Countrycide (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story

|image = Countrycide main.jpg

|series = ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''

|season number = [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|Series 1]]

|episode number = 6

|featuring=[[Rhys Williams|Rhys]]

|main character= [[Jack Harkness|Jack]], [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]], [[Toshiko Sato|Tosh]], [[Owen Harper|Owen]], [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]]

|enemy = [[Evan Sherman|Evan]] and [[Helen Sherman]] <br /> Local residents

|setting = [[Brecon Beacons]], [[2007]]

|writer = [[Chris Chibnall]]

|director = [[Andy Goddard]]

|producer = [[Richard Stokes]]

|network=[[BBC Three]]

|broadcast date = [[19 November (releases)|19 November]] [[2006]]

|prev = Small Worlds (TV story)

|next = Greeks Bearing Gifts (TV story)

|clip = Someone is watching - Torchwood - BBC

|clip2 = The harvest - Torchwood - BBC

'''''Countrycide''''' was the sixth episode in the [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|first series]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''.

 

The episode is interesting for its almost complete abandonment of [[science fiction]]al elements. It has no [[alien]]s, no display of [[Jack Harkness|Jack]]'s superhuman abilities and no technology beyond what was reasonably available in [[2006|the year the episode was broadcast]]. However, it doesn't ''entirely'' turn its back on its sci-fi roots, since the characters initially fear that the strange goings on in rural Wales are the result of the [[Cardiff Rift]]. Regardless, it can considered as the least fantastical televised episode in the [[DWU]] since the sci-fi-lite adventure ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]''.

In terms of the ongoing ''Torchwood'' narrative, it was important for advancing Gwen's burgeoning sexual fling with Owen, which evolved into a stint of cheating on her lover [[Rhys Williams]]. Of perhaps more long-lasting impact was the fact that it gave a clear indication of Tosh's attraction to Owen, and his diffidence towards her — a theme that would pick up steam in the latter half of [[series 2 (Torchwood)|series 2]] and form the emotional basis of their final scene.

Concerned that the [[Cardiff Rift|space-time rift]] is spreading, [[Torchwood 3|Torchwood]] investigates a series of gruesome deaths located in a small [[Brynblaidd|village]] in the [[Brecon Beacons]]. What sort of creature could cause such shocking injuries? Stranded without communications or equipment and isolated from one another, the team confronts a terrifying enemy.

The [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]] team responds to reports of 17 people missing in the same 20-mile radius in the [[Brecon Beacons]] using the last mobile phone signal from the last disappearance as their starting point. After stopping at a rural hamburger stand (at which [[Toshiko Sato|Toshiko]] declines a hamburger, citing concerns about hepatitis), they begin to set up camp, and during friendly chatter, [[Owen Harper|Owen]] reveals that his last kiss was with [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]], prompting the others to get more details. Owen and Gwen quickly go off to get firewood, Gwen scolding Owen for revealing the kiss, when they suddenly see two hooded figures through the trees. They try to chase them but instead find a corpse. As the team investigates it to determine the cause of death, they hear their Range Rover start and drive off without the team. [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]] tracks the vehicle to a nearby [[Brynblaidd|village]]; [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] believes that the corpse was a lure to make them come to the village and warns the team to be alert as they split up to investigate.

Jack, Gwen, and Owen search the pub and nearby homes to find a further two corpses, each left in the same manner as the first. Other than that, they are deserted, save for one young man named [[Kieran]] who accidentally shoots and wounds Gwen with a shotgun, believing "they" had come back for him. Jack tries to calm Kieran down, but the man insists the only way to protect themselves is to barricade themselves in a building. Jack orders his group to the pub to create a defensive position while Owen tends to Gwen's wound. They learn from Kieran more about the victims, still unsure if they are dealing with [[alien]]s from the [[Cardiff Rift|Rift]], but suddenly the lights go out and movement comes from both outside the pub and the pub's cellar. The diversion prevents them from keeping Kieran from being dragged away, and Gwen and Owen try to follow against Jack's orders. Jack stays behind to interrogate [[Martin (Countrycide)|Martin]], the man he shot from the cellars. Gwen and Owen come across a [[police]]man named [[Huw]] who says that he is there for the town meeting that night, and directs the two towards one of the lit buildings in the village.

