Torchwood (series)

The team as seen in Series 3. From left to right: Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper

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

Torchwood is a Doctor Who television spin-off. 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 set on Earth after the events of DW: Doomsday (and for lead character Jack Harkness the events of DW: The Parting of the Ways.

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, and other dialogue references have been made, most recently in the Children of Earth arc. Likewise, the appearance of Martha Jones in the second series provides vital continuity between Doctor Whos third and fourth series. 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.

Regular characters have included Gwen Cooper, Jack Harkness, 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 all series.

Overview

Origins

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.

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. During the production of the 2005 series of Doctor Who, 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 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. Subsequently, the word Torchwood was seeded in several Doctor Who episodes and other media which aired in 2005 and 2006.

Premise

The series is set in contemporary Cardiff and follows the Welsh branch of a (semi-)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, ostensibly to protect the Empire from aliens and other creatures -- as well as from the Doctor, himself.

To paraphrase Torchwood Three's commander-in-chief, Jack Harkness, the organization is separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the United Nations (the last reference thereby placing Torchwood in a different realm than UNIT (once known as the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce).

Although a secret organization, the existence of Torchwood is known by the public, and Torchwood operatives make no secret of their identity when on duty (they even drive a vehicle emblazoned with the name). Their public perception is as merely a 'special ops' group, with their true responsibilities kept secret to all but a select few.

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 final episode of Series 1 leads directly into the Doctor Who episode Utopia.

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 17th 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." 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."

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. Such content was controversial among aspects of Who fandom, and as the series has progressed such scenes have been minimized, to the point where by Series 3 relatively little of this content remained.

Cast

Main Cast

Main

• Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles

Former

• Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd (Everything Changes to Children of Earth: Day Four)
• Owen Harper - Burn Gorman (Everything Changes to Exit Wounds)
• Toshiko Sato - Naoko Mori (Everything Changes to Exit Wounds)

Regular Cast

• Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
• PC Andy Davidson - Tom Price
• Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman (Reset to A Day in the Death)

Gorman and Mori left the series at the end of Series 2 due to their characters being killed off, and David-Lloyd left after Episode 4 of Series 3 following Ianto's death.

Television Stories

Series 1 - 2006-2007

Main article: Series 1 (Torchwood)

Series 2 - 2008

Main article: Series 2 (Torchwood)

Series 3 - 2009

Main article: Series 3 (Torchwood)

Series 4 - 2010?

Main article: Series 4 (Torchwood)

Broadcasts

Torchwood premiered on Sunday 22nd October 2006 on BBC Three. It has the unusual distinction of having been broadcast on three of the BBC's networks, as Series 2 aired on BBC Two, and Series 3 on BBC One.

Series 1 and 2 were full 13-episode seasons. For Series 3 the BBC decided to change the format of the series, producing a five-episode mini-series that aired over consecutive evenings. Although a Series 4 is currently (August 2009) under consideration, it is not known if the series will return to its 13-episode format or remain as a mini-series.

As of 2009, Torchwood has not yet produced a holiday special (although Series 1 did include an episode set during the Christmas season), or a mini-episode for charity.

Prose

Novels

BBC Books have released a series of novels based on the series.

Comics and Short Fiction

Torchwood Magazine, published by Titan Books, has published comics by several different artists and writers, as well as short stories. Titan has to date also issued one graphic novel compiling the comic strips.

Audio

Original Audiobooks

• Hidden
• Everyone Says Hello
• In the Shadows
• The Sin Eaters

Radio

• Lost Souls
• Asylum
• Golden Age
• The Dead Line

Cross-Continuity with the Doctor Who Universe

• In "Torchwood" Series 1, the episodes Everything Changes and Cyberwoman make direct reference to the Cybus Cybermen in Army of Ghosts and 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 The Christmas Invasion.
• Graffiti seen in the Ritz in Captain Jack Harkness continues the presence Bad Wolf meme and Harold Saxon posters are seen on the walls.
• Utopia continues directly from the closing moments of the "Torchwood" Series 1 finale End of Days, in which both Jack Harkness and the audience hear the sound of the TARDIS.
• Abaddon from "End of Days" is referred to as the son of The Beast from the Doctor Who episodes The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit.
• In "Torchwood" Series 2, Freema Agyeman reprised her role of Martha Jones in the episode Reset. Her alias Samantha Jones references a companion of the Eighth Doctor.
• UNIT, an organization closely associated with the Third Doctor in particular, appears in a flashback in Fragments.
• Toshiko Sato explains her appearance as the nurse in "Doctor Who" Series 1 Aliens of London as her filling in for Owen, who had a hangover.
• A Hoix makes a small appearance in Exit Wounds.The Hoix first appeared in DW: Love & Monsters.
• The Doctor Who Series 4 episode Turn Left presents an alternate timeline, nicknamed Donna's World, where, by saving the Earth from a Sontaran invasion (an event shown in the usual timeline in The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky), Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones die, while Jack Harkness is captured and taken to Sontar. (In this alternate timeline, as in the normal one, Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper have already died.)
• In The Stolen Earth and Journey's End, the surviving Torchwood team and the Hub appear. While Jack goes off to save the Doctor, Gwen and Ianto remain in the Hub to fight off a Dalek. Journey's End concludes with Jack offering Martha a job with Torchwood.
• After leaving Earth in TW: Children of Earth: Day Five Jack Harkness is seen at a bar (DW: The End of Time) where he appears to be depressed about the loss of Ianto Jones . The Tenth Doctor arrives and introduces Jack to Alonso Frame from "Voyage of the Damned". The beginning of a romantic relationship is implied but it is unknown (as of January 2010) if this will be pursued in future story lines.

Future

Series 4

Russell T Davies revealed to the TV listings magazine TV Guide that work on Series Four is expected to begin in January 2010. It is currently unknown whether Jack, Gwen and Rhys will return in the fourth series, but Davies previously told Torchwood Magazine in an interview in August 2009: "I know where you'd find Gwen and Rhys, and their baby, and Jack, and I know how you'd go forward with a new form of Torchwood."

In a late-November 2009 radio interview, Barrowman indicated that he has been signed to return as Jack Harkness for a fourth series, but a production date has not yet been set.

Proposed 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 1996 Doctor Who TV movie). According to the reports, Barrowman and other original cast members might appear. The media coverage does not indicate whether or not the series is expected to be a remake/standalone, or if it will tie in with existing Whoniverse continuity. As of 18th January the idea is only at the proposal stage, with Fox having yet to commit to producing a pilot which, in turn, may or may not result in a series. Announced on the 20th January 2010 it was announced that Fox had ordered a pilot script for a US version of Torchwood from BBC Worldwide.

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, serialized programme, similar to the UK original. Reportedly Davies and Gardner intend to shop the idea around to other US network.

Aborted 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.

See Also

• Torchwood Declassified, a documentary series in the vein of Doctor Who Confidential

External Links

• Official BBC website