The six members of the Torchwood team have never been in more peril, as a mysterious box is discovered that might just turn Adam’s world upside down…
Length 50’32”
First Transmitted
9:00pm 13th February 2008 (and in edited form at 7pm the day after), BBC Two. This was the last episode of the second series to premier on BBC Two – the remainder would switch back to BBC Three.
Guest Cast
Bryan Dick (Adam); Demetri Goritsas (Jack’s Father); Lauren Ward (Jack’s Mother); Jack Montgomery (Young Jack); Ethan Brooke (Gray); Rhys Meyers (Young Adam); Paul Kasey (Weevil); Jo McLaren (Murdered Woman)
Writer Catherine Tregenna
Director Andy Goddard
Setting
Cardiff, across two nights.
Did You Spot?
Adam is included in shots along with the usual cast during the opening sequence. Owen makes Tosh a sandwich which mirrors the scene in Meat where Tosh made Owen a sandwich – in each case, one desperately fancies the other.
Twisted Reality
Ruckold Street does not exist in Cardiff. Gwen and Rhys are shopping in a Happy Shopper, though no clear visual references to the name of the shop are shown anywhere.
Twisted Fiction
Adam Smith has been working for Torchwood for three years (possibly since the 7th of May) and loves audits. He was born 16/11/1982. He and Tosh have been together for a year in the reality contrived by Adam. Owen is hopelessly in love with Tosh. Ianto is a serial killer – he has strangled three women.
Love is in the Air
Gwen and Rhys met in college, since when she has affectionately referred to him as Rhys the Rant.
If it’s Alien, it’s Ours
Jack has “the best lie detector on the planet”. The box full of sand arrives the same time as Adam – no hint is given as to what its use really is. It is highly charged with “mesons”. Retcon is used once more.
Captain Jack’s Large Weapon
Jack and Tosh both brandish guns. Jack uses Retcon to “kill” Adam.
Torchwood Shop: Now Open for Business
Jack carries in a big branded box at the beginning. There are Torchwood branded plastic bags to hold artefacts. The logo is also etched into the door of a glass cabinet in Jack’s office, as well as on his office windows.
To Live and Die in Cardiff
We see Jack’s father, Mitchell, die during an invasion at the Boeshane Peninsula, along with at least a dozen other locals. Adam dies after Jack uses Retcon to kill his own memories.
Quotables
Tosh: Just what I need – a small rodent staring at me while I’m working. I think I’ll call him Owen.
Rhys: And I thought, I’m going to marry this bloody mad woman, even if it kills me.
Owen: …because, I love you.
Tosh: What?!
Owen: Oh yeah, there we are, I’ve said it. I love you! Yes, I always have, actually. Ever since we started working together, and in fact um, actually, I ache for you. I mean, physically, when you’re in the room I just want to reach out and touch you…
Tosh: Owen…
Owen: No, no, no, I can’t keep the secret anymore. My mum said to me “sieze the day”, so I am seizing it and, you know I’ve got so much LOVE to give you Tosh, and you know, you won’t know that unless I tell you so here I am, telling you that I LOVE YOU!
Adam: Ianto…you alright man? Listen, I could murder a coffee.
Weren’t You In?
Bryan Dick can be seen in Master and Commander (2003), Blackpool (2004), Bleak House (2005) and Sold (2007). Demetri Goritsas is an American-born actor who has made minor appearances in Highlander (1995), Millennium (1998), Thunderbirds (2004) and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) amongst others. Lauren Ward is also American, and can be spotted in In and Out (1997), Series 7: The Contenders (2001) and Broken News (2005).Jo McLaren is best known as a stunt performer who has worked on a large variety of British projects, including Everything Changes.
