| Torchwood character | |
|---|---|
| Rhys Williams | |
| Affiliated | Torchwood Institute |
| Home era | Early 21st century |
| First appearance | "Everything Changes" |
| Portrayed by | Kai Owen |
Rhys Alun Williams, portrayed by Kai Owen, is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character is introduced in the premiere episode as the co-habiting boyfriend of principal character Gwen Cooper. While Gwen is initially introduced to the series as an audience surrogate character, Rhys is also used by the production team as an "everyman" character that provides a quintessential link between the show's fantasy setting and the real world; producer Richard Stokes states that "Without him, it simply becomes a sci-fi show about sci-fi people, running around and hunting aliens." The original intention of the writers had been to kill off Rhys at the end of the first series, but series creator Russell T Davies found it necessary to keep the show grounded through Rhys as Gwen evolved as a character; this necessitated his survival within the show and Kai Owen's elevation to star billing cast status in the third series.
Throughout the first series (2006), Rhys is initially unaware of Gwen's vocation as a Torchwood agent, believing her to work in generic special forces. Gwen's relationship with Rhys languishes while she is unable to communicate fully with him, but in early part of series two (2008) he discovers the truth, and from thereon in their relationship is revitalised; the two enter a marriage based on honesty later in the series. In the third series (2009) Rhys becomes directly involved in assisting the team, in lieu of a fourth team member. Rhys' popularity amongst reviewers has generally grown alongside his role in the series becoming more involved.
Contents |
Rhys is introduced in the first episode of the series (2006) as the unspectacular boyfriend of Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles).[1] When Gwen takes a new job with the Torchwood Institute's Cardiff branch as an alien hunter, she is forced to keep it a secret.[2] Over the course of the first series Rhys shows increasing irritation with Gwen's evasiveness and long hours, and her ease and readiness to lie to him.[3][4] Unknown to Rhys, Gwen establishes a sexual relationship with Owen Harper (Burn Gorman) to help herself deal with her secret double-life.[5] She confesses the affair after it ends in "Combat" but drugs Rhys with an amnesia pill so he will not remember her confession.[6] Rhys is murdered by Bilis Manger (Murray Melvin) in "End of Days", but this event is erased from history after the Torchwood Team open the rift.[7] The series two premiere (2008) establishes that Rhys becomes engaged to Gwen between the first and second series.[8] After Rhys becomes suspicious of her behaviour and her friendship with her boss Captain Jack (John Barrowman) in "Meat", Gwen reveals to him the truth about her responsibilities with Torchwood. Rhys then becomes involved in a mission to uncover and destroy an alien meat-trading racket, and ends up taking a bullet to protect Gwen's life. Because she enjoys finally being able to be honest with Rhys, Gwen cannot bring herself to drug him for a second time, and so demands that Jack allow Rhys keep his memories of Torchwood.[9] Rhys and Gwen marry in the episode "Something Borrowed".[10] Following the wedding, in the episode "Adrift", Rhys brings up the issue of starting a family with Gwen, though she dismisses the idea, arguing that it would be impossible to have children with her job.[11] During the events of "Fragments" and series finale "Exit Wounds", Rhys plays a particular role in the team's campaign against the returned Captain John Hart (James Marsters) and the insane Gray (Lachlan Nieboer), helping Gwen rescue the others after they are caught in an exploding building and subsequently working with Gwen's former coworker Andy Davidson (Tom Price) to help keep the attacking alien Weevils out of the police station.[12][13]
