| Torchwood | |
|---|---|
Series 1 & 2 title card |
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| Format | |
| Created by | Russell T Davies |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Murray Gold |
| Composer(s) | Ben Foster Murray Gold |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 41 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Running time | 50 minutes (series 1 & 2) 60 minutes (series 3) 52 minutes (series 4)[a] |
| Production company(s) |
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| Distributor | BBC Worldwide |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | 22 October 2006 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from BBC Three to BBC Two to BBC One, and acquiring U.S. financing in its fourth series. In contrast to Doctor Who, whose target audience includes both adults and children, Torchwood is aimed at an older audience.
Torchwood follows the exploits of a small team of alien-hunters, who make up the Cardiff, Wales branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, which deals mainly with incidents involving extraterrestrials. Its central character is Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), an immortal former con-man from the distant future; Jack originally appeared in the 2005 series of Doctor Who. Other than Barrowman, the initial main cast of the series consisted of Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David-Lloyd. Their characters are specialists for the Torchwood team, often tracking down aliens and defending the planet from alien and nefarious human threats. In its first two series, the show uses a time rift in Cardiff as its primary plot generator, accounting for the unusual preponderance of alien beings in Cardiff. In the third and fourth series, Torchwood operate as fugitives. Gorman and Mori's characters were written out of the story at the end of the second series. Recurring actor Kai Owen was promoted to the main cast in series three, in which David-Lloyd too was written out. Subsequently, American actors Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins and Bill Pullman joined the cast of the show for its fourth series; the latter two were written out at the end of its run.
The first series premiered on BBC Three and on BBC HD in 2006 to mixed reviews but viewing figures which broke records for the digital channel. Subsequently it returned in 2008 where it aired first on BBC Two, receiving a higher budget; its uneven tone, a criticism of the first series, was largely smoothed out, and the show attracted higher ratings and better reviews. The third series episodes worked on a bigger budget and transferred to the network's flagship channel, BBC One as a five episode serial, entitled Torchwood: Children of Earth. Despite airing in July evenings, typically a graveyard slot, spread across five nights in one week, the show received unexpectedly high ratings at home and abroad and for the most part, reviews hailed it as excellent. A fourth series, co-produced by BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide and US premium entertainment network Starz began airing on 8 July 2011 on Starz and 14 July 2011 on BBC One as Torchwood: Miracle Day, and is set in both Wales and in the United States.
Contents |
Before the revival of Doctor Who, Russell T Davies began to develop an idea for a science-fiction/crime drama in the style of American dramas like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.[1][2] This idea, originally titled Excalibur, was abandoned until 2005, when BBC Three Controller Stuart Murphy invited Davies to develop an after-watershed science-fiction series for the channel.[2] During the production of the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the word "Torchwood" (an anagram of "Doctor Who") had been used as a title ruse for the series while filming its first few episodes and on the 'rushes' tapes to ensure they were not intercepted.[3] Davies connected the word "Torchwood" to his earlier Excalibur idea and decided to make the series a Doctor Who spin-off.[2] Subsequently, the word "Torchwood" was seeded in Doctor Who episodes and other media that aired in 2005 and 2006.
Because Torchwood is shown after the watershed – that is, after 9 pm – it has more mature content than Doctor Who. 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 7 pm, and BBC Three at, say, 9 pm. That says it all – instinctively, every viewer can see the huge difference there."[4] According to Barrowman: "I don't do any nude scenes in series one; they're saving that for the next series! I don't have a problem with getting my kit off. As long as they pay me the right money, I'm ready to get out my cock and balls."[5] Davies also joked to a BBC Radio Wales interviewer that he was "not allowed" to refer to the programme as "Doctor Who for grown-ups".[6] The first series includes content rarely seen or heard in the Doctor Who franchise, including sex scenes, same-sex kissing, and use of extreme profanity in several episodes.
Due to the level of interest in the show from younger audience members, despite the adult themes, the BBC decided to craft the second series such that a "child-friendly" edit of the shows could go out at 7pm (pre-watershed). This had the effect that many of the more adult themes ceased to be central to the main episode plot, so they could be more easily edited out for the child-friendly edition.
