Original Transmission
Date 17th Dec 2006
Time 10:00pm
Duration 49'39"
Viewers 1.0m (6th)
Audience App. 80%

Cast
Captain Jack Harkness John Barrowman
Gwen Cooper Eve Myles
Owen Harper Burn Gorman
Toshiko Sato Naoko Mori
Ianto Jones Gareth David-Lloyd
Rhys Williams Kai Owen
Diane Louise Delamere
John Ellis Mark Lewis Jones
Emma Olivia Hallinan
Alan Ellis Sam Beezely
Nurse Marion Fenner
Alesha Janine Carrington
Jade Rhea Bailey
Flying Instructor Andrew MacBean
Barman Ciaran Dowd

Crew
Written by Catherine Tregenna
Produced by Richard Stokes
Directed by Alice Troughton
Created by Russell T Davies
Co-Producer Chris Chibnall
1st Assistant Director Nick Rae
2nd Assistant Director Lynsey Muir
3rd Assistant Director Paul Bennett
Location Manager Paul Davies
Unit Manager Geraint Havard-Jones
Production Co-ordinator Carmelina Palumbo
Production Secretary Margarita Felices
Script Secretaries Claire Thomas Helen Pugsley
Accounts Assistants Debi Griffiths Kath Blackman Beth Britton
Continuity Suzannah Binding
Script Editor Brian Minchin Camera
Operator Jenny Budd
Focus Puller Alwyn Hughes
Camera Assistant Steve Davies
Grip Dai Hopkins
Boom Operator Kebin Staples
Gaffer Mickey Reeves
Best Boy Llyr Evans
Chief Super Art Director Stephen Nicholas
Supervising Art Director Keith Dunne
Designer Penny Harvey
Assistant Art Director Nadia Dand
Art Dept Prod Manager Jonathan Allison
Art Dept Ops Manager Adrian Anscombe
Art Dept Co-ordinator Matthew North
Design Assistants Ben Austin Al Roberts
Story Board Artist Shaun Williams
Standby Art Director Jon Howes
Standby Props Andy Harris
Standby Carpenter Will Pope
Standby Rigger Keith Freeman
Standby Painter Julia Challis
Property Master Stuart Wooddisse
Props Buyer Blaanid Maddrell
Props Chargehand Dewi Thomas
Fabrication Manager Barry Jones
Props Makers Penny Howarth Nick Robatto Mark Cordory
Construction Manager Matthew Hywel-Davies
Construction Chargehand Scott Fisher
Costume Supervisor Bobby Peach
Costume Assistants Marie Jones Maria Franchi Sara Morgan
Make-Up Supervisor Claire Pritchard
Make-Up Assistants Sarah Astley-Hughes Kate Roberts
Casting Associates Andy Brierley Kirsty Robertson
Assistant Editor Matt Mullins
Post Prod Supervisors Helen Vallis Chris Blatchford
Post Prod Co-ordinator Marie Brown
On-Line Editors Jon Everett Matthew Clarke
Colourist Mick Vincent
Dubbing Mixer Tim Ricketts
Sound Supervisor Doug Sinclair
Sound Editor Paul McFadden
Sound FX Editor Howard Eaves
Senior Prod Accountant Endaf Emyr Williams
Casting Director Andy Pryor CDG
Production Accountant Ceri Tothill
Sound Recordist Dave Baumber
Costume Designer Ray Holman
Make-Up Designer Marie Doris
Music Murray Gold Ben Foster
Production Manager Catrin Lewis Defis
Editor Bobby Sheikh
Production Designer Edward Thomas
Director of Photography Ray Orton
Associate Producer Terry Reeve
Production Executive Julie Scott
Assistant Producer Sophie Fante
Executive Producers Russell T Davies Julie Gardner

Plot Outline From Wikipedia

A vintage twin-engined aircraft makes its final approach and lands on an airfield where Jack, Gwen and Owen are waiting. The three Torchwood Institute officers walk out to greet the passengers of the Sky Gypsy: Diane Holmes, the pilot, and her two passengers, Emma-Louise Cowell and John Ellis. Jack asks them when they left, and Diane answers that it was just a half hour before. Jack presses her for the date, and she answers, puzzled, that it should be December 18, 1953.

The three refugees in time are taken back to the Hub, where Jack introduces them to the rest of the team. Jack explains that the aircraft slipped through a "transcendental portal", a door in time and space, and Tosh provides documentary proof to the disbelieving trio that they have indeed travelled over fifty years into their future. According to history, their plane, bound for Dublin, never returned and was presumed lost at sea; they cannot go back.

Emma's parents are dead, but John wants to find his son, Alan, if he is still alive. Diane, on the other hand, has no one. Jack and Gwen house the three in a local hostel; Gwen begins to bond with Emma, for whom the reality of her situation is just beginning to sink in, while Jack begins a friendship with John.

