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Revisting Torchwood
John Barrowman filmed himself re-watching Torchwood and says there should have been “a lot more” of it
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen John Barrowman on our TV screens as Captain Jack Harkness and it seems it’s been a long time since John Barrowman has seen him too because he’s been re-watching Torchwood from the very beginning.
Barrowman shared a series of videos of himself re-watching the Doctor Who spin-off on his official Facebook page, revealing that he’s still a Torchwood fanboy.
Just like quote a few of us so.
But Barrowman also took the opportunity to express his thoughts on the show’s relatively short four series run too.
“I’m sorry, I have to say this, but Russell T was just awesome and, I’m going to speak freely here but there should have been more of this”, said Barrowman of the show, which ran for four series from 2006 to 2011.
“I’m sorry I didn’t revisit this sooner” the actor admitted, “but anyway, I’m going to watch it and continue on being nostalgic.”
Could that nostalgia – about necking pints with Eve Myles and traipsing around Cardiff with the team – spill over into a Torchwood reunion? Only space and time will tell.
https://www.facebook.com/JohnBarrowmanOfficial/
10 Years Ago-Torchwood
Ten years ago, the success of Doctor Who gave birth to the spinoff series Torchwood. After a very rough start, it evolved; while it always had its highs and lows, Torchwood ultimately transformed into something far greater than its troubled beginnings — and it only really did it by cutting its links to Doctor Who.
It was a rough and ugly start, even for this WHO fan.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Torchwood, mainly thanks to the fact that BBC Three — the UK channel aimed at being “trendy” BBC content for teenage audiences which produced the series — recently shut down and moved online, because that’s where “trendy” content pretty much lives now. I reminisced, and rewatched, and remembered how Torchwood slowly evolved from cheesy grittiness into a scifi show that challenged and questioned the genre in some truly satisfying ways.
But good lord, it really did start out rough. Torchwood was originally pitched as an adult side to the family-friendly world of Doctor Who, stories and scenarios that were too gory, sexy, or grim for the cheery Timelord to be part of. However, for all its intent, Torchwood began with anything but a sense of maturity. Instead of telling science fiction for adults, its idea of a mature tone was the fact that a) characters had a lot of sex with each other and b) people said the word “fuck”, gloriously rendered in a multitude of British accents (usually Welsh). It was pretty much uttered in every other sentence.
It’s very Cardiff.
There was nothing adult about it. Instead, it was essentially teenaged — just as a teenager rebels against the cosiness of their family with edginess, Torchwood rebelled against Doctor Who‘s concepts in a similarly “edgy” immaturity. Doctor Who has aliens? Oh, our first alien is a sex-mad alien who kills people by having sex! Doctor Who is about the camaraderie between The Doctor and his companion? Well, Torchwood‘s staff pretty much despise each other, or want to have sex with each other, or both! Doctor Who has iconic monsters like the Cybermen?
I would agree it got off on the wrong foot and that Cyberwoman episode was cringeworthy. But like any difficult birth of a TV Show it was worth the wait if you could wait for them to get past the birthing pains. Some shows do, some shows don’t.
Our Cybermen are sexy ladies with cyber boobs.
For the majority of its first season, Torchwood languished in this false sense of puerile maturity, its connection to Doctor Who a crutch that provided a rich world (and an excellent lead character in John Barrowman’s Jack Harkness) but also cursed Torchwood into a constant attempt to have a naughtier take on every aspect of the fantastical, slightly camp, family-friendly nature of it. But decades of Doctor Who couldn’t be rendered adult by a bit of blood and some heavy cursing — that way madness lies, as does the vast majority of Torchwood season one.
The same, without the sex and language, could be said of the dismal first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation where they were trying to re-invent the wheel.
But then, something changed. Back to back, the first season’s ninth and tenth episodes, “Random Shoes” and “Out of Time,”
2 of the best of the show’s lot. Amazing episodes.
both reflected a change in direction and tone that Torchwood would build upon for the rest of its time, an actual sense of maturity that made it adult drama and set it as a diametric opposite to Doctor Who. (It’s worth noting the episode immediately before them is about one of the Torchwood team members, Owen, getting caught up in an alien fight club, which is even lamer than it sounds.)