The first three series of Torchwood, the programme was produced in-house by BBC Wales. The Head of Drama at the time of the first series, Julie Gardner, served as executive producer alongside Davies. The first two episodes of Series 1 of Torchwood premiered on 22 October 2006 on BBC Three and BBC HD. Series 2 premiered on BBC Two and BBC HD on 16 January 2008.[7][8] The third series, a five part mini-series entitled Torchwood: Children of Earth, aired on BBC One and BBC HD between 6 July and 10 July 2009.[9][10][11][12]
BBC Three described Torchwood as the centrepiece of its autumn 2006 schedule,[13] and the successful first season led to a second series on BBC Two and a third on BBC One in 2009.[14] However, Davies expressed concern that the third series was aired in a summer evening graveyard slot.[15] Lead actor John Barrowman felt that the show had been mistreated by BBC executives, despite what he felt was the programme's proven popularity and success.[14] The third series, entitled Children of Earth, began shooting on 18 August 2008, and comprised a five-episode mini-series that aired over five consecutive days at 9 pm on BBC One from 6 July 2009,[16] and 9 pm on BBC America HD and BBC America from 20 July 2009.[17] Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner stayed on as executive producers, and Peter Bennett produced the series.[18][19]
In August 2009, Davies stated that the fourth series was "ready to go",[20] and that he had the next series planned out, stating, "I know exactly how to pick it up. I've got a shape in mind, and I've got stories. I know where you'd find Gwen and Rhys, and their baby, and Jack, and I know how you'd go forward with a new form of Torchwood." At the time, he stated he would prefer for the series four to be another mini-series, though he has no qualms about doing another thirteen-episode run.[21] A November 2009 article posted on Eve Myles's website stated that shooting for the fourth series was to begin in January 2011;[22]
Subsequently, Davies looked to U.S. networks to finance future series of the programme. He was turned down by one of the United States' major television networks, Fox;[23] some had speculated the Fox project could have been a spin-off or a reboot.[24] Later, Davies succeeded in striking a deal with U.S. premium cable network Starz.[25] The production of the fourth series was not officially announced until June 2010:[26][27] a ten-episode miniseries co-produced between BBC Wales, Starz and BBC Worldwide,[26] airing summer 2011.[28] As with the third, the fourth series was given its own title: Torchwood: Miracle Day.[29]
Block One of series two, consisting of episodes by Raynor and Tregenna, was directed by Andy Goddard. Colin Teague directed Block Two, which consists of episode two by Moran and episode four by Tregenna, with Ashley Way directing Block Three, consisting of the series two premiere by Chibnall and the sixth episode of the series, by JC Wilsher.[30] An edited repeat of the second series episodes, suitable for children to view, was shown on BBC Two at 7 pm. In 2009, Euros Lyn directed all five episodes of the third series, Children of Earth.[19]
In June 2010, a BBC News report confirmed that the fourth series would have 10 episodes.[31] Filming began in January 2011.[32]
In an October 2005 announcement, Stuart Murphy described Torchwood as "sinister and psychological...As well as being very British and modern and real." Davies further described it 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."[33][34] Davies later denied ever making this comparison, instead describing the show as "alleyways, rain, the city".[35] In the first series, the main writer alongside Davies was Chris Chibnall, creator of the BBC light drama show Born and Bred. Other writers include P.J. Hammond, Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who script editor Helen Raynor, Cath Tregenna, and Doctor Who cast member Noel Clarke, who gained acclaim for his screenplay for the film Kidulthood. Of the first two series, Russell T Davies wrote only the première episode.[4][36] Helen Raynor and Brian Minchin were the programme's script editors.[37]
Series one of Torchwood was filmed from May 2006 until November 2006. For the second series,[8] lead writer Chris Chibnall wrote the opening episode and the three final episodes.[38][39] Both Catherine Tregenna and Helen Raynor wrote two episodes for the second series.[40] The other episodes were written by James Moran, Matt Jones, J. C. Wilsher, Joseph Lidster, PJ Hammond and Phil Ford. Russell T Davies was initially announced as writing two episodes, but due to commitments to Doctor Who, he no longer anticipated writing any Torchwood episodes.[39] For series three, Davies returned and wrote the first and last episodes, co-wrote episode three with James Moran, and plotted the overall story arc himself.[19] John Fay wrote episodes two and four.[41]
For the fourth series, Miracle Day, Davies secured several popular US television writers, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Jane Espenson, The X-Files, Star Trek: Enterprise and Supernatural writer John Shiban, and House writer Doris Egan. Additionally, both Davies and John Fay will both return to write episodes for Miracle Day.[29]
In continuing the series, Davies was again inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He explained that Torchwood is more focused on the human condition than its science fiction backdrop:
"The best metaphors in Buffy came down to, “What’s it like to be in high school, as a kid?” It’s the same with Torchwood: Miracle Day. It’s about us and our decisions and our lives, and how we live with each other and how we die with each other. That forms the core of the story."
Richard Stokes produced Series 1 & 2 of 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."[37][43] Series 3 was produced by Peter Bennett. Series 4 is produced by Kelly A Manners, with UK filming produced by Brian Minchin, producer of Series 4 and 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The series also shares Doctor Who's production designer, Edward Thomas. Music for the series is composed by Ben Foster and Doctor Who's composer Murray Gold, with composer Stu Kennedy assisting on Series 4.
In lieu of full-length title sequence, the opening sequence of the show's first two series are composed of a voice-over monologue by Barrowman as Harkness, establishing the show's premise. The show's theme tune plays over this monologue and the additional intertitle. As in Doctor Who (2005–present), it is written by Murray Gold.
For Children of Earth, a recap of the last episode was played at the beginning of each episode, followed by a title card. The theme was not featured in this, instead only featuring over the end credits.
A new theme arrangement and opening credit sequence is introduced with Series 4 (though a musical motif or sting from the original theme is still audible in numerous scenes). Although each episode of Miracle Day carries an individual title, Torchwood: Miracle Day is the only on-screen title used.
The series is set in Cardiff and follows the Welsh branch of a covert agency called the Torchwood Institute which investigates extraterrestrial incidents on Earth and scavenges alien technology for its own use, its origins outlined in the Doctor Who episode "Tooth and Claw". As the opening monologue explains, the organisation is separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the United Nations. Their public perception is as merely a 'special ops' group. The events of the first series take place some time after the Doctor Who series two finale, in which Torchwood's London headquarters was destroyed. This format was maintained for the first two series.