Rhys is referenced, but does not appear onscreen, in the Doctor Who crossover episode "The Stolen Earth" (2008); Gwen speaks to him over the phone during a global emergency.[14] Rhys becomes a main character in the third series of Torchwood, a five-part miniseries Children of Earth airing in 2009. When aliens called the 456 announce their plans to visit to Earth, the government attempts to assassinate Torchwood to cover up a conspiracy.[15] Rhys becomes a fugitive from the government because of his marriage to Gwen. The pair flee to London via cargo lorry and Rhys is delighted to discover Gwen is pregnant.[16] He is with the Torchwood team when they relocate to a London warehouse and takes a role in their mission,[17] hiding with the recordings showing corruption within Downing Street.[18] In the last episode of the series he returns to Cardiff with Gwen, and helps Gwen do one last favour for her deceased coworker Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) by helping his niece and nephew evade capture, and with them many other neighbourhood kids. The series' dénouement, set six months later, shows Rhys still at Gwen's side, awaiting the arrival of their child.[19]
Series four, Miracle Day begins by showing Rhys living in seclusion alongside Gwen and their daughter, Anwen.[20] Rhys is shown to be extremely reluctant for his wife to investigate the Miracle, worried that it will bring unwanted attention to his door again. Rhys' rural idyll is shattered when CIA agent Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer)extradites Jack and Gwen to America[21] whilst he is forced to stay in Wales.[22] Gwen later speaks to Rhys in "Dead of Night", masking the signal with the aid of computer expert Esther Drummond.[23] Whilst Gwen investigates the mysterious Phicorp in "Escape to L.A.", she asks Rhys to remove her father Geraint from hospital because she believes the hospitals are not safe. Rhys subsequently has Geraint sent to an "overflow camp", unaware of the implications of such a move.[24] In "The Categories of Life" and "The Middle Men", Rhys goes undercover at an overflow camp in Wales, where he is able to drive himself and Geraint away. Rhys' later storylines see him held hostage on the orders of Olivia Colasanto in a bid to get Gwen to hand in Jack Harkness,[25] and later figure out the antopoedal connection between Buenos Aires and Shanghai. It is the fear that his reaction to Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) might lead him to become a murderer that prompts Gwen to take the latter to Shanghai.[26] In the series conclusion, Rhys gains entry to the Cowbridge overflow camp where Geraint has been taken too again, and sits with him whilst the phenomenon known as "Miracle Day" ends. After Esther's funeral he seems hopeful that Jack does not return to reform Torchwood.[27]
| “ | "He wasn't even sure he could survive without Gwen in his life. She had intertwined herself into his very existence to the point where the thought of being single again was like the thought of losing an arm, or an eye." | ” |
|
—Excerpt from Slow Decay by Andy Lane (p.89), |
||
Rhys appears in all three Torchwood novels in the first wave published by BBC Books in January 2007, set between episodes of Torchwood series one. These novels expand on the difficult period in Gwen and Rhys' relationship - whilst his appearances in Another Life,[28] and Border Princes,[29] are relatively minor, he has a more significant role in Slow Decay, where he unwittingly brings himself into danger by taking an alien diet pill.[30] Reviewer Patrick Holm feels that the success of these novels lies in the fact that they help us to empathise with characters such as Rhys.[31] Rhys makes a cameo appearance in Something in the Water[32] (set between Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Meat) and Trace Memory,[33] and also has a significant role in The Twilight Streets, (Released March 2008) which depicts an alternate future where Gwen and Rhys start a new Torchwood to make a safe world for their son after the Torchwood Team fall are destroyed fighting sentient particles known as the dark.[34] Three more Torchwood books were released in October 2008 in which Rhys has an involved role. In Pack Animals Rhys assists Gwen in her investigation and becomes part of a car chase,[35] SkyPoint sees them inadvertantely discover an alien presence whilst flathunting[36] and Almost Perfect, the first novel set after "Exit Wounds", depicts Rhys speed dating undercover. Rhys makes further appearances in later Torchwood novels Bay of the Dead,[37] The House that Jack Built,[38] and Consequences,[39] all set between "Exit Wounds" and Children of Earth.