The next morning, Jack offers the three new identities and backgrounds to start new lives, but John insists that his name is all he has left: he will not change it. Jack apologises for his insensitivity, and agrees that he should keep his name. Ianto brings the three to a supermarket, where they marvel at the goods and appliances available. Diane and Emma are fascinated at the variety of items on sale, but John is shocked by the sight of a magazine with a scantily clad female on the cover on open display, more so when Ianto points out she is a children's television presenter. Later, John goes to visit his old address to try and find his son, but finds the building boarded up. He and Jack have drinks at a pub, where John asks if Jack fell through time as well. Jack answers, "You could say that." John begs Jack to find his son.

Emma strikes up conversations with two other girls at the hostel. They offer her a beer, and she begins to enjoy herself, dancing and singing show tunes. John returns at that point, and scolds Emma for making a spectacle of herself, upsetting her. Emma calls Gwen, who takes Emma to stay at her flat instead. Gwen tells her boyfriend Rhys that Emma is a cousin who is visiting.

Owen follows Diane to see the Sky Gypsy. She wants to take the plane up, but Owen reminds her that her license has long expired. He takes her to lunch, telling her more about the new world she now lives in. The two later go back to his place, where they share a growing attraction. Diane asks Owen if he has a girlfriend, and he says no. The two make love, and begin a relationship.

Tosh tracks down John's son, who is now an old man in a home, stricken with Alzheimer's disease. John is devastated at the fact that Alan cannot remember anything but bits and pieces from his childhood, and cannot even recognise his father. Gwen and Rhys take Emma to a club, where she meets a boy. Gwen finds the two of them kissing in a corner and pulls Emma away. Gwen takes her home and has to explain to her how sexual morality has changed since 1953.

The days pass, and Diane finds herself frustrated by the fact that she is not allowed to fly. Emma finds a job as a shop-girl in London, but Gwen seems hesitant, and tells Emma they will try to find her a job in Cardiff instead. However, Rhys discovers that Emma is not Gwen's cousin, and Gwen is forced to admit that it has something to do with her work, which she cannot talk about. Rhys is more upset with the fact that it was so easy for Gwen to lie to him. Gwen confides in Emma that Torchwood and real life are like two separate worlds; Emma points out that is why Gwen has to let her go.

Ianto finds his car keys missing, and tells Jack that he suspects John has taken them. They track the car to John's old address, where Jack finds him, locked in the car, trying to kill himself with carbon monoxide fumes. Jack stops him, pleading with John to give life a chance, that he can still start a family, make friends and get a job. John replies that he did all that years ago, when he was meant to. He asks Jack to let him die with dignity rather than condemn him to live and Jack reluctantly agrees. Starting the engine again, Jack sits with John in the car until John passes out from the gas and expires peacefully.

Owen and Diane have grown even closer. Owen tells Diane that he is experiencing feelings about her that do not fit with his usual dealings with women. Diane responds by saying that she loves him too. As he sleeps, she watches him and says that the thing about love is that one is always at its mercy. The next morning, Owen finds her side of the bed empty, and a note on the pillow.

That same morning, Gwen takes Emma to the coach station so she can go to London. Gwen has bought her a return ticket just in case, warns Emma not to talk to strangers and asks her to call the moment she gets there. As the coach arrives, Gwen tells Emma she does not have to go, but Emma says that if she does not, she will always wonder what it would have been like. They hug and Emma gets on the coach.

Owen finds Diane at the airfield, where she is readying the Sky Gypsy for take-off. The weather conditions are the same as on the day they arrived, and Diane is confident that the Rift will open again. Owen begs her not to leave, telling her that the Rift will not take her back home, and there is no way to predict where she will end up. However, Diane is willing to take that chance, and will not let Owen go with her. She gives him her scarf and kisses him good-bye.

Jack, Gwen and Owen think back on how the three have touched their lives. Owen stands on the runway and watches the Sky Gypsy rise into sky, vanishing into the clouds.

Analysis by Cuisle

An episode with no monsters, nothing blowing up, nothing ‘happening’ in the accepted sense of science fiction. This is a story about how three people thrown forward from 1953 to 2007 cope with their situation while at the same time showing how three of the Torchwood team are affected by their relationship with them.
And why not? Did anyone EVER say that science fiction had to be all aliens and space ships? Did anyone EVER say that the Torchwood team had to spend all their time in mortal danger? My only thought was that this made two ‘quiet’ episodes in a row, and possibly it would be better to have split them up with a more expected ‘action’ episode.

But that aside, we quickly get three intermingled stories, so let’s look at each one.

