A hit-and-run victim, Eugene, was a bit of a nobody, and always convinced that aliens were coming to Earth, specifically to retrieve technology in his possession. Now Gwen finds herself drawn into his world and realises Eugene may still be helping her locate the ‘aliens’ – despite him being dead.
Originally Titled Invisible Eugene
Length 48’50”
First Transmitted
10pm, 10th December 2006, BBC Three and BBC HD; 9 pm, 13th December 2006, BBC Two
Guest Cast
Paul Chequer (Eugene [Jones]); Luke Bromley (Young Eugene [Jones]); Nicola Duffett (Bronwen Jones); Roger Ashton-Griffiths (Mr Garrett); Steven Meo (Josh); Celyn Jones (Gary); Robyn Issac (Linda); Gareth Potter (Shaun Jones); Joshua Hughes (Terry Jones); Amy Starling (Waitress); Leroy Liburd (Café Owner); Ryan Chappell (Pete)
Writer Jacquetta May
Director James Erskine
Setting
Cardiff, and Aberystwyth University Science and History Museum., across four days, though the events leading up to Eugene’s death are covered, covering “a couple of weeks” (according to Eugene when they visit Passmore Telesales). We are given no clues as to the day of Eugene’s funeral either. We see a flashback of 1992 when Eugene’s father left, but an inference was made later that his father left 14 years ago (Eugene says that he’s fourteen years too late) – this does not coincide with other clues that the series is set in 2007. The “Black Holes and the Uncertainty Principle” flyer indicates that the forum takes place on “Thursday 27th, 7:30pm” – This would narrow the month down to either September or December 2007 (or possibly April or July 2006; March or November 2008; or August 2009). Eugene died on a Saturday morning.
Did You Spot?
Jack plays with the bolt gun, from the Torchwood Archive, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit (2006), in the evening after the autopsy.
Twisted Reality
Tosh uses the acronym “RTA”, a standard police term for road traffic accidents that came into practice after concerns over emotive words such as “crash”. Owen refers to Gwen having “a Disney moment”, based on the more emotive moments of the movies made by the giant entertainment company. Eugene’s local café is Ramones, in the Cathays area of Cardiff – nowhere near his house or, indeed, any video stores. eBay has a policy that you can’t sell body parts. eBay has a further policy that any item that reaches £3000.01 can only receive bids in minimum increments of £100, meaning that if the item reached £15,000, no one could actually only bid £5.50 more (and on that note, there had to have been two other bidders to get it up from Josh’s £3000 to £15000 in one go). eBay currently does not auto-refresh. Terry angrily points out that his Dad isn’t Superman, the comic book character created in 1938. There is no Filey Road in Cardiff., but the A48 does exist. The Happy Cook is a rebranded Little Chef restaurant. Owen is again spotted wearing his Sudaca t-shirt (see Greeks Bearing Gifts).
Love is in the Air
Eugene is in love with Gwen, and finally gets a posthumous kiss from her. Gwen and Owen argue a bit – are they still sleeping together? Josh rather desperately flirts with Gwen in the video store.
If it’s Alien, it’s Ours
Eugene’s eye artefact, later confirmed by Jack to be a “Dogon sixth eye”. Eugene recognises one of Torchwood’s collection as the head of Exim XI but not the Doctor’s hand, which makes a return appearance.
Captain Jack’s Large Weapon
For the second time in the series, not a single member of Torchwood brandishes a weapon, last time being Small Worlds. If anything, the car and the banana milkshake are the closest items that anyone comes to using offensively – the former by accident, and the latter to make Eugene regurgitate the eye.
Torchwood Shop: Now Open for Business
This week, Torchwood seems to have its own T-festooned evidence bags.
Cymru am Byth
Police cars this week have the Heddlu translation. The science museum had ‘Dewiswch Chi!’ (You choose!) translated on the display cases.
To Live and Die in Cardiff
Eugene Jones died after being struck by a car in a hit-and-run accident.
Sounds Brilliant
As Eugene’s father leaves, Eugene hears David Bowie’s ‘Starman’ in his head, the 1972 single from his fifth album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. After the autopsy, as Eugene is getting used to being dead, ‘Hope There’s Someone’, the titular track from Anthony and the Johnson’s second EP, from 2004. Eugene’s father sings the Irish folk song ‘Danny Boy’.
