Miracle cures for diabetes and HIV, giant alien bugs and a sinister scientist… its time to call in the new medical officer for UNIT – Martha Jones…
Length 46’20”
First Transmitted
In unedited form at 9:50pm on 13th February 2008, BBC Three.
In edited form at 7pm on Thursday 21st February 2008, BBC Two.
The BBC Three broadcast was immediately after the BBC Two broadcast of Adam and signalled a switch to a BBC Three premier for the remainder of the season.
Guest Cast
Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones); Alan Dale (Copley); Jacqueline Boatswain (Plummer); Jan Anderson (Marie); Rhodri Miles (Billy); Michael Sewell (Mike); John Samuel Worsey (Policeman)
Writer JC Wilsher
Director Ashley Way
Setting
Four days in and around Cardiff.
Did You Spot?
The headline from The Western Mail reading “New Mayor, New Cardiff” featuring Margaret Blaine is displayed on the front door to Torchwood’s lobby area. UNIT, first seen in the 1969 story The Invasion, is mentioned, with Martha being a medical officer. The opening credits are changed for the first time since Day One to include Freema Agyeman’s name. Hints of Martha’s theme can be heard in the music during her examination of the first victim. Although he is not referred to by name, Jack and Martha discuss the Doctor and the plotline of the final three episodes of Doctor Who‘s third series. The clinical trials website is advertising for people aged 55 and over to test a drug that prevents aging – we saw this very same theme in The Lazarus Experiment (2007). Martha goes undercover as Samantha Jones – Sam Jones is the eighth Doctor’s first companion in the range of book published by BBC Books from 1997.
Twisted Reality
There is no Royal Cardiff Infirmary, but there is Cardiff Royal Infirmary, which doubled as Albion Hospital for Toshiko’s first appearance in Doctor Who (2005). Owen uses lasers made by LASAG, which is a genuine laser company. Tosh mentions that another murder victim being found in Heath Park, which is in Cardiff. Martha references the real-life “Student Loans Company”. Trialsportaluk.co.uk is not a registered domain. The plastic bags that Torchwood have with their logo on also have the Tetra Scene Of Crime logo on it – www.tetrasoc.com is a website that sells forensic equipment. Jack apparently was friends with Christopher Isherwood, who was a gay novelist in the 1930-70s. One of the victims, Elin Morgan, lived in the non-existent “Tanners Crescent” in Cardiff. The PHARM uses the term “executive action” for assassinations, as does the CIA. Tosh is walking around with a laptop whose logo has been blatantly covered up.
Love is in the Air
Gwen believes that she and Martha are the only two people on the planet who haven’t slept with Jack. We get confirmation that Jack and Ianto “dabble”. Tosh makes it clear that she would like to go on a date with Owen, who accepts.
If it’s Alien, it’s Ours
Torchwood have a “singularity scalpel” that can concentrate energy on a very fixed point and alter it without affecting what is nearby (or even outside) of the point. Martha wears alien contact lenses that are capable of transmitting video data, as well as receiving text input from a remote location. They operate under an EPR field, that can manipulate data in its range.
Torchwood Shop: Now Open For Business
Torchwood has their logo branded on their test swabs. The Torchwood branded plastic bags are back – this time with the “Tetra Scene of Crime Ltd” logo on the bottom.
To Live and Die in Cardiff
Meredith Roberts was murdered by The PHARM. Marie Thomas, aged 27, dies from the alien parasite that The PHARM is trying to cover up after seeking help for her HIV. Barry Leonard, a student, is found murdered in Heath Park – he visited The PHARM to cure his diabetes. We see three other names in The PHARM’s system (Craig Dalloway, Steven Malcolm, Jonathan Salisbury) in the covert subheading of their records – they probably also did not survive.
Sounds Brilliant
As Martha and Owen examine the Mayfly, Gorillaz’s seventh single (and the first from their second album, Demon Days) Feel Good, Inc, plays.
Quotables
Gwen: Who’d assassinate a student?
Martha: Student Loans Company?
Gwen: Yeah, you’ve cracked it.
Jack: I had a boyfriend whose nostrils flared when HE was lying…
Martha: So, am I right in thinking that you and he…
Ianto: We…dabble.
Martha: Yeah?
Ianto: Yeah.
Martha: So, what’s his dabbling like?
Ianto: Innovative.
Martha: Really?!
Ianto: Bordering on the avant-garde.
Tosh: What did you do with Billy Davis’ body?
Ianto: I was just about to dispose of it, why?
Tosh: I thought of a way to use him to get into The PHARM. Clever, huh?
Ianto: (looking horrified at the computer screen) Oh, you are warped on the inside. How do you think of these things?
Tosh: I’ll take that as a compliment!
Weren’t You In?
Alan Dale was this week’s major casting coup. A New Zealander with dozens of credits to his name, he is best known to genre fans for his appearances in Time Trax (1994), The Lone Gunmen (2001), The X Files (2002), Star Trek Nemesis (2002)and Lost (2006-8). Outside sci-fi he can be seen in Neighbours (1991-2), State Coroner (1997-8), ER (2000-1), 24 (2003-5) and The OC (2003-5).
