Category: Torchwood

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day One

TorchwoodAt 8:40 one morning, every child on Earth stands absolutely still and begins reciting a message, in unison and in English: “We are coming.” Both Torchwood and UNIT try to track down the meaning behind the message, but in Whitehall, a seemingly innocuous civil servant named John Frobisher understands precisely what the message means. Captain Jack tries to contact Frobisher – Torchwood’s point of contact with the government – to offer help, but Frobisher’s new personal assistant, Lois Habiba, has no idea who Jack is and simply takes a message. Lois is nothing if not inquisitive, however, and manages to look up Torchwood in the government’s files, and what she learns there turns her world upside-down. Another civil servant, Mr. Dekker, pays Frobisher a visit with a simple but ominous warning: the 456 are returning, and they have sent a message in an incredibly compressed data stream that will take time to translate. At regular intervals, the world’s children come to a stop, either to deliver another message or to unleash a piercing, blood-curdling scream. Hoping to understand what’s going on, Jack and Ianto each set out to observe a little bit closer to home. Ianto visits his sister, where his niece and nephew are acting decidedly normal, while Jack visits a daughter, Alice Carter, who he’s never mentioned to any of his teammates. Alice, wary of Jack’s apparent immortality, would rather he stayed away from her and from his own grandson, who knows him as “Uncle Jack.” Gwen visits a man named Clement McDonald in a mental institution, learning that he somehow knows of an alien threat; he claims to have escaped the 456 in 1965. McDonald is the only adult in the world to have repeated the same messages as the children due to his close call with the aliens. As more messages are relayed through the children, John Frobisher puts a top-secret plan into action, calling for the elimination of a list of individuals – including one Captain Jack Harkness – and the entire Torchwood organization. Jack’s immortality is about to be put to the test.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Paul Copley (Clement McDonald), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Charles Abomeli (Colonel Oduya), Rik Makarem (Rupesh Patanjali), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Anna Lawson (Nurse), Rachel Ferjani (Parliamentary Secretary), Christopher James (Press Officer), Phylip Harries (Water Taxi man), Ben Lloyd-Holmes (Operative), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Gregory Ferguson (young Clem), Crisian Emmanuel (Mother), Melanie Barker (Mother 2), Scott Bailey (Father)

Notes: Martha is said to be on her honeymoon and out of touch with Torchwood; in reality, actress Freema Agyeman had accepted a job as one of the regular cast of Law & Order: UK, a British adaptation (also starring Battlestar Galactica’s Jamie Bamber) of the popular American crime drama. Though early drafts of the script included Martha, no contract had been drawn up for Agyeman and she took the other job. As Jack is sizing up Rupesh Patanjali as a new medical expert for Torchwood, it would seem that neither Martha nor Mickey Smith joined Torchwood (which was heavily implied at the end of the Doctor Who episode Journey’s End); presumably Martha remains with UNIT.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day Two

TorchwoodEven as Gwen and Ianto escape from a massive blast that destroys the Torchwood hub – with Jack inside – and most of Roald Dahl Plass with it, snipers and government agents posing as paramedics are waiting to pick them off. Gwen goes home to get Rhys and go underground; Ianto winds up more exposed and less armed. Mr. Dekker pays a visit to Frobisher, with a translation of the compressed message from the 456: it contains detailed specifications for a device of unknown function, and a very short timetable for completing its construction. The government operatives locate Jack’s body – or what’s left of it – in the ruins of the hub, and they gather the pieces. Astonishingly, Jack’s remains reform into a full body and he is resurrected yet again. Gwen tries to call Frobisher’s office, but instead finds herself talking to Lois; Lois arranges a clandestine meeting with Gwen, and warns her that Frobisher himself has ordered Torchwood’s elimination. Gwen and Rhys infiltrate a military complex where the revived Jack has been trapped alive in solid concrete. As it happens, Ianto has also tracked down where Jack has been taken to, and mounts his own rescue attempt just as Gwen and Rhys are trapped, also saving them in the process. The world’s children deliver a new message – “we are coming tomorrow” – as construction of the unknown device is rushed to completion atop the MI-5 building, and Mr. Dekker tests it: an environment chamber for the 456. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, the specifications for this chamber have only been sent to the British government. Without the resources of the hub, and marked for death, Torchwood has less than a day to find out who is coming, why they’re coming – and how to fight back.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by John Fay
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Paul Copley (Clement McDonald), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Tom Price (PC Andy), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Gregory Ferguson (young Clem), Simon Poland (456 voice), Ashley Hunt (Recovery worker), Osi Okerafor (Kodak), Emmanuel Ighadaro (Paramedic), Robert Shelly (Sentry), Quill Roberts (Guard), Fay McDonald (Mother), Louise Minchin (Newsreader), Libby Liburd (Barmaid)

Note: This episode depicts the most critical damage that Captain Jack has been seen to endure (prior to this, the record appeared to be held by numerous point-blank blasts from Dalek weapons). He can apparently survive dismemberment, as what’s left of him is said to be “an arm, a shoulder, and part of a head.”

