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Torchwood

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 81.157.208.218 (talk) at 12:06, 23 October 2006 (→''Doctor Who'' story connections). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
For plants known as torchwood, see Burseraceae. For the eponymous institute in both Doctor Who and Torchwood, see Torchwood Institute.


Torchwood is a British television science fiction and crime drama created by Russell T. Davies and starring John Barrowman and Eve Myles dealing with the machinations and activities of the fictional Torchwood Institute. An initial 13-part series was commissioned by the BBC as a spin-off from the long-running science fiction series Doctor Who.

Torchwood
File:Torchwoodtitle.jpg
Title logo of Torchwood from BBC teaser trailer
Created byRussell T. Davies
StarringJohn Barrowman
Eve Myles
Burn Gorman
Naoko Mori
Gareth David-Lloyd
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time50 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC Three
ReleaseOctober 22 2006

An in-house BBC Wales production for digital television station BBC Three, it is the first television spin-off of Doctor Who since the unsuccessful pilot of K-9 and Company in 1981 and the first to be commissioned for a full series. The Canadian network CBC is co-producer of the series, with exclusive rights to broadcast the North American première of the show.[1]

The title "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who". (The name was used as the "codename" for the new series of Who while filming its first few episodes and on the 'rushes' tapes to ensure they were not intercepted. The name was subsequently used in the series, leading to this spin-off.) BBC Wales Head of Drama Julie Gardner serves as executive producer alongside Davies. Torchwood premièred on October 22 2006 at 9pm BST on BBC Three and was followed immediately by episode two. According to the website of John Barrowman, who plays Jack, the series is to be repeated on BBC Two every Wednesday at 9pm BST.[2] This is confirmed by the Radio Times website.

Overview

Torchwood is set in contemporary Cardiff, and features a group of "renegade" criminal investigators. Aside from investigating human and alien crime, they are also charged by the British government to covertly investigate alien technology without the knowledge of the United Nations and UNIT. The Doctor Who episode Tooth and Claw establishes that the fictional Torchwood Institute was commissioned in 1879 by Queen Victoria. The episode Army of Ghosts introduces the modern-day Torchwood Institute.

The Torchwood Institute is divided into many smaller sections, known by number. These are:

  • Torchwood 1: Based in London, destroyed in the Doctor Who episodes Army of Ghosts and Doomsday
  • Torchwood 2: An office in Glasgow
  • Torchwood 3: "The Hub" in Cardiff, setting of Torchwood
  • Torchwood 4: Lost

The main writer alongside Davies is Chris Chibnall, creator of the BBC light drama series Born and Bred. Other writers include P.J. Hammond, creator of the cult 1980s ATV series Sapphire & Steel, Toby Whithouse (writer of the Doctor Who episode School Reunion and creator of No Angels), Doctor Who script editor Helen Raynor, Cath Tregenna, Andrew Rattenbury, and Doctor Who cast member Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), who gained acclaim for his screenplay for the film Kidulthood. Russell T. Davies wrote just two of the thirteen episodes, including the first. [3][4]

In the announcement, on October 17 2005, BBC Three controller Stuart Murphy said, "Torchwood is sinister and psychological... as well as being very British and modern and real." Davies was quoted as describing the series 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."[5] Davies has since denied ever making this comparison, instead describing the show as "alleyways, rain, the city".[6]

According to Davies, the name 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 en route to London. Davies thought it was a good idea and connected the name to an idea he had been developing since before he began work on Doctor Who: a modern British telefantasy programme in the style of American dramas like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.[7]

As Torchwood is scheduled to be shown post-watershed — that is, after 9.00 pm — it is also expected to have more mature content than the parent series. 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 7pm, and BBC Three at say, 9pm. That says it all — instinctively, every viewer can see the huge difference there."[3]

Davies also joked to a BBC Radio Wales interviewer that he was "not allowed" to refer to the series as "Doctor Who for grown-ups".[8]

BBC Three has announced that Torchwood will form the "centrepiece" of their autumn 2006 schedule. [9]

Cast and crew

File:Torchcast.jpg
John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness and Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper

The series stars John Barrowman as Jack Harkness, one of the Ninth Doctor's companions from the 2005 season of Doctor Who. Police officer Gwen Cooper is played by Eve Myles, who previously appeared as Gwyneth in the Doctor Who episode The Unquiet Dead.[10] It remains to be seen if Myles's two similarly named characters are linked in any way.