Quotables
“Calm…stick with the team. This is Torchwood. It’s gonna be ok.” – Eugene
“Something seems really odd. I mean I just…I just feel that there’s something going on” – Gwen “Marvellous. Thank you for that Disney moment. Now, who’s making the tea?” – Owen
“Yeah well I suppose Eugene’s a bit odd, and a real local and amateur for you Owen” – Gwen
“Now why is it that only Gwen seems to have a heart? Yeah, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the rest of us are human, and amazingly we still manage to get on with our jobs.” – Owen
“Ok you two!” – Jack
“Ok fine, leave it. Forget it. I have.” – Gwen
“By rights I should be well pissed off. My mates had cheated on me and I didn’t get to meet any aliens. But I realised that when I swallowed the eye at the Happy Cook, I was given a chance, to look back on my life and see it for what it really was.” – Eugene
“The average life is full of near misses and absolute hits. Of great love and small disasters. It’s made up of banana milkshakes, loft insulation and random shoes. It’s dead ordinary and truly, truly amazing. What you’ve got to realise is, it’s all here and now…so breathe deep and swallow it whole. Because take it from me – life just whizzes by and then all of a sudden, it’s…” – Eugene
Weren’t You In?
Paul Chequer recently starred as Nathan in the miniseries Sinchronicity (2006). Nicola Duffett played Catriona ‘Cat’ MacKenzie in Family Affairs (1998-2005), and Bates in Eastenders. Steven Meo plays Grant in Grownups (2006) and played Owen James in three series of Belonging (2000-2002). Celyn Jones played Snickers in Lassie (2005), and Mr Steve Green in he series Grange Hill (2003-2004).
Unanswered Questions
Why is Torchwood investigating Eugene’s death? There is nothing on the scene to suggest alien involvement and it’s hardly likely that the police call Torchwood in on every death. Why wasn’t Owen on the scene of Eugene’s death with the rest of the team? Why does Gwen assume she’s talking to Eugene’s mother on the phone – she doesn’t look at the phone to see who the incoming call is from (neither does Tosh for that matter)? Why does no-one try taking the passenger seat next to Gwen in the Torchwood van? Was Eugene’s father really that upset, or was this Eugene’s memories (clearly his failure was a trigger for a final argument between the senior Joneses, but he seems to take it rather seriously in the flashbacks we see)? How did Eugene have such extensive knowledge of how to research where the eye may have come from? (Life form/galaxy/planetary escape velocity, etc…) How did Eugene discover Torchwood to be able to approach them about the eye? Furthermore, how was he able to turn up at several scenes of crimes where Torchwood was investigating – did he just have very good timing to keep running into them? Who delivered Eugene’s body to Torchwood? Where would Eugene have had his alien currency authenticated? How would Gwen have the know-how to even attempt to do an autopsy on Eugene, even to try to impress Owen? Tosh points out that there was no alien involvement in Eugene’s situation – so why was Torchwood summoned to the scene of the accident? After the autopsy, did Eugene walk back from Torchwood to his Mum’s house? Why would Owen’s monitors go directly to the screensaver immediately after ejecting a DVD? Why does Josh pretend not to know Eugene? Even after the full story comes out, he didn’t actually cause Eugene’s death, therefore shouldn’t have anything to hide. Josh’s video store seems to have a large collection of Friends episodes on VHS – just how retro is this place? Are police (or Torchwood for that matter) in the habit of using public funds to pay off overdue video tabs? If Gary seemed to know certain that Eugene was dead, why was Linda still was unsure it was true? Why was Terry so blasé about Eugene’s death? Jack says that sixth-eyes are in demand – by whom? Humans or aliens? Why would Gary go to a talk he was planning on going to with his best friend only a few days after his best friend dies? He obviously feels some guilt over Eugene’s death, but why does he try to run away from Gwen? Why does Eugene take pictures of the shoes at that moment? Had Terry ever met his father before? How did no one notice that Gwen was in the middle of the road when the car passed? Shocking though it was, why did none of his family try to come up to talk to Eugene?
Fuck Ups
In the first broadcast, the BBC3 digital onscreen graphic was accidentally replaced with the CBBC one for the opening six minutes. How does Eugene have an English accent when his family all have Welsh ones? He doesn’t appear to have ever left home, which may have altered his accent. Eugene doesn’t have presence enough to cast a refection in the mirror, but he appears to be able to cast a shadow. Furthermore, if Eugene has no physical presence when his hand passes through Tosh, how can he “sit” in the Torchwood van? Passmore seems to be a regular Telesales company (with numbers on each desk to assist with Hotdesking), and yet almost every single desk seems to have a unique report pinned to it. Why does Eugene’s computer at desk 50 appear to be logged in – even if someone else had been assigned to that desk within one morning where are they when Gwen sits down? Linda has managed to change her hair from very dark brown to a strawberry blonde in the last couple of weeks – what kind of hair products is she using? If Eugene expects to make a lot of money from his alien artefact, why is his standard postage £3.50 for 1st class? Recorded delivery surely! The early-90s VHS camcorder (which from the looks of it takes Hi-8 videos) seems to have DVD resolution. Jack saying “I’ve got work to do” wasn’t in synch with the video. We are lead to believe that Gwen has gone to the Science and History Museum for the talk advertised in the flyer she was holding – however, the flyer says the talk is on Thursday. Jack tells Gwen that she has the weekend to investigate Eugene’s case. If she didn’t actually show up for the talk, then why was Gary there? Alternatively, they both showed up for the talk, but the date on the flyer was wrong/didn’t coincide with the timeframe we have been given. How is Eugene able to make Gwen’s hair move with his breath? Eugene would never have been able to capture those images so quickly – most phones will ask you to save the pictures before allowing you to take another. Eugene would have most likely choked on the eye when trying to swallow it. If Eugene’s dad was a night clerk as Terry said, why would Gwen be able to reach him at work in the afternoon? And, Gwen just says “Mr Jones…” to the first person that picks up – how does she know he’s the one that answered the phone? Eugene is scratching his ear when on the road, and then not when he turns to face the car. Given the angle the car hits him at, he wouldn’t have bounced off in the direction he did – he should have landed in the middle of the road. The eye appeared to be glass but it made a sound of a rubber ball when it hit the sewer grate.
