Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)

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Captain Jack Harkness was the twelfth episode in the first series of Torchwood. It was written by Catherine Tregenna, and directed by Ashley Way.

By returning Jack Harkness to the Blitz during World War II, it allowed for a story that explored the origins of the "Jack Harkness" alias. However, in so doing, it left Jack's teammates with even less understanding of who he really was. The episode also introduced the character of Bilis Manger, someone who would play an important role in the series 1 finale, but who remained a mystery that was never fully unpacked in the television series.

This episode marked the breaking point for Owen Harper after letting Diane Holmes return to her era. Driven wild with pangs to see her again by opening the Cardiff Rift, he instinctively tried to set off Torchwood Three's rift manipulator, which led to a falling out with Ianto Jones at gunpoint. Despite being shot in the shoulder by Ianto, Owen's succeeds in setting off the manipulator. Although his choice rescued Jack and Tosh, it set off a chain of chaotic events leading directly into the next episode.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

Investigating reports of ghostly music, Jack and Tosh find themselves stranded in a packed dance hall — in 1941. As Gwen, Owen and Ianto work to rescue their colleagues, Jack and Toshiko meet a handsome young American squadron leader by the name of Captain Jack Harkness.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Captain Jack Harkness and Toshiko Sato investigate a report that music from the 1940s has been drifting out of a derelict dance hall called "the Ritz". They enter the dance hall and are transported back to 20 January 1941 through a temporal shift. The hall is full of people dancing to live music. They go downstairs to return to the present, but cannot resist going back to 1941 once more. When they go downstairs for the second time they do not go back to the present, and they realise they are trapped.

Jack encounters an American captain by the name of Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood's Jack quickly invents the name "Captain James Harper". When Toshiko asks him, "James Harper" admits he used to be a con-man. He took Jack Harkness's name as a disguise. The real Captain Jack will die the next day in a routine training exercise.

"James Harper" and Toshiko devise a plan to leave the second half of an equation on something that will last through time so back in the present day, Torchwood can find it and combine it with the half they have already. The full equation will let them bring Toshiko and "James Harper" back to the present. Toshiko finds the manager, Bilis Manger, has a Polaroid camera, which has not yet been invented. While taking the photo, Toshiko misses the first part of the equation. When Bilis gets the camera, she must find another way to get this part back to present. She decides to use her own blood and writes the missing bit of the equation on a card. She puts the card inside a can for the Torchwood team. Back in the present day, Ianto and Owen find they cannot get through to Toshiko when they try to call her. They order Gwen to investigate. Just as Gwen hears music drifting from 1941, "James Harper" and Toshiko hear Gwen's calls drifting the other way. Back at the Hub, Ianto and Owen argue over the best way to bring them back. Ianto realises the real reason why Owen wants to open the rift is to bring back Diane Holmes.

Meanwhile, at the Ritz, Gwen encounters the caretaker called "Bilis Manger." He opens the hall for her to look around. After Ianto checks with the records, he realises the Bilis Manger of now is the Bilis Manger from 1941 and orders her to withdraw. Outside, Gwen finds the photograph left by Toshiko and notices part is missing. She continues searching.

At the Hub, Owen ignores Ianto's protests and tries to open the rift with the rift manipulator. Owen finds there is a piece missing and decides to look for it in Bilis's office.

At the Ritz, Owen finds the missing piece in a grandfather clock. Gwen also finds the card left by Toshiko in 1941 and informs Ianto. She also tells them three of the numbers have been scraped out by someone (most likely Bilis) and reads the message that Toshiko has written below the equation: "Tell my family, I love them."

Jack and "James" exchange war stories.

While all this is happening, "James Harper" gets to know the real Captain Jack and slowly begins to fall in love with him. "James" and Jack are joined by Jack's girlfriend, who wishes to be with him. She makes to leave hoping he will follow. When he does not, "James " insists that Jack kiss her goodbye, hinting at his death tomorrow. Jack takes "James'" advice, but thinks it has made things worse; now she thinks she loves him. On the stairs, Jack and "James" recount their worst war stories. Jack tells how he saw a young boy shot through the eyes. He yelled for his mother as he died. "James" tells how he had to watch his best friend, whom he had persuaded to enlist, tortured by the enemy and killed in front of him.