Series three, a miniseries, saw the Cardiff headquarters completely destroyed and the team temporarily operating as fugitives in England's capital city of London, its membership wiped and the organisation thoroughly broken over the course of the serial. Series four, another mini-series, starts with Torchwood fully disbanded. Jack has left Earth after the events of Series Three, and Gwen has retired to be with her family. The group is reformed (unofficially), this time operating primarily in the United States and including two fugitive ex-CIA agents framed for treason.
| Actor | Character | Duration | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Barrowman | Jack Harkness | 2006– | "Everything Changes" – |
| Eve Myles | Gwen Cooper | 2006– | "Everything Changes" – |
| Burn Gorman | Owen Harper | 2006–2008 | "Everything Changes" – "Exit Wounds" |
| Naoko Mori | Toshiko Sato | 2006–2008 | "Everything Changes" – "Exit Wounds" |
| Gareth David-Lloyd | Ianto Jones | 2006–2009 | "Everything Changes" – Children of Earth: "Day Four" |
| Kai Owen | Rhys Williams | 2006– | "Everything Changes" – (main cast from series 3) |
| Freema Agyeman | Martha Jones | 2008 | "Reset" - "A Day in the Death" |
| Mekhi Phifer | Rex Matheson | 2011– | "The New World" – |
| Alexa Havins | Esther Drummond | 2011 | "The New World" – "The Blood Line" |
| Bill Pullman | Oswald Danes | 2011 | "The New World" – "The Blood Line" |
Unlike its parent programme, Torchwood centres on a team instead of a single character with companions. The show initially depicts a small team of alien-hunters known as Torchwood Three, based in Cardiff. The team is made up of five operatives led by Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), formerly a time-travelling "Time Agent" and con man from the distant future who has lived on Earth as an immortal since the 19th century. Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles), the female lead, joins the team in the first episode; she is originally an audience surrogate, but later grows into a more morally complicated character. The original cast is filled out by Torchwood medical officer Owen Harper (Burn Gorman), computer specialist Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori), and general factotum-cum-administrator Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd). Toshiko and Owen are killed off in the second series finale, as is Ianto in the show's third series. Recurring characters are Rhys Williams (Kai Owen), Gwen's live-in boyfriend and later husband; and Andy Davidson (Tom Price), Gwen's former police partner and occasional comic relief. Kai Owen becomes a main cast member in the programme beginning with the third series; his character is initially unaware of Gwen's activities with Torchwood, but later becomes her close confidante and the team's ally. Price appears in all four series.
Prior to the programme's debut, publicity materials featured Indira Varma as Suzie Costello among the regular cast members, giving the impression that she would appear throughout the series. However, Suzie was killed off at the end of the first episode with Gwen taking her place on the team, Suzie reappearing only once more as an antagonist. In the first two series, Paul Kasey regularly appears under heavy prosthetics, portraying, as in Doctor Who, a number of aliens on the series, such as humanoid Weevils and Blowfishes. Other recurring characters include Doctor Who's Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman)—like Jack, a former time-traveller, and now medical officer for the militaristic alien-investigating organisation UNIT—who crosses over into Torchwood for three episodes in series two.[44] Additionally, James Marsters portrays Captain John Hart, Jack's villainous former lover and Time Agent partner.[45][46] Others in the second series, recurring in a minor capacity, include a mysteriously age-immune little girl (Skye Bennett) and Victorian-era Torchwood member Alice Guppy (Amy Manson). The second series also introduces Gwen's parents, Geraint (William Thomas) and Mary Cooper (Sharon Morgan), who later reappear in the show's fourth series.
Children of Earth featured a largely new supporting cast for the duration of the five-episode serial, such as Permanent Secretary John Frobisher (Peter Capaldi), Clem McDonald (Paul Copley), Frobisher's personal assistant Bridget Spears (Susan Brown), Prime Minister Brian Green (Nicholas Farrell), ruthless operative Agent Johnson (Liz May Brice), Jack's middle-aged daughter, Alice (Lucy Cohu), her son Steven (Bear McCausland) and Ianto's sister Rhiannon (Katy Wix). Cush Jumbo was cast as Frobisher's personal assistant Lois Habiba; Habiba was written into the story after Agyeman was unavailable to return to portray Martha.[47]
The fourth series, Miracle Day, features an expanded cast of eight.[48] Barrowman, Myles and Owen all return to the series. New to the Torchwood team are CIA agents Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer),[49][50] and Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins),[51] and surgeon Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur).[52] American film star Bill Pullman joins as Oswald Danes, a highly intelligent child murderer,[53][54][55] and Lauren Ambrose plays Jilly Kitzinger, a ruthless PR woman who takes on Danes as a client.[56] Tur's character is killed off in the fifth episode, whilst Pullman and Havins last until episode ten. Recurring characters include CIA directors Brian Friedkin (Wayne Knight) and Allen Shapiro (John de Lancie), San Pedro camp manager Colin Maloney (Marc Vann), Esther's sister Sarah Drummond (Candace Brown), and CIA watch analysts Charlotte Willis (Marina Benedict) and Noah Vickers (Paul James). Nana Visitor plays Olivia Colasanto, who directs the team towards their real enemies; Frances Fisher and Teddy Sears portray recurring villains.
