Prior to its appearance in the regular series, the Torchwood agency was referred to regularly in the 2005 and 2006 series of Doctor Who. Here’s what we knew prior to October 2006…
The Unquiet Dead
Cardiff. 24th December 1869.
Although Torchwood itself is not referenced, we see a great rift opened by the Gelth through Cardiff, as a prelude to invasion. This is averted by serving girl Gwyneth.
Gwyneth was played by Eve Myles, later to play Gwen Cooper in Torchwood.
Boom Town
Cardiff. September 2006.
Slitheen Margaret Blaine tries to harness the power of the rift left open in 1869, which now runs right by Plas Roald Dahl. The TARDIS, with Jack Harkness onboard, is there to avert it as the crew are using the rift’s energy to recharge the ship. Torchwood Cardiff would later be located here for similar reasons.
Bad Wolf
By 200,100, the Great Cobolt Pyramid is built on the remains of the Torchwood Institute.
The Christmas Invasion
London. 24-25th December, 2006.They have access to a secret weapon used to destroy the Sycorax spacecraft via five locations around London. UNIT (from the original Doctor Who series) appears to be aware of them, as is (surprisingly) Prime Minister Harriet Jones.
The Feast of the Drowned
(Novel, published 3rd April 2006, set between New Earth and School Reunion.)London. Early 2007.
Torchwood receives a brief reference on p179 as Kelper believes they’ll need the organisation to get out of their current situation.
Tooth and Claw
Near Aberdeen, Scotland. 1879.The episode is set at Sir Robert MacLeish’s Torchwood House near Aberdeen, where a werewolf is set upon Queen Victoria. Although she escapes unharmed (although potentially carrying the werewolf virus), she blames the Doctor and Rose for the events that transpired and founds The Torchwood Institute to operate out of the Aberdeen location, with the aim of combating alien menace, particularly the Doctor.
During the week following broadcast, the BBC also launched www.visittorchwood.co.uk, a fake tourist website for the original Torchwood House. This featured information on Sir Robert’s ancestry, and fleshed out information on his father, Sir George, who had built the observatory atop the building. It also confirmed that in 1879 the crown purchased Torchwood House and that in 2006 HRH Prince Charles officially opened an exhibition there, celebrating its rich history.
School Reunion
Deffry Vale, England. 1996.
n the episode’s TARDISode preview, Mickey Smith uses a Cybercafe to investigate UFO sightings in Deffry Vale, but Torchwood blocks his access. He also refers to this in the episode itself.
The Idiot’s Lantern
London. 1-2nd June, 1953.
As an alien attempts to regain her power by sucking the face’s off the people of Britain, the police worry that Torchwood may hear about the situation.
The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit
Sanctuary Base, The Bitter Pill. The Far Future.
An exploration mission has taken place to visit a stable black hole, under the remit of the Torchwood Archive.
Love & Monsters
London. 2007.
Victor Kennedy finds the Torchwood files especially enlightening where the Doctor is concerned – less so for his companion, where the evidence has been corrupted by the Bad Wolf virus (see World War Three, 2005).
Fear Her
Stratford. 28th July, 2012.
BBC reporter Huw Edwards makes a reference to Torchwood on live television.
Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
London. Late 2007.
The Torchwood Institute is finally seen. Headed by Yvonne Hartman, they have begun capturing alien technology and stripping it down for their own use (including a Jathaa Sun Glider, shot down in 1997) – it is based in Canary Wharf, where a radar blind spot 600 feet over London led the tower to be built to reach the anomoly. We learn of the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 in which the Doctor is named as an enemy of the crown. Their science department is headed by Dr Rajesh Singh, who is currently investigating a sphere that has just appeared – which turns out to be Dalek technology. Employees Gareth, Adeola (cousin of Martha Jones, Smith and Jones, 2008)and Matt are converted by Cybermen from the parallel Earth (see below), and both Cybermen and Daleks end up in a battle which ultimately destroys all but the tower itself, and leaving Rose Tyler stuck in the wrong Universe.
Around the time of these episodes’ broadcasts, www.torchwood.org.uk was launched, with an ‘access denied’ message that would remain until the Winter.
We learn more about the Canary Wharf battle in Cyberwoman.
[Parallel Earth]
Rise of the Cybermen: Torchwood is referred to on the IE24 News mobile broadcast, and an employee, Stevie, attends Jackie Tyler’s birthday.
Doomsday: The Torchwood Institute has, by this point, developed the technology to allow a number of people from this Earth to hop into the ‘real’ Universe, followed by the Cybermen. The technology is, however, melting the ice-caps, slowly sending the planet to destruction. Rose Tyler ends up working for Torchwood.
Planned and budgeted for, Rose Tyler: Earth Defence would have continued this story in a series of Bank Holiday specials, but was scrapped before the idea got too far.
