Cyberwoman (TV story)
- This is about the Torchwood episode. For the race see Cyberman. For specific known Cyberwomen, see Lisa Hallett, Yvonne Hartman or Jackie Tyler (the latter only upgraded in a parallel universe).
Synopsis
Ianto has a dark secret, tied to the basement of the Hub — a secret he will protect at any cost.
Plot
During a mundane day at Torchwood Three, the team decides to go get a drink, though Ianto politely stays behind. Once the team is gone, he brings in a Japanese doctor named Tanizaki into the Hub and takes him to a holding cell deep below the surface. There, a partially cyber-converted woman is strapped to a conversion unit surrounded by instruments keeping her alive; Ianto introduces her to Tanizaki as Lisa, his former lover when they both worked at Torchwood One in London. She was only partially converted during the Cyberman invasion, and Ianto rigged the equipment to keep her alive but in secret from the rest of Torchwood. Ianto hopes that Dr. Tanizaki, a cybernetics expert, can undo the conversion and make her human again. They take her to the autospy lab and are able to have her breath on her when Ianto learns that the rest of the team is on the way back to Torchwood to deal with a rouge UFO. Ianto leaves Dr. Tanizaki to take Lisa back to the cell while he prepares for the team's arrival. However, after returning Lisa, Lisa's Cyberman influence takes over, and attempts to "upgrade" Dr. Tanizaki as way of repaying him for his favor, killing him.
As the rest of Torchwood deal with the UFO, there is a brief power flicker; Ianto quickly covers up by claiming that the generators have been acting up all day and offers to look into it. Returning to Lisa's cell, he finds Dr. Tanizaki's body with Lisa standing over him. Ianto tells Lisa to stay in the cell as he drags Dr. Tanizaki's body off to hide it from the team. Lisa reenters the cybernetic unit and begins to drain more power from Torchwood, which is quickly noticed by the others. Arming themselves, they set for the holding cell where the power drain is occurring, believing Torchwood to be under attack. They find and recognize the cyber conversion unit, but are attacked by Lisa, resulting in Gwen being placed in the conversion unit. Jack attempts to shoot Lisa before she can start the unit up, but Ianto tackles him, allowing Lisa to escape. The team regroups in the Hub as the power is drained further by Lisa in preparation to recreate a Cyberman army. Jack demands that Ianto tell everything that's happened. Ianto pleads that since he cleans up after Torchwood but is never asked about his life, they should help him restore Lisa, but Jack affirms that there is no cure. Ianto asks that he try to reason with Lisa before the team attempts to attack her again.
Approaching Lisa, Ianto tries to remind her that she is still human, but she finds herself disgusted with her looks. She offers to implant her brain into Ianto, believing this to be true love as to share the same life, but Ianto refuses. Lisa declares him incompatible and throws him aside, knocking Ianto unconscious, and sending the rest of the team into action. Jack orders Toshiko to go to the surface to recharge emergency power cells while Gwen and Owen are to search for any weapons they can find, while he lets himself stand in Lisa's way to delay her advance. Lisa electrocutes Jack twice to the shock of Gwen and Owen. Gwen and Owen are momentarily trapped by Lisa in the autospy lab but manage to escape back to the main Hub, where they find Jack, very much alive despite the previous attack. Jack sprays Lisa with a special "barbecue sauce" that helps their pet pterodactyl identify its prey, and as it attacks Lisa, the rest of the team, along with the recovered Ianto, are able to escape through the invisible lift. Upon exiting the lift, Ianto immediately punches Jack and tries to return back inside, but Jack threatens him, that if he fails to kill Lisa in ten minutes, he will come down and kill them both. Ianto returns back to Torchwood by himself.
Unbeknown to the team, a pizza delivery girl, using Torchwood's other entrance to bring some pizzas ordered earlier by Ianto, finds the pterodactyl barely on the floor, and then Lisa is suddenly behind her. Later, as Ianto makes his way to the holding cell, he finds that Lisa's body has died, but the delivery girl, with a large cut across her forehead, claims she is Lisa, and that she took the girl's body so they could both be together. Ianto tries to hug her, but pushes her away and holds her to gunpoint. The girl tries to explain she did this for Ianto, but then promises that they can be upgraded together. The rest of the Torchwood team, arriving to hear that, fire several times on the girl and kills her, leaving Ianto to mourn over Lisa's body.
Cast
- Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
- Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
- Owen Harper - Burn Gorman
- Toshiko Sato - Naoko Mori
- Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
- Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
- Lisa Hallett - Caroline Chikezie
- Dr Tanizaki - Togo Igawa
- Annie - Bethan Walker
Crew
- Writer - Chris Chibnall
- Director - James Strong
- 1st Assistant Director - Nick Brown
- 2nd Assistant Director - Guy De Glanville
- 3rd Assistant Director - Rhian Salisbury
- Executive Producers - Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner
- Producer - Richard Stokes
- Co-Producer - Chris Chibnall
References
- Ianto rescued Lisa from the destruction of Torchwood 1.
- Lisa is a partially converted Cybus Cyberman.
- Ianto keeps Lisa in a Cyber-conversion unit in the lower levels of Torchwood 3.
- The Torchwood pteranodan appears.
Story Notes
- This story had a working title of; The Trouble With Lisa.
Ratings
- BBC3 - 1.4 million viewers
- BBC2 - 2.2 million viewers
Myths
Filming Locations
to be added
Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
- The device to open the doors was the device used to extract the information from books. (TW: Everything Changes)
Continuity
- The invasion of Earth by the Cybus Cybermen occured in DW: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday.
- The 'New mayor, new Cardiff' newspaper article from Boom Town can be seen on the door as in Reset (Torchwood story)
DVD Releases
to be added
See also
to be added
External Links
- Doctor Who: Torchwood Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - Cyberwoman
- A Brief History of Time (Travel): Cyberwoman
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