Commenting in The Western Mail, Myles describes her character:

"Gwen starts off as a police officer in Cardiff and then gets involved in the Torchwood team. She's a very down-to-earth girl, kind and generous, but extremely ambitious, feisty, intelligent and witty. But she's also very human - she's really the girl next door. Because I'm playing her, I put a lot of me into it and I take a lot of my own characteristics."[11]

Burn Gorman plays Torchwood medic Owen Harper.[12][13] Naoko Mori will reprise the role of Toshiko Sato that she originally played in the Doctor Who episode Aliens of London.[13] Gareth David-Lloyd has also been cast, as the Cardiff office's receptionist Ianto Jones. [14] Doctor Who Magazine #273, published in August 2006, announced another regular character, Suzie Costello, played by Indira Varma, continuing her recent work for the BBC (the previous year she appeared in the BBC's Rome, with her character Niobe apparently 'killed off').[15] Additionally, Kai Owen plays the role of Rhys Williams in at least the first two episodes (Doctor Who Confidential, 1 July, 2006).

File:Torchwoodgroup.jpg
The Torchwood team assembled.

Richard Stokes produces Torchwood. Originally, Doctor Who director James Hawes was lined up as producer. After directing the BBC Four drama The Chatterley Affair, Hawes backed out of the project. Davies told Doctor Who Magazine that Hawes "has been having such a good time... that he's decided directing is his greatest passion, and as a result, he's stepped down." [16] [10]

Helen Raynor and Brian Minchin are the programme's script editors.[16] The series also shares Doctor Who's production designer, Edward Thomas.

The first block of episodes, directed by Brian Kelly, comprises "Everything Changes", by Davies, and "Day One", by Chibnall.[4] The second block, which includes Helen Raynor's "The Ghost Machine" and "Greeks Bearing Gifts" by Toby Whithouse, was directed by Colin Teague;[17] Block Three, directed by James Strong, consists of Chibnall's "The Trouble with Lisa" and "They Keep Killing" by Dan McCulloch and Paul Tomalin.[18] Block Four, directed by Alice Troughton, was again made up of two episodes: "Small Worlds" by Hammond and "Out of Time" by Cath Tregenna.[18][15]

Production

Interviewed on ITV1's afternoon chat show Loose Women on 18 October 2005, Barrowman suggested that the series might be repeated on BBC One sometime after its initial BBC Three airing. He also stated that it will not be revealed in the series how Jack Harkness has arrived in the early 21st century.

The programme began filming on May 1 2006. Speaking at the London Film and Comic Con on 2 July 2006, Barrowman said that he would finish filming Torchwood in October, "just as it's going on air" after which he has been contracted to appear in the third series of Doctor Who, once again as Harkness. [19] It has yet to be revealed how the return of Harkness to Doctor Who will be connected to the current Torchwood storyline.

Setting

Torchwood is filmed and set in Cardiff. The team's headquarters, referred to in Doctor Who Confidential as the "Hub", is beneath Plas Roald Dahl in Cardiff Bay — formerly known as the Oval Basin. (This was where the TARDIS landed in the Doctor Who episode Boom Town, and the ___location of the spacetime rift established in The Unquiet Dead, this link had been mentioned in the series so far) Russell T. Davies told the South Wales Echo, "With Doctor Who we often had to pretend that bits of Cardiff were London, or Utah, or the planet Zog. Whereas this series is going to be honest-to-God Cardiff. We will happily walk past the Millennium Centre and say, 'Look, there's the Millennium Centre.' "[20] The "hub" itself is around 3 storeys high, with a large column running through the middle, possibly an extension of the fountain above (as seen in Doctor Who Confidential).

Episode list

Main article: List of Torchwood episodes

Reviews

Early press reactions to Torchwood have been generally positive. The Daily Record said, "With its loud music, witty one-liners, gore and blatant sexuality there is almost nothing to fault."[21] A reviewer for SFX "absolutely bloody loved it".[22] But The Guardian's reviewer was more guarded, arguing that "despite its pretensions to a more adult audience, Torchwood never threatens to stray into the sort of darker, seamier territory explored by, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or ... Ultraviolet, of which it is occasionally reminiscent."[23]