And almost got me to stop watching. It’s exactly the kind of episode that made me stop watch the relaunched Battlestar: Galactica.
“Random Shoes” told an intimate tale that revolved around the death of a single young man and the potentially alien artifact he had in his possession almost all his life. It was about the randomness of death, moving on, and the strangeness of Doctor Who‘s strange world, sparked by years of The Doctor’s adventures and the alien natures they left behind. It was a story that could never be told in Doctor Who, where people die left, right, and center every week whenever a monster attacks, with very little time to examine those deaths and their impacts on the normal people around The Doctor and all the corridor-running.
It is one of my favorite Torchwood episodes to date.
“Out of Time” was played with Doctor Who‘s tropes even more, in a deeply sad manner. It dealt with a group of people who find themselves displaced through time from the 1950s into the present day, and how that impacted on both them and the Torchwood team. It looked at the intimate impact of time travel in a way Doctor Who rarely could by its very nature. Suddenly, Torchwood had found a rich vein it could tap into, a niche to make it its own. Instead of taking Doctor Who and its monsters and trying to add violence and swearing to it, Torchwood could intimately examine the world (well, Cardiff) and people that are left behind when The Doctor closes the doors of his TARDIS and flies away.
Naturally, it swung back in the opposite direction for the season finale which featured a giant devil-like demon called Abbaddon stomping around Cardiff city center and killing anyone its shadow fell upon. (This was also even lamer than it sounds.)
But that, in a way, makes my point: Torchwood was at its best when it kept the scale small and as un-Doctor Who as possible. Instead of the world or the galaxy being at stake, Torchwood shone when its plots were personal, when it was just the team or a handful of people in danger. Where death had meaning beyond a bunch of mooks being zapped by the alien of the week, but could be random and catastrophic to the people surrounded by it.
Torchwood‘s second season slowly began to master that balance, and even its lapses into the teenage edginess at times were at least played for laughs rather than as an attempt to actually appear “mature.” It went on from strength to strength, culminating in the death of Owen Harper — a moment I’ve written about before — a tight arc where the major stake that had huge, emotional ramifications for the series was the death of a single man. It wasn’t even an “epic” death or sacrifice, it was one that was random and pointless, and because of that it incredibly tragic — a powerful, poignant moment that Doctor Who character Martha Jones was present for, almost as if symbolically passing the torch from Torchwood‘s progenitor as it moved onto its own path.
After the second season, Torchwood went even further with the third season/miniseries Children of Earth, which cemented the show’s complete tonal difference to Doctor Who by transforming itself into a tense thriller that examined the darkness of humanity in a way the parent show could never truly dive into. Torchwood‘s teenage rebellion was long behind it, replaced with a maturity that made the show must-watch, game-changing science fiction (something it arguably lost in its incredibly disappointing fourth outing, Miracle Day, which traded Torchwood‘s tension and intimacy for grandiose, American-bound global shenanigans with little depth).
But “Children of Earth” is one of the best written, and most chilling and heart-breaking pieces of Science Fiction in these last 10 years.
It was the triumph of the series.
All it took was a realisation that an adult take on Doctor Who needed to be more than a superficial layer of people saying “fuck.” By embracing the limits of being rooted in one place and in one time, and by taking a light to the shadows left unexplored by Doctor Who, Torchwood finally became the adult science fiction series it had always wanted to be. (Gizmodo Australia)
Then it got whacked by the powers-that-be. Typical. 🙂
Chris Chibnall: THE NEW FACE OF WHO
Check out Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who CV (resume to us Americans): http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/23/new-tardis-boss-chris-chibnall-a-closer-look-at-his-doctor-who-stories-5640415/
Chibnallysis!
Bringing with him a wealth of showrunner experience and genuine fanboy credentials, Chibnall is a smart choice; coming as he does off the back of Broadchurch, his biggest success to date. Featuring nearly every actor to have appeared in Doctor Who, the hit ITV drama isn’t the only experience he has of being in charge of a big TV project.
He was previously involved as the de facto showrunner for Russell T Davies Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, which he ran for two series and, crucially for Doctor Who, penned finales for both series and the series 2 opener.
