Torchwood: Miracle Day (blu-ray review).
Although not noted as such, ‘Torchwood: Miracle Day’ is actually its fourth season, released in 2011. This time, the BBC had financial support from America, so a large proportion of this story was made there, although starting in Wales. As I reviewed the story nearly 14 years back, this review is focusing on the extras content. The story still holds up, by the way.
The extra on disc # 1 is 9 minutes on ‘Character Profiles’, principally of Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Rex Matheson, Oswald Danes and Rhys Cooper. Oddly, you would have expected Ester Drummond to have been covered. Purely as an observation, producer Julie Gardner and Eve Myles looked awfully similar back in 2011.
On the second disc, ‘Torchwood Unclassified’ focuses 16 minutes on the CGI effects in this story and shows you can’t spot the joins.
On the third disc, ‘Torchwood Unclassified’ focuses 30 minutes on the production and how parts of Swansea were created on the Warner Bros studio lot. Even so, the big explosion was created in Wales. There’s a duplicate on the fourth disc, which someone must have realised.
On the fourth disc, we have a 30-minute ‘Torchwood Comic’, showing some of the events of ‘Miracle Day’ in animated form. Watching it, I have to confess that it’s a step down from what was done in the ‘Doctor Who’ animated stories. The only realistic thing is the way the lips talk, and you can bet some form of digital rotoscoping was used some 14 years ago. The rest is down to limited computer animation. The story principally follows a sister trying to track her brother down. Jack Harkness turns up but hasn’t lost his form of immortality yet. Similarly, Gwen Cooper appears but contradicts herself by claiming that her later meeting with him is the first time they have met.
There are also 7 minutes of ‘Outtakes’, although nothing is unmissable.
Only two episodes have audio commentaries, recorded after only two episodes had been shown on TV back in 2011, and both producers, Julie Gardner and Russell T Davis, had only just returned from the USA as they talked over episode one.
There were only three weeks recorded in Wales; the rest was made in America. A lot of the discussion was comparisons between filming in the two countries. They might have had more money in the USA, but everything cost twice as much. Additionally, everyone lived in fear of being fired for any mistakes, while in the UK, they simply transitioned to another job. I suspect that this situation still occurs in the USA 14 years later. What a way to run a business.
With the tenth episode, there is a reveal that the original plans were for 13 episodes, allowing for coverage when Death returns to Earth. Davis also notes and corrects that he thinks that if this was ‘Doctor Who’, the Time Lord would have arrived before episode one. They also admit to running out of money on the last episode and resorting to shortcuts or changing or reducing scenes. For those interested in scripting, Davis discusses getting some plot points across. They both seemed enthusiastic about doing another season, but it ended here.
Something that did occur to me after this rewatch is that Harkness’ blood must be universal, or Matheson was risking a living death if his blood transfusion hadn’t worked. It also brings some questions about Harkness generally. His revival from death tends to be like all his body matter regrouping as he revives. The fact that his blood wasn’t retrieved, although he was mortal at that time, by a creature who broke his point in time, and that Harkness also has fathered children suggests not. It would explain how one day in the distant future he becomes the face of Boe and only a giant head.
GF Willmetts
September 2025
(pub: BBC. 4 blu-ray disks 10 episodes with extras. Part of the box set. ASIN: BBCBD0170).
