Torchwood

Overview

The show is centered on the Torchwood Institute, which was founded by Queen Victoria in 1897, and was featured as an enemy and part of a story arc in season 2 of the rebooted Doctor who. The instutite was split into four parts, with the Cardiff team being Torchwood 3. Its primary mission was to protect the country from extraterrestrial threats, and to capture the Doctor should he ever set foot on british soil again. However after the events of Doomsday in Doctor Who, the institute was for the most part destroyed, until Jack, one of the only living members rebuilt it in the Doctor's honour. Seasons 1 and 2 of the show were closely connected with Doctor Who, as Russel T Davies was the head writer for both shows at the time. This led to cross overs between the two shows. However after Davies was replaced by Steven Moffat as head writer of Doctor Who in 2010, there has been less connections between the two, and given the success of Season 3 of Torchwood, it is considered a show in its own right, with its own fanbase now.

Production

Headwriter and show creator Russell T Davies

Russel T Davies had originally concieved the show as a stand alone science fiction series in a similar style to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. This idea however, originally titled Excalibur, was abandoned due to Davies committment to the revival of Doctor Who. During the production of Doctor Who in 2005, Davies used the word Torchwood (An anagram of Doctor Who) as the title for the production to help keep it secret. After the reboot of Doctor Who proved to be a success, Davies revisited his Excalibur idea, but this time connected it to Doctor Who and named it Torchwood. After John Barrowmans character from Doctor Who, Captain Jack Harkness, proved popular, he was brought in as a the main character. During an interview on BBC radio Wales, Davies joked that he was "not allowed" to refer to the programme as "Doctor Who for grown-ups". The first two seasons consisted of 13 episodes each, with most episodes featuring a one off story, though all are connected by an overlapping story arc for that season. The third season however changed, in that it was a 5 episode mini series titled 'Children Of Earth'. The upcoming forth season is following this structure is a ten episode series. The show includes content rarely seen or heard in the Doctor Who franchise, including sex scenes, same-sex kissing, and use of extreme violence in several episodes. Seasons one and two of the show were both set and filmed in Cardiff, Wales, while the third season was filmed entirely in Cardiff though portions were set in London. Following the success of season three, the forth season is being co-produced between Starz, BBC wales and BBC international.

Season 1

The season 1 Torchwood team

The first season of the show followed a number of story lines, primarily the introduction of Gwen Cooper to Torchwood, as a replacement for Suzie Costello in the first episode. The main story arc of the season was was following Gwens introduction to the team, her training, and her relationships developing with the other team members, and her keeping Torchwood secret from her boyfriend Rhys. As the season progresses Gwen begins to have an affair with another member of the Torchwood team, Owen Harper. Although Torchwoods mandate is to investigate alien life, when they look into disappearances in the countryside surrounding Cardiff, they find a group of farmers who would periodically kill people passing through the area, and eat them. Throughout the first season the Torchwood Institute is also dealing with a piece of alien technology which they acquired and called the resurrection gaunlet. It had the ability to bring a person back to life, briefly after they had died. Although Suzie Costello had set up a plan to try and use the gauntlet to attempt to come back to life permenatly, though she was killed by Jack. Toward the end of the season a man named Bilis Manger is introduced, who knows about Torchwood.

Abbadon the devourer

He is revealed to be a servant to Abbadon, a demon and the son of the beast ( Doctor Who villian) He was imprisoned beneath the Cardiff rift until Bilis sent Jack and Toshiko back in time, with the only way to bring them back to the present being to open the rift. This released Abbadon, who took the form of a large beast. Any person caught in his shadow would instantly die, and their life force absorbed by Abbadon. Jack managed to defeat Abbadon by allowing him to absorb his lifeforce, which was too much for him as Jack was made immortal by the Bad Wolf. Shortly after this Jack heard the TARDIS materializing in Cardiff, and he rejoined the Doctor for a short period.