Rhys also makes occasional appearances in the Torchwood Magazine's comic strip. In Rift War he aids Gwen in her Torchwood duties by helping here to care for a stranded alien Zanti, left stranded in Cardiff.[40] A scene in Gareth David-Lloyd's comic "Shrouded", published in May 2010, includes a scene set after Children in Earth which shows Gwen cradling her young child; as Gwen is busy, Rhys is required to team up with Captain John Hart to save the timeline.[41] With all spin-off media, the canonicity of these events is unclear.[42]
Non-fiction tie-in The Torchwood Archives gives an "insider's look" into the Torchwood world and gives more information about Gwen's home life with Rhys, and shows unpublished photographs used as set dressing in the TV series. We are also shown documents such as the wedding invite list of Gwen and Rhys, Rhys' initial address to his Harwood's colleagues and further information about the dissipations of Rhys' best man, 'Banana Boat'.[43] In a similar vein to The Torchwood Archives but from a real-world perspective, Gary Russell's The Torchwood Encyclopedia (2009) also provides miscellaneous material relating to the character of Rhys.[44]
Rhys makes an appearance in the Torchwood Radio Play "The Dead Line", (2009) where he assists Gwen with her investigations into the phone-line induced comas.[45] He also has a central role investigating a mystery in the audio book "Ghost Train" (2011), read by Kai Owen. With Gwen dead, and Jack missing Rhys is left alone to figure out the strange goings on involving cargo trains.[46] Rhys also appears in "The Devil and Miss Carew", (2011) an additional radio play, set between Exit Wounds and Children of Earth, which features Rhys' reaction to the passing of his elderly Uncle Bryn. In this play Rhys rescues Gwen from a woman under the influence of a malevolent devil like entity.[47]
| “ | "Russell (T Davies) gave him a reprieve. He realised that, if we lost Rhys, we would lose Gwen’s heart. He is one of the key things that makes her character so fantastic, and by extension the entire show. With Rhys there, it’s a show about real people dealing with extraordinary situations in the real world. Without him, it simply becomes a sci-fi show about sci-fi people, running around and hunting aliens." | ” |
|
—Producer Richard Stokes on the decision not to kill off the character.[48] |
||
Rhys' vocation as a transport manager is established in the second episode[2] and according to the Toronto Star his job in the trucking industry makes Rhys "down to earth",[49] whilst Eve Myles elaborates, stating that Rhys fulfills an important function as Gwen's normality base.[50] At the start of the series he believes supposed alien interference is a result of mass hallucinations induced by terrorists putting psychotropic drugs in the water supply.[1] In the same vein he believes Gwen's position to be nothing more exciting than generic "special ops".[2] Writer Stephen James Walker feels that Rhys "originally didn't look to have much to him initially but really came into his own as Series One progressed" attributing this to the "spot-on performance of the perfectly cast Kai Owen.[51] The original intention had been for Rhys to die at the end of season one but Richard Stokes explains that it was overruled by Russell T Davies, who felt that without Rhys, the show's main link to the real world would be lost.[48] Julie Gardner expands on this by stating that "It’s a show where you’ve got to contrast the ordinary everyday with the extraordinary and (with) Gwen going home to Rhys and then going to work in an underground secret base... it's right to have that balance."[52] Davies maintains the importance of Rhys' role in the series by stating that he can't imagine Gwen without him.[53] Owen attributes part of his character's success to his on screen rapport with actress Eve Myles.[54]
After reprisal from death Russell T Davies comments that further development was seen by the production team as necessary for Rhys to continue as part of the drama; "one of the first decisions we made was we can't make this guy look like a sap any longer. He's got to be made aware of what's going on". The events of the episode Meat - in which Rhys becomes enlightened to the real nature of Gwen's job are seen by Russell T Davies as a "rite of passage" for the couple, with director Colin Teague highlighting Rhys' steadfastness and patience in relation to Gwen; "he puts up with an awful lot from his wife to be".[55] The second series also explores Rhys's insecurities and jealousies towards series protagonist Captain Jack Harkness, who was seen to share romantic tension with Gwen as she struggled to juggle Torchwood and her home life. Both Stephen James Walker and Catherine Tregenna feel "the triangle of relationships between Rhys, Gwen and Jack" comprise "the most interesting narrative territory explored in Meat," giving the story it's emotional impact.[51] Although actor Kai Owen feels that "Rhys will always have a little bit of a gripe about Jack", he concedes that "he respects him and he'll like him for looking after Gwen".[56] Walker comments favourably on the interaction between Jack and Rhys in Meat in both its antagonistic and comedic forms, citing the scene in the truck as particularly effective.[51] The two make unusual literary foils for one another, insofar as their relationships with Gwen are concerned. According to Eve Myles, Rhys "highlights how extraordinary Jack is, and Jack highlights how ordinary Rhys is"; however, it precisely Rhys's ordinariness which makes him a benefit to Gwen's strength of character.[57] By the end of the second series he becomes a “confidant, someone to share the burden with."[58]
