Torchwood (series)

This article concerns the television series. For the organization, see Torchwood Institute. For the Cardiff branch of Torchwood, see Torchwood 3.

The team as see in Series 2. From left to right: Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori), Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd), Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), guest star Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Owen Harper (Burn Gorman).

Torchwood is a Doctor Who television spin-off, the first since K-9 & Company. 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.

It features the adventures of the Torchwood branch located in Cardiff, and is primarily set after the events of DW: Doomsday.

The spin-off series has not yet featured the Doctor himself, though the sound of the Doctor's TARDIS is heard in the final episode of season one. Likewise, the appearance of Martha Jones in the second series provides vital continuity between Doctor Who's third and fourth series. Conversely, Jack, as well as his team of Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones featured in the last two episodes of the fourth series of Doctor Who.

Regular characters have included Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, and Owen Harper. Martha Jones and Suzie Costello have also been portrayed as part of the Torchwood team led by Harkness. Semi-regulars Rhys Williams and PC Andy Davidson are the only non-Torchwood members who have recurred across both series.

Overview

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 dramas like Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series and Angel TV series.

This idea, originally titled Excalibur, was abandoned until 2005, when BBC Three Controller Stuart Murphy invited Davies to develop a post-Watershed (television) science-fiction series for the channel. During the production of the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the word Torchwood (an anagram of Doctor Who) had been used as a code name for the series while filming its first few episodes and on the rush tapes to ensure they were not intercepted.

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

The series is set in Cardiff and follows 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 (its origins are outlined in the Doctor Who episode Tooth and Claw). To paraphrase Torchwood Three's commander-in-chief, Jack Harkness, the organisation is separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the United Nations. Their public perception is as merely a 'special ops' group. The events of the first series take 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.

The main writer alongside Davies is Chris Chibnall, creator of the BBC light drama show Born and Bred. Other writers include P.J. Hammond, Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who script editor Helen Raynor, Cath Tregenna, and Doctor Who cast member Noel Clarke, who gained acclaim for his screenplay for the film Kidulthood. Russell T. Davies wrote just the first episode.

In a 17 October 2005 announcement, 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." Davies later denied ever making this comparison, instead describing the show as "alleyways, rain, the city".

As Torchwood is a post-watershed show — that is, after 9 p.m. — it has 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." According to Barrowman:

"I don't do any nude scenes in series one; they're saving that for the next series! I don't have a problem with getting my kit off. As long as they pay me the right money, I'm ready to get out my cock and balls."

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". The first series includes content never before seen or heard in the Doctor Who franchise, including lovemaking scenes (in episodes such as "Day One" and "Out of Time"), same-sex kissing in a romantic/sexual context, and use of extreme profanity in several episodes.

Details

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 United Nations. Confirmed writers include P.J. Hammond and Chris Chibnall.

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."

The series will star John Barrowman as Jack Harkness, one of the Ninth Doctor's companions from the 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 Christmas special and 2006 season of Doctor Who.

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.

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.

Interviewed on ITV1's afternoon chat show Loose Women on 18th 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.

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.

Martha Jones joined the show in the middle of Series 2 during the episode "Reset". She has a three episode appearance. When she joined the show, she was a fully qualified doctor, but left at the end of A Day in the Death.

The conclusion of Journey's End, in which Jack tells Martha that he's not sure about UNIT these days and that she should consider other options moments before Mickey catches up and walks off with them, suggests that Martha Jones and Mickey Smith will join Torchwood with Martha succeeding Owen Harper as Torchwood's medic, and Mickey taking over from Toshiko Sato as Torchwood's computer specialist.

Story arcs

Like Doctor Who, Torchwood has used arc words which appear throughout the season and take a leading role in the finale. Arc words for Doctor Who have also appeared in Torchwood, most notably the appearance of "Mr Saxon" posters.

In Series 1 the recurring theme was death and something being in the "darkness", which was revealed to be the release of Abbadon in the series finale; it has remained a recurring theme in the show in Series 2 as part of the arch involving Owen. It also remains a theme running with Jack's immortality.

