After a brief discussion on another thread here I thought I'd set up one for full and frank discussion on the new spin-off series of Doctor Who...

So, with the plot of "The Christmas Invasion" seemingly now known (see spoilers in the original thread), it is looking likely that it's the springboard for the Torchwood TV series with Captain Jack and, possibly, Harriet Jones at least providing another link to the parent series.

Any other thoughts?

Do we have a tentative air-date for this series?

I'm just wondering if it will be broadcast in conjunction with the new series of DW or if it will follow a few months afterwards?

(In conjuction would seem to place an awful lot of strain on both RTD and the production crew.)
Last edited by DenWatts : 14-12-2005 at 15:14

I'm just wondering how they are going to get Captain Jack into the series seeing the last time we saw him he was seriously dead - though the Doctor knows he's alive & fixing Earth following the mess made of it by the Daleks

I seem to remember RTD saying somewhere they would run consecutively, giving rise to his excitement at having "Doctor Who" running for half of the year (ie 2x13-episode series, equalling 26 weeks)


I wondered if the Doctor "plants" him in the organisation to keep an eye on Harriet Jones who he no longer fully trusts?

Capt Jack still has the 'intergalatic surf board' that Margaret was going to use to make her escape in Boomtown. He removed it from the TARDIS in Bad Wolf or Parting of the Ways I think.
Last edited by Black Guardian : 14-12-2005 at 15:56

Yup he does, buy he don't wanna travel anywhere, more any when, he's already on Earth, just five thousand years too late...

Thou i surpose he could find a library to read up on what he's surposed to do, or poss rent the BBC DVD.

Er, yeah, but I think he's also going to be f**king pi$$ed off at the Doc and Rose. Especially as we now know from the CiN scene that they do know he's alive and well... I think he'll try and find 'em personally.

I don't think the Capt Jack character is returning to Who until series 3, hence his involvement in Torchwood. Unless Capt Jack knows precisely where Rose, The Doctor or the TARDIS is, it would be difficult for him to track them down.

Perhaps his involvement in Torchwood is accidental? Or could it be by design as there is still two years of his memory loss to account for.

So how about CJ works for 'Torchwood' for a couple of years and at the end of it the government avail themselves of Van Statten's technology and wipe those two years from his mind?

What are we like?! The specualtion and theories are up and running and it isn't even March yet!

Wasn't it the Time Agency that wiped Capt Jack's memory? I still think Capt Jack isn't all he seems myself. Whilst he has forged this bond with The Doctor and Rose I still reckon he is working to his own agenda..after all he is a con man.

That's what I like to see!


Yes, he said it was the Time Agency but he could have been made to think that when they were manipulating his memories. Alternatively, there could be another department to the Torchwood organisation dealing explicitly with time issues (much like MI5 is split into various sections, each dealing with a specific type of threat.)

I don't know if you remember, but the UNIT website that the BBC set up for last series described it's forces as going anywhere and anywhen to protect the earth. Which leads me to think that the government has got it's hands on alien tech. already.

ETA: Yes, the conman aspect was too quickly brushed aside for my liking, so I agree he may still have his own agenda.

RTD quite likes storyarcs from what I gather he has said in interviews last year and as there was a certain amnount of emphasis placed on CJ's background and what he is I would be surprised if the writers don't follow this up.

What is the expression...you keep your friends close but your enemies even closer.

Perhaps CJ is the "old enemy" in the DW S2 finale?

The last time we saw him he was seriously alive- Rose made him all better- remember?

Serves myself for not buying the boxset a month ago

Absolutely.

(Maybe Corrie bosses should try tempting Jean Alexander back into the fold. )
Last edited by DenWatts : 14-12-2005 at 19:37

If the writers want to be especially devious and cunning, they could link Captain Jack in with a quite well know Net legend; John Titor, who supposedly came back from the not too distant future.

Didn't he predict a US Civil War in 2004-2005,. If so he's going to have to get his skates on as there's only 17 days left

Or did he come from an alternative Earth?

Yes, I think he did.

It was one of the things that made me think it was a hoax, to be honest. Clever - but a hoax nontheless.

Just re-read the press release the BBC issued when it announced Torchwood and it states that there will be no cross over stories between this and Who.

Other net searches states that Torchwood will run after the next series has finished transmission.

Whilst I believe there will be no cross over stories I still think Torchwood will be a key factor in series two.

So possibly, series two will provide the lead into Torchwood?

Methinks the same. And the last story is set on Earth too.

As an aside - I'm just back from a preview screening of "The Producers" - it was great. But I nearly choked on my popcorn when I noticed John Barrowman as the lead tenor (in SS uniform) of "Springtime for Hitler".

He looked very different as a blonde! (although I think the wife approved!)

VB

There was a long-ish radio inerview about Titor, the other night. Apparently, he claimed something along the lines of an alternate timeline. Meaning, whatever he did here would not affect his own timeline, but may affect ours. As for when the US civil war starts, he said it would begin around 2004-2005. I took this to mean with unrest, and serious anti-government sentiment. But, the real shooting would not get going until later, culminating in serious internal conflict in 2008.

It's really easy to dismiss Titor as internet fluff, albeit highly entertaining, except he keeps on getting things right, retrospectively.... Bearing in mind his on-line presence ended in 2000, he warned of a new war in Iraq, no WoMD would be found, a police state emerging in the US, people fighting the state to regain their freedom, a female president (and this was when nobody had even conceived of Hilary Clinton running), CERN engineering a micro black hole, (which they are currently setting up to do with the Hadron Collider), and ultimately a short nuclear exchange in 2015, which the US looses.

All in all, a quite rich seam for the writers of Torchwood to integrate, if they so wish.
Last edited by nathanbrazil : 15-12-2005 at 10:44

Does anyone ever win a nuclear exchange?