The premiere episode "Everything Changes" was written by Russell T Davies and serves to introduce the main characters and roles within the series, using newcomer Gwen as the audience surrogate in a similar style to the introduction of the companion characters in Doctor Who. The second episode, titled "Day One", aired immediately after the first. It continues Gwen's neophyte role and includes a "sex monster" science fiction storyline.[57] The first 13-episode series ended with a two-parter on 1 January 2007. The first part, entitled "Captain Jack Harkness", is a love story set in wartime Britain, with a subplot which serves to push the setting towards an apocalypse for series finale "End of Days". It deals with the ramifications of diseases and persons from throughout history falling through time and across the universe to arrive in the present day, and particularly in Cardiff. The episode also sets up Jack's return in the Doctor Who episode "Utopia".
2008's second 13-episode series of Torchwood begins by following on with Jack's return from the previous Doctor Who episode, "Last of the Time Lords" with the series premiere, "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang". The series introduces Jack's ex-partner Captain John Hart in its premiere, reveals flashbacks to Jack's childhood in "Adam" and shows how each member joined Torchwood in the penultimate episode "Fragments". A three-episode arc ("Reset", "Dead Man Walking" and "A Day in the Death") in the middle of the series guest stars Doctor Who actress Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones, temporarily drafted into Torchwood. The arc focuses upon the death and partial resurrection of main character Owen Harper, and how he coped as a dead man. The second series' finale, "Exit Wounds" (which aired 4 April 2008) features the departures of main characters Owen and Tosh, whose deaths at the hands of Jack's long-lost brother Gray reduced the series' cast to Barrowman, Myles and David-Lloyd in its closing scenes. The Torchwood Three team made a crossover appearance in the series four finale of parent show Doctor Who, "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End", which featured Jack Harkness leaving the Doctor at the close of the story, accompanied by Martha Jones and Mickey Smith.
Series three is only five episodes long, and makes up a single story, Children of Earth (2009). David-Lloyd departs the cast when Ianto is killed by aliens. In its closing scenes, with Gwen heavily pregnant and Jack leaving Earth, Torchwood effectively no longer existed. Series four, Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011), comprising ten episodes, sees Torchwood having been reduced to the status of legend following Children of Earth. The narrative follows two CIA agents who encounter Torchwood's supernatural world, and later Gwen and Jack.[58] Although partly set in the USA, Cardiff remains a part of the show's setting, with Gwen being Welsh and her young family based in Wales.[59]
"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'."
The first two series of Torchwood were both filmed and set in Cardiff. The makers of Torchwood deliberately portray Cardiff as a modern urban centre, contrasting with past stereotypical portrayals of Wales. "There's not a male voice choir ... or a miner in sight." said BBC Wales Controller Menna Richards.[61] Conservative MP Michael Gove described the debut of Torchwood as the moment confirming "Wales' move from overlooked celtic cousin to underwired erotic coquette."[62][63] Filming has also taken place in areas outside of Cardiff, including Merthyr Tydfil.[64]
The team's headquarters during the first two series, referred to as the Hub, was beneath Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff Bay – formerly known as the Oval Basin. This is where the TARDIS landed in the Doctor Who episodes "Boom Town" and "Utopia" to refuel, and is the location of the spacetime rift first seen in "The Unquiet Dead". The Hub itself was around three stories high, with a large column running through the middle that was an extension of the fountain above; at its base lay the rift machine. The Hub had two means of access: a lift that rose to the plass next to the fountain (camouflaged by a perception filter), and a more mundane entrance hidden in a tourism office. Production crew were keen to use everything Wales had to offer in filming the series; for example, the military base scenes in "Sleeper" and the booby-trapped abandoned warehouse scenes in "Fragments" were filmed at RAF Caerwent, near Chepstow, South Wales.
The third series opened in the traditional setting, but in the first episode the Hub was reduced to a smoking pile of rubble; the show adapted to a conventional London setting, with many scenes filmed and set at real-life British intelligence agency headquarters Thames House. For the show's fourth series, the programme is largely filmed and set in the United States, but parts of the series are still filmed in Wales and other locations around the world.[26]
Torchwood explores several themes in its narrative, in particular LGBT themes. Various characters are portrayed as sexually fluid; through those characters, the series examines homosexual and bisexual relationships. The programme also addresses issues around existentialism, the nature of human life and the absence of a traditional afterlife, and the corrupting nature of power.
Torchwood Declassified is a making-of programme similar to Doctor Who Confidential. Each Declassified episode runs under ten minutes, in contrast to Confidential's 45 (formerly 30).[65] Torchwood Declassified aired on BBC Three (series 1) and BBC Two (series 2), and was also available online through the BBC's iPlayer and dedicated Torchwood site. Installments were produced for each episode of the first two seasons, with a single installment produced for the Children of Earth DVD release.
In 2007, Titan Magazines launched Torchwood Magazine,[66] which was released on 24 January 2008 in the United Kingdom. The United States version was launched in February 2008. The Australia/New Zealand version was launched in April 2008. The magazine emulated Doctor Who Magazine in combining behind-the-scenes features with original story content in the form of a serialized comic strip and short stories; as the magazine's run progressed, the original fiction became more predominant. The magazine was discontinued in early 2011 after two-dozen issues.