Later, during a bomb raid, Jack confesses he is scared. They sit down at a table for a private talk. Jack slowly realises "James" knows something bad is going to happen and goes to his girlfriend.

Jack returns later, however, to find "James" on his own and joins him. They hold hands for a few seconds but are interrupted by a couple who want the "lover's corner". Jack tells the couple he and "James" were just discussing strategies. Jack turns down "James's" offer to go somewhere else.

Disheartened, "James" returns to the edge of the dance floor where he is joined by Toshiko. He says tomorrow Jack will lead his men in a routine training exercise to be surprised by the Messerschmitts. Jack kills three of them before dying when his plane bursts into flames. His men all make it back to safety.

Ianto tries to stop Owen from opening the Rift.

Back in the present day and at the Hub, Owen and Ianto are still arguing about the rift. When Owen goes into Jack's safe to retrieve the rift manipulator's blueprints, Ianto tries to snatch the blueprints. Owen overpowers Ianto and kicks him to the ground before heading towards the rift manipulator. Ianto orders him to stop. He is now pointing a gun at him. After Owen taunts Ianto about his relationship with Jack, Ianto shoots Owen in the shoulder to stop him. He is too late. The manipulator activates. Owen falls unconscious while Ianto screams at him.

Back in 1941, "James" and Toshiko sit at a table. "James" explains someone brought him back to life one day and hints he has not been able to die ever since. "James" apologises to Toshiko for "dragging" her into "James's" business. Toshiko replies it was her choice to get involved. "James" promises her he will look after her but breaks down when he realises that there is nothing that can be done to save Jack.

During the next song, Jack stands at the other side of the dance floor, thinking about what "James" has told him. He takes "James's" hand and they begin to dance to the slow music, not even taking mind of the shocked dancers stopping to look at them. They start to kiss, but are interrupted by the rift bursting open in the doorway. Toshiko rushes to it and pleads with "James" to follow her. James" explains to Jack that it is his duty, unwillingly lets go and heads towards the rift. At the last minute, "James" turns back to kiss Jack passionately before letting him go again. In the rift, "James" turns around to face the real Jack who salutes him before he vanishes.

Back in the present day, Gwen gleefully greets Jack and Toshiko as they leave the Ritz. Jack takes one last look at the dance hall before returning to the Hub.

Jack and Tosh toast his namesake.

At the Hub, Owen is performing self-aid on the bullet wound courtesy of Ianto. Ianto says he never meant to kill Owen. He meant to hit his shoulder. He also says there is no sign of Bilis. Toshiko, who is helping Owen, explains what she and Jack saw in 1941, while Owen taunts Ianto about opening the rift not having any immediate side-effects. Owen and Toshiko flirt mildly. Jack walks past them looking down as he enters his office. Toshiko joins him. They toast to the real Captain Jack Harkness.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The episode was repeated on BBC Two, two days later at 9:00pm on Wednesday 3 January 2007; it was edited together with End of Days into an omnibus.
  • The events of this episode begin a minor crossover story arc that continue into End of Days, then follow on into Doctor Who with Utopia, The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords, and then coda back into Torchwood with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
  • There are four Jack Harknesses in this time period. One is the one from this episode that goes back through the rift with Toshiko, the second is the Jack who has volunteered for the RAF seen in TV: The Empty Child. The third Jack is the one who attempted to return to the 21st century using his vortex manipulator, but accidentally ended up in 1869 and had to wait until the present day as his vortex manipulator broke thus he is currently living in the era with Torchwood, as established in TV: Utopia. A fourth Jack was also buried in 27 AD only to be dug up in 1901 by Torchwood and put in a cryo-chamber to be awakened later in the 21st century so he is present, just frozen, as revealed in TV: Exit Wounds.
  • Jack's original name would later be established as "Javic Piotr Thane" in Big Finish's audio story Month 25 in 2017, ten years after this episode aired.
  • The episode essentially came from the idea that the only person that Captain Jack could truly fall in love with would be himself.
  • John Barrowman named this episode as a favourite episode - "Now on a personal level, I was so proud of this because, and I didn't know this. The gentleman who played the other Captain Jack actually said to me afterwards, he said "you know", because he was in tears he was crying, and I said are you okay? Have I done something? Did I do a James Marsters? Did I slip you a little tongue? And he went 'no no' and he started laughing. and he said "I'm actually, I'm overwhelmed because. I want you to know. what you're doing as a show, as a character is absolutely wonderful for all of us out here you know watching you, because my brother committed suicide a few years back, because he couldn't deal with it, and society wouldn't allow who he was, and he took his own life, and for me to stand here and play a character that represents who my brother was, is an honor for me, but also it means my brother's life wasn't lived in any sort of vain, or his death wasn't anything meaningless" and I had no clue, so for me as the actor for that episode, that was one of the most touching moments, but also It made me realize that in every episode from now on, that we're not only telling stories we're actually impacting people's lives with the messages that we can put across. As we do, were making a difference. And that is why the episode Captain Jack Harkness is probably one of the most important episodes to me."[source needed]