Season 2

The Torchwood team in season 2

The second season of the show opens with the team dealing after Jack left to rejoin the Doctor, and his subsequent return. The second season introduces Captain John Heart, a friend of Jacks, who served as a both a villian and anti-hero for the series. This season further explores the relationship developing between Jack and Ianto, it also features Gwen and Rhys' wedding, along with Gwen telling Rhys about Torchwood. Owen Harper is killed midway through this season, though they use the resurrection gauntlet to bring him partially back to life. Martha Jones then temporarily joins Torchwood to serve as their doctor. Season two also dealt more with Jacks history, and his revelation that he blaims himself for his brother, Gray's, death when they were both children, however Gray returns at the end of the season and is revealed to have been orchastrating events around Jack for sometime in an event to trap him, and kill the team. He takes Jack back in time to before the city of Cardiff was built and buries him alive, however due to Jacks immortality, he would just die and come back to life, over and over again for eternity. Jack was discovered by the Torchwood institute in 1901, dug up, and he placed himself in suspended animation so that he would awake shortly after Gray had begun his plan to use Cardiff's nuclear reactor to destroy the city. Although Torchwood manages to stop Gray, not before he kills Toshiko, and Owen is incinerated in the reactor.

Season 3 - Children Of Earth

Promotional image for season 3

The third season was a mini-series and is set across 5 days. It begins with every child on the earth, at the same time, in english, stopping and repeating the phrase "We are coming". Jack, Gwen and Ianto are looking to recruit new members into the Torchwood institue after the events of season two where Owen and Toshiko were killed. They initially look at recruiting a new doctor, however during this Jack is lured into a trap where he is killed, and a bomb is placed in his chest. After he resurrects and returns to the hub, he explodes, destroying base, although Gwen and Ianto escape. The second time that the children repeat the phrase, they end it with "We are coming back". It is revealed that the government are the ones who are trying to kill torchwood, as they have information regarding the 456, the aliens which are controlling the children. This season also features Rhys, Gwens husband as a more prominant cast member, and it is also revealed in Day 1, that Gwen in pregnant. It is revealed that in the early 20th century, the 456 had come to the UK and demanded a group of children be given to them, which the government ordered Jack Harkness, and a number of other people to do, people that they were now killing. Jack is shown to have both a daughter and grandson, neither of whom have inherited his immortality. After the 456 make contact with the british government they demand that 10% of all the children on the Earth be given to them. Jack however refuses and Ianto is killed in front of him. As events progress, Jack comes up with a plan to kill the 456 however in order to do so, a child must be sacrificed, as the 456 are connected to them. As they are running out of time, Jack kills his own grandson, Steven, and uses him to destroy the 456. Jack then leaves Earth, to find a way to bring Ianto and Steven back to life. With Gwen the only surviving member left, and the Torchwood Hub destroyed, her and Rhys decide to leave to raise their child.

Season 4 - Miracle Day

Season 4 Torchwood Team

This is the first season of the show to be set outside of the UK, and was filmed in America. It serves as both a continuation and a reboot for a new audiance. Several main cast members will return, such as Gwen and Rhys, and Jack. It is ten episodes long and like Children Of Earth, will deal with one specific incidence, in this case, what happens when no people stop dying, regardless of injury or sickness, no one dies and the planet experiences a population boom overnight which itself could lead to the destruction of the planet.

Reception

The first episodes of Torchwood on BBC 3 gave the channel its highest ever ratings, although for later episodes the ratings dropped to between 1.1 to 1.2 million viewers during the first showing on BBC 3, however Torchwod remained the most viewed programme on BBC Three by a wide margin. Its second series which began in January 2008, the show moved to it's sister channel BBC Two. The first episode of season 2 was watched by approx. 4.22 million viewers, although again ratings dropped to a low of 2.52 million viewers towards the end of the season, even after the BBC had moved it from its competitive Wednesday night slot to Friday. The second season 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 1, the networks flagship channel in July 2009, with all five episodes of the mini-series earning more than 6 million viewers, with the fourth episode gaining the largest audience.