Torchwood has "a heavy online presence".[67] At the Edinburgh International Television Festival, BBC Director of Television Jana Bennett originally promised that the series' online tie-ins were to 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.[68] The Flash-based interactive website, including the Hub Tour, debuted on 12 October 2006.[69] Due to digital media rights restrictions most video content on the BBC Three websites is only accessible to users within the UK.
Torchwood's many tie-in websites amount to an alternate reality game; the show's online presence was an example of electronic literature. On the first website (for series 1), the alternate reality game was mostly composed of weekly updates to the site in the form of fictional incercepted blogs, newspaper cutouts and confidential letters and IM conversations between members of the Torchwood Three crew. Convergence: the International Journal of Research into New Media commented on Doctor Who and Torchwood's foray into "covergence culture" as an achievement "on an unprecedented scale, with the BBC currently using the series to trial a plethora of new technologies, including: mini-episodes on mobile phones, podcast commentaries, interactive red-button adventures, video blogs, companion programming, and `fake' metatextual websites."[70] For the second series in 2008, a second interactive Torchwood online game was devised, scripted by series writer Phil Ford;[71] this more heavily featured the actors of the series, particularly Gareth David-Lloyd, and Siwan Morris was cast as a pirate radio jockey investigating Torchwood.
During the fourth season of the revival of Doctor Who, a crossover webcast production called Captain Jack's Monster Files was launched, featuring Barrowman, in character as Jack, hosting a series of shorts profiling various monsters and aliens featured on Doctor Who. These segments, posted to the BBC's official Doctor Who website, included specially shot footage of Jack in the Hub. After Season 4, the segments were produced less frequently, with the last featuring Jack, released in December 2009, taking the form of Jack narrating a mini-episode featuring the Weeping Angels entitled "A Ghost Story for Christmas". Subsequent Monster Files webcasts released since 2010 have been hosted by Doctor Who co-star Alex Kingston as her character, River Song. As with most other online video content from the BBC, Captain Jack's Monster Files are not viewable outside the UK and to date (2011) have never been included on a DVD or Blu-ray release of either Doctor Who or Torchwood.[72] The Torchwood Archives by Gary Russell collects much of this online literature for the first two series in hardback form, including the Captain's Blog section of the BBC America Torchwood website.[73]
To promote its rebroadcasts of Torchwood, the UK digital channel Watch has twice commissioned the creative team of the Torchwood Magazine comic strip to produce brief online-exclusive comic strip stories for the Watch website. The first of these, The Return of the Vostok, was uploaded in February 2009, with a follow-up, Ma and Par, appearing in February 2010.[74]
Tying in with the launch of Torchwood: Miracle Day, Starz is producing a 2011 Torchwood webseries entitled Torchwood: Web of Lies, which will star American actress Eliza Dushku.[75]
Set between the end of Series Two and the beginning of Series Three, the BBC aired four Torchwood radio dramas featuring the cast of the series. As a tie in with Radio 4's CERN-themed day on 10 September 2008, a CERN-themed radio episode of Torchwood written by Joseph Lidster, entitled "Lost Souls", aired as the day's Afternoon Play.[76] This was the first Torchwood drama not to feature Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori.[77] Three further episodes were broadcast on 1–3 July 2009: "Asylum",[78] "Golden Age"[79] and "The Dead Line".[80][81][82]
In May 2011, the BBC Radio Drama newsletter announced that a further three Torchwood radio plays had entered production.[83] The new plays, titled "Torchwood: The Lost Files", Part 1: "The Devil and Miss Carew", Part 2: "Submission" & Part 3: "The House of the Dead" were broadcast on 11, 12 & 13 July 2011 in the Afternoon Play slot at 14.15 BST and were available to listen to in the iPlayer for one week after the broadcast. "The Devil and Miss Carew" & "Submission" were set before "Children of Earth" with Gareth David-Lloyd reprising the role of Ianto.[84]
Accompanying the main series of Torchwood are a series of novels. The books are published in paperback-sized hardcover format, the same format BBC Books uses for its New Series Adventures line for Doctor Who. These novels were later released, abridged, as audiobooks. Several audio-exclusive readings have also been produced. To date all of the core cast members have narrated at least one abridged or audio-exclusive reading.
