Torchwood #1: Everything Changes

Torchwood Team; 

• Captain Jack

• Owen

• Tosh

• Ianto

• Suzie

Notable Characters; 

• Gwen- Police member interested in the Torchwood team 

• Andy- Gwen's PC partner

• Weevil- Aliens scavengers fallen through the rift

• Rhys- Gwen's boyfriend 

Detailed Plot; 

Torchwood. The spinoff of Doctor Who, but absolutely brilliant in its own right. Episode one, Everything Changes, was a sublime start to the programme. It is more explicit and has a much more adult oriented aim of an audience, something that can add effect and explore a little further than Doctor Who can, despite it being set in the wonderful city of Cardiff. 

We begin with a crime scene, a man is dead, stabbed and the police are present. The focus immediately is set on one policewomen in particular. Gwen Cooper. With Russel T Davies the writer, it's similar to Rose with the show being introduced through a character the audience can become familiar with. After the police and medical aid immediately evacuate the scene, Gwen is confused, there's someone arriving with special access, people beyond the police. Torchwood. A very familiar name after the Season 28 finale of Doctor Who where Torchwood was in fact Canary Wharf, but that was thought destroyed. And it was. But this was a new Torchwood, and a familiar face was in charge. Captain Jack Harkness. He'd recruited a gang and they were intelligent and of extremely high authority. Gwen was extremely intrigued which I immediately loved. She was spying on the Torchwood group from above, seemingly unnoticed. The reference made by Jack himself to that he wasn't getting pregnant again was very interesting, funny and typical Captain Jack. As this is set between the 28th and 29th seasons of Doctor Who, I guess Captain Jack had found a way back to the 21st century from the aftermath of The Parting of the Ways. 

The Torchwood team had a metal glove, and after a few seconds of it being held against the murder victim's head, he was brought back to life. The dead man was speaking, understandably in shock, to Jack and the gang. But he described how when you die, there was nothing. They seemed to be asking who had murdered him, but he hadn't seen and the time was wasted. Gwen was watching from a balcony above, and Jack knew the whole time as I shouted up to her. 

It was now established that it was a Welsh setting, Cardiff, a city I love in my home country. I'm proud to be Welsh so this was an extremely favourable setting! Gwen arrived home to her partner, Rhys, who we met briefly. 

A typical scene prior to a football match was attended to by Gwen and her PC comrade Andy, a pub brawl. Gwen suffered a head injury and was wounded and dazed. She attended A&E and there at the hospital she caught a glimpse of a running Captain Jack. She chased him, still intrigued by what she had witnessed with the glove. She enters a sealed off area at the top of the hospital, and from a distance an alien figure is seen. Gwen didn't comprehend the existence of the alien being and claimed it to be a man in a mask. 

A hospital worker entered the area, whom Gwen had just spoke to, and gets close to the 'man in the mask.' The alien slaughters him to death in a quite horrific scene. Torchwood immediately spring from out of nowhere and capture the alien. Gwen is escorted out in a rush, but her intrigue isn't over. She sees the Torchwood vehicle leave and she quickly chases in her police car. She was using her police colleagues to search the records for Captain Jack Harkness. No record was in existence after 1941 when he mysteriously vanished. This was referring to his arrival on the TARDIS with the Doctor and Rose in the climax of The Doctor Dances. 

Gwen chases the Torchwood team to Cardiff Bay. She's distracted by a security guard and this allows the team to seemingly vanish around the famous fountain. This just furthered Gwen's intrigue. At this point, I was in love with the point of view being from a beautiful Welsh girl with a proper Welsh accent, what more could I ask for? She enquires at a pizza company for Jack Harkness and then Torchwood. She succeeds and the address is found. She delivers the pizza as part of her investigation.

She is shown through as a secret tunnel way is discovered to her and she enters. She is beneath Cardiff Bay, inside the Torchwood hub. The hand of The Doctor's in a jar is seen and the Torchwood team is united in ignoring her as she confusingly walks around. The team humorously break their silence. Jack seems to like Gwen, and he shows her around the hub and ultimately to the murderer she had previously seen. A pterodactyl was seen to be flying around! 