Doctor Who story connections

Template:Spoiler

  • The Christmas Invasion - When talking to Gwen Cooper in the first episode, Everything Changes, Captain Jack Harkness alludes to the "great big spaceship hovering over London on Christmas Day."
  • Boom Town - The "invisible lift" that serves as the back door to "The Hub" has a blind spot that makes it unnoticed by passers-by. Captain Jack says that it was "likely" formed by a busted chamelion circuit that was in that same ___location. This particular ___location was the landing site for the TARDIS at the beginning of this episode.
  • Bad Wolf - Captain Jack gets shot in the head near the end of Everything Changes. This should have killed him. But it didn't. Captain Jack recounts, very vaguely, the story of him once dying and then coming back to life. In Bad Wolf, Jack is killed by the Daleks that invade Satellite 5. Rose, while the Time Vortex is in her head, brings him back to life.
  • Army of Ghosts and Doomsday - Torchwood was first seen as a functioning institute in these two episodes, so besides the obvious connections, the Torchwood in the story arch is Torchwood One. Captain Jack explains that Torchwood Two is run by a strange man in Glasgow, Scotland, and then "The Hub" is Torchwood Three. Torchwood Four is inexplicably lost. Other connections to this story arch include a few mentions of The Battle of Canary Warf in which the Daleks and the Cybermen fought, resulting in not only the destruction of Torchwood Tower, aka Torchwood One, but also subsequent tragedies including the loss of the beloved Rose Tyler to an alternate dimention.
  • Tooth and Claw - Refrenced in the creation of the Torchwood Institute because Queen Victoria established it after her encouter and subsaquent exiling of both The Doctor and Rose.

There is to be no overt story cross-over between the two series; however, since they both take place in the same universe and involve shared characters, there are some concrete narrative links between Torchwood and Doctor Who. References to Torchwood and the Torchwood Institute were dropped into Doctor Who episodes broadcast in 2005 and 2006, some of which set up the premise for the Torchwood series.

  • In the commentary to the Doctor Who episode The Christmas Invasion, the production team referenced the Cardiff spacetime Rift from The Unquiet Dead and Boom Town as part of the explanation for Jack being on modern-day Earth.
  • More recent comments from the production team reveal that Jack has come to Cardiff in expectation that eventually the Doctor will return to the Rift to refuel, at which point Jack can reunite with him.
  • In a lengthy interview with online magazine AfterElton.com, John Barrowman fleshes out the link between the two series:
A lot of the things that have happened with Doctor Who [in the second series], the Torchwood team have been responsible for fixing or annihilating after the Doctor does his bit. And the Doctor is saying, at the moment, like “Who the hell are these Torchwood people?” because our paths haven't crossed again, and I am frantically trying to find him. I'm trying to find the Doctor. Because there is something that the viewing public won't know yet, there's something about Jack that nobody knows. And he needs the Doctor.
  • Though any connection between the two roles played by Eve Myles — Gwyneth in The Unquiet Dead and Gwen in Torchwood — is yet to be clarified, the former character has a strong personal bond with the spacetime Rift established in that episode, and around which the modern-day Torchwood has established its base of operations.
  • In The Parting of the Ways, Captain Jack was exterminated by a Dalek before Rose brought him back to life. He now cannot be killed.
  • In the first episode of Torchwood, Jack hints that he needs to see a 'Doctor' -"The right kind of Doctor"- about his immortality.
  • In the two-part finale of the second series of Doctor Who (Army of Ghosts and Doomsday), Torchwood plays a major role. Based in Canary Wharf in London, they are investigating a spatial disturbance and a 'void ship' that appeared through the disturbance. In Everything Changes, Jack reveals that this is known as "Torchwood 1".
  • The weapon fired at the end of The Christmas Invasion is mentioned as a product of Torchwood.
  • In the episode Bad Wolf a contestant is asked a question on The Weakest Link, the answer of which was "The Old Torchwood Institute".
  • A severed hand can be seen pickled in a jar at the Torchwood Hub. In an interview with BBC Radio One Newsbeat, Russell T. Davies confirmed that this is the Doctor's hand, which was severed by the Sycorax leader in The Christmas Invasion. In episode two, Day One, Captain Jack proves to be quite protective of the hand. As Jack cradles it after its casing is smashed, the "Doctor's theme" from the new Doctor Who series can be heard, implying a connection with the Doctor.
  • According to The Daily Mirror, one episode of Torchwood will see the team "get to fight a half-Cyberman half-woman who was left behind after the final episodes of Doctor Who."[citation needed] The BBC teaser trailer for the show features the partially cyber-converted or dis-assembled cyber-woman, who appears to be of African descent. The trailer shows her electrocuting Captain Jack. The episode Cyberwoman is thought to be the one with this cyber-woman in.