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day Three

TorchwoodA curfew is imposed across Britain and the Prime Minister takes to the airwaves to assure everyone that no harm will come to their children. Ianto takes the rest of the team to an abandoned warehouse in south London that had once been used by Torchwood One, and since they’re already on the wanted list, they steal the equipment, vehicles and money they need to continue their efforts to decipher the 456’s mysterious messages; Gwen also springs Clement McDonald from the lockup after he’s arrested for petty theft. Gwen meets with Lois Habiba again, giving her a set of spy camera contact lenses and asking her to help Torchwood by giving them a look inside Frobisher’s operations; at first she’s reluctant, but after the Prime Minister – under fire from both UNIT and the world’s other major governments – names Frobisher as Britain’s pointman in negotiations with the 456, Lois finally wears the contacts to the first diplomatic meeting with the 456. At this meeting, the 456 formally demand 10% of the world’s children as a gift. It’s not the first time that children have been delivered to the 456; Clement McDonald escaped from a previous visit in which he was to be presented as a “gift” in 1965. And he recognizes the man who delivered him and the other children into the 456’s waiting hands: Captain Jack Harkness.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies & James Moran
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Paul Copley (Clement McDonald), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Colin McFarlane (General Pierce), Tom Price (PC Andy), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Charles Abomeli (Colonel Oduya), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Rachel Ferjani (Parliamentary Secretary), Christopher James (Press Officer), Ben Lloyd-Holmes (Operative), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Patrick Etienne (Sandwich shop man), Simon Poland (456 voice), Gregory Ferguson (young Clem), Louise Minchin (Newsreader), Anthony Debaeck (French Newsreader), Lachele Carl (Trinity Wells)

Note: According to the government’s records, Alice Carter (Jack’s daughter) was born to a mother of Italian descent who was a Torchwood employee working alongside Jack from the 1960s through the ’70s. The spy contact lenses were last worn by Martha Jones in season two’s Reset, but apparently Gwen and Rhys have been using them for recreational purposes, which will probably remain as classified as anything in Torchwood’s archives.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day Four

TorchwoodThe full extent of Jack’s involvement in the original 1965 contact with the 456, and the resulting abductions, is revealed: he was sent to deliver a dozen children, including young Clement McDonald, to the 456, in exchange for the antidote to a virus with which the 456 had infected humanity. Clement escaped, unsuitable since he was on the cusp of puberty, but was left with a residual psychic link to the 456. Through Lois’ contact lens cameras, the team sees, hears and records deliberations among the Prime Minister and his cabinet, debating not how to save the children, but precisely which children should be handed over to meet the aliens’ demands. It is eventually decided that “lower class” children in “lessser” schools will be sacrificed. Jack vows to fight back, setting a plan into motion: Rhys will go into hiding and stand by for a signal to release the evidence gathered by Lois’ contact lens cameras to the public; since this act would topple the British government, it’s a last-ditch bargaining chip. Gwen and Clement will remain in Torchwood’s London warehouse and wait for the government shock troops to arrive, which they inevitably will after Ianto places a phone call to Gwen. Lois is instructed to deliver Torchwood’s terms to the Prime Minister directly, which she does just as Jack and Ianto arrive to begin a more aggressive form of negotiation with the 456. But while Jack may be able to bring Britain’s government to a stunned stand-still, he may not be persuasive enough to drive the 456 from Earth.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by John Fay
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Paul Copley (Clement McDonald), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Colin McFarlane (General Pierce), Deborah Finlay (Denise Riley), Nicholas Briggs (Rick Yates), Patric Naiambana (Defense Secretary), Charles Abomeli (Colonel Oduya), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Sophie Hunter (Vanessa), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Simon Poland (456 voice), Gregory Ferguson (young Clem), Ben Loyd Holmes (Operative), Louise Minchin (Newsreader), Anthony Debaeck (French Newsreader), Lachele Carl (Trinity Wells)

Notes: Nicholas Briggs, seen on-screen as Rick Yates, has already provided Dalek, Auton, Cyberman and Judoon voices for the series, but is perhaps better known to Doctor Who fandom as the current producer of audio Doctor Who for Big Finish Productions; prior to that, Briggs was one of the leading figures in a number of fan-made direct-to-video releases in the 1990s. The fan videos and Big Finish may well have been factors in keeping Doctor Who alive for both fandom and the public at large, and arguably may have been vital stepping stones to the show’s return to TV and its swarm of spinoffs, including Torchwood. This is Briggs’ first on-screen appearance “in universe” for the BBC itself. Since Clement McDonald was unsuitable for the 456 due to the approach of adolescence, presumably the young lead characters of The Sarah Jane Adventures were also immune to the 456’s effects during this crisis. The location of the abandoned Torchwood One warehouse is narrowed down to Shoreditch – appropriately enough, a location close to the junkyard at 76 Totter’s Lane in which the TARDIS first landed when the first Doctor and Susan escaped Gallifrey. Given Torchwood’s original mandate – to track the Doctor’s activities – this location may or may not be mere coincidence.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 3 Torchwood