On 22 September 2008, Silva Screen Records released a compilation of music featured in the show's first and second series. The disc features 32 tracks composed by Ben Foster and Murray Gold.[85]
A second compilation disc was released on 17 July 2009, featuring 40 tracks from the show's third series, Children of Earth.[86]
As a spin-off of long-running British cultural artefact Doctor Who, Torchwood's launch into British popular culture has received many positive and negative reviews, commentary and parody following the hype of its inception, especially regarding its status as an "adult" Doctor Who spin-off as well as its characterisation and portrayal of sex. Reviews for the first series were largely negative, with sites such as Behind the Sofa giving many more negative reviews than positive ones. Reviews of the second series were more positive. The third series, which took the form of a five-part story arc with the blanket title of Children of Earth, received a number of positive reviews. Critics described it separately as a "powerful human drama";[87] "Best. Torchwood. Ever.";[88] and "... against all expectations, a work of Proper Drama".[89] Conversely, The Daily Mirror gave the mini-series a negative review, describing it as "the modern-day Blake's Seven: ludicrous plot, hammy acting, an adolescent penchant for 'Issues'".[90] Metacritic, an American review aggregator website, gives Torchwood series one a rating of 74 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[91] The show's second series rates above the first, scoring an aggregated 80 out of 100.[92] The third series rated higher, at 81, indicating "universal acclaim". Its highest scores were a 100 from TV Guide and a 91 from TIME; the lowest was a 60 from The New York Times.[93]
A plot point in Children of Earth triggered protests from fans of the show, among them the "Save Ianto Jones" campaign, which collected more than 10,000 pounds for the British Children in Need annual charity event.[94] Other fans resorted to abuse and threats, causing writer James Moran to fire off an angry missive in a blog post.[95] Showrunner Russell T Davies made no apologies for the decision to kill off the character, saying, "I’m just delighted that the fans are so wrapped in the character to have that reaction."[96] The plot point attracted more controversy from some commentators, additionally, because it depicted the death of a main character involved in a same-sex relationship. This led several writers to analyse the death in view of the character's earlier refusal to admit to his relationship with a man, and claimed that the death was a sign that the LGBT community was leaving behind its image of victimhood.[97]
Positive and negative attention has been given to the portrayal of same-sex relationships in Torchwood. Maria Boyd of the University of Texas at Austin published her paper at a conference, "Gay Sex and Aliens! How the Press frames Russell T Davies’ Torchwood." She argues through "a discourse analysis of 109 reviews of the Season 1 and Season 2 premiere episodes" how "TV critics are more concerned with the depictions of bisexuality among the principal characters on Torchwood." Furthermore, she argues that the show's reviews "highlight the same-sex interactions depicted on the show utilising sensationalist, assimilationist, or condemnatory language" and that the "hegemonic, heterosexist language used by TV critics covering Torchwood has framed the program in such a way that it limits audience’s ability to make meaning of the text themselves."[98]
Although fewer in number than Doctor Who spoofs, there have been a number of parodies of Torchwood in various media. Verity Stob, a technology columnist for online newspaper The Register, wrote a parody of Torchwood called Under Torch Wood. The piece is in the style of Under Milk Wood, a Dylan Thomas radio play. The piece comments on the level of swearing present in Torchwood and the role of Rhys Williams, whom the piece describes as "Barry Backstory".[99] In its third series, the Doctor Who parody Nebulous also began to parody Torchwood, with references to "baby dinosaurs falling through a hole in time" and "the sheer amount of paranormal activity in the Cardiff area alone ... starting to threaten the Earth's plausibility shield".
Satirical impressionist television series Dead Ringers also parodied Torchwood, with Jon Culshaw playing Captain Jack and Jan Ravens as Gwen Cooper. The sketches parodied the level of sex in Torchwood, claiming "we never deal with an alien unless at least one [of the team] has shagged it", and describing the lack of motivations of the characters. It also parodies the bisexuality of the characters and the melodramatic personality of Jack, who in the sketch walks extremely dramatically, swinging his coat about himself. Barrowman is described as a "pound shop Tom Cruise", and reference is made to the perceived low-budget of the show, with Owen describing the Torchwood equipment as "an Apple Mac with stickers on the case".[100] Later spoofs in the final episode of the 2007 series of Dead Ringers featured Jack Harkness in a threesome with two Attack of the Cybermen-era Cybermen, and an elderly version called Driftwood, which claims to be "separate from the Post Office, beyond the bingo hall and outside the Oxfam", a parody of Torchwood's opening narration. It also featured Albert Steptoe of Steptoe and Son as the leader of the team, claiming "a terrible event in my past means that I can't die. It's called UKTV Gold", and parodied its use of amnesia pills (unnecessary for this team due to the onset of senile amnesia).
The first episodes of Torchwood on BBC Three gave the channel its highest-ever ratings and the highest ratings of any digital-only non-sports channel at the time with 2.519 million viewers (though this has since been surpassed by Bionic Woman on ITV2, which gained 2.553 million in March 2008[101]). The audience share was 12.7%, increasing to 13.8% for the second episode (shown immediately after the first episode on the same day), despite viewership dropping to 2.498 million.[102]
Ratings for later episodes dropped to around 1.1 to 1.2 million viewers during the first showing on BBC Three (the lowest being 0.8 million for week ending 24 December 2006), but nevertheless, the show remained the most-viewed programme on BBC Three by a wide margin.[103] Viewing figures for the repeat screenings on BBC Two later the same week were around 2.2 to 2.3 million (dropping to under 1.1 and 1.8 respectively for the weeks ending 03/12/06 and 10/12/06).
For its second series, which began in January 2008, Torchwood was moved to the more established channel BBC Two. Again, initial ratings were respectable, and the first episode garnered 4.22 million viewers. However, the series again began to decline and had lost a million viewers by its fourth episode. It dropped to a low of 2.52 million viewers towards the end of its run,[101] even after the BBC had moved it from its usual Wednesday-night slot (where it was being consistently beaten by ITV's programming and Channel 4's number-one series, Grand Designs) to Friday nights. The second series had an overall average rating of 3.26 million viewers on BBC Two.
