Torchwood season one (blu-ray review).
I bought the four season boxset of ‘Torchwood’. As I reviewed the episodes as they first came out, I’ll concentrate on the extras here. Considering how long this piece is, maybe its just as well.
I did find the opening disc of season one messy in trying to work out how to isolate the opening individual episodes. If you have a similar problem, look at the ‘Scene Selection’, as this is actually a two-parter, and you get into them that way. For them, the audio commentary is from producer Julie Gardner, showrunner Russell T Davies and director Brian Kelly as they discuss ‘Torchwood’s creation for the first episode, ‘Everything Changes’. By the way, I still have my first PC computer’s VDU, and it’s a ringer for the one Gwen has.
The second episode, ‘Day One’, continues automatically after the first episode but with a change of commentators, still with director Brian Kelly but now with writer Chris Chibnall and actress Eve Myles. This episode was made first so as to get the cast up to speed acting together and also to define how ‘Torchwood’ would act. It was also supposed to be a lot funnier, but the comedy got reduced because of the pace and timing.
There are quite a lot of extras on the first disc. The two-part ‘Welcome To Torchwood’ is actually the original ‘Declassified’ from 2006. The first part runs at 14 minutes, and the second 11 minutes but looks like a shortened version of the first. ‘Torchwood On The Scene’, running at 15 minutes, focuses more on the building of the Hub and the readthrough of the first episode. The ‘Deleted Scenes’ runs at 11 minutes, realising material from several episodes. They aren’t all deleted; some, like the bar scene, were just shortened, but it is the longest scene here. The 5-minute ‘Weevil’ piece shows how they were made with the mechanisms at the back of the head working and drowning out the hearing of the actor inside. One might wonder if the next advancement in mechanisms will involve finding a way to mute or at least reduce the noise produced by the mechanisms.
Based off the names of the other extras, ‘Sex Gas’ at 5 minutes, ‘Jack’s Back’ at 18 minutes and ‘Bad Day At The Office’ at 9 minutes, they are episode distinctive and ‘Declassified’ so would have been part of the backup material shown on TV. Seeing it as a collective, various bits were edited from other parts.
The first audio commentary on the second disc, ‘Ghost Machine’, is with director Colin Teague, actor Burn Gorman and writer Helen Raynor. They also explain that the opening scene should have had Harkness in the running, but because actor John Barrowman had a sprained ankle, he drove the car. I think I was most impressed with Gorman’s knowledge of the filming and the crew.
The audio commentary for the fourth episode, ‘Cyberwoman,’ is with director James Strong, writer Chris Chibnall, and actor Gareth David-Lloyd. I had problems recording this episode back in the day, and this is the first time I’ve seen it all the way through properly. Certainly, it’s Gareth David-Lloyd’s best performance in the entire show, letting his emotions out. According to the commentary, this is the favourite episode of all the higher-ups, including the head of BBC shows at the time. Chibnall reveals the story had many rewrites and title changes to make it what it was. The original plan was to have it shown later in the season when everyone was better established but got pushed up to this position. You do have to wonder how Ianto Jones managed to get everything down into the basement on his own.
The audio commentary for the fifth episode, ‘Small World,’ is with director Alice Troughton, composer Ben Foster, and actress Eve Myles. She notes that Eve Pearce, who was in her 80s at the time, demonstrated remarkable resilience despite the challenges they faced. She also admits to having to rein in her laughter while working with John Barrowman. They all raised the query as to what the SUV in the Torchwood car was, so I looked it up, and in real life it means a sports utility vehicle, although really it’s a Range Rover.
The extras follow the pattern of the previous disc, a brief look, in 4-5 minutes, at aspects of these three episodes and then the ‘Torchwood Declassified’, usually running at 10 minutes each with some duplication. You have the opportunity to hear from the production and cast about the subject matter and gain insight into the behind-the-scenes work.
For the third disc, we have episode six, ‘Countryside’, and its audio commentary with writer Chris Chibnall, director Andy Goddard and actor Gareth David-Lloyd. Part of the discussion dwelt on the Torchwood campsite, and the reason they didn’t have a campfire was down to budget and regulations. The White Cross Pub was the real place used when they were looking for people. They also wanted to get the team out of their city’s safe zone. One thing I would have liked addressed but wasn’t was the comparison to the 1985 ‘The Monster Club’ segment ‘Humgoo Story’ and Loughville, whose inhabitants had a taste for humans and their police bringing escapees back.
The audio commentary for the seventh episode, ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’, is with producer Richard Stokes, director Colin Teague and writer Toby Whithouse. The biggest revelation is that the third episode was recorded and the second scripted. At the time, the actors had no idea what led to it or where it was going. Mostly because neither did any of the writers, as the scripts hadn’t been written. If I’ve got it right, the Cardiff street scene couldn’t have the usual 40 people around it, and other than the supporting artists, one camera was filming.