Children Of Earth: Day Five

TorchwoodTorchwood has been defeated, and Ianto has paid the price with his life. Jack bargains for the release of his daughter and grandson, as well as Gwen, who is reunited with Rhys and goes to inform Ianto’s family of his death – and to warn them to take their children to safety. Despite the Prime Minister’s assurances that children should return to school – in reality, a ploy to herd them together so the military can deliver them to the 456 – many families, including Ianto’s, have kept their children home. The military steps up its use of force, and any remaining pretense of civility crumbles as parents step forward to protect their children; Gwen and Rhys are on the run again. Having been informed that his children will join those being sacrificed as a publicity move to show that even high-level officials are suffering, Frobisher leaves Whitehall, goes home, murders his own family and commits suicide. Having witnessed enough of Whitehall’s dealings with the 456, the government strike team tasked with hunting down Torchwood instead springs Jack from prison to see if he can save the world yet again. Mr. Dekker and his equipment are rounded up and brought in to help Jack, but they can only reach one conclusion: one terrible sacrifice will have to be made, one child’s life to save the rest of the world’s children – and after making that call, Jack decides he’s had enough of Torchwood and enough of Earth.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Peter Capaldi (John Frobisher), Nicholas Farrell (Brian Green), Susan Brown (Bridget Spears), Lucy Cohu (Alice Carter), Ian Gelder (Mr. Dekker), Cush Jumbo (Lois Habiba), Liz May Brice (Johnson), Colin McFarlane (General Pierce), Deborah Finlay (Denise Riley), Charles Abomeli (Colonel Oduya), Katy Wix (Rhiannon Davies), Rhodri Lewis (Johnny Davies), Hillary Maclean (Anna Frobisher), Luke Perry (David Davies), Aimee Davies (Mica Davies), Bear McCausland (Steven Carter), Julia Joyce (Holly Frobisher), Madeleine Rakic-Platt (Lilly Frobisher), Simon Poland (456 voice), Lorna Bennett (Female Teacher), Louise Minchin (Newsreader), Rhiannon Oliver (Mum)

Notes: If one counts Harold Saxon (in reality the Master) and presumes that his brief stint in office directly followed that of Harriet Jones (former MP for Flydale North), then assuming that Brian Green does step down following this story (and assuming that he took office after Saxon), three successive Prime Ministers have fallen in the Doctor Who/Torchwood universe.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

The New World

TorchwoodIn Kentucky, convicted child killer Oswald Danes’ time has run out, but apparently not his luck: despite being given a lethal injection, Danes convulses violently but does not die. In Washington, CIA agent Rex Matheson is impaled in a traffic accident, but despite doctors’ predictions that he won’t make it, he too pulls through. Across the entire world, death simply stops happening to the human race.

This is nothing new to the object of research being conducted by Matheson’s colleague, CIA agent Esther Drummond. An unexplained intrusion into the CIA’s computer system has wiped out any trace of the word “Torchwood,” leaving her to search through the agency’s physical records, a search that leads to an enigmatic man named Captain Jack Harkness. She’s more than a little surprised to find Jack himself in the archives, evading someone who’s trying to kill him; Esther simply gets caught in the middle.

In Wales, the only other surviving member of Torchwood, Gwen Cooper, has settled into motherhood in seclusion. With her husband Rhys, Gwen has gone completely off the grid, avoiding any contact with the outside world until she receives word that her father has suffered a heart attack. She quietly slips into Cardiff to see him, where she learns that his doctors can’t explain how he survived. It’s only now that Gwen is learning about death taking a holiday in the rest of the world.

Esther’s research into Torchwood intrigues Matheson, whose injuries are slow to heal despite his miraculous survival. He stubbornly arranges a flight to Wales to track down Gwen. Gwen is less than happy to be tracked down – but then she learns that he’s not the only one who’s tracked her down, she has to save Matheson’s life. With a heavily armed helicopter in pursuit, Matheson finds himself on the run with Gwen and her family, saved only by a timely intervention (and a handy stash of weapons) provided by Jack.

