Day One (Torchwood)
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| 02 – "Day One" | |
|---|---|
| Torchwood episode | |
 A gaseous alien takes over Carys' body. |
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| Cast | |
| Guest stars | |
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| Production | |
| Writer | Chris Chibnall |
| Director | Brian Kelly |
| Script editor | Brian Minchin |
| Producer | Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) |
| Executive producer(s) | Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner |
| Production code | 1.2 |
| Series | Series 1 |
| Length | 50 mins |
| Originally broadcast | 22 October 2006 |
| Chronology | |
| ← Preceded by | Followed by → |
| "Everything Changes" | "Ghost Machine" |
| IMDb profile | |
"Day One" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It is the second episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 22 October 2006 together with the first episode, "Everything Changes".
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Gwen's first day on the job sees Cardiff's nightlife at the mercy of an alien who consumes its victims during orgasm leaving behind dust. Torchwood tracks the alien to a sperm bank, but too late for the patrons within. Gwen and Jack trick it into leaving its host and captures it within a portable cell, where it peters out, itself turning to dust.
[edit] Plot
Gwen Cooper's date with her boyfriend Rhys on the eve of her new job at Torchwood is interrupted when a meteor streaks over Cardiff and lands outside the city, and she is called into action. As the Army keeps the area secure, Gwen meets up with the rest of the Torchwood team and investigates the meteor. Owen taunts Gwen, calling her the "New Girl", which causes her to throw a chisel at him, missing him but striking the meteor and cracking its surface. A purple gas escapes into the night sky. In Cardiff, the gas cloud finds the young woman Carys and enters her body, taking control of her. Entering a club, the possessed Carys seduces a man at the bar and takes him into the restrooms to have sex; at the moment of climax, the man dissolves into a pile of dust, while Carys absorbs the energy that remains.
The team learns of the club incident, and uses CCTV to discover that the gas cloud had taken Carys and is feeding off sexual energy. They reach her home just in time to prevent her from harming her local postman, using a portable prison cell to contain her. Carys is taken back to Torchwood's holding cells, where they learn, through both testing and uncontrollable urges that Gwen has to kiss her, that Carys is emitting high levels of pheromones around her, turning her into a walking aphrodisiac. They also learn that the gas inside her is destroying her body, and they must get it out of Carys before its too late; the gas itself needs a host as it is poisoned by Earth's atmosphere. However, before the team realizes it, Owen has succumbed to Carys' scent, ending up naked and alone in the cell she was in, and that she has escaped. They track her down to the entrance of Torchwood, but Jack is distracted when Carys smashes a vessel containing a severed hand, allowing her to escape into Cardiff
Torchwood hits the road and first tries Carys' boyfriend's home but finds that they are too late. The team recognizes she used to work at a fertility clinic and race there. While they are unable to save some of the clients, they eventually corner Carys. Gwen offers the gas presence her own body as a host, and the gas leaves Carys. Before the gas can take Gwen, Jack tosses down the portable prison, trapping the gas and killing it, causing it to fall to the ground as dust. Carys is safely reunited with her father.
[edit] Continuity
- The severed hand (seen in "Everything Changes") comes from the Doctor Who episode "The Christmas Invasion".[1] As Jack cradles the hand, a few instrumental notes of "Flavia's Theme" from Doctor Who (played when things get, in the words of the Doctor Who production team, too "Time Lord-y") can be heard.
- Jack uses a device almost identical to the sonic screwdriver (except it has a green light instead of the usual blue one) to analyse a star map.
- The blue energy of the portable prison cell resembles that used by Jack in "The Empty Child" to rescue Rose and to stop the bomb in "The Doctor Dances".
- Jack appears to breathe extra life into Carys, as Rose did to him in "The Parting of the Ways" and the Doctor did to a TARDIS power cell in "Rise of the Cybermen".
- A picture of Torchwood House as featured in "Tooth and Claw" can be seen in the background in the Hub.
- The alien is never given a name in the episode, although in Torchwood Declassified Russell T. Davies refers to it as the "sex monster" or the "sex gas orgasm eating monster".
- Carys punches the receptionist at the fertility clinic, knocking her out cold. However when the Torchwood team arrives only a few minutes later, the receptionist is no longer on the floor, nor does she show up when they’re searching the facility for Carys.
- When Toshiko is running Carys' face through the UK population database, both male and female faces show on the screen; however, even the simplest Facial Recognition Software available immediately discounts possible matches due to gender.
- After the meteorite ship crashes Gwen's phone receives a message using a Nokia message alert, even though her mobile phone is a Motorola.
[edit] Production
- This episode had the working title of New Girl.[2]
- Scenes from this episode were filmed at Creation Nightclub and the Colchester Avenue campus of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.[3]
[edit] Cast notes
- In the joint credits for the first two episodes on their original screening, Indira Varma is credited as Suzie Costello for both episodes, although she only appears in "Everything Changes". When the episodes were separated for subsequent broadcasts on BBC America and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, her credit was removed.
- Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) and Sara Gregory (Carys) are currently dating in real life, and met whilst filming this episode.
- Eve Myles and Sara Gregory now appear alongside each other in the TV Series Belonging, which is shown on BBC Wales
[edit] Music
- The song "Saturday Night" by the Kaiser Chiefs (when Gwen & Rhys are at the bowling alley) is featured in the episode, as is "Ooh La La" by Goldfrapp (as Carys wanders the streets after escaping Torchwood).
[edit] Broadcast
- In the unofficial overnight viewing figures, "Day One" gained an average audience of 2.3 million for its debut showing on BBC Three,[4] slightly less than the 2.4 million gained by first episode "Everything Changes", which aired directly before. However, it gained a 13.8% audience share of the total television audience,[5] somewhat more than the 12.7% share that "Everything Changes" received. When "Everything Changes" and "Day One" were repeated on analogue channel BBC Two three days after their BBC Three airing, the two episodes combined won an audience of 2.8 million, a 13% share.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ "Inside the Hub". (21-27 October 2006) Radio Times, p. 12
- ^ Shannon Sullivan (2006-11-01). A Brief History of Time (Travel): Day One. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
- ^ University of Wales Insitute website - Conference Services - What people say about us (2006). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ Deans, Jason (2006-10-23). Torchwood scores digital first (Requires free registration). Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Torchwood scores record audience. BBC News Online (2006-10-23). Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Deans, Jason (2006-10-26). Torchwood lands on BBC2 with 2.8m (Requires free registration). Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
[edit] External links
- "Day One" episode guide entry on the BBC website
- "Day One" at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- "Day One" at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
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