Torchwood: Declassifed Episode 9 (Length: 10’17”)
Broadcast BBC Three, Monday 11th November, 1:40am.
Eve Myles, Julie Gardner and Paul Chequer kick off this story by highlighting its differences.
James Erskine and Richard Stokes talk about the challenges that faced them and the actors, Myles about reacting to Chequer and Chequer about being reacted to.
Erskine and Stokes cover Eugene’s growing ability to interact with the other characters and the lack of special effects.
Erskine and stunt co-ordinator Rod Woodruff discuss the stunt of Eugene’s death and how it was achieved.
Russell T Davies on the character of Eugene, Myles says “I like geeks… geeks are cool” (and instantly is adored by fandom) and Gardner talks of his love for Gwen.
John Barrowman, Gardner and Davies preview the following episode.
Site Review by Rob Tizzard
After the firey explosion of last weeks episode, this weeks is a stark contrast in every way. A lot of light and colour, and the story is very much not about one of the team as such. Also, as last weeks looked at death from a dark place, this one flips the coin. It would be very easy for fans of Doctor Who to draw parrallels with Love & Monsters, but after a while this story reminded me much more of the film It’s A Wonderful Life.
It’s about the little people, specifically a happy-go-lucky guy who actually considered himself a bit of a failure, something I found disturbingly easy to relate to. But strange circumstances complete the gaps in his life before he finally moves on. He was well thought of by his friends, his dad was just like him deep down and the girl he admired from afar could have loved him. I so wanted him to live at the end and almost thought he would, clever trick.
It’s evident from early on that last weeks events have brought Gwen back down to Earth a little. She’s ended things with Owen after Suzie’s revelation and her obsession with discovering the boy’s story exposes something missing in her relationship with Rhys. My faith in her and fondness for the character have been restored.
I loved the use of music in this episode, some great stuff used and a welcome change from the generic incidental stuff, which was still evident. The mysteries in each story are also annoyingly dragged on a bit too much without any real clues until an overly-discriptive exposure at the end, except here where the eye’s origin and real properties are absent. I suspect they are being saved for another time…
Reader Reviews
I suppose I was being naive when I thought that with a large central cast, Torchwood wouldn’t need to produce such an obvious ‘double banker’ episode. Unfortunately, this seems not to be the case, and although Random Shoes is diverting and enjoyable, it really does feel like the foot has been taken off the gas, and the episode is not as strong as it might have been had it focused on, say, Gwen more strongly than on ‘single episode star’ Paul Chequer as Eugene. I realise that to get the episodes in on schedule, Doctor Who has to resort to the sidestep of focusing on an ancilliary character for one week in each series, but with five regular cast members, surely it’s quite straightforward to juggle the episodes so that all of them feature two or three of the Torchwood personnel strongly?
As I said, despite this, Random Shoes is entertaining, but is rather let down by Paul Chequer’s slightly weak performance. For a start, Eugene was clearly born and brought up in South Wales, born of Welsh parents, so why does he sound like he’s just stepped off the EastEnders set? He doesn’t quite nail it all in the way that Marc Warren did in Doctor Who’s Series 2 double-banked episode, Love and Monsters. As the performer who has to carry the bulk of the episode and be its focus, Chequer really had to convince, and sadly, he didn’t
The premise was fun and intriguing: how could it be that Eugene seems to have survived (in some form) a clearly fatal road accident? It keeps the attention pretty well for the duration of the episode, but it certainly felt to me that this mildly whimsical tale would have worked far better in modern Doctor Who.
In Torchwood, which has been becoming increasingly grim and tough, it somehow seemed out of place. In all, a disappointing episode, that while perfectly watchable, could be seen as an unnecessary diversion from the cut and thrust of Torchwood’s world. I hope BBC Wales can plan Series 2 without need to recourse to double-bank disappointment.
Alan Hayes
