To the Last Man (TV story)

To the Last Man (TV story)

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To the Last Man
Featuring:	Jack Harkness Gwen Cooper Toshiko Sato Owen Harper Ianto Jones
Main setting:	Cardiff, February, 2008 Cardiff, 1918
Key crew
Writer:	Helen Raynor
Director:	Andy Goddard
Producer:	Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer)
Release details
Release number:	16
Premiere broadcast:	30th January 2008

To the Last Man is the third story of Torchwood's second season. It is notable for featuring Toshiko Sato as the main character, in the same vein as she was in the first series' Greeks Bearing Gifts.

Synopsis

Once a year, for a single day, Tommy Brockless is defrosted in the Torchwood hub to make sure he's still working. He is kept alive until the day he is needed, and when ghosts appear at a hospital it's clear that time has come...

Plot

Tommy Brockless, a young World War I soldier, shell-shocked from his experiences in the trenches, is the key to saving the world. He is taken into custody by Torchwood in 1918 – Torchwood having been told to do so by his future self – and held in cryonic storage until the time comes for him to save the world. He is awoken one day each year for a medical check-up and a “day out” as a precautionary measure in case he is needed.

A time shift is set to cause 1918 and the present to bleed together at an unspecified time, and when this happens it is Tommy who will be “stitching” the fragments of 1918 back to their rightful place in time. lanto and Jack have their very first kiss with each other.

It is ninety years before this eventually happens and fragments of 1918 are appearing in an old abandoned hospital. Before the team realise that this is the year, Toshiko becomes infatuated with Tommy. Owen, noticing the closeness between them and having experienced something similar (see TW: Out of Time), warns Tosh about the eventuality of saying goodbye.

When Tommy is told what he must do – actions that will result in him not seeing Toshiko again – Tommy initially refuses to take part. However, with encouragement from Toshiko, he begins to see the bigger picture and agrees. Toshiko is reluctant to do this, as Jack explains that Tommy is destined to be court martialled and shot for cowardice upon being sent back to the trenches. Jack eventually persuades her that it is for the greater good and she relents. During a brief time shift, Tommy tells Torchwood employees from that era that they must take him into custody. Then, with the next time shift, after a tearful goodbye, Tommy goes back to his own time. However, in his own time he reverts back to being shell-shocked and forgets all about Torchwood and why he has the Rift Key therefore the time shift still continues. As the time shifts are forcing the rift open Toshiko is able to be psychically transmitted into Tommy's mind in the past and encourages him to the use the key. Tommy turns the key in his Rift manipulator device, dragging all of 1918 back with him.

Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness — John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper — Eve Myles
• Owen Harper — Burn Gorman
• Toshiko Sato — Naoko Mori
• Ianto Jones — Gareth David-Lloyd
• Tommy Brockless — Anthony Lewis
• Gerald Carter — Roderic Culver
• Harriet Derbyshire — Siobhan Hewlett
• Nurse — Lizzie Rogan
• Foreman — Ricky Fearon

Production crew

Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner Co-Producer – Chris Chibnall Associate Producer – Catrin Lewis Defis Producer – Richard Stokes Script Editor - Brian Minchin Casting Director - Andy Pryor Production Manager - Steffan Morris Costume Designer - Ray Holman Make-Up Designer - Marrie Dorris Music – Ben Foster Visual Effects - The Mill Visual FX Producer - Marie A. Jones Visual FX Coordinator – Jenna Powell Visual FX Supervisor - Barney Curnow Production Designer - Edward Thomas, Julian Luxton Editor - Richard Cox Director of Photography – Mark Waters First Assistant Director - Richard Harris Second Assistant Director - Lynsey Muir

Production Coordinator - Hannah Simpson Camera Operator - Martin Stephens Camera Assistant – Paul Hanning Focus Puller - Rob McGregor Gaffer - Dave Fowler Best Boy - Chris Davies Stunt Coordinator - Tom Lucy Production Buyer - Clare Keyte Stand-by Art Director - Beverly Gerard Costume Supervisor - Charlotte Mitchell Make-Up Supervisor - Claire Pritchard Make-Up Artist - Andrea Dowdall Casting Associate - Andy Brierley Assistant Editor - Matt Mullins Post Production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Helen Vallis Colourist - Mick Vincent Dubbing Mixer - Peter Jeffreys Sound FX Editor - Howard Eaves

References

• There is a scan of a Cyberman in the medical area of the Hub.
• Bilis Manger's antique shop was also described as a "stitch in time".
• The episode establishes that some form of military conflict in Iraq is taking place in the Doctor Who Universe as it is taking place in the real world. Tommy asks Tosh if it's a war and she replies "not really", likely a reference to the Taliban's fighting style.
• The partnership of Gerald and Harriet appears similar to that of Mulder and Scully on The X-Files, or that of Sapphire & Steel.

Music

• One of These Mornings - Moby (featuring Dianne McCaully)
• Whose Gonna Find Me - The Coral
• I Start my Day Over Again (Clock Song) - The Bing Boys are Here
• She's Got You High - Mumm-Ra

Story notes

to be added

Ratings

• Unofficial Overnight - 3.2 million viewers

Myths

to be added

Filming locations

• Toshiko and Tommy visit the Norwegian Church in Harbor Drive, Cardiff Bay.
• Penarth Pier, was where Toshiko Sato and Tommy first kissed.
• The Eli Jenkins pub on Bute Crescent, Cardiff Bay.

Production errors

• Tommy states that he is from Blackley in Lancashire but mispronounces the name of the town as "Black-ley". The correct local pronunciation is more like "Blake-ley". See Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackley
• Kai Owen is credited despite Rhys not appearing in this episode

Continuity

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

• Tommy remarks how silly it would be to save the world in pyjamas, a side reference to DW: The Christmas Invasion, or possibly The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• A Torchwood team from another era is seen for the first time.

DVD releases

• This story along with the rest of Torchwood Series 2 was released in a complete series boxset in 2008.
• The American DVD release of the episode was titled "Last Man Standing".

See also

to be added

External links

• To the Last Man at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• To the Last Man at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• To the Last Man at The Locations Guide
• Torchwood Locations - To the Last Man