Owen and Diane – To me, at least, Jack would SEEM to be the one who would be attracted to the vivacious Diane, but it was Owen with which she formed a bond. It quickly became a sexual bond, but again, why not. 1953 WAS a time of sexual oppression for some, especially the working classes and middle classes. But Diane is one of the exceptions of her time. A woman who lives in a man’s world, not trapped in the accepted role of wife, mother which is suggested by Emma’s contrasting life.

Diane’s frustration with not being able to fly, and the fact that learning for her licence in 2007 involves fly by wire computers not ‘grassroots flying’ is important, but it is not central to her character as it is for John. At least not at first. Her relationship with Owen takes centre stage for a while, making her forget her problems.

Owen falling in love was a surprise to many people who thought his character too shallow. It throws his relationship with Gwen into perspective, and indicates trouble for them in future episodes. But it isn’t plain sailing for Owen, either. Because he IS in love with her and when he finds that her frustrations with the modern world CAN’T be overcome and she chooses to fly away back into the rift, he is devastated. As the following episode shows, MORE devastated than anyone realised.

Jack and John are an unlikely pairing. The staid, 1950s family man and the omnisexual Jack seem worlds apart. But they DO have one thing in common. They are BOTH trapped in a time that isn’t THEIR time. Jack seems, for the most part, happy in his work and in his life, but this was a stark reminder of the fact that he has a lot of troubles. He IS out of his real time with no way of getting back. He is more alone and lonely than any being on this planet, except, possibly, John Ellis who finds his whole life has crumbled to dust.

John’s entire life was focussed on his family. His son was his reason for living. His son who would grow up and be a success and have a family of his own. That was his entire ambition. But he finds his son, childless and alone, in a geriatric ward, suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, and less able to cope with the modern world than he is.
Jack’s first reaction to John trying to kill himself is the one we would expect. He jumped in and stopped him. But when he talked to him later, and realised that there IS nothing for John in 2007, he came to a conclusion that must strike everyone who watched as shocking in much the same way as his decision to let the little girl, Jasmine, join the fairies in the Small Worlds episode. His decision to help John die by sitting with him in the carbon monoxide filled car, letting him go with dignity and with somebody to hold his hand, was one that goes against the grain. I can’t help thinking that the organisers of The Samaritans and those Christmas Helplines that try to help people to make other choices were dismayed by that scene. Every branch of Christianity I know of, most especially the Catholic church, abhors suicide, too. I can’t think that anyone looking at this from an ordinary world point of view must have been horrified.
The only way to look at this is from Jack’s view, with a different morality to the rest of us. He is a man who can’t die, who has long ago realised that immortality is a curse, not a gift. Remember him in episode one, standing on top of the AltoLusso with a dizzying drop onto a railway line. How often has he thought about ending it all, himself? To stop John from finishing his life when he himself knows that oblivion is the only peace he can hope for, would be hypocrisy.
The scene where Jack sat next to John, his face a picture of grief because HE can’t die, was shocking but it was amazing, too.

And so to Emma and Gwen. Gwen, compared to the others in the team, is the ‘ordinary’ girl with the ordinary morality, but it was an eye-opener to see how her domestic life with Rhys actually compares with the morality of the 1950s. In the eyes of Emma the two of them living together without being married is shocking. But in our modern morality they are regarded as an ordinary, boring couple doing things the ‘straight’ way. Gwen had even sought escape from the boringness of it in her fling with Owen.

Emma, although she seems the one least likely to cope, manages it much easier in the end. She is, initially, shocked by the 2007 world, ill-equipped for sexual liberation, out of her depth with the two independent teenagers she makes friends with, but she ‘gets with it’. She gets a job and is ready to make her way in life. Gwen, in fact, almost holds her back. She develops a nearly irritating mother hen attitude, trying to protect her just as John had tried to do. But Emma makes it. The only one of them who does. John dies, Diane returns to oblivion. Emma gets a job in London.

The episode works very well for those who are prepared to realise there is more to Torchwood than chasing aliens. And it isn’t just a stand alone episode. It sets up a lot of issues for the future.

It was brave and interesting to start the episode with the plane landing and the team already waiting. Some critics have questioned how they knew to be there. Presumably they were either alerted by the airport, where they have a contact, or were monitoring themselves. There was no need for us to see why or how they knew. It would have slowed the story down. It was RIGHT to do it that way.

But the smooth way in which they took the refugees and organised their integration into modern life, suggests that this sort of thing is a regular part of the Torchwood remit. They seem to know how to handle it with the minimum fuss. That lends an interesting dimension to their organisation.

One final note, for anyone over the age of 20 watching this series, the chat about the “Matthews Cup” of 1953, when Blackpool and Bolton were ‘glamour’ teams in football, put the time gap into very sharp perspective. It is an iconic historical event and a very British one at that. For many people it would be more meaningful than Calamity Jane being the hit film of the year. I get the feeling the person who wrote the Wikipedia entry for this episode didn’t quite get it, though.