Torchwood's five part third season, entitled Children of Earth, premiered on BBC One in July 2009, with an estimated 5.9 million viewers, according to overnight figures.[104] Ratings for the second episode dropped to 5.58m,[105] but rose to a high of 6.24m for the fourth episode.[106] According to the overnight figures, the mini-series garnered an average rating of 5.88 million viewers. According to official figures, published by Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), all five episodes of the mini-series garnered more than 6 million viewers, with the fourth episode gaining the largest audience.
The first episode of series four, Miracle Day, attracted a consolidated audience of 6.59 million, which was slightly higher than the figure for the opening episode of the previous series, as well as an AI rating of 85 out of 100, considered "excellent".[107] However, viewing figures steadily declined as the season continued, dropping to a low of 4.48 for the seventh episode, though figures picked up slightly with 4.85 million viewers for the final episode.[108]
In April 2007, Torchwood beat its parent series, which is also made in Wales, to win the Best Drama Series category at the BAFTA Cymru Awards. The awards, given by the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, celebrate the achievements of film and television productions made in Wales. Eve Myles won the Best Actress category at the same awards, ahead of Doctor Who's Billie Piper.[109] In 2008, the episode "Captain Jack Harkness" was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.[110]
The 2009 Television Serial Children of Earth, which served as Torchwood's third series, won a further BAFTA Cymru award for best Drama Series as well as a Saturn Award for Best Television Presentation during the 36th Saturn Awards[111] and a 2010 Celtic Media Festival Award for best drama series.[112] Myles picked up a further BAFTA Cymru Best Actress nomination,[113] as well as winning the popular vote for the Best Actress award in the 2010 SFX Reader's awards poll,[114] and the 11th annual Airlock Alpha Portal Awards.[115]
The complete first series has been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK.[116] A North American Region 1 release occurred 22 January 2008,[117] following the broadcast of Series 1 on BBC America in the United States and the CBC in Canada. Series One Part One,[118] Two[119] and Three[120] have been released In Australia Region 4, The complete series 1 sets released in the UK and US also include the episodes of the behind-the-scenes series Torchwood Declassified.[117][121] The Complete Second Series was released on 30 June 2008 (Region 2),[122] along with the Complete First series on Blu-ray[123] and HD DVD.[124] Series One,[125] Two,[126] Three [127] and Four [128] episodes are currently available for download through iTunes, Amazon, and Netflix.
| DVD release name | UK release date
(region 2) |
North American release date
(region 1) |
Australian release date
(region 4) |
New Zealand release date
(region 4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series One | Part One (episodes 1–5):
26 December 2006[129] |
Complete (episodes 1–13):
22 January 2008[117] |
Part One (episodes 1–5):
31 July 2007[118] |
Complete (episodes 1–13):
11 September 2008[130] |
| Part Two (episodes 6–9):
26 February 2007 [131] |
Part Two (episodes 6–9):
6 September 2007 [119] |
|||
| Part Three (episodes 10–13):
26 March 2007 [116] |
Part Three (Episodes 10–13):
2 October 2007[120] |
|||
| Complete (episodes 1–13):
19 November 2007[121] |
Complete (episodes 1–13):
6 February 2008[132] |
|||
| Series Two | Complete (episodes 1–13):
30 June 2008[122] |
Complete (episodes 1–13):
16 September 2008[133] |
Complete (episodes 1–13):
2 October 2008[134] |
Complete (Episodes 1–13):
15 January 2009[135] |
| "Complete Series One & Two" | Complete (episodes 1-26):
10 November 2008[136] |
NA | NA | NA |
| Children of Earth (Series Three) |
Complete (episodes 1–5):
13 July 2009[137] |
Complete (episodes 1–5):
28 July 2009[138] |
Complete (episodes 1–5):
1 October 2009[139] |
Complete (episodes 1-5):
17 March 2010[140] |
| The Complete Series (1–3) | Complete Series (episodes 1–31):
26 October 2009[141] |
Complete Series (episodes 1–31):
19 July 2011[142] |
Complete Series (episodes 1–31):
5 August 2010[143] |
Complete Series (episodes 1-31):
1 September 2010[144] |
| Torchwood - Miracle Day (Series Four) |
Complete (episodes 1–10):
14 November 2011[145] |
Complete (episodes 1–10):
Early 2012 [146] |
Complete (episodes 1–10):
1 December 2011[147] |
|
| The Complete Series (1-4) | Complete Series (episodes 1–41):
14 November 2011[148] |
| HD DVD release name | UK release date
(region free) |
|---|---|
| The Complete First Series | 30 June 2008[124] |
| Blu-ray release name | UK release date
(region B) |
North American release date
(region A) |
Australian Release Date
(region B) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Series | 30 June 2008 [149] Region Free |
16 September 2008[150] | 1 October 2009[151] |
| The Complete Second Series | 22 June 2009 [152] Region Free |
7 July 2009[153] | 1 October 2009[154] |
| Children of Earth | 13 July 2009 [155] Region Free |
28 July 2009[156] | 1 October 2009[157] |
| The Complete Series (1–3) | 26 October 2009 [158] Region Free |
19 July 2011[159] | 4 November 2010[160] |