Themes

Torchwood deals with LGBT themes, specifically bisexuality. Jack Harkness was established as bisexual or omnisexual in his first Doctor Who appearance, and each of the main characters in Torchwood will have same-sex encounters at some point in the series.[24] Series creator Russell T. Davies has said that he hopes to defy audience expectations of monosexual characters:

"Without making it political or dull, this is going to be a very bisexual programme. I want to knock down the barriers so we can't define which of the characters is gay. We need to start mixing things up, rather than thinking, 'This is a gay character and he'll only ever go off with men.' "[24]

Spin-offs

Torchwood has "a heavy online presence, with a 'making of' programme available exclusively online."[25] At the Edinburgh International Television Festival, BBC Director of Television Jana Bennett said that the online features will include the ability to explore the Hub, an imaginary desktop, weekly 10-minute behind-the-scenes vodcasts. "You can join the corporation of Torchwood and be one of its employees," said Bennett.[26] The Flash-based interactive website, including the Hub Tour, debuted on 12 October, 2006.[1]

BBC Three will be airing Torchwood De-Classified, a making-of program not unlike Doctor Who Confidential. [27]

In a talk in July 2006, Justin Richards said there will "almost certainly" be adult-focused Torchwood books. [28] Three books are due on 4 January 2007: Border Princes by Dan Abnett, Another Life by Peter Anghelides and Slow Decay by Andrew Lane.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Akyuz, Gün (6 April 2006). "BBC sci-fi thriller finds partner". C21 Media. Retrieved 2006-04-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ http://www.johnbarrowman.net/news3.html
  3. ^ a b "Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies talks about Torchwood spin-off series". SFX. Christmas 2005 issue. Retrieved 2006-03-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= and |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: year (link)
  4. ^ a b Hickman, Clayton (2006-04-26 cover date). "Torchwood takes off!". Doctor Who Magazine (368): 8–9. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Captain Jack to get his own series in new Russell T Davies drama for BBC THREE" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 2005-10-17. Retrieved 2006-08-17. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Griffiths, Nick (2006-10-21–2006-10-27). "The Torchwood Files". Radio Times. 331 (4307). BBC Worldwide: 11. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Rawson-Jones, Ben (2006-10-17). "Davies: 'Buffy', 'Angel' inspired 'Torchwood'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2006-10-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Russell T. Davies talks about Torchwood" (MP3). BBC Radio Wales. 17 October 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  9. ^ "BBC THREE Autumn 2006" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 2006-07-24. Retrieved 2006-08-17. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b "Team Torchwood". BBC Doctor Who website. Retrieved 2006-03-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  11. ^ Rowland, Paul (2006-02-24). "Welsh star in Doctor Who spin-off". The Western Mail. Retrieved 2006-03-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Byrne, Ciar (2006-04-10). "Russell T Davies: The saviour of Saturday night drama". The Independent. Retrieved 2006-04-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ a b "Torchwood's latest members" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 2006-04-24. Retrieved 2006-08-17. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Smith, Lizzie (2006-05-08). "Gareth stars in Dr Who's dark, sexy spin-off". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 2006-05-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ a b Hickman, Clayton (2006-09-13 cover date). "Torchwood Update...". Doctor Who Magazine (373). Panini Comics: 4. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ a b Hickman, Clayton (2006-03-01 cover date). "Torchwood Tales!". Doctor Who Magazine (366). Panini Comics: 5. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Hickman, Clayton (2006-07-19 cover date). "The Hub of Activity". Doctor Who Magazine (371). Panini Comics: 5. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ a b Hickman, Clayton (2006-08-16 cover date). "Torchwood Rises!". Doctor Who Magazine (372). Panini Comics: 5. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "JOHN BARROWMAN AT LFCC: 2 JULY 2006 Q&A TRANSCRIPT". johnbarrowman.com. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
  20. ^ James, David (2006-04-17). "Dr Who spin-off based in Bay". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 2006-04-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Fulton, Rick (2006-10-20). "EXCLUSIVE: WHO DUNNT". Daily Record. Retrieved 2006-10-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Berriman, Ian (2006-10-17). "First reactions to Torchwood". SFX. Retrieved 2006-10-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ Plunkett, John (2006-10-19). "Farewell Doctor Who, hello Captain Jack". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-10-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ a b Martin, Daniel (2006). "Jack of Hearts". Gay Times (337). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  25. ^ Robinson, James (2006-08-27). "BBC chief sees future in computer generation". The Observer. Retrieved 2006-08-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Wilkes, Neil (2006-08-26). "BBC goes interactive with 'Torchwood'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2006-08-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ "Torchwood De-Classified". RadioTimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
  28. ^ Middleton, Adrian (2006-07-17). "Justin Richards Talk - Birmingham". Jade Pagoda discussion group. Yahoo!. Retrieved 2006-08-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

References

See also

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