Five weeks to go! Ahead of tonight's 50 Years trailer on BBC One, we reprise our Best of Who Awards feature and look back at Doctor Who's first spin-off!"The twenty-first century is when everything changes- and Torchwood is ready." Overcoming the hurdle of bringing Doctor Who back to television screens in 2005 was a terribly arduous challenge for Russell T. Davies in itself, so why he then convinced his production team to create an entire spin-off show in the same universe come the end of that year is absolutely beyond this writer.
Without a doubt, though, Torchwood's emergence onto BBC Three, BBC Two and ultimately BBC One was a thrilling journey over five years, the impact of which on the success of Doctor Who as an overall brand must not be understated. This week, then, we're celebrating Captain Jack's courageous, raunchy and ever-enduring team of human heroes brought together to tackle the most dangerous of extraterresterial forces without the help of a certain Time Lord. Here's our round-up of the best episodes of Torchwood ever to hit our screens...
5. FRAGMENTS (2008)- Throughout Torchwood's second season, a narrative arc including mysteries such as the motives of Captain John Hart, the reason for each team member's integration into the organization and the return of Jack's long-lost brother had been slowly teased out by the audience. Come its penultimate episode, tensions were higher than ever, and a fine balance between flashback sequences and present day storytelling was struck in Gwen and Rhys' desperate search for their comrades within the rubble of a bomb-rigged warehouse, where Jack, Owen, Toshiko and Ianto each then recalled their first experiences with Torchwood. Burn Gorman's performance as Owen was stellar throughout the run, yet in Fragments, in the midst of the truth of the character's tragic past being revealed, Gorman spectacularly out-shined his cast competitors, his portrayal of a scarred and determined medical expert now afforded new layers of melancholy and justification.
4. EXIT WOUNDS (2008)- Although Fragments was a brilliant opening instalment in Season Two's final two-parter, its denouement was by far the more notable outing of the pair. Once again, Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori gave it their all, this time in their final portrayals of Owen and Toshiko, two characters who were here forced to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to stop Gray's genocidal plot descending upon Cardiff. Meanwhile, it's a crime that James Masters never reprised his role as John Hart after Exit Wounds, since his hilarious, empathetic portrayal of the anti-heroic character worked brilliantly. In the end, though, the true summary of Torchwood's greatness comes as John Barrowman's Jack, Eve Myles' Gwen and Gareth David-Lloyd's Ianto survey the personal and national devestation of this final battle- Gwen claims that she can't move on from their losses, at which point Jack reassures her that she will, for "the end is where we start from"...
3. CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS (2007)- Torchwood's first run was a mixed bag, make no mistake. Between Cyberwomen, lost and suicidal time voyagers and devilish fairies, the show struggled to establish a definite tone in its initial thirteen episodes. Nevertheless, the penultimate episode of Season One, Captain Jack Harkness, did the seemingly impossible, offering captivating further insight into the enigmatic titular Captain, and featuring one of Barrowman's best turns in his (literally and metaphorically) immortal role. Murray Melvin's understated performance as the similarly mysterious Bilis Manager is guaranteed to send shivers down the viewer's spine too, echoing all of the greats of psychological horror in the space of a single, terrifying and effortlessly heartbreaking, 45-minute period. Funny how such a small amount of time can lend itself to fascinating science-fiction drama which can cast an entire conflict in a new light- remind you of any show in particular?
2. CHILDREN OF EARTH: DAY FIVE (2009)- The five-part masterpiece that was Children of Earth wasn't exactly lacking in noteworthy instalments, but two episodes in particular stand out from the rest upon reflection. Day Five showed with unrelenting detail the extents to which Jack was willing to go in order to protect the Earth in the Doctor's name, sacrificing his own grandson to the 456 as a final act of defiance that would destroy the creature once and for all. Lucy Cohu's portrayal of Jack's daughter Alice still haunts this writer to this day in its devestatingly realistic rendition of a mother's reaction to her own son dying before her eyes, and Peter Capaldi's sensationally understated performance in his necessitated murder of his family and his suicide was superb, but top credits must go to Barrowman again here, the transformation of his character into a heartless and relentless presence whose shame drove him to the stars masterfully depicted by the Scottish star.
1. CHILDREN OF EARTH: DAY THREE (2009)- You know, Gareth David-Lloyd really doesn't get enough recognition for his work on Torchwood. Or at least, he didn't before Day Three. While Owen and Toshiko's demises were pitched perfectly in Season Two, the loss of Ianto after an enhanced arc of character development over the course of Children of Earth was simply horrendous to witness. Murray Gold's soundtrack does this momentous scene of sacrifice and collateral damage its fullest justice, enabling Day Three to become the show's landmark episode by a huge margin, and to capably demonstrate why Torchwood can (and perhaps one day will be once again) make for such incredible television drama, regardless of its place in the Doctor Who universe!
NEXT WEEK: TOP 5 GREATEST SARAH JANE ADVENTURES EPISODES
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