But Matheson still insists on extraditing Gwen and Jack to the United States, where he’s sure they hold the key to what’s going on. Along the way, Jack discovers that, while the rest of the human race is suddenly immortal, that condition no longer necessarily applies to him.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Bharat Nalluri
music by Ben Foster

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Arlene Tur (Dr. Vera Juarez), Paul James (Noah Vickers), Marina Benedict (Charlotte Willis), Brian Guest (Alexander Peterssen), William Thomas (Geraint Cooper), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), Tom Price (Sgt. Andy Davidson), Penny Bunton (Female Hiker), Ron Butler (Senior Professor), Jim Castillo (Male Anchor #2), Rick Chambers (Senior Male Anchor), Hymnson Chan (Male Nurse), Van Epperson (Archivist), Ellen Fox (TV Journalist), Laura Gardner (Female Expert), Lauri Hendler (Angry Nurse), Carla Jeffery (Teenage Girl), Clint Jung (Male Professor), Charlene Lovings (Nurse), Jessica Mathews (Female Anchor #3), Rocky McMurray (Senior Guard), Laura Morgan (Flight Attendant), Phil Nice (Male Hiker), Bunnie Rivera (Rosita), Robin Sachs (British Professor), Heather Ann Smith (Joan Cabina), Jackie Torres (Female Anchor #2), Nischelle Turner (Female Anchor), David Grant Wright (Male Anchor)

Notes: British-born (but U.S.-based) guest star Robin Sachs played numerous guest roles on Babylon 5 – usually behind Narn or Minbari makeup – as well as appearing in Buffy and Alias. He’s done voice work for video games such as Dragon Age: Origins and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, and was the leader of the evil aliens in the movie Galaxy Quest. He’s the son of the late Leonard Sachs, who played Borusa in the 1983 Doctor Who story Arc Of Infinity. Van Epperson is no stranger to SFTV, having appeared in three Star Trek incarnations (TNG, DS9 and Enterprise). Jack uses the alias of his deceased former Torchwood colleague, Dr. Owen Harper, to gain access to the autopsy (Owen, played by Burn Gorman, was a Torchwood regular until dying not one but two deaths in season two).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

Rendition

TorchwoodRex extradites Jack and Gwen to the United States, leaving Rhys – who was never officially a member of Torchwood – in Wales with Anwen, Rhys’ and Gwen’s baby. Rex is mystified when one of his CIA superiors shows up unexpectedly in Wales to escort everyone back to Washington. On the flight back over the Atlantic, Jack falls deathly ill: someone else on the plane has poisoned him, and Rex quickly figures out that the hit has been carried out under orders, but probably not CIA orders. In Washington, Esther Drummond discovers that she and Rex have been set up, framed for something that they know nothing about, and tries to warn Rex that he can trust nobody once the plane lands on American soil. But unless Rex and Gwen can find out how Jack was poisoned, and find an antidote, half of Torchwood will already be gone before the plane lands.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Doris Egan
directed by Billy Gierhart
music by Murray Gold

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Lauren Ambrose (Jilly Kitzinger), Arlene Tur (Dr. Vera Juarez), Dichen Lachman (Lyn Peterfield), Marina Benedict (Charlotte Willis), Paul James (Noah Vickers), Tom Price (Sgt. Andy Davidson), Wayne Knight (Brian Friedkin), Tug Coker (Geoff Reed), Halley Feiffer (Lianna), Finn Witrock (Danny), Richard Augustine (George Sayer), Amy Benedict (Bridget Howe), Sedly Bloomfield (Man #2), Antonio D. Charity (Airport Security Cop), Erin Chenoweth (Greta), Ewan Chung (Yu-King So), Rachel Leah Cohen (Laurie), Joseph Eid (Man #1), Chrissie Marie Fit (Assistant), Bari Hochwald (ER Nurse), Scott Hoxby (Paul Goldstein), Ronobir Lahiri (Simran Baidwan), Don Luce (Gate Guard), David O’Donnell (Dr. Mandell), Jeffery Self (James Percey), Kristi Swensson (Woman), Luke White (EMT), A.J. Tannen (Government Clerk), Glenn Taranto (Security Chief), Richard Wharton (Dr. Paul Bell)

Notes: Wayne Knight unleashed forces he couldn’t control in Jurassic Park (1993), as well as uselessly unleashing Newman’s fury toward Jerry and gang throughout the series run of Seinfeld. Bari Hochwald is another Star Trek frequent flyer now appearching on Torchwood; she appeared as Dr. Bashir’s academic nemesis in Deep Space Nine, fell victim to a radioactive Federation space probe in one of Voyager’s final episodes, and appeared in an early, Klingon-centric episode of Enterprise. This episode’s mention that Oprah Winfrey is trying to land an interview with Oswald Danes would seem to either date Miracle Day prior to Oprah’s talk show going off the air in May 2011, or implies that Oprah’s show is still in production in whatever alternate timeline Torchwood takes place in. Miracle Day was already in production at around the time Winfrey announced her retirement from ongoing daytime TV.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

The Dead Of Night

TorchwoodAs the reality of the new condition of humanity sinks in with the public, different people deal with their sudden immortality in different ways. Some indulge in every vice imaginable, safe in the knowledge that it won’t kill them, but Dr. Vera Juarez and others in her field are becoming increasingly aware that while death has been eradicated overnight, disease hasn’t: anyone infected with a disease will simply manifest its symptoms forever. Others form a strange cult, the masked Soulless, whose message seems to be that humanity’s sudden immortality is not a blessing. They get no argument from Jack, who finds new ways to revel in his sudden mortality.