Along with Doctor Who – Chibnall penned 42, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Power of Three – his time wrangling Captain Jack has given him experience of managing various tones and settings; a must for anyone looking to shape the world the Doctor inhabits.
If we were looking for themes to build a series upon, family and domesticity play an important part in most of Chibnall’s episodes – it was Chibnall who introduced Brian, Rory’s father, and took him on an adventure with the Doctor – along with a focus on celebrity historical guest stars like Egyptian Queen Nefertiti in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.
Could this attention towards family and domesticity mean we’re heading back to Russell T Davies era home-life? And, what with the Torchwood connection, will this all be tempered with a darker, watershed baiting edge that’s become familiar under Moffat?
Outside the Doctor Who connection, he also served as a showrunner on ITV crime drama Law and Order: UK, Arthurian drama Camelot for Channel 4; was a producer or writer for BBC 1’s Born and Bred, helped develop Merlin and was the only guest writer to work on both series of Life on Mars.
Then there’s the acclaimed one-off dramas including The Great Train Robbery and United – about the Manchester United Munich air disaster staring the Tenth Doctor himself David Tennant (it’s great, a personal favourite of mine)
And, let’s face it, if nothing else comes from all this experience, Broadchurch has taught him to be discreet.
Without wanted to draw too many conclusions from his past, whatever happens in the future, Chibnall will almost certainly give us something unexpected, something familiar and hopefully, something that builds on past successes.
So what do you think of Chibnall’s appointment? What changes do you want to see under his tenure? What don’t you want to see? What’s your favourite Chibnall episode/drama? (kasterborous)
Year in Review
The Doctor Who Year for me started with Gallifrey One Season 26.
Then it continued in May with my trip to England for the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular Wembley Stadium.
Where there was a bomb scare 2 says prior to the Concert at Wembley. It wasn’t a terrorist attack, it was an unexploded WWII German bomb from the Blitz.
A day trip to Cardiff to see the Capaldi Edition of the Doctor Who Experience.
Just days after getting back from England was Phoenix Comic Con
Then Came Series 9 of the show.
It was one of the best in years.
The Phoenix Fan Fest here in town the same weekend as the Season Finale.
Capped off with the Christmas Special return of River Song.
Overall, a very good year for WHO and me.
2016 will start with a Bang, the weekend after this with New Orleans Comic Con.
| The 11th Doctor, Amy Pond & Clara Oswald Reunite @ Wizard World! |
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Get the New Year off to a good start! 🙂
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Review: Zygon Invasion
As always…
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Ok, now let’s talk.
This episode brought to you by the Turmezistan Tourism Board
Doctor Who has been primarily interested in exploring more universal and more philosophical questions, rather than specifically engaging with our present political and social milieu. And honestly, that’s probably for the best, if the few alternately halfhearted and hamfisted efforts in that direction are any indication (with the one big, big exception of the Torchwood miniseries “Children Of Earth,” which is every bit as dark and bleak and incredible as people say it is).(AV Club)
BUT BE WARNED, THIS GET’S a wee bit POLITICAL at certain points. So the Politically Correct may want to skip this review.
But I have to ask the Zygon’s own question about being themselves. Who is assimilating to whom?
Are the “immigrant” Zygons confirming to us, or are we assimilating to them?
Is it not the least bit curious that Islamic refugees don’t want to settle in OTHER Islamic countries and that Latin immigrants want to have all the rights of Americans without being Americans and The Leftists are only to happy to do so in the name of “compassion” and “diversity” and “tolerance”.
Who’s assimilating to whom?
And anyone who objects must be a racist? or “insensitive”
You see this is the problem with being political in this day and age of Political Correctness.
So let’s move on.
The actual story itself is actually quite good. And this below is a plot point.
The story open with a recap of “The Day of The Doctor” and the Zygon peace treaty.
It breaks down because some Zygons want to be Zygons.
The old 70’s line, “Let Zygons be Zygons” is a real problem here. 🙂
They don’t want to hide in the shadows anymore.
They don’t want to assimilate. They want to dominate and destroy.
They want humanity gone. They want the planet for themselves.
But it isn’t a simple “invasion” in that since, since the “radicals” are merely aggrieved.
Again, I will let this political point go. Move on.
