Torchwood team when they went for a drink or something to eat. (TV: Cyberwoman) On another mission, the Torchwood team were in the country when the car was stolen because the keys were left inside. It was driven off with most of their gear still inside, and was found parked 3.4 miles away in a town. (TV: Countrycide) Torchwood also contacted Kathy Swanson, a member of the Cardiff Police force, who helped Torchwood track down Suzie when she took Gwen hostage. (TV: They Keep Killing Suzie) The SUV was at the scene of Eugene Jones' death and, unknown to them, Eugene was one of the few members of the public to see inside the SUV when his disembodied consciousness rode along with them in an empty seat. (TV: Random Shoes) The SUV was used to transport, release and chase Janet through Cardiff. (TV: Combat) When Tosh and Jack went to investigate an abandoned dance hall, they were taken through the Rift, and the SUV was left behind. Gwen later found it. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness)

When a blowfish stole a sports car, Torchwood gave chase in the SUV. Owen opened the window and leaned out, firing a gun at the car's wheels. Jack left the team behind, to find John Hart. He later used it to catch up to a member of Cell 114, barely managing to stop him from detonating nuclear missiles by running him over with the car. (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) Torchwood Three later used it to investigate a crashed lorry with alien meat inside. (TV: Meat) When Torchwood walked into a booby-trapped building, the SUV was stolen by John Hart, (TV: Fragments) who returned it after the deaths of Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato. (TV Exit Wounds)

Jack and Ianto used the SUV when they went zombie hunting in Trowbridge in during the Cardiff zombie outbreak and came across Sarah Thomas stranded in her Passat. Ianto helped Sarah, and her husband Trystan, safely into the back of the SUV. While lifting a zombie into the boot, Jack was knocked unconscious by a zombified boy hidden under the vehicle. Ianto safely returned them to the Torchwood Hub. Jack and Ianto later used the SUV to drive to St Helen's Hospital with a Dellacoi pod. The SUV was surrounded by zombies and the pair had to be rescued from the roof of the vehicle by Gwen Cooper and Rhys Williams in a Coastguard helicopter. (PROSE: Bay of the Dead)

The SUV was stolen again by local teenagers when Ianto Jones went to visit his sister. They humiliated Ianto further by doing a victory lap around the estate and one teen mooned him out the passenger side window while Rhiannon's husband Johnny hurled bricks at them unsuccessfully. Ianto revealed that he lost the car to Gwen first, but she did not react as she was mulling the fact she had been cited pregnant by Clement McDonald. When he sheepishly broke the news to Jack, he sternly replied, "You did what!?" The issue of the lost car was subsequently dwarfed by the discovery of a bomb implanted in Jack's body, which blew up the Hub. (TV Children of Earth: Day One) Later events would see the death of Ianto Jones and the disbanding of Torchwood Three, leaving the concern of the company car a forgotten and defunct issue. (TV Children of Earth: Day Four, Children of Earth: Day Five) Ever since, the current whereabouts of the vehicle remain a mystery, as it was never made clear what the youngsters who stole it planned to do with it.

Ng replaced the vehicle with a smart car. (AUDIO: Changes Everything)

Features

The SUV contained computers that could connect to the Torchwood Hub and to databases such as police and civilians' personal files. (TV: Day One) It had a triple deadlock, according to Ianto Jones. (TV: Children of Earth: Day One) It also had toughened glass windows and, according to Jack Harkness, was tougher than a tank. (PROSE: Bay of the Dead) However, it was broken into on multiple occasions. (TV: Countrycide, Exit Wounds, Children of Earth: Day One)

The Torchwood SUV could also change the traffic lights so that they were green before the vehicle reached them. (PROSE: Slow Decay) Even with its bulky size and great weight, the vehicle was capable of catching up with a sports car. (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) Underneath the boot of the SUV, there was a hidden, disassembled gun. (TV: Something Borrowed)

Other features on the SUV included rocket boosters and the ability to transform itself into a boat. The latter feature had not been tested before Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness used it during a mission. The SUV promptly sank. (AUDIO: The Sin Eaters) The boot was able to automatically open and close itself. This feature was used to release Janet. (TV: Combat)

The SUV contained equipment which could monitor Rift activity. Ianto used the equipment to detect the Rift traces of zombies, like a zombie satnav. (PROSE: Bay of the Dead)

Behind the scenes

• In a commentary for series 1, Russell T Davies stated that he hated the yellow lettering of the Torchwood wording on the roof of the car, that there was only one shot of the word and it would never be shot again. The word partially appeared in the episode Random Shoes.
• This vehicle was converted by Specialist Models, a Cardiff based model and prop maker.
• The modified 2002 Range Rover used as the Torchwood SUV was sold at a BBC Archives Costume and Props auction held at Bonhams on 24 February 2010. The vehicle sold for £18,000. The selling of the vehicle solidified that it would not be returning for future installments of the series, having been auctioned off at it a time when it was unclear if Torchwood was going to come to an end.