Like previous discs, the various shorts and ‘Torchwood Unclassified’ are a mixture of both. However, for those with a special effects bent, the ‘Sex, Violence, Blood And Gore’ 16 minutes focuses on the dead bodies and how they were made for ‘Countryside’.
For the fourth disc and eighth episode, ‘They Keep Killing Suzi’, the audio commentary is with director James Strong, producer Chris Chibnall and script editor Brian Minchin and is probably the most informed to date about behind the scenes at the time. They get more scripts than needed because of the quick turnover and not knowing which would be completed first. This was scriptwriters Paul Tomalin and Dan McCulloch’s first script with a few tweaks by Russell T. The episode was recorded in mid-July, and the opening arrival of the Torchwood SUV took 17 takes. They also only had actress Indira Varma for 5 days, as she was working in the USA at the time, although actually they had her for a couple more days than that.
The audio commentary for the ninth episode, ‘Random Shoes’, was with producer Richard Stokes, director James Erskin and actor Paul Chequer. This was a double-backing show, as actress Eve Myles wasn’t needed for episode 12, so was practically solo in this one. If I have to be critical, I wish someone had addressed how a previously uniformed cop like Gwen Cooper could be such a successful detective.
The extras here are probably the most significant. Top of the list is a look at the SUV, bought second-hand and then modified drastically with the roof and bonnet. There’s enough footage in daylight to make a model version, assuming you can work out the chaser front and rear blue lights. It does present an unusual question of why their iconic car was never merchandised.
For the fifth disc and episode ten, ‘Out Of Time’, we have an audio commentary with actress Eve Myles, composer Ben Foster and director Alice Troughton. The owners of the 1950s aeroplane liked the name ‘Sky Gipsy’ that was painted on the fuselage so much that they decided to keep it after its initial use. The opening sequence was also recorded very early in the morning. It’s also the first and only time we see the hole in the floor in Jack Harkness’ office to his bedroom. Troughton reveals that the episode ran 15 minutes too long, so a lot had to be cut, including Gwen getting her green beret from Emma as a yuletide present.
The eleventh episode, ‘Combat’, had four people doing the audio commentary: writer Noel Clarke, co-producer Chris Chibnall, actor Burn Gorman and director Andy Goddard. Although they didn’t speak over each other, it did make problems as to who was saying what, the exception being Gorman because of his recognisable voice. There were three weasel heads used. Not like the old days when the Beeb used real aliens. They did point out that they were the only show to use an amnesia drug as an option, forgetting that ‘UFO’ was doing this back in 1970.
The other extras follow the pattern of the other discs. The significant one is ‘Captain’s Log’, which has a look at John Barrowman and how he seems to get members of production and cast dancing whenever they saw him.
For the fifth disc and the twelfth episode, ‘Captain Jack Harkness’, we have producer Richard Stokes, director Askley Way and actor John Barrowman. The exterior of the theatre was in Merthyr Tydfil, and the inside was in Newport. For time travel, the scenes in the past were recorded first. Barrowman says that the 9 months spent recording the episodes, along with the need to return later to fill in gaps, kept everyone busy, but he wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Oh, Bilis Manger is not an anagram. This was also pre-Pearl Harbour, and Ben Foster only had 5 days to compose the music. Barrowman also points out that motivations came from the actors to feel right in their parts despite them not having all the scripts when they started recording. There were also only 48, not 52, stars on the American flag. What none of them say is why does the real Jack Harkness give an American salute at the end as he’s obviously British or, at most, Canadian?
The thirteenth episode, ‘End Of Days’, has the same people doing the audio commentary. Getting the cooperation of the BBC Newsroom was easy, provided they could record between shifts between 6:30 and 7:30am. The screen graphics in the Hub were actually live there, controlled by a computer. The hospital ward used and, in real life, no longer in use, was the same as the one used in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode, ‘The Empty Child’. The effects team gave the Mill’s demon Abaddon the nickname Bob.
The final selection of extras, running some 40 minutes, brought up some highlights. With ‘Torchwood: On Time’, there is a look at the theatre and its transformation and John Barrowman singing ‘Anything Goes’ with the performers dancing. With the ‘Outtakes’, Barrowman is also considering cooking Suzie in her bag, giving out the instructions. In ‘To The End’, a chap from The Mill explains Abaddon being called Bob as meaning ‘Beast Of Burden’.
Although I have focused on the extras here, rewatching the first season of ‘Torchwood’ after so many years reveals that it still holds up remarkably well and features some unusual stories even nineteen years later.
GF Willmetts
July 2025.
(pub: BBC. 6 blu-ray disks 630 minutes 13 x 50 minute episodes with loads of extras. This is volume one of a 4 volume boxset. Price: varies. ASIN: BBCBDD0198).