With the bewildered Rex and Esther in tow – now on the run from the CIA themselves thanks to their contact with Torchwood – Jack and Gwen fall into familiar old patterns, investigating how the “miracle” happened and at whose behest. But if they think that the CIA fugitives are Torchwood’s latest recruits, Rex’s lone-wolf behavior and Esther’s nervousness make them uneasy allies at best. And for CIA agents, they seem almost too ready to blow their cover. Gwen strong-arms Dr. Juarez into helping her infiltrate Phi-Corp, an international pharmaceutical company which seems poised to profit from the inevitable spread of disease by seeking Congressional approval for the free and easy distribution of its drugs. What’s more, Phi-Corp is so well-stocked that they likely knew of the “miracle” well in advance.

Phicorp has also picked up an unusual spokesman in convicted killer Oswald Danes. Having survived his own execution and obtained the services of a Phi-Corp public relations agent, Danes is a fast-rising celebrity and the subject of cultish adulation from the Soulless. He’s also the subject of Jack’s intense curiosity, but again, Jack’s every move has been anticipated.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Jane Espenson
directed by Billy Gierhart
music by Murray Goldr and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Arlene Tur (Dr. Vera Juarez), Wayne Knight (Brian Friedkin), Dillon Casey (Brad), Richard Gilliland (Congressman Morganthall), Tasha Ames (Carla), Thea Andrews (Local Reporter), Richard Augustine (George Sayer), Daryl Crittenden (Young Man), Mitchell Edmonds (Senior TV Anchor), Matt Eyde (Atlanta Cop), Mary Garripoli (Woman Tourist), Ted Mattison (Phi-Corp Rep), Jason Medwin (Sunroof Screamer), George Murdock (Preacher), Brian Treitler (Dr. Murphy), Randa Walker (Candice Perlmutter), Maurice Webster (Cop), Michelle Wong (Nurse), David Youse (Dr. Rosenbloom)

Notes: While its original BBC broadcasts were always intended to be adults-only viewing, Torchwood took a brief detour into material that was too strong for UK viewing standards: the montage of sex scenes (both heterosexual and homosexual) were omitted entirely from the UK broadcast, seen only in America on Starz. As little vital story information is imparted in those scenes, however, it simply means that, while the episode is shorter, the story still tracks. Guest actor George Murdock’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as a televangelist could be indicative of diminished career expectations, as Murdock played God Himself (or an alien facsimile thereof) in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989); he returned to the Star Trek franchise as Admiral Hansen, giving Captain Picard his fateful marching orders against the Borg in the Next Generation two-parter The Best Of Both Worlds (1990). Writer Jane Espenson – one of the stable of writers who worked with Joss Whedon on Buffy, Angel and Firefly – joined the Torchwood writing staff fresh from a short stint as the showrunner of Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

Escape To L.A.

TorchwoodTorchwood makes a cross-country trip to Los Angeles, home of Phi-Corp’s corporate headquarters, to dig deeper into the pharmaceutical giant and find out how they seemed to know ahead of time that death would become a thing of the past. Jack continues to fixate on Oswald Danes, certain that keeping a careful watch on the convicted-pedophile-turned-charismatic-celebrity will reveal more about Phi-Corp’s plans. Esther and Rex let their guard down, perhaps fatally: Esther goes to visit her sister, only to be turned away at the door and told that she can’t see the kids. Rex’s visit to his father is even less welcoming, while Gwen gets disturbing news from Wales about her father. Oswald Danes and his Phi-Corp PR handler, Jilly Kitzinger, discover that he suddenly has an opposite number: a right-wing political figure who advocates the segregation from society of those who “should” be dead. Phi-Corp’s advance planning becomes more apparent – they’ve already bought up enormous amount of property globally to serve as “overflow camps” – as does their ruthlessness, as an assassin is dispatched to deal with both Danes’ nemesis and with Torchwood as they try to break into Phi-Corp itself.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodeteleplay by Jim Gray and John Shiban
story by Jim Gray
directed by Billy Gierhart
music by Murray Gold and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Lauren Ambrose (Jilly Kitzinger), Arlene Tur (Dr. Vera Juarez), C. Thomas Howell (The Gentleman), Mare Winningham (Ellis Hartley Monroe), Juanita Jennings (Bisme Katsui), Candace Brown (Sarah Drummond), Kelvin Yu (Nicholas Frumkin), DeSean Terry (Male Nurse), Roger Vernon Burton (Thin Old Man), Katsy Chappell (Woman), April Clark (Young Mother), Anthony Dilio (Lobby Guard), David Fofi (Burly Guard), Teresa Garza (Spanish Newscaster), Roy Lee Jones (Maurice), JoNell Kennedy (Veronica), Masami Kosaka (Japanese Newscaster), Ronobir Lahiri (Simran), Michael D. Nye (Sick Man), Barbara Mallory (Scared Old Woman), Brian Keith Russell (Landlord), Christian Svensson (Chauffeur), Randa Walker (Candice), David Grant Wright (Male Newscaster)

Escape To L.A.Notes: Writer John Shiban has a long list of genre credits in Hollywood, with writing and producing duties on series such as Supernatural, The Legend of the Seeker, Star Trek: Enterprise and Vampire Diaries, as well as the non-genre favorite Breaking Bad. His early career was spent working for Chris Carter as a writer, producer and story editor on such series as The X-Files, Harsh Realm, and the final X-Files spinoff, The Lone Gunmen. He has also directed episodes of Breaking Bad and X-Files.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

The Categories Of Life

TorchwoodGwen returns to Cardiff after Rhys informs her that her father has been taken to one of Phi-Corp’s suddenly ubiquitous overflow camps. Dr. Vera Juarez, upon hearing that the U.N. has issued new legal definitions of “categories of life” (with Phi-Corp’s input), leaves Washington for the west coast to join Rex and Torchwood. In Los Angeles, Phi-Corp prepares for a “Miracle Rally” with Oswald Danes as the keynote speaker, though Danes – already suspicious of how elaborately Phi-Corp has covered its own tracks on the internet – is growing irritated with the many drafts of the speech being written for him. Rex decides to exploit his injury to get admitted to an overflow camp, while Esther goes undercover in the camp’s office. Dr. Juarez uses her credentials to give the camp a surprise inspection, and is horrified at what she finds. The camp in Wales is no better, prompting Gwen to try to break her father out of Phi-Corp’s care, with disastrous results. In America, while Jack tries to exploit Danes’ sense that something is wrong at the heart of Phi-Corp, one of the new members of Torchwood will become the first human being to die in many days. But at whose hands?

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Jane Espenson
directed by Guy Ferland
music by Murray Gold and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Lauren Ambrose (Jilly Kitzinger), Arlene Tur (Dr. Vera Juarez), William Thomas (Geraint Cooper), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), Tom Price (Sgt. Andy Davidson), Fred Koehler (Ralph), Teddy Sears (Blue Eyed Man), Marc Vann (Colin Rex and the ModuleMaloney), Daniel Adegboyega (Guard), Brad Bell (Nurse Chris), Charles Carpenter (News Reporter), Jim Conway (Man), Jonathan Dane (Handsome Man), Teresa Garza (Spanish Newscaster), Brendan Hughes (Pidgeon), Joelle Elizabeth Jacoby (Excited Teenager), Liz Jenkins (Rachel), Ria Jones (Pushy Woman), Masami Kosaka (Japanese Newscaster), Eve Mauro (Maria Candido), Francince Morgan (Stressed Woman), Stuart Nurse (Thomason), Tracy Pfau (Pale Woman), Caroline Whitney Smith (Paramedic), Vito Viscuso (Angry Man), Randa Walker (Candice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

The Middle Men

TorchwoodArmed with video of the death of Dr. Vera Juarez in one of the “modules” that have been mandated by law in every overflow camp, Rex now has to escape the camp to get that evidence to the outside world. Having learned of the purpose of the modules, Gwen is taking more aggressive steps to rescue her father from the overflow camp in Wales. Jack, trying to find out who’s pulling the strings at Phi-Corp, pays a surprise visit to one of the company’s top executives, only to discover that Phi-Corp itself is just a pawn in a much larger game. With their cover blown, Rex and Esther find that they can’t escape the overflow camp without shedding blood – either their own or someone else’s – and now that death is back on the table, the stakes have just gotten higher. Even if Torchwood exposes the modules’ ability to kill, the Phi-Corp juggernaut – and whoever is behind it – remains unscathed in the public’s eyes.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by John Shiban
directed by Guy Ferland
music by Murray Gold and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), William Thomas (Geraint Cooper), Ernie Hudson (Stuart Owens), Fred Koehler (Ralph), Marc Vann (Colin Maloney), Jason Brooks (Press Secretary), Ciera Payton (Janet), Jonathan Spencer (Tony), Eric Steinberg (Zheng Yibao), Alexis Delarosa (Young Guard), Brittnee Garza (Worker), Brendan Hughes (Pidgeon), Liz Jenkins (Rachel), Lena Kaur (Dr. Patel), Janice Kent (Female Psychiatrist), Isaac Stephen Montgomery (Stern Soldier), The Middle MenWilliam Patrick Riley (Hat Check Boy), Marty Ryan (Older Guard), Inger Tudor (Mrs. Owens)