Osgood is the Zygon version but also a “hybrid”. YET Another one! Gee, I smell a series arc point! 🙂
But no one knows except the Doctor, apparently. Or maybe they don’t care because she has her priorities straight.
Oh, and Clara… well, she ain’t an insane Dalek but this was predictable in a way because after all, this episode is a paranoia episode about shape-changing aliens who can now read your mind and take the shape of your love ones so they can kill you.
Clara really should have taken the Doctor’s call.
You should have known though. A pony tail is the sign of the devil. 🙂
Very nasty. Very Dark. Very Scary. Well Done.
With the seventies/eighties line thrown in, this was The Doctor vs. The Brigadier over the use of lethal force, forty years on. As well as explicit political and social parallels set on a modern day Earth with an international perspective. “Isn’t there a solution that doesn’t involve bombing people?”
Fascinating. But this is The Thick of it. Or even Torchwood.
As a global conspiracy thriller this one is top notch.
It is a very good episode over all.
Across both UNIT and the Zygons, the high command, the police cop, the Brigadier, Walsh the drone operator, Osgood, Clara, Jac, the soldier’s mother. every character of power in this episode was presented as female.
(Very Bechdel Test- Politically Correct- but they were good characters, well acted, so I’m ok with it.)
Especially when they are commanders of the Zygon Empire on Earth. Very Men in Black, and yes the Doctor does make this look good with the sonic shades. This was a great scene in so many ways, for the first two thirds we could be convinced that, as often, the Doctor has got it wrong and he is looking like a creep harassing two girls – until they talk back and suddenly we’re all okay with it. (BC)
But it is a trope of Science Fiction so I knew they were the High Command, I just wanted to see if they were going to subvert it or not.
I wonder when Moffatt or Peter Harness figured out there really was a town called Truth or Consequences, NM and I wonder what the stand in was for it.
Poor Kate should have seen that the one person left alive in the town had to be a Zygon. Left there to make sure no one blabs about their “invasion”. And, of course, Zygon Clara, sent her there.
So the Doctor is going to have a hard choice to make next week.
Did the “Osgood Box” look an awful lot like The Moment prop?
I’m sure The Doctor didn’t cared that this peace would breakdown. He was very cavalier about it.
After all, he has had experience with this before.
They are called The Silurians.
A “monster” race that actually are terrestrial but humans and Silurians “aren’t ready” to get along, why would Humans and Zygons be ready, especially as they were forced together in secret?
Assimilation has to a be a mutual marriage of cultures and beliefs. One side does not get to dictate the terms and the other just has to follow no matter what. That imbalance will eventually cause a major problem.
And that’s what we have at the end of this episode. One big honking big problem!
BUT I WILL GIVE THE PROPS FOR THIS:
This morning, a plane crashed in Egypt, killing over two hundred. A more timid broadcaster would have cut the ending of tonight’s episode, or postponed it a week.
Also, Doctor? Stop getting in a plane that keeps getting blown up. 🙂 (BC)
It could have been Buffy all over again (the suicide by gun episode after a mass shooting), or Ralph Hinckley (The Greatest American Hero) became Ralph Hanley because of John Hinckley (and many many more…)
That I will applaud, a good Thriller. Very topical.
As is often the case with the first halves of two-parters, much of what happens tonight ranges from setup to slow burn.
And is much more of Classic Who cliffhanger than we usually see.
The whole story is dependent on Part 2 being a cracker.
So “How will The Doctor Get out This one!”… 🙂
Tune in Next Week. Same Bat Time. Same Bat Channel.
Preview
No Spoilers!
It seems Ashildr has lost her way in the mass confusion of being an immortal for the last 700 years.
That’s a fascinating twist on the whole situation.
The integrity of the person appears to have crumbled, unlike Jack Harkness who was Mr. Over Confidence and became broody over the millenia but remained Jack through it all.
This could be an very interesting episode about the consequences of The Doctor’s Time Lord Victorious II actions in Daneland, an amoral immortal…
“England, 1651. The deadly Highwayman ‘The Nightmare’ and his sidekick stalk the dark streets of London. But when they find loot that’s not of this world, they come face to face with the Doctor. Who is the Nightmare in league with? And can the Doctor avoid the hangman’s noose and protect Earth from a devilish betrayal?”
