Original Transmission
Cast
Crew
Plot Outline from Wikipedia Tommy Brockless, a young First World War soldier, shell-shocked from his experiences in the trenches, is the key to saving the world. He is taken into custody by Torchwood in 1918 - Torchwood having been told to do so by his future self - and held in cryonic storage until the time comes for him to save the world. He is awoken one day each year for a medical check-up, a "day out" and as a precautionary measure in case he is needed.
A time shift is set to cause 1918 and the present to bleed together at an unspecified time, and when this happens it is Tommy who will be "stitching" the fragments of 1918 back to their rightful place in time. It is 2008 when this eventually happens and fragments of 1918 are appearing in an old abandoned hospital. Before the team realise that this is the year it will happen, Toshiko becomes unavoidably infatuated with Tommy, and the two share a brief romance. Owen, noticing this and having experienced something similar (cf. "Out of Time"), warns Tosh about the eventuality of saying goodbye.
When Tommy is told what he must do - a process resulting in him not
seeing Toshiko again - Tommy initially refuses to partake. However,
with encouragement from Toshiko, he begins to see the bigger picture
and agrees. Toshiko is reluctant to do this as Jack explains that
Tommy is destined to be court martialled for cowardice upon being
sent back to the trenches, Jack eventually persuades her that it is
for the greater good and she relents. Upon one such time shift, Tommy
tells Torchwood employees from that era that they must take him into
custody. Then, with the next time shift, after a tearful goodbye,
Tommy goes back to his own time. After some further psychically-transmitted
encouragement from Toshiko, Tommy turns the key in his Rift manipulator
device, dragging all of 1918 back with him
Analysis by Cuisle
Naoki Mori played a blinder, oscillating between the joy of fulfilling their whirlwind love affair and grief as Tommy’s inevitable destiny unfolded. Jack took a backstage in this story, but John Barrowman in a few strong scenes put across the idea that he knew exactly what Tommy was going through. Yes, he has been there in that same war. Yes, he knew about shellshock first hand. He knew about the tragedy of those 300 or more men shot for cowardice when they should have been treated for their mental distress. