Doctor Who Club of Australia

Greg · Last edited by Greg on Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:37 am; edited 2 times in total

Otherwise known as the secret origin of Torchwood Cardiff.

Within a framing device, that leads into the season finale, we get to see how Jack, Tosh, Ianto and Owen became members of Torchwood Cardiff - and how Jack became the person in charge.

Generally some good background for each of the four, although I have some difficulty in joining up the Owen of the flashback with the Owen of series 1 - it must have been a very severe response to the events to have him acting so completely at odds with this earlier life (although I suppose 4 years can make a big difference).

There's also some difficulty in fitting in Tosh's appearance in Aliens of London, which worries me less. I never found the Dr Sato of that story to be a smooth fit with the Toshiko Sato of Torchwood, so if that's been jettisoned that OK with me.

I was concerned that the whole exercise would forget Suzie, so I was glad when she got a name-check. It would have been nice to have seen her, but the style of the vignettes didn't really fit with that - plus, having the actress (Indira Varma) back in for a 5 second appearance may have been problematic.

As an episode that answers a few questions that have been lying around since the series started, it's a good thing. As the penultimate episode of the season, well... maybe it could have been better off at the start.

For those who saw the previews at the end of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, you won't be surprised by who makes an appearance at the end and lets us know what the basic concept of next episode will be. It also looks like it will be paying off on at least one of the plot threads that has been running through this season...

Overall, light but informative.

meglos · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 670 Location: Perth

Good to get some background info on the team and also a nice little lead-in to the finale. Can't wait!

Greg · Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:55 pm Post subject:

meglos · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 670 Location: Perth

Cheers Greg. I actually did forget about that Smile

Panecea · Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:26 pm Post subject:

I felt this epsiode was handled masterfully and worth more credit than it has been given thus far. The transition from character to character was coherent and concise.

It was refreshing to see a true depiction of the sentimental aspect of Owen's personality.

Greg, I am not sure if I agree with your observation about Toshiko in Aliens of London. In both this episode of Torchwood and that episode of Doctor Who we only see small portions of Ms. Sato's life relevant to the respective episodes in each series.

I was surpirsed she constructed a crude version of the main component of the sonic screwdriver, though.

I like the fact that you get to see where Jack met the card reader, she must be extremely old.

The end of this episode is definitely worth seeing.

Panecea · Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject:

Theta Sigma · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 4463

Excellent writing from Chris Chibnall.
As a result of a trap we get to find out how Jack, Tosh, Ianto and Owen got to work for Torchwood Cardiff through flashbacks. So it was very plot convenient that Gwen just happened to oversleep since the story of her joining Torchwood was already told in the series' first episode Everything Changes.
I found this episode to be similar to the Firefly episode Out of Gas as well as Lost.
I love Jack's reaction on seeing Rhys at the site of the warehouse.
Very disturbing moment upon seeing Katie's brain.
Quite a surprise return of Captain John Hart at the end leading to the season 2 finale.

montypython · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject:

I thought this was a great way to fill in all the gaps. Since Gwen got a whole episode devoted to her joining Torchwood, it seemed only fair that the others get some time as well.

It is explained in the Doctor Who Encyclopedia that in Aliens of London, Toshiko is working undercover for Torchwood.

Loved Jack's sideburns Cool

I thought Owen would have been a bit more damaged by the explosion...

Great set-up for the finale!

Greg · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:04 am Post subject:

I'm reading The Writer's Tale, and in it RTD mentions that they had wanted to include Suzie in series 2 of Torchwood, but that the pregnancy of Indira Varma was a complicating factor.

So, at least they gave it consideration...

montypython · Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:03 am Post subject:

So, I'm trying to figure out Owen's personality here. I'd figured that since Katie died, he became a bastard. But he said in Adam that his mother kicked him out etc., which implies that he'd always been a bastard. So is it that he was always a bastard, but Katie made him not a bastard anymore, so after she died he became a bastard again?
That is of course barring Series Two, in which he becomes less of a bastard...