| Miracle Day | 14 November 2011[161] Region Free |
Early 2012 [146] | 1 December 2011[162] |
| The Complete Series (1-4) | 14 November 2011[163] Region Free |
| Country | TV Network(s) |
|---|---|
| Australia | ABC, Network Ten, UKTV, ABC2 |
| Canada | CBC |
| France | NRJ 12, Syfy Universal |
| Germany | RTL 2 |
| Hungary | AXN Sci Fi |
| Iceland | Stod 2 |
| Israel | yes Stars Action, HOT3 |
| Italy | Jimmy |
| Japan | Super! drama TV |
| Malaysia | BBC Entertainment |
| New Zealand | UKTV, Prime |
| Poland | BBC Entertainment, AXN sci fi |
| Portugal | SIC Radical, AXN, Syfy, Syfy HD |
| Serbia | RTS |
| South Korea | KBS2 (Series Four Only) |
| Sweden | TV4+ |
| United Kingdom | BBC One, BBC One HD |
| United States | Starz HD, BBC America, BBC America HD, HDNet |
| Brazil | Globosat HD |
| Belgium | Acht HD |
Torchwood is popular in the English-speaking North American continent; in fact, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation helped to finance the series, as they had the revived production of Doctor Who in 2005. On 2 April 2007, BBC America had acquired the rights to broadcast the series in the United States.[164] The series started on 8 September 2007;[165] the initial broadcast of the series was tied-in to a "radical makeover" of the channel that was to occur later in 2007.[164] The second series started on BBC America 26 January 2008,[166] and the third on 20 July 2009.[17] Torchwood has become one of the higher rated programmes for BBC America with its first series première in September 2007 attracting an audience of almost half a million viewers.[167] HDNet acquired the US high definition rights for the first 26 episodes (Series 1 and 2) and began airing Series 1 episodes on Monday evenings, starting 17 September 2007.[168] On Monday 11 February 2008 HDNet began showing Series 2 episodes.
The Canadian network CBC was a co-producer of series one,[169] and premiered in October 2007.[170][171] The show airs for French-speaking Canadian audiences on Ztélé. Series two began airing on Space on 8 August 2008 and series three was aired on Space over five consecutive nights in July 2009. Space has since broadcast series 1 and repeated series 2. The series also airs in high definition on HDNet.
Torchwood also airs in Europe. In France, the first series began airing on 12 October 2007 on NRJ 12, and since 13 January 2009 on SciFi. The second series began on 5 September 2008 on NRJ 12 and the third series began on 17 November 2009 also on NRJ 12. In Germany, RTL 2 broadcast series 1 to 3. The first series started airing on 28 June 2010 on Icelandic network Stod 2. In Italy, the first series started airing on 3 September 2007 on Jimmy; the third series has not been aired. Portuguese network SIC Radical started transmitting the first series in January 2009. Subsequently the compete series wa picked up by AXN Black and the Portuguese Syfy channel. The first series premiered on 24 June 2007 on Swedish network TV4+. Serbia aired the first and second series daily on the network RTS from 1 on 19 August 2009 to begin showing the third series from 13 April 2010. In Israel, the first 2 series aired on yes Stars Action and currently available on HOT V.O.D services, in HD also.
Torchwood also shows in the English-speaking nations of Australasia. In Australia, after the ABC[172] and SBS passed on the series, Network Ten acquired the rights to air it.[173] After its première on 18 June 2007, a reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald's The Guide said, "The appeal of Torchwood is not so much that it's gloriously implausible sci-fi pulp, but that it knows it's gloriously implausible, sci-fi pulp."[174] Ten's press release cites rival programming in their decision to move the show to a Wednesday 12 am timeslot halfway through the series.[175] Torchwood now airs on UKTV in Australia.[176] Series one was played on Imparja, but as of 3 February 2008 the station is no longer affiliated with Ten and will not screen more.[177] Series 2 of Torchwood aired on Ten HD from 1 September 2008. On 19 June 2009, ABC2 began broadcasting series one, two and three on Fridays at 8:30 pm. When Series 2 started broadcasting on 18 September 2009, ABC2 started broadcasting Torchwood Declassified after each episode. Each episode of the third series was broadcast on UKTV and BBCHD the day after it was aired in the UK. ABC2 began airing Children of Earth on 8 January 2010 weekly. On 19 July 2011 it was announced Torchwood: Miracle Day had been bought by Eleven, a Network Ten Australia free to air digital only channel.[178] The first series began screening on TV2[179] in New Zealand on Wednesday, 9 July 2008, starting with series 1 and running straight through to the 4th episode ("Meat") in the second series. Series 2 continued airing on 11 February 2009 and season 3 premiered on 10 February 2010. Repeat screenings of the first two series began on 16 March 2010 after the conclusion of Children of Earth during the previous week, and now plays re runs on UKTV in New Zealand. On 13 August 2010, Children of Earth will begin repeated transmission after the conclusion of the second series on 6 August 2010. Additionally, in Malaysia the first two series were last transmitted on BBC Entertainment (Chn731) on the Astro Network on 29 November 2009. Japan also airs Torchwood on Super! drama TV.[180]
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