Torchwood: Season 1 (Blu-ray)

Explore a thrilling new dimension of sci-fi adventures in this spinoff of the legendary Doctor Who, created by the sci-fi classic’s executive producer, Russell T. Davies. From a secret underground base built on a rift in the time/space continuum, somewhere near the Cardiff branch of the Torchwood Institute, the Torchwood team sets its own rules. They’re separate from the government, working outside the police and beyond the United Nations. Led by the enigmatic Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman, Doctor Who, The Producers), they use scavenged alien technology to solve crimes—both alien and human. Because they’re working within a new science, everyone at Torchwood is young. Or is it because they die young? Co-stars Eve Myles (These Foolish Things, Doctor Who). Extras include episode commentary, deleted scenes, outtakes and featurettes.

Everything Changes - When WPC Gwen Cooper witnesses the resurrection of a murder victim, it begins her journey into a dangerous underworld of savage monsters and alien hunters. Her chance encounter with the enigmatic Captain Jack Harkness and the Torchwood team will change her life forever.

Day One - An alien addicted to sex is let loose on Cardiff’s nightlife, leaving a trail of gruesome deaths in its wake. Captain Jack and Torchwood must track down the creature’s new host and in doing so, confront a violent new form of love in the 21st Century.

Ghost Machine - When Gwen retrieves an alien object from a fleeing hoodie, she’s haunted by a vision of a lonely young boy. As the team track down the object’s owner, the elusive Bernie Harris, Owen experiences an even more terrifying vision and a long buried crime resurfaces.

Cyberwoman - In the basement of the Torchwood building, Ianto Jones hides a terrible secret. As a Japanese doctor attempts to rescue the soul of a half-Cybernised woman (Caroline Chikezie – Footballers’ Wives, Brothers and Sisters), a quiet day in Torchwood quickly becomes a living nightmare. Has Ianto unleashed a force that will destroy his colleagues?

Small Worlds - Supernatural forces stalk the suburbs of Cardiff: but are they friendly or malevolent? And what do they want with the seemingly normal Pierce family? As nightmares of his past haunt Jack, can Jack’s old friend Estelle Cole (Eve Pearce) help him prevent the tragedy brewing in a suburban household?

Countrycide - Concerned that the space-time rift is spreading, Torchwood investigates a series of gruesome deaths in the village of Brynblaidd in the picturesque Brecon Beacons. What sort of creature could cause such shocking injuries? Stranded without communications or equipment, and isolated from one another, the team confronts a terrifying enemy. Guest star: OwenTeale (Ballykissangel, Belonging, Murphy’s Law) as Ewan Sherman.

Greeks Bearing Gifts  - Toshiko is given an alien pendant which enables her to hear other people’s thoughts. As the rest of the Torchwood team puzzle over a centuries-old skeleton, the pendant forces Toshiko to question her commitment to Torchwood: is her new-found ability a blessing or a curse? Guest star Daniela Denby-Ashe (EastEnders, My Family) as Mary

They Keep Killing Suzie - Torchwood is linked to a series of brutal murders around the city. As Jack and the team investigate further, it becomes clear somebody wants their attention. What is Pilgrim? And how is it connected to a figure from Torchwood’s past? The resurrection days are far from over.

Random Shoes - When Eugene (Paul Chequer, Sinchronicity) wakes to find himself (a) dead and (b) invisible to the rest of the world, he knows something has gone rather wrong. Eugene knows there is one person he can rely on to discover the truth behind his death: Gwen Cooper.

Out of Time - When a plane from 1953 makes an unexpected landing in present-day Cardiff, its three passengers are shocked to learn that they can never go back to their own time. Torchwood helps them to settle in contemporary society, but this simple task has painful emotional consequences. Guest stars: Louise Delamare (No Angels), Olivia Hallinan (Sugar Rush, Girls In Love), Mark Lewis-Jones (The Knock, Murder Prevention)

Combat - Savage aliens are being kidnapped from the streets of Cardiff and Torchwood wants to know why. Owen is sent undercover to find out who is behind it and soon befriends the charismatic Mark Lynch (Alex Hassell). Beneath the veneer of normal city life, Owen discovers a shocking subculture. Can he avoid being sucked in?

Captain Jack Harkness - While investigating reports of ghostly music, Jack and Toshiko find themselves stranded in a packed dance hall – in 1941. As Gwen, Owen and Ianto work to rescue their colleagues, Jack and Toshiko meet a handsome young American squadron leader by the name of… Captain Jack Harkness.

End of Days - The rift has been opened, and time is splintering all over the world. As events spiral out of control, the Torchwood team members are faced with fragments of their pasts – and terrifying visions of their futures. Can Captain Jack save the world?

Created by Russell T Davies
Written by Russell T Davies, Chris Chibnall, Helen Raynor, Peter J Hammond, Toby Whithouse, Paul Tomalin, Dan McCulloch, Jaquetta May, Catherine Tregenna, Noel Clarke
Directed by Brian Kelly, Colin Teague, James Strong, Alice Troughton, Andy Goddard, James Erskine, Ashley Way
Produced by Richard Stokes
Executive Produced by Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner

Cast Interviews
John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness): Actor John Barrowman didn't need a TARDIS to take him into space. All it took was the news that Captain Jack Harkness would be getting his own show and he was over the moon.