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 1.23 million viewers[1]

Myths[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The creatures who tortured Captain Jack Harkness' friend and made him watch him die were Daleks.

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Old Town Hall (Newcastle Street) - Jack and Toshiko investigate a report of ghosts
  • Baltica - The Ritz dance hall
  • Hensol Castle - Ground floor of the Ritz

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

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.

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Owen and Ianto argue about their loves for Diane Holmes and Lisa Hallett while trying to manipulate and prevent manipulation of the Rift-machine as occurred in TV: Cyberwoman [+]Loading...["Cyberwoman (TV story)"] and Out of Time [+]Loading...["Out of Time (TV story)"].
  • Owen states that, after Suzie Costello died during the events of TV: Everything Changes [+]Loading...["Everything Changes (TV story)"], he has become second-in-command of Torchwood Three.
  • When searching for a book on the Rift-machine, Owen put aside the Life Knife displayed in TV: Everything Changes [+]Loading...["Everything Changes (TV story)"], and They Keep Killing Suzie [+]Loading...["They Keep Killing Suzie (TV story)"] and the Ghost Machine from TV: Ghost Machine [+]Loading...["Ghost Machine (TV story)"].
  • Jack tells Tosh how he became immortal, as seen in TV: The Parting of the Ways [+]Loading...["The Parting of the Ways (TV story)"] and how he stole Jack Harkness' identity while posing as a RAF volunteer during World War Two, which he did in TV: The Empty Child [+]Loading...["The Empty Child (TV story)"], and The Doctor Dances [+]Loading...["The Doctor Dances (TV story)"].
  • Owen insults Ianto by saying that he's nothing but a servant, something he had previously described as feeling like by how he is treated, first shown in TV: Cyberwoman [+]Loading...["Cyberwoman (TV story)"].

Home video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

Series one, part three DVD cover

DVD releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Captain Jack Harkness was first released on DVD with three other episodes in Torchwood: Series 1, part 3 on 26 March 2007.
  • It was later included in Torchwood: The Complete First Series on 19 November 2007.
  • It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)

Blu-ray releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Released in the US with the rest of Series 1 as a Complete First Season set on 16 September 2008.
  • It was released in the Series 1-3 Blu-ray boxset on 26 October 2009 in the UK. The US release was on 19 July 2011.
  • It was also released in the Series 1-4 Blu-ray boxset. (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011)

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Episodes 11-13 of the first series of Torchwood are set anywhere from 2007-2010 as a result of conflicting evidence shown in the episodes Ghost Machine [+]Loading...["Ghost Machine (TV story)"], Greeks Bearing Gifts [+]Loading...["Greeks Bearing Gifts (TV story)"], Random Shoes [+]Loading...["Random Shoes (TV story)"], To the Last Man [+]Loading...["To the Last Man (TV story)"], Reset [+]Loading...["Reset (TV story)"], Adrift [+]Loading...["Adrift (TV story)"], Fragments [+]Loading...["Fragments (TV story)"], Exit Wounds [+]Loading...["Exit Wounds (TV story)"], and The New World [+]Loading...["The New World (TV story)"]. As episode 10, Out of Time [+]Loading...["Out of Time (TV story)"], is set at the end of December, this means that episodes 11-13 are almost certainly set the year after episodes 1-10.

Citations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ BARB Ratings - October, 2006
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Torchwood television stories
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Children of Earth: Day One • Day Two • Day Three • Day Four • Day Five
Series 4
Stories listed here are only those that have been officially licensed by the BBC.
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