In Series 2, the story arc was "Gray", which refers to Captain Jack's lost brother, who returns in the series finale.

Although not an official story arc at the moment there are often references to an unknown species as what Jack describes as "the worst possible creatures you can ever imagine" and by Gray as "they live to torture." They have been referred to in both Series 1 and 2. Nothing is known about them but they are assumed to be the ones behind the war mentioned in Countrycide, the attack on Jack's home and the capture Gray.

Torchwood arcs

S1="Something in the Darkness"
S2=Gray
S3=TBA

Episodes

Series 1

The first series of Torchwood was originally broadcast (in the UK) between 22nd October 2006 and 1st January 2007. The series ties into Series 1 and 3 of Doctor Who with references to the Bad Wolf meme and Harold Saxon. Most of the stories are contemporary, but the series does delve into flashbacks and the occasional time travel adventures centered mainly around Jack Harkness. It featured 13 50-minute episodes, and consisted of the following stories:

The last two episodes were first shown as a double bill, with the end credits merged and shown at the end of the second episode.

In addition to the TV series there were several tie-in books released by the BBC:

Series 2

In addition to the TV series there were several tie-in books released by the BBC:

Trace Memory
The Twilight Streets
Something in the Water
Pack Animals (Novemeber 2008)
SkyPoint (November 2008)
Almost Perfect (November 2008)

Series 3

Series 3 will consist of 5 episodes forming a single story broadcast over a week on BBC1 in 2009 entitled 'Children of Earth'.

References in Doctor Who

Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who.

The word "Torchwood" first occurred in the 2005 Doctor Who episode 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.

In the 2005 Christmas Special Harriet Jones orders Torchwood to fire at the Sycorax ship. Resulting in the death of the Sycorax and the loss of The Doctor's respect for Harriet Jones.

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.

In the Series 2, "Rise of the Cybermen", Pete Tyler asks a guest (off camera) at Jackie Tyler's birthday party how things are in Torchwood. This story is set on a parallel Earth, and Pete's World Torchwood Institute later features in "Doomsday"; in the latter episode, Rose Tyler goes to work for them.

Army of Ghosts and Doomsday feature the Doctor's first full encounter with Torchwood, primarily Torchwood 1, which becomes the battleground for an attempted simultaneous invasion by the Pete's World Cybermen and the Daleks.

In The Runaway Bride, the Doctor attempts to track down some information using an Earth computer network, but is blocked by Torchwood; he also learns the company Donna Noble works for is also owned by Torchwood.

Utopia follows directly on from the closing moments of the Torchwood first-season finale End of Days. In the following episode, The Sound of Drums, the Doctor learns that Jack works for Torchwood, but Jack says he has remade Torchwood 3 in the Doctor's honor. A brief reference to the other members of the Torchwood 3 team is made, suggesting that The Master has sent them on a wild goose chase mission. After the defeat of the Master in Last of the Time Lords, Jack talks about his team needing him; his return leads into the second season send-off episode, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

Freema Agyeman reprises her Doctor Who role of Martha Jones in several Series 2 episodes.

In the Series 4 (Doctor Who) episode "Turn Left"; in Donna's World, Ianto and Gwen died and Jack was transported to the Sontaran homeworld while working to save the planet from asphyxiation due to the ATMOS in cars. However, this reality ceased to exist when Rose Tyler helped Donna Noble turn left, not right, changing history back to its original design. (The lack of reference to Owen or Tosh suggest they still died in the alternate timeline as well).

In The Stolen Earth and Journey's End, the surviving Torchwood team and the Hub appear. While Jack reunites with the Doctor again, Ianto and Gwen are trapped in the Hub due to a "time lock" installed by Toshiko before her death (which saves them from an attacking Dalek), while Jack teleports to meet The Doctor. During Journey's End it is finally confirmed (after a fashion) that Gwen is related to Gwyneth, a 19th Century woman once encountered by The Doctor and Rose Tyler in The Unquiet Dead. Journey's End concludes with Jack offering Martha a job with Torchwood and possibly also recruiting Mickey Smith.

External links

Official BBC website