Ianto Returns!
Audio Producer Big Finish have announced that fan-favourite actor Gareth David-Lloyd will star as Ianto Jones for the second release in a new series of Torchwood Audio Dramas.
Producer James Goss is delighted
Well, how could we not? Ianto’s such a brilliant character, and if we kept people on tenterhooks any longer, we’d be fools. Of course he’s in it and as soon as possible. We recorded with him literally the first day after he finished a theatre tour. Did he want to put his feet up? Nope. He wanted to be Ianto.
David-Lloyd appeared throughout the first three series of the TV verion of Torchwood, created by Russell T Davies. A mild-mannered administrator for the Torchwood team, Ianto helped defend Cardiff from the horrors of the rift, and aided the Tenth Doctor in a battle against the Daleks in two episodes of Doctor Who.
Ianto made his final TV appearance in the 2009 mini-series Children of Earth, but his popularity and legacy has stood the test of time, with a special commemorative memorial for the character erected in Cardiff Bay. The character’s last outing was in a BBC Radio Play The House of the Dead part of the Torchwood: The Lost Files series broadcast in 2011.
The character will return in Fall To Earth, following on from John Barrowman‘s return as Captain Jack Harkness in the opening instalment, The Conspiracy.
Director Scott Handcock spoke about the recording
Seeing Gareth in studio was an absolute delight. He clearly loves the part and had a great time. And can’t wait to be back.
The new story will be released in October, allowing for an unbroken run of stories from September. Four more releases will follow at monthly intervals through 2016.
James Goss explained the timetable
There was originally going to be a gap after the first release, but we soon realised that everyone we spoke to was being so helpful, we’d be in studio a lot earlier. Actors, writers, agents, BBC Worldwide have all been amazing. So it’s coming out early.
Torchwood: Fall To Earth will be released in October.
Let Me know what you think…
This was a panel idea that has been rejected twice by Phoenix Comic Con and I’m pretty sure it’s just “too geeky” too much classical Doctor Who and just not “mainstream enough” though no one has actually said anything of the sort. Or it could just be a crap idea… 🙂
It was created as a sort Villains panel but with the twist that the villains were going to present themselves as “good guys” and by default rag on the real Defenders of the Earth.:)
I still like it but the idea has been abandoned. (Pictures added).
Earth’s Defenders -Phoenix Comic Con 2014
Draft 1.2
Presenter Dressed as The Doctor (anyone else dressed “heroically”)
“Greetings Human, I am <Host Name>, I come to you today in disguise. I am in fact a horrible ‘monster’ as you would know it. But since neither The BBC or this Convention can afford the budget to show me as I really am I will endeavor to proceed in this manner. I am here to talk to you about the Earth. This supposedly insignificant blue-girl planet on the outer spiral of what you call the Milky Way Galaxy.”
“The number of times we have tried to conquer this planet and been thwarted throughout time is maddening and I am here discuss this with you today.”
“To Discuss Earth’s Defenders. But first a little background on the good my friends have done for your pathetic little race.”
The Fendahl
<<Image of the Fendahl clip>>
A very human looking skull that survived the Time Lords onslaught to their own planet, a Planet that used to be the Fifth Planet in this very Solar System. It arrived on this planet 12 Million years ago and its psychic power set about to influence the planet so that one day it’s Fendaleen could gather and bring about the resurrection of it’s species.
Why is a strong survival instinct bad, eh?
The Daemons
<<picture or video or both>>
They came to Earth and gave you the rich mythological traditions of The Devil, gargoyles and the Underworld. They scared you straight mankind. They were the monsters under the bed, and I’m not talking about any Clockwork Androids either or Krop Tor Beasts!
Scaroth of The Jagaroth
<<City of Death>>
Came to Earth even earlier, 400 million years ago, His ship damaged in a great battle that took place before life even had evolved on this planet! A mighty empire.
His ship exploded and 12 versions of himself were scattered across time and they added man in creating Fire, building Rome, and so much more.
Ok, so it was a bit self-serving of him that in the end all he wanted to do was stop himself from exploding, and that would have snuffed out the candle of life on this planet. Who is to say it wouldn’t have evolved from another source at a later time anyhow.