Meanwhile, Toshiko and Ianto attempt to find the Range Rover, but both are quickly captured and awake in a cellar, full of old clothes and shoes, and a refrigerator full of human body parts; Toshiko realises they are to be food for their captors. The cellar door opens, and a scared woman named [[Helen Sherman|Helen]] enters the room holding a shotgun to the two, learns from them of the other Torchwood members, and then tells them that she cannot help them; she has been asked to collect the two for the "Harvest" which happens every ten years. They are taken into a kitchen filled with body parts and corpses. Toshiko quickly realises that Helen is acting, and that she and others are cannibals, as a man named [[Evan Sherman|Evan]] begins to handcuff them to be prepared for butchering. Ianto headbutts Evan, allowing Toshiko to escape, pursued by Evan. Evan catches up to Toshiko and starts strangling her, but before he can choke her to death, [[Owen Harper|Owen]] and [[Gwen Cooper|Gwen]], along with Huw, show up to stop him. Evan looks unconcerned as Huw reveals himself to be Evan's nephew, and the two lead the three [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]] members back to the village at gunpoint.

Just before [[Ianto Jones|Ianto]] is cut open and bled, [[Jack Harkness|Jack]], having learned of the villager's intent from Martin, bursts through the building on a tractor and disables the assembled villagers. They spare Evan's life to try to learn the truth: that every ten years, the village targets travellers passing through the area and butcher them. When Gwen demands to know why, Evan simply whispers to her "'Cause it made me happy." The surviving villagers are taken into custody by the police. After returning to Cardiff, Gwen begins a sexual relationship with Owen, as he is the only one with whom she can share the experiences that she has been through.

* Captain [[Jack Harkness]] - [[John Barrowman]]

* [[Kieran]] - [[Callum Gallaghan]]

* [[Huw]] - [[Rhys Op Trefor]]

|FocusPuller2=

|ArtDepOpManager=Adrian Anscombe

|PropsFabricationManager=Barry Jones

|SoundEffectsEditor=Howard Eaves

|Editor=Richard Cox

|ExecutiveProd2=Julie Gardner|CreatedBy=Russell T Davies

== References ==

=== Space-time anomalies ===

* [[Jack Harkness|Jack]] says that the [[Cardiff Space-Time Rift|Cardiff Rift]] is increasing in activity.

=== Species ===

* [[Weevil]]s don't strip their victims down to a carcass.

* Jack says that no species in the [[universe]] goes camping, other than [[human]]s.

=== Popular Culture ===

* This episode contains several references to {{wi|The Texas Chainsaw Massacre}}.

* The song "Monster" by The Automatic can be heard playing on Ellie's car radio.

* This is the first episode in which no scenes are set in the [[Torchwood Hub]]. This would not happen again until ''[[Children of Earth: Day Two]]'', the episode after the Hub's destruction.

* The town in which the story is set, [[Brynblaidd]], is not actually named in the narrative.  However, it was named in the BBC's original description of the episode, and therefore has appeared in virtually all subsequent TV listings, worldwide. {{As of|2012|3}}, the name continues to be used on the official BBC ''Torchwood'' website.

*The episode is Eve Myles' favourite of the show, as she "is a huge horror fan" and likes anything "with blood and guts... and cannibals." She also said that it was nice to "get away from the hub" and "get to go away for a couple of days and have a bit of fun."

* This episode featured the premiere of Captain Jack's Theme, which plays during the moment he ploughs a tractor into the barn where his teammates are held captive and starts shooting at the cannibals. An extra in the Series 2 disc set shows [[Ben Foster]] found his inspiration to compose the theme out of this scene by bashing out notes on his piano keyboard to the tune of, "here he comes in a ruddy-great tractor". The onomatopoetic structure of Captain Jack's theme made it a popular hit among the musical scores in the first two ''Torchwood'' series.

** Additionally, a musical track appropriated titled "Tractor Attack" debuts in the ''[[Children of Earth]]'' series, with parts of Captain Jack's Theme mixed into the musical score. The titles refers back to the tractor scene and Foster's inspiration.

* 1.2 million viewers

* [http://www.swcc.org.uk/cottage/cottage.php South Wales Caving Club]

* When [[Ellie Johnson]] is attacked the tyres on her car are punctured but at the end of the scene the tyres are perfectly normal.

* Gwen and Owen kissed in [[TV]]: ''[[Cyberwoman]]'', as did Ianto and [[Lisa Hallet|Lisa]].

* The [[Torchwood SUV|SUV]] would be stolen again in [[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'' and ''[[Children of Earth: Day One]].''

* Tosh was locked in a [[UNIT]] cell, seen in [[TV]]: ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]''.

*This episode was first released on DVD, with three other episodes entitled ''Torchwood: Series 1, part 2'' on [[26 February (releases)|26 February]] [[2007]]. It was later released in ''Torchwood: The Complete First Series'' on [[19 November (releases)|19 November]] [[2007]].

* {{dwrefguide|torchwood_06.htm|Countrycide}}

[[Category:Stories set in Cardiff]]

[[Category:Abaddon arc]]