The plot of Children of Earth results in Rhys becoming more directly involved with the Torchwood Team's activities, and as a reflection Kai Owen receives star billing for the first time.[59] Whilst Gwen has become a more militant character shaped by her job,[60] Rhys retains his "everyman" status and takes on the role of audience surrogate: "Rhys is the ordinary guy in the street. He's the normal person's eyes and ears, and says what he thinks about the situations Torchwood find themselves in, bringing the reality back to them. It makes Torchwood real".[61] Paul Collins comments of the significance of Rhys having the first dialogue in the serial; remarking that this is part of Torchwood's "determination to establish its domestic credentials before subverting them".[62] Rhys becomes a "reluctant hero", Kai Owen states that he "would rather not get involved if he had the choice", when faced with the life-or-death situations in the serial, but "he doesn't run away from it" because the character has "seen so many things".[61] This, in Owen's eyes, makes the Rhys seen in Children of Earth a "very brave hero who has grown in stature".[63]
Rhys retains core character status for the fourth series, Torchwood: Miracle Day.[64][65] Speaking of Rhys' role in the series, Russell T Davies states that "Rhys is now ahead of the game" and has a large role to play both as part of the Torchwood team and in the unfolding of events.[53] Kai Owen explains how Rhys is at the forefront of events because of Gwen, "He’ll always be involved in the stories and involved in Gwen’s troubles or fights or adventures" because of his concern for her.[64] Regardless of this, he isn't afraid to tell her when she has become too consumed by the pressures of her job.[65] Davies links having Gwen and Rhys at the forefront of events into the shows continued exploration of human sexuality, stating that "open sexuality has to include everything" including "a husband/wife great big crime-fighting team [...] happily in love".[66] Rhys' inconscpicuous character becomes an asset for the Torchwood team, as he takes on the role of the team's driver, Owen states that "he doesn’t look like an undercover CIA agent or anything extra-terrestrial." Despite the extraordinary sights he has seen through his exposure to Torchwood, Rhys remains "a run-of-the-mill guy who loves his food and loves his beer and his family".[64]
Rhys' incidental role in the series was initially mocked in The Register's 2006 one-off Torchwood parody Under Torch Wood (in the style of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood), in which he is described as "Barry Backstory, who is dreaming of future episodes where he gets a bigger part."[67] However, as the character has been developed on screen and given a bigger role, he has attracted more positive commentary from reviewers. Ben Rawson Jones of Digital Spy describes his role in the episode Meat as "forming a clever contrast with the activities of Torchwood", also observing that the effect of seeing the Torchwood Hub from Rhys' point of view enables viewers to "share his wonder in much the same way as we did with Gwen in the first episode". Rawson Jones also praises the verisimilitude of the coupling, describing their domestic argument as "a unique spin on the kitchen sink melodrama usually seen in EastEnders" which delivers "a real impact and emotional honesty due to the wonderfully earnest performances from Kai Owen and Eve Myles".[68] Jack Kibble-White of Den of Geek states that "in the main having Rhys run alongside Captain Jack and the rest worked well" and he cites the character's wedding to Gwen Cooper as a series highlight.[69] Rawson Jones of also speaks favourably on the relationship, stating that it creates "a nice contrast with the fantastical elements of the show"".[70] Jason Hughes feels that their marriage is "handled in a painfully honest way" and serves as "A true definition of "love" written with subtlety and perfection".[71] Whilst commenting on the second series finalé Exit Wounds, Alan Stanley Blair remarks that it "was a welcome change to have Rhys supporting her (Gwen) on her Torchwood life". Blair particularly enjoyed the rapport between Owen and Price (PC Andy) stating that it "was also an interesting dynamic" and that the two "could potentially carry their own sitcom",[72] a view corroborated by AfterElton's Steven Frank.[73]
Dan Martin of The Guardian singles out the stowaway scene in Children of Earth as just lovely, stating that it is "a credit to both actors, particularly Kai Owen, who has finally made Rhys likable",[74] whilst IGN writer Asham Haque also feels that Rhys' "meatier role" provides "some great sequences" for the couple.[75] Rawson Jones speaks favourably on Owen's role in the overall ensemble stating that he, along with Barrowman, Myles and David Lloyd, "guided us through the adventure with panache and verve".[76] The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan feels that the initiated Rhys is key to the show, and a "very enjoyable character" being intelligent enough to help the Torchwood team. Ryan also comments on the success of his grounding humour, describing his appeal to Government PA Lois Habiba to provide food as "priceless".[77] Speaking of the shows forth series première, Simon Brew highlights the central returning trio of Barrowman, Myles and Owen as the most engaging actors, describing Owen's performance as mixing "humour with an earnest, and a real sense of drive".[78] Torchwood Writer John Fay states that Rhys is his favourite character.[79]
|
||||||||||||||||||||