Time can be rewritten you know!
I mean the Silurians evolved before man, on this very planet. They were a might force on this planet. Ok, so the whole moon thing was a giant screw-up on their part, but to date Humans and Silurians still haven’t gotten along.
But one of their kind did inspire the writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1800’s.
<<Paternoster Gang>>
There was the splinter group from the The Silence that came to Earth and help mankind develop. True, it was to help them out, but hey isn’t that cattle are for?
They were only preparing their main meal, the Destruction of the Biggest Defender of Earth of all, The Doctor.
But they couldn’t do that right. I mean really, get yourself entrenched in Earth’s development also. I mean how many cooks do we have in this kitchen!
They try and raise an assassin on this world and that goes completely to hell.
<<picture River Song>>
I mean she does manage to kill him in Nazi Germany, but then goes all soft and brings him back to life!
What does it take to kill that guy for good!
But more on him later.
Let’s Talk Torchwood.
<<Standard Cast Shot Picture>>
Founded in 1879 by Queen Victoria, after her encounter with The Doctor.
As long as you did go nuts and try and take over the world you might even be able to holiday on Earth in those days. The World’s Fair was always my favorite.
But then after over a 100 years of mostly tracking and suppressing Aliens with underling Capt. Jack Harkness now in charge they kept defeating the Aliens that came to Earth. Ok, so THEY were trying to take over or rule creations or some such thing.
It happens.
Then we have Sarah Jane Smith, a companion of several Doctors, a protégé even you might say.
<<Sarah Jane Cast Shot>>
Do you know how embarrassing it is to us to be beaten by an old age pensioner and some kids! I mean really…It makes you a laughing stock.
Sonic Lipstick! I mean really. It make you cry.
So avoid Earth in the late 20th, early 21st Century, it’s a breeding ground for this sort of thing.
At least in the 22nd Century the Daleks did conquer the Earth, only to be thwarted by The Doctor,again more on that later.
Then There’s UNIT.
The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.
<<UNIT Logo>>
Created in the late 1960’s this was military unit headed up by Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, now here is Earth Mightiest Defender that is actually Human!
Ok, so he has a thing for bullets that don’t really hurt us very often. But man can he do it in style.
<<Chap with wings five rounds rapid clip>>
Along with his trusty underlings, Capt. Mike Yates and Sargent Benton.
<<picture>>
Oh, ok, and there “Science Advisor”, Dr. John Smith
<<Pertwee Pic>>
Also known as The Doctor, who is Earth Greatest Defender!
<<Tennant: It is Defended>>
I had dinner once with that Sycorax Leader once on the 3rd Moon of Poosh with Dorian Maldovar. Very nice little café. But they did stiff me for the check…
But I digress…
Why a Time Lord, with all of Time and Space to command is so interested in you lot is hard to figure. But many of my friends have sure tried to find out.
<<Various Alien Invasions, incl Noah from “Ark in Space”>>
I just don’t get it.
<<Cosplayer as The Doctor Shows up with Sonic Screwdriver>>
Well, Gotta Go…
The Ianto Jone Memorial Still Stands
For those who don’t know or never seen it, The Ianto Jones Memorial wall is located on the dock walkways of Cardiff Bay in the restaurant district called Mermaid Quay.
It has been official blessed by the City for years.
Wales Online: We’ve all seen the shrine down the Bay, and now, six years after his on-screen death, we look at how Ianto Jones touched fans’ hearts
My own pics from my 2015 visit (I saw it first in 2012):
Who would have thought that a fictitious character from a Cardiff-based sci-fi show could have meant so much to people.
But a shrine in honour of Torchwood’s Ianto Jones is still going strong today, six years after his on-screen death.
I remember seeing the shrine for myself not long after the episode in which Gareth David-Llloyd’s character dies in Captain Jack Harkness’ arms in a shock episode of the popular Doctor Who spin-off series.
I was actually taken aback by the out pouring of public emotion which the programme and its creator Russell T. Davies had tapped into.
Ever since Russell’s Who reboot the Swansea-born writer’s touch had garnered a Midas-like quality.