When viewers last saw Captain Jack in Doctor Who, he was stranded on a satellite many thousands of years in the future. He had heroically faced down a Dalek invasion to protect his new friends, The Doctor and Rose - but his fate was unknown.

Now Jack is back, and in Russell T Davies's dark and sexy sci-fi thriller the Time Agent from the 51st century is at the helm of Torchwood, an elite, alien-fighting organisation on the front line in the battle to protect the human race.

“Jack heads up a team of secret agents who are separate from the Government, outside police jurisdiction and beyond the United Nations. At Torchwood, they answer to no one but themselves. They make their own rules,” explains John Barrowman, who plays the enigmatic action man with the mysterious past.

“Jack's the leader and the glue - he keeps everyone together. He's the hero … although I don't think he'd call himself a hero, he'd just call himself a man who does the job because it needs doing.”

But, says the actor, the journey from his terrifying Dalek encounter to 21st-century Cardiff - home of the Hub, Torchwood's top-secret HQ - has left its mark on Jack. “Jack's a little bit darker and he's a little bit angrier than when we last saw him. After all, he was ditched on that satellite and who wouldn't be angry about that?” he says.

“Towards the end of Doctor Who, Jack was becoming more human - I mean human in the sense that he was starting to feel for other people rather than just thinking about himself. As Torchwood begins, he's lost some of that. He doesn't always consider other people's feelings - his priority is the good of the world.”

Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper):Gwen Cooper, Torchwood's newest recruit, may seem like a feisty, go-getting, all-out action woman who's afraid of nothing but, laughs Eve Myles, who plays the Cardiff policewoman-turned alien investigator, that couldn't be further from her own character. “She really is a feisty chick and you wouldn't want to mess with her. She's a lot tougher than I am - the first sight of a Weevil and I would have gone home for a Chinese takeaway and a cup of tea! I certainly wouldn't have joined Torchwood!”

While Eve admits that she did feel a little odd at first acting to some weird and wonderful creatures, she soon got used to it. “For the first couple of minutes you feel like an absolute berk but you just think, 'well, you're going to sell yourself short if you don't absolutely go for it'. The first experience I've had of doing something supernatural and something alien was playing Gwyneth in Doctor Who, where my character was taken over in séances, and that was all CGI. You've either got to go for it 100 per cent or not bother doing it at all, because if you don't believe in it, no one else is going to.”

“She's originally a police officer with Cardiff City police and Gwen comes across Torchwood and instantly finds them mysterious and wants to find out more. The thing with Gwen, which is a running thread with her all the way through, is that she's incredibly inquisitive, and if she needs to get to the bottom of something, she will do it, she will always cross that safety barrier, she'll always go further. “Her skill is bringing Torchwood back from thinking that the human race and everyday life is about numbers, statistics and alien technology, what we can find, what we can scavenge, how we can use it to protect the human race. Gwen brings them back home.”

She also has a special relationship with Torchwood leader Captain Jack, who trusts Gwen implicitly. “There's a connection made straight away with Gwen and Jack and it's Jack who invites her into Torchwood because he takes a liking to her. They just connect very well. It's almost instinctive and you think these guys could work really well together.

“…the show's so good, and its quick-fire dialogue and sets so replete with cross-referential details, that many fans will be back for second helpings…” Mail On Sunday

“...shaping up to be one of the best programmes on TV.” Sarah Hughes, Observer

“ There is so much to love about this show.” Dominik Diamond, Daily Star

“The look and design are fantastic - a kind of Welsh Blade Runner - and the characters are all sexy and the concept is good….” James Delingpole, Spectator

"I was regularly surprised as the completely unexpected led me curiously on to the next compulsive episode. The series boasts a fantastic set, amazing graphics, spectacular props and witty one-liners throughout." - Michelle Dutson, The British Canadian

Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who. When the first series of the new Doctor Who (2005) was being made, television pirates were desperate to acquire the preview tapes. One of the people in the office had the idea of labeling the tapes with the anagram 'Torchwood' rather than Doctor Who, as a security measure to disguise the tapes when they were delivered from Cardiff to London. Writer Russell T Davies liked this idea so much that it later inspired him to use it as a title when creating this spin-off series.

Torchwood was formed in 1879 by the Royal decree of Queen Victoria as a result of her experiences in Doctor Who: Series 2: Tooth & Claw.

Torchwood is separate from the Government, outside the Police, beyond the United Nations. More secret than MI5 or MI6, not even the Government is supposed to know about them.

The Torchwood Hub is situated deep beneath Cardiff Millennium Centre.

John Barrowman first appeared as Captain Jack Harness in Episode 9 (The Empty Child) of the 2005 series of Doctor Who. He also appeared in The Doctor Dances, Boom Town, Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways in the 2005 series, and again in the episodes Army of Ghosts and Doomsday in the 2006 series.

John used to present the UK children's show Live and Kicking in 1993. He has also starred in a number of West End stage musicals.

The role of Gwen in Torchwood was specially written for actress Eve Myles.She first appeared as Gwyneth in Episode 3 (The Unquiet Dead) of the 2005 series of Doctor Who.

Burn Gorman (Owen Harper) received critical acclaim for his hugely popular role of Guppy in the BBC's award-winning 2005 adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House.

Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato) is best known for her role as Saffy's best friend Sarah (aka Titicaca), in the comedy series Absolutely Fabulous. She first appeared as Dr Sato in Episode 4 (Aliens of London) of the 2005 series of Doctor Who.