By Kenn Gold

Torchwood, the spin-off from the vastly popular Doctor Who franchise, has been described by some as the grown-up version of the Who Universe.  Usually dark, almost always sexually evocative, and at times violent, Torchwood exists in the same world as the Doctor but that is where the similarities end.  Doctor Who producer and two time Hugo nominated Russel T. Davies created Torchwood to be much more than the family fare of the Doctor.  The show has similarities to the US CSI Franchise, and also to X-files and Supernatural, but tends to be totally different than anything else on TV.

Torchwood was first mentioned in Doctor Who’s revitalized series one first part of the two part finale, Bad Wolf, as a question answered by Anne Droid in a futuristic game show.  This arc was also part of the episodes in which Captain Jack, played by John Barrowman, was the Doctor’s second companion, along with Rose.  Just as Bad Wolf had been a word or phrase showing up in odd places throughout Series One, Series Two of Doctor Who would feature quite prominently in Series Two.  The origin of the group involved Queen Victoria forming it to protect England against alien threats, such as the Doctor, and in later episodes we were introduced to a modern day incarnation of the organization that was conducting experiments that were endangering the planet, ala Parting of the Ways.

Though the group that the Series focuses on is yet another incarnation of Torchwood, it shares the history with the overall organization.  Though it does seem to be separate, because we never see the team reporting to anyone.  Though now Captain Jack, who we last saw being resurrected by Rose and trapped at the end of time in Doctor Who series one is the groups leader.  Later episodes of Doctor Who would establish that Jack made his way back through the Cardiff rift to some point in the past, and has been involved with Torchwood that whole time.  And to top it off, he is now immortal and can never die.  The finale of series one of Torchwood merges into an extremely powerful arc leading up to the Doctor Who series three finale, and revealing even more and possibly mind blowing secrets about Jack.  Barrowman plays Captain Jack in Torchwood as a much darker, more serious incarnation than that which we saw in the Doctor Who series.

The initial season of Torchwood begins introducing the viewer to its world through the eyes of Gwen, a Cardiff police women, who begins investigating the team, then eventually joins it as the death of a key member.  The team is often times distrustful, deceitful, and disrespectful of the other members, but Gwen serves to humanize them.  Over the season, each member of the team will do something unexpected and betray either Captain Jack or the other team members in a devastating way.

Season consists of 13 episodes, and John Barrowman’s 3 episode stint on Who bridges the season break.

Episode 1: Everything Changes

 Gwen Cooper is at the scene of a murder when Torchwood shows up.  She sneaks into the upper level of a parking garage and witnesses the team use an alien glove to resurrect and question the murder victim, who dies again after a minute.  As Gwen begins investigating, she is drawn deeper and deeper into Torchwood and eventually joins the team.

Episode 2: Day One

Gwen’s first day on the job as a member of the Torchwood team, and she unwittingly unleases a sex crazed alien, which kills it’s victims as they orgasm.  This leads to a classic Harkness line about one of the victims, that the guy “came and went at the same time”

Episode 3: Ghost Machine

The team recovers an alien artifact that allows the user to witness events from the past.  This allows Owen to witness a murder that happened 40 years ago, and he becomes obsessed with bringing the murderer to justice.

Episode 4: Cyberwoman

Connecting to the Cybermen story from the Doctor Who series two finale, Ianto has been keeping a secret.  His girlfriend was partially converted to a Cyberman, and he has been keeping her in the Torchwood facility, putting the entire team, and the entire planet at risk.

Episode 5: Small World

Jack’s elder friend (who was involved with him previously though now thinks it was his father) has been seeing fairies in her garden.  But these fairies are dangerous and homicidal, and are looking for their next human child to turn into one of their kind.  This episode ends with a choice that Jack makes that led to much criticism in the fan base, but definitely shows Jack’s darker side.

Episode 6: Countrycide

In an episode that reminds one of a modern day horror film, the team is separated from each other, and attacked by something while investigating the disappearances of people in isolated areas..  One of the weaker episodes of the first series, this one teaches a lesson however, that sometimes the scariest things are a bit closer to home than the regular aliens and monsters that are the teams normal fare.

Episode 7: Greeks Bearing Gifts:

Tosh receives a pendant from a strange woman, which gives her the ability to read minds.  And she doesn’t like what the team thinks about her.  The alien who is revealed eventually to be using this pendant and Tosh is of a race introduced here, and which will play a part in the other Doctor Who Spin off featuring The Sarah Jane adventures.

Episode 8:  They keep killing Suzie. 

One of the most disturbing and ghoulish episodes of the series, Suzie returns from the dead, and has an agenda.  She will take Gwen’s life and Gwen will die so that Suzie might live.  Very disturbing, but foreshadowing something very dark on the other side of life, that is moving this way.

Episode 9: Random Shoes

This episode sidelines most of the team, except for Gwen, and tells the story through the eyes of an outsider to the team, who very much wants to contribute.  The ending is a bit of a surprise, and somewhat sappy.

Episode 10: Out of Time

One of the stronger offerings of the series, in which a plane from the early 50’s is sucked into the Cardiff rift and emerges in present day.  Owen finds a romance with the pilot, and we see the consequences for one of the passengers whose entire family is now gone.

Episode 11: Combat

In a few words, Weevil’s Fight Club!  Weevil’s are being taken by someone other than Torchwood, and as the team investigates they discover a unique underground sport.  This is an Owen centric episode, and we learn more about his pain.

Episode 12: Captain Jack Harkness

Captain Jack Harkness and Tosh are transported back through time, and end up meeting the real Captain Jack Harkness, whose name Jack took.  They leave clues in the past for the current day team.

Episode 13: End of Days

One of the best 42 minutes of television ever broadcast, this episode builds closely on the events of the previous.  Jack learns that there is something in the rift, which only he may be able to stop. Meanwhile, the team members make a decision that is a betrayal to Jack but for good reasons.  We get to witness a particularly painful and long death sequence for Jack.  The end of this episode ties directly into Jacks appearance on Who’s third season, and also features an Abidon, the same demon race that the Doctor faced in Impossible planet.