Notes: Ernie Hudson is a favorite with genre audiences for his portrayal of Winston Zeddimore III, the fourth man to sign up for ghost-busting duty, in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. Marc Vann, who plays the inept but ambitious head of the San Pedro overflow camp, is a regular on CSI; he also appeared in several episodes of Lost as an unnamed doctor, so his characters have abundant experience in dealing with people who aren’t in the habit of staying dead.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

Immortal Sins

TorchwoodEllis Island, 1927: Jack Harkness befriends an Italian immigrant and falls in love. Even when it becomes clear that Jack leads a dangerous life and deals with forces beyond human experience, his lover stays by his side – at least until he sees Jack die. A seemingly happy reunion years later turns out to be anything but: Jack is betrayed and tortured, killed repeatedly for nothing more than sport and spectacle. His repeated resurrections, however, draw the attention of someone more powerful.

Los Angeles, 2011: With the forces behind the “miracle” communicating to her via her Torchwood-issued contact lenses, Gwen learns that Rhys, her mother and her child are being held hostage. The price for freeing her family is delivering Jack into the hands of whoever is calling the shots. Thanks to her Torchwood training, it’s a task she’s able to complete with ruthless efficiency – but sensing something wrong, Rex and Esther decide to intervene.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Jane Espenson
directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton
music by Murray Gold and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), Nana Visitor (Olivia Colasanto), Tom Price (Sgt. Andy Davidson), Daniele Favilli (Angelo Colasanto), Pat Asanti (Inspector), Michael Chomiak (SWAT Member), Cris D’Annunzio (Salvatore Maranzano), Will Green (Young Priest), Paul Hayes (Costerdane), Immortal SinsEverton Lawrence (Ablemarch), Griffin Matthews (Young Man), Frank Medrano (Mr. Giardano), Angelica Montesano (Girl in crowd), Shawn Parsons (Frines), Vanna Salviati (Elderly Woman), Jayne Taini (Mrs. Giardano), Darren Dupree Washington (SWAT Leader)

Notes: This episode contains the first explicit Torchwood mention of the Doctor since Children Of Death: Day Five, and the first mention of the Trickster’s Brigade (Doctor Who: Turn Left, Sarah Jane Adventures: The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith) in Torchwood. Though it’s not made clear where the fateful visit to New York City falls in Jack’s personal Immortal Sinstimeline, he does mention Torchwood (and the Doctor restored the time-travel capability of Jack’s vortex manipulator), so it may well take place after Jack’s departure in Children Of Earth: Day Five.

Nana Visitor is famous to SF TV fans as Major (and later Colonel) Kira Nerys, the Bajoran first officer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She guest starred in several episodes of James Cameron’s Dark Angel series as Madame X (where she also pulled the strings behind evil plots).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

End Of The Road

TorchwoodJack is taken to be reunited with his lover from pre-Depression New York, Angelo Colasanto, who left instructions for his family to find Jack. Colasanto’s granddaughter reveals that after Angelo betrayed Jack to the locals, who repeatedly killed him just to watch him resurrect, samples of his blood were collected and sold to a coalition of three powerful families. Colasanto wasn’t a member of any of those families, but the elderly man does have one last trick up his sleeve: after keeping himself in top condition through old age, and then on artificial life support once his health fails, Angelo Colasanto dies. Rex’s CIA supervisor – already on the payroll of the three families – shows up to take charge of the situation, but Rex turns the tables. A top CIA operative named Shapiro arrives and saves Rex, but he’s still not sympathetic to Torchwood, and orders Gwen deported back to Wales. Alien technology is discovered in Colasanto’s house, and Jack believes it helped to shield Colasanto from the effects of the “miracle,” allowing him to remain mortal. Jack also firmly believes that this technology shouldn’t fall into human hands – and especially not into the hands of a covert ops organization. But stealing it from under the CIA’s nose may prove very costly to Torchwood’s leader.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodeteleplay by Ryan Scott and Jane Espenson
story by Ryan Scott
directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton
music by Murray Gold and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Lauren Ambrose (Jilly Kitzinger), Candace Brown (Sarah Drummond), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), Marina Benedict (Charlotte Willis), John de Lancie (Shapiro), Wayne Knight (Brian Friedkin), Paul James (Noah Vickers), Teddy Sears (Blue Eyed Man), Nana Visitor (Olivia Colasanto), Megan Duffy (Claire), Constance Wu (Shawnie), David DeSantos (Agent Baylor), Nayo K. Wallace (Wilson)