Torchwood received both positive and negative reviews following its launch. Its status as an "adult" Doctor Who as well as its portrayal of sex were the topic of parody in the media. Reviews for the first series were largely mixed, however those for the second season were far more positive. The third season, which took the form of a five-part mini series, aired over five days, entitled Children Of Earth was very postively received, earning the show its highest ever ratings, dispite being in the most competitive time slot the show has ever aired in. Children Of Earth has been described by critics as a "powerful human drama" and"The best torchwood ever" . Although the series as a whole has an average rating of 74 out of 100 on Metacritic, the third season by itself rated at 81, "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.

Torchwood's first season beat its parent series, Doctor Who, to win the Best Drama Series category at the BAFTA Cymru awards in 2007, which it did again in 2010 for its third season 'Children Of Earth'. The third season also won a Saturn Award for Best Television Presentation, and a 2010 Celtic Media Festival Award for best drama series. Eve Myles won the Best Actress at the same awards for her performance during the shows first season, ahead of Doctor Who's Billie Piper. The penultimate episode of the first season was nominated for the Hugo Award for dramatic presentation, short form.

Eve Myles	Gwen Cooper	41 eps.
John Barrowman	Jack Harkness	41 eps.
Kai Owen	Rhys Williams	31 eps.
Gareth David-Lloyd	Ianto Jones	30 eps.
Naoko Mori	Toshiko Sato	26 eps.
Burn Gorman	Owen Harper	26 eps.
Mekhi Phifer	Rex Matheson	10 eps.
Bill Pullman	Oswald Danes	10 eps.
Alexa Havins	Esther Drummond	10 eps.
Tom Price	PC Andy	9 eps.

1	Everything Changes	Currently 4.335/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	10/22/2006
2	Day One	Currently 4.5/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	10/22/2006
3	Ghost Machine	Currently 4.5/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	10/29/2006
4	Cyberwoman	Currently 2.375/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/05/2006
5	Small Worlds	Currently 4.0/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/12/2006
6	Countrycide	Currently 5.0/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/19/2006
7	Greeks Bearing Gifts	Currently 4.0/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	11/26/2006
8	They Keep Killing Suzie	Currently 4.25/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	12/03/2006
9	Random Shoes	Currently 4.5/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	12/10/2006
10	Out of Time	Currently 3.75/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	12/17/2006
11	Combat	Currently 3.5/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	12/24/2006
12	Captain Jack Harkness	Currently 3.75/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	01/01/2007
13	End of Days	Currently 3.835/5 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5	01/01/2007

blog	Torchwood: Miracle Day	Adrenaline
forum	Miracle Day is so bad, you shouldn't watch it just to see how bad	Falcon
forum	Miracle Day - A complete disappointment	Falcon
news	Hey, Here's An 11 Minute Preview Of Torchwood: Miracle Day	Rorie
forum	Hey, Here's An 11 Minute Preview Of Torchwood: Miracle Day	Rorie
news	It Came from My Instant Queue: In Defense of Torchwood	Alex
forum	It Came from My Instant Queue: In Defense of Torchwood	Alex
forum	New season looks awesome..	feargalr

Name	Torchwood
Status	Returning Series
Date of 1st Airing	Oct. 22, 2006
Date of Last Airing
Show Type
Original Air Day	Sunday
Original Air Time
Show Length	60
Network(s)	BBC Two BBC One BBC America BBC Three Starz
Language(s)	Add a new language English
Genre(s)	Add a new genre Drama Sci-Fi
Theme(s)	Add a new theme adult alien monsters sexual
Alias(es)

	Doctor Who (Reboot)
	Sanctuary
	Doctor Who
	Doctor Who Confidential
	Torchwood Declassified

	Plot-Related News Network
	Love Interests are Allergic to Sequels
	Small Town Conspiracy
	A Third Choice