Everything he lent his name to turned to gold, and by the time the third series of Torchwood returned to our screens in July 2009 – taking up residency in BBC One’s prime-time viewing slot – it just seemed so much bigger.
The show even took on a dangerous, ‘anything can happen’ edge, with our ET-battling heroes taking on the might of sinister beings, the 456.
And it was clear when Ianto took his final breath that no one on the show was safe.
Unbeknownst to the city of Cardiff, however. its landscape would be forever changed.
The next day fans paid their respect to Torchwood Three’s teaboy, and even now people come from all over the world to add trinkets, pictures to what has become a recognised shrine at the Institute’s former base in Cardiff Bay.
Not long after the five-part series ended, there were a number of fan campaigns trying to save the character, Russell T Davies stood his ground and Ianto remained dead up until and during Torchwood’s final (so far) installment, 2011’s Miracle Day.
So, thank you Ianto Jones, for uniting people in their grief, and bringing them to Cardiff.
Then the Doctor Who Experience is only a 5 minute walk from there. 🙂
Ten Years of Jack
Incredibly it was TEN years ago (yesterday May 21st) that time agent Captain Jack Harkness joined Doctor Who.
At the time, he hooked up with Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston in World War II London, as they fought off some mummy-needing gas mask zombies.
Since then John Barrowman has popped up now and again to team up with the Doctor (though, sadly, his last appearance was David Tennant’s finale The End of Time in 2010), and here are some of his best bits that prove what a Doctor Who legend the Captain is.
‘Excellent bottom!’
With New Who brought a certain sexual swagger and confidence and this was displayed uncategorically when Jack set his eyes upon Rose swinging above London on a rope in his first moments.
And, just to prove he was all about equal opportunities, he told his fellow army chum Algy, ‘you’ve got an excellent bottom too.’
Erection joke
Proving just how much Doctor Who had changed since the classic era, the Series One finale saw naughty Jack get completely naked and then reference his own wang – ‘Your viewing figures just went up!’ he cooed at robot versions of fashionistas Trinny and Susannah.
Sadly, for the audience, the BBC cut a scene feature Barrowman’s sumptuous bare buttocks. The cheek of it.
Top Shop fan
In the same story with Ninth Doctor and Rose, Captain Jack revealed to the aforementioned robots that his ‘design classic’ denim was purchased in Top Shop. Wait ’til he discovers H&M.
Face of Boe
In a surprising turn of events, handsome Jack regaled the Tenth Doctor and Martha with tales from his times as a poster boy – where he was known as the ‘Face of Boe.’
Earlier that series, the couple had watched the Face of Boe die on New Earth (after mysteriously telling the Time Lord, ‘You are not alone.’) Text book enigmatic.
Drinking a Martini in the face of death
After helping save the world with Doctor and Rose in The Doctor Dances, Captain Jack faced certain death within minutes on his ship.
Ever the gentleman, he sits back and initiates ’emergency protocol four one seven’ – a Martini.
(Thankfully, of course, his chums had other plans and came back for him.)
Dirty Boy
Despite facing an Dalek onslaught and the might of Davros in the Series Four finale Journey’s End, Jack still had time to coolly contemplate life with three Doctors (two David Tennants and one Catherine Tate).
Wonder what he was thinking…?
Dalek Death (sort of)
Often underestimated for his bravery (as displayed upwards in this list), Jack was party of the small army the Ninth Doctor assembled to battle the Daleks in 2005’s Parting of the Ways.
Sadly for Harkness, this was to be his last battle. When out of ammo and face to face with the deadly pepper pots and their cry of ‘EX-TER-MIN-ATE!’, he calmly retorted, ‘I kind of figured that.’
And then was blasted in the face by the mad little tanks.
Hugging the TARDIS
Brave. Brave and and just a little bit mad.
The former Time Agent’s first return to Doctor Who in 2007’s phenomenal episode Utopia (which also saw the return of The Master) was a doozy.
Upon hearing the sound of the TARDIS in Cardiff Bay (near his place of work, Torchwood), Harkness raced to meet the Doctor only to be met with a dematerializing TARDIS.
This is nothing to a man who can’t die, and jumped on and braved traveling throughout the time vortex unprotected. Classic Jack.
MY Doctor Who 