Unanswered Questions
Why did Jack seem so surprised to find the security guards armed at The PHARM? Where did The PHARM get Reset? Why would The PHARM be advertising for healthy volunteers? On the clinical trials website, why is The PHARM the only listing with a detailed location other than just a geographical one? When the team were discussing who to send into The PHARM undercover, why was there no mention of Tosh, who we know has a medical background? Why is Jack so concerned about letting Martha go into The PHARM when he knows she’s been in worse places and has also saved the world? Does Torchwood have a TetraSOC account to purchase all their forensic equipment? TetraSOC does not seem to offer any private branding services, so who puts the logo on the bag? Since when has Iatno been so well-versed in quantum mechanics that he can make a concise reference to the EPR Paradox? Does Martha have a background in this as well (she understands Ianto’s reference to it)? What is the EPR field, and how can Martha looking at the keypad give Tosh any insight into cracking its code? How does Professor Copley know that Martha has any affiliation with Torchwood? What sort of spray does Ianto use to tame the Weevil? How did Owen know that there was going to be a Mayfly in Billy Davis’ stomach? How many times has Tosh seen Weekend at Bernie’s? How lucky are Torchwood that the security guard didn’t try talking to Davis’ corpse? Why doesn’t Doctor Plummer question the title of “Weevil” for the creature she has been doing experiments on? As far as we knew, that was Torchwood’s name for them. At the end of Combat, we notice that Owen seems to have an inhuman element in himself – now that he’s been killed, could this element return to help save him?
Fuck Ups
There are three clocks behind Ianto in the opening scene – they are both displaying different times. Meredith Roberts, born 11/01/1962, is stated to be age 45 – however every other reference we’ve seen so far suggests that Torchwood series two is set in 2008, which would make him 46 years old. When Marie dies, there are two different angles seen – one with her head tilting towards Martha, and another with her staring straight up at the ceiling. Owen said “We need to turn this place over” in earshot of one of the armed security guards – surely that is not wise. There is a random capitalisation on the website that Ianto sends across to Tosh – “Information on Volunteering”. The PHARM’s website has a typo, “A pioneer in it’s field…” – this is an inappropriate use of an apostrophe. Despite being a couple of days later, Ianto is wearing the same suit when he’s instructing Martha on her mission as the day he met her. Most of the time, when people go undercover, they would keep their first name and change their surname – this is not the case when Torchwood send Martha undercover. When Martha is using the computer at The PHARM, Tosh tells her to “go to network”. We hear her click only once, but she’s already on to the second instruction, which is “firewire”, which does not appear in her field of vision. Martha clicks on “FRW” and is suddenly in “Firewall Ports”. Firewire is a type of connection, and is not involved in networking of any kind. Tosh also types the command after “firewire” as something beginning with “S”, which is probably “stronghold” (displayed at the top of the active window), but the visual instruction is “proxy”. As soon as Martha clicks on Proxy, the word “connect” appears, almost as if Tosh was able to predict the next command. Freema Ageyman makes a pathetic attempt to look as if she’s removing her contact lenses. Jack and Ianto appear to be able to communicate when they’re at The PHARM although neither of them are wearing any obvious communication devices. Also, Jack usually wears a wired earpiece when he’s outside of The Hub, and this time he is not.
Torchwood: Declassified Episode 2.06 (12’28”)
Broadcast BBC Two, Thursday 21st February, 7:50pm, immediately after the edited version of the main episode.
Russell T Davies, John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Ashley Way, Gareth David-Lloyd, Burn Gorman discuss the reintroduction of Martha, the changes she has been through and how she affects the group dynamic.
Discussion turns to the Mayfly, with thoughts from Richard Stokes and Agyeman.
Davies, Barrowman and Agyeman on Alan Dale, with comments from Dale himself.
Owen’s death comes under review by Davies, Agyeman, Stokes, Gorman and Mike Crowley. Gorman and Crowley reveal the secrets of the scene itself.
Site Review by Arthur Penn
Ah, Torchwood begins to trawl the clichéd sci-fi concepts – this week its The Miracle Cure That Has Nasty Side-Effects. So far this new show has managed to sidestep most such plotlines (leaving such overused ideas to Doctor Who – for example The Scientist Who Stops Aging in The Lazarus Experiment) but here it throws itself wholeheartedly into an old idea. And for the most part, it succeeds as an enjoyable watch.
Where Reset fails is in following a run of instant classics (the second through to the fifth episodes inclusive), making this rather fun romp seem somewhat lacking. There’s nothing especially wrong with it, but at the same time there’s nothing that jumps out to make it special, with the exception of those last few thrilling moments that had me gaping at the TV in astonishment (could it be? Did they really? Will he be back? Ohmygod!). The science is a little implausible and the economics unbelievable (a pharma company wanting to cure the worlds ills once and for all? I can see the shareholders loving that idea) but despite this, Reset is still head and shoulders over most of the last two years of Doctor Who, falling somewhere in line with last year’s episodes of Torchwood – a little uncertain but definitely watchable.
Of course, that brings us neatly to the Doctor Who link. I have to admit, I was never a fan of Martha. And this new cocky, arrogant Martha? Even worse. Agyeman is surprisingly engaging and watchable, but the character is just too irritating to really care about. If she’d died at the end I’m not sure I would have mourned as I did for Owen – it’s certainly good to know that we only have two more weeks to put up with her, as right now she’s wasting space amongst the excellent Torchwood regulars, and making bad use of Agyeman’s acting skills which could be better employed elsewhere.
This week seems largely to have been about kickstarting a new story arc for our characters: Grieving Tosh, Owen’s death (and rumoured resurrection) and Martha’s relationship with Jack/Torchwood/UNIT – in that sense I’m sure we’ll look back later and find it to be a valid segment… but taking it out of context it seems like a waste of the format. Fun but forgettable. Next please…