Unanswered Questions
Why is Owen suddenly wearing glasses – has he suddenly become short sighted or does his normal hip-self wear contacts? We see Adam changing Tosh’s history by adding their relationship to her memories – where does Owen’s jealousy suddenly come from? Did he always have feelings for her? Why is Jack the only one who is seeing visions, and in turn, why is Adam so fixated on Jack? Who was threatening to invade the Boshane Peninsula? What else DOES Ianto write about in his diary? Did Adam join the team after Owen? If so, did Owen REALLY have these feelings for Tosh from when they first started working together, or is it something that Adam forced upon Owen when he altered his memories? Does Tosh not question the lack of photos of her and Adam back at her flat? Has Rhys been sworn to secrecy over the events of the past two days? We don’t see him take any Retcon. When did Jack become a master hypnotist? Why did the Retcon sedative kick in so quickly? We hear Jack being referred to as “son” the entire time we’re in his past – we know Jack’s real name is NOT Jack. If he can have a brother named “Gray”, could Jack’s given name be “Sun”? Or did his parents not refer to him by his real name during all the flashbacks? How does Jack’s memory of Adam become so entwined with the memory of his father that losing one means losing the other? If Jack fell asleep in the vault, then who wiped all the records and CCTV images? Why do they so easily accept the missing two days?
Fuck Ups
Why does everyone accept the Tosh-Adam-Owen love triangle? He only seems to have altered Tosh’s memory, yet everyone else does not question it. The Nokia N90 can NOT be capable of delivering that good a quality video or transmitting live video. The Torchwood surveillance cameras seem to have a good sense of cinematography, zooming in on just the right bits. There is a lot of inconsistency in Tosh’s tears during the hypnotism scene – her face goes from being streaked with tears to fully wet, and back again.
Torchwood: Declassified Episode 2.05 (9’55”)
Broadcast BBC Two, Thursday 13th February, 7:50pm, immediately after the edited version of the main episode.
John Barrowman, Russell T Davies, Bryan Dick, Catherine Tregenna and Andy Goddard explain the Adam character.
Barrowman enthuses about the new information we learn about Jack.
Goddard takes us to the Boeshane Peninsula as Davies explains the design aims.
Ray Holman and Barrowman discuss the costume design for the 51st century.
Richard Stokes, Dick, Demetri Goritsas and Tregenna on Jack’s history.
Davies and Stokes show us the pub used for Jack’s childhood home.
Stokes, Goddard, Gareth David-Lloyd and Davies discuss Ianto’s alleyway fake-flashbacks.
We go behind the scenes on Adam’s death, with commentary from Dick (who also looks at his character’s motivation) and Goddard.
Site Review by Arthur Penn
If you’ll indulge me a moment, I’d like to take some time to tell you about a book I once read. It involved a team being infiltrated by someone who seems to have the power to alter memories, enabling him to pass himself off as one of the regulars. It was a fine book, and has made a fine inspiration for this episode… however, as that book is Torchwood: Border Princes and was published less than a year ago, it seems the show has already begun to run round in circles. When the newer series of Doctor Who began remaking novels and audio dramas around a decade old, it was almost forgiveable – but with around two dozen Torchwood tales across every medium, quite why the need for such an early reimagining is beyond me.
That small flaw aside, this is another wonderful hour of the quality we’ve come to expect from Cath Tregenna, full of comic moments juxtaposed against the tears, and equally with the same excellent use of characters that this season of Torchwood has set as its benchmark. Not a single member of the main cast is wasted, and Adam makes a fascinating addition to the team. A large amount of credit for the believability of the altered history must go to Burn Gorman, who’s geeky version of Owen contains many subtle mannerisms, some taken from Mori’s usual portrayal of Tosh.
Thirty-five minutes of this episode are fun, exciting and watchable… unfortunately the same cannot be same for the fifteen minutes wasted at the Boeshane Peninsula. Jack’s terrible secret seems limited to blaming himself for the death of his brother (with apologies to any of our readers with dead brothers out there – but after 150 years you’d think he’d have come to realise that it wasn’t entirely his fault!) which he spends all too much time crying about, and it’s very hard to reconcile the Jack we know with the idea of a past in this Dune-inspired world with its dusty oranges and whites…
Overall another great segment, just somewhat patchy.