The alien was named a Weevil, hundreds of them were scouring around the Cardiff sewers, they had fallen through the rift. Gwen was not moved when staring into its eyes, she showed mass courage which I could only admire. We were then introduced, along with Gwen, to the rest of the Torchwood team; Owen, Tosh, Suzie and Ianto. Jack hadn't finished impressing Gwen yet, although she seemed more questionable than admirable. The vortex manipulator was used by Jack to control parts of the hub. Jack accompanied Gwen on a stone like lift directly by the fountain of Cardiff Bay. They were unseen in this spot, a perception filter, which Jack explains extremely scientifically to Gwen that was caused by the TARDIS refuelling in that spot in Boom Town. 

Jack explaining to Gwen in the bar that the 21st century is when everything changes was great making reference to The Christmas Invasion and Doomsday. Although I slightly contradict the views of New Who which spill over into Torchwood with Russell T Davies. Aliens have been coming to Earth throughout the late 20th century and before. Events in The Claws of Axos, The Tenth Planet and The Invasion would hardly have gone unnoticed. There was even news coverage! I don't like how New Who seem to ignore the classic era, and sadly this spills into Torchwood through no fault of its own. 

I liked though how Jack was explaining they weren't here to help those in need. They were scavenging the things aliens leave behind and using them for the benefit of the human race. The Torchwood team track down aliens and confiscate alien technology. Gwen admired the wonderful job. But she would soon forget. Jack had drugged her drink, she'd soon forget everything. Gwen desperately didn't want this to happen so she scrambled to type everything down onto her computer. All this was in vain as Ianto hacked her computer and deleted all the information. Torchwood was wiped from her memory as she fell asleep. 

Despite Jack saying that all alien tech discovered remained in the hub, Owen was seen to have a deodorant that provided immediate lust towards him and Tosh was seen with a tool that brought books to life on her computer. And then there was Suzie, she had the glove and was bringing back flies, certainly unique! 

Despite the amnesia drug, Gwen recognised the devised murder weapon at her police station. She had previously seen it and she recognised the drawing. It was all she could think of, Torchwood, but it wasn't quite clicking for her. She was having flashbacks. She had wrote 'remember' on a Millennium Centre leaflet, she went to the fountain recognising it for something. Suzie was seen standing by, and she had the murder weapon! This was a shocking twist and filled me with suspense, Suzie was the murderer! The knife wouldn't be enough, she'd knew Gwen would put up a fight on the kind words of Jack. He knew Gwen was good and that she'd return. It seemed Suzie was possessed, she loved her job but she became obsessed with the glove. The more she used it she became connected with it. She wanted it to be used for permanent. Death could be wiped out, but she seemed insane. 

Jack quietly enters on the perception filtered lift, but it didn't work on Suzie and she shot him stone dead on the spot! But then a sudden shock soon occurred, Jack got up and his bullet wound healed before Gwen's eyes. Suzie killed herself. Gwen now remembered everything. 

The glove and the knife were locked away within the hub along with the body of Suzie. Jack demanded all the alien tech be returned. It was discovered that Captain Jack could never die, after another reference to The Parting of the Ways. He was looking for the Doctor who may be able to explain it to him and possibly fix it. But for now he was with Torchwood, and he had a job vacancy. He believed Gwen was right, that they could do more to help. Gwen Cooper was hired to Torchwood. This was brilliant, it was similar to how Ian and Barbara adjusted the views of the Doctor when they became his first non-relative companions, now Gwen had changed those of Torchwood. Excellently 

My analysis; 

A wonderful start to Torchwood, the opening episode was sublime and I loved every minute. Some good references to Doctor Who stories but it certainly shows itself to be more than just a spinoff. It's great in its own right. Captain Jack is the leader, a beautiful Welsh girl is hired and they're tracking down alien tech. This is going to be sublime. The twist with Suzie was excellent and Jack's inability die is fantastic. The rest of the team seem good and we'll get to know them well over the next few episodes I'm sure. 

Rating; 10/10, it was marvellous.