End Of The RoadNotes: Guest star John de Lancie is another Star Trek veteran, known to fans as the omnipotent, all-powerful Q, whose appearances covered three Star Trek series from the pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) to an early Deep Space Nine episode (1993) and the final season of Voyager (2001). He co-starred with future Stargate SG-1 star Richard Dean Anderson in Legend, a short-lived UPN steampunk series, and made appearances in Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda and numerous other shows both science fiction and otherwise.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

The Gathering

TorchwoodTwo months after death ends on a widespread scale, the global economy crashes hard. Rex has returned to the CIA, but Esther and Jack are hiding out in Scotland, while Gwen hides her father – still a category 1 who would normally be on the brink of death – from the authorities and resorts to drugstore smash-and-grabs to obtain the drugs needed to keep him comfortable. But Rex has his suspicions that someone within the CIA is sabotaging his attempts to trace the source of the miracle, or find any sign of the three families. Having shaken off his Phi-Corp PR handler, Oswald Danes unexpectedly turns up in Wales, claiming to know the name of the man who caused the miracle. Jack and Esther join Gwen in Wales to hear Danes’ information, only to find that it’s not the useful piece of information they expected – and yet it may reveal more than they think. Esther alerts Rex to their findings, and the team splits up: Jack and Gwen, reluctantly bringing Oswald Danes with them (mainly so Rhys won’t kill him), follow a lead to Shanghai, while Rex and Esther follow a lead to Buenos Ares. Still wounded from being shot escaping from Angelo Colasanto’s mansion, Jack is bleeding – and his blood is leading Torchwood to the source of the miracle.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by John Fay
directed by Guy Ferland
music by Murray Gold and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), The GatheringEve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Lauren Ambrose (Jilly Kitzinger), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), William Thomas (Geraint Cooper), Marina Benedict (Charlotte Willis), John de Lancie (Shapiro), Paul James (Noah Vickers), Teddy Sears (Blue Eyed Man), Frances Fisher (The Mother), Ian Hughes (Finch), Adam Silver (The Young Man), Willis Chung (Chinese Man), Danny Szam (Surveillance Guy), Jesse Wang (Chinese Worker), Gilbert Wynne (Old Man)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 4: Miracle Day Torchwood

The Blood Line

TorchwoodFollowing Jack’s blood, the two Torchwood teams close in on the two locations on the surface of the Earth where the Blessing is exposed. Both locations are heavily guarded by members of the three families who obtained Jack’s blood in the early 20th century, and their influence spreads around the world, with agents within the CIA and the Argentine military. Jack reluctantly allows Rex to bring the resources of the CIA in on the operation, but only on the condition that Torchwood’s presence in Shanghai is kept secret, but this only allows the families to have advance warning of Rex and Esther’s presence in South America. Jack and Gwen confront the families in Shanghai and learns the true nature of the Blessing: it’s a life form that exists beneath Earth’s surface, adjusting a morphic field whose presence Jack has been theorizing since the miracle began and gradually extending the average life span of the human race. By deliberately introducing Jack’s immortal blood to the Blessing, the families have altered the nature of life completely. But Jack has a weapon that can restore mortality the human race: now the last mortal man on the planet, he’s willing to shed his own blood to save humanity. Unknown to Jack, Rex has a secret weapon flowing through his veins as well, unwilling to leave anything to chance. But restoring the human race’s ability to die will have a terrible cost.

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Jane Espenson and Russell T. Davies
story by Russell T. Davies
with thanks to Chris Chibnall
directed by Billy Gierhart
music by Murray Gold and Stu Kennedy

Cast: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Mekhi Phifer (Rex Matheson), Alexa Havins (Esther Drummond), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Bill Pullman (Oswald Danes), Lauren Ambrose (Jilly Kitzinger), Candace Brown (Charlotte Willis), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), William Thomas (Geraint Cooper), Marina Benedict (), Paul James (), John de Lancie (Shapiro), Tom Price (Sgt. Andy Davidson), Teddy Sears (), Frances Fisher (The Mother), Benito Martinez (Captain Santos), Chris Butler (The Cousin), McKenzie Applegate (Girl), Veronica Diaz, Noemi del Rio (Sandra Morales), Fernando Fernandez (Young Male Soldier), Cici Lau (Chinese Woman), Laura Waddell (Cat One Nurse)

The Blood LineNotes: Benito Martinez joins Miracle Day’s other Star Trek veterans; he appeared in the premiere episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s final season, and appeared in Firefly as well. There are numerous callbacks to Russell T. Davies’ era of Doctor Who here, most obviously the “What? What!? What?!?” catchphrase that was common in David Tennant’s season finales. Jack mentions the Doctor, the Silurians and the Racnoss in connection with the Blessing before admitting that he’s speculating wildly.

LogBook entry by Earl Green