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 pilot of K9 and Company in 1981 and the first to be commissioned for a full 13-part series. It originally features the adventures of the Torchwood branch located in Cardiff and later the Torchwood team that succeeds it, 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).
- This article concerns the television series. You may be looking for something else called "Torchwood".
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 Torchwood: Miracle Day arc. Likewise, the appearance of Martha Jones in the second series provides 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.
Regular characters have 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 have recurred across all series.
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 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 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 organisation, 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 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." 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 and second series include content never before seen or heard in the Doctor Who franchise, including intense 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 minimised, to the point where by Series 3 relatively little of this content remained.
Cast
Main cast
- Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
- Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
- Owen Harper - Burn Gorman (series 1-2)
- Toshiko Sato - Naoko Mori (series 1-2)
- Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd (series 1-3)
- Rhys Williams - Kai Owen (secondary cast series 1-2, main cast 3-4)
- Rex Matheson - Mekhi Phifer (series 4)
- Esther Drummond - Alexa Havins (series 4)
- Oswald Danes - Bill Pullman (series 4)
Secondary cast
- 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)
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 - 2011
- Main article: Series 4 (Torchwood)
Other media
Web series
Prose
Novels
Comics
See list of Torchwood comic strips
Short stories
See list of Torchwood short stories
Reference books
(see also Torchwood books)
Audio
Audiobooks
- Another Life Read by John Barrowman (abridged)
- Border Princes Read by Eve Myles (abridged)
- Slow Decay Read by Burn Gorman (abridged)
Audio stories
- Hidden Read by Naoko Mori
- Everyone Says Hello Read by Burn Gorman
- In the Shadows Read by Eve Myles
- The Sin Eaters Read by Gareth David-Lloyd
- Department X by James Goss
- Ghost Train by James Goss
Radio
- Lost Souls
- Asylum
- Golden Age
- The Dead Line
- The Devil and Miss Carew
- Submission
- The House of the Dead
Magazines
Since 2008 a (now) bi-monthly magazine Torchwood The Official Magazine has been published by Titan Publishing Group along with Yearbooks and a graphic novel (Rift War). It has been announced that the 25th issue of the magazine, published in mid-December 2010, will be its last for the time being (according to an editorial in issue 24, this is a consequence of a realignment of Torchwood merchandising in the wake of the new 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.
Continuity
- In Torchwood Series 1, the episodes TW: Everything Changes and TW: Cyberwoman make direct reference to the Cybermen in DW: Army of Ghosts and DW: 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 DW: The Christmas Invasion.
- Graffiti seen in the Ritz in TW: 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 TW: End of Days, in which both Jack Harkness and the audience hear the sound of the TARDIS.
- Abaddon from TW: End of Days is referred to as the son of The Beast from DW: The Impossible Planet and DW: The Satan Pit.
- In "Torchwood" Series 2, Freema Agyeman reprised her role of Martha Jones in the episode TW: Reset. Her alias Samantha Jones references a companion of the Eighth Doctor.
- UNIT, an organisation closely associated with the Third Doctor in particular, appears in a flashback in TW: Fragments.
- Toshiko Sato explains her appearance as the doctor in DW: Aliens of London as her filling in for Owen, who had a hangover.
- A Hoix makes a small appearance in TW: Exit Wounds. The Hoix first appeared in DW: Love & Monsters.
- The episode DW: 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 DW: The Sontaran Stratagem and DW: 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 DW: The Stolen Earth and DW: 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. DW: 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.
Crossover monsters
Doctor Who
From Doctor Who
- Cyberman (Partially Converted) (Cyberwoman)
- Hoix (Exit Wounds)
- Trickster's Brigade (Immortal Sins)
To Doctor Who
The Sarah Jane Adventures
To The Sarah Jane Adventures
Future
Future Series
John Barrowman, in an interview with The Scottish Sun, said that he expects Torchwood to run until 2017.[1]
Adventure 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. [2]
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.[3]
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 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.[4]
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.[5]
The show was later be picked up by the American network Starz, which co-produced the fourth series.
See also
- Torchwood Declassified, a documentary series in the vein of Doctor Who Confidential
- Doctor Who
- The Sarah Jane Adventures
- K9 and Company
- K9 (TV series)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/torchwood-2017-13416.htm
- ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/torchwood-the-game-8995.htm
- ↑ BBC News - Abba duo linked to Torchwood musical accessed 22nd March 2010
- ↑ http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=1&article=53791 C21Media - Fox ignites Torchwood pilot script accessed 22nd March 2010
- ↑ Doctor Who News Page - Fox Withdraw from American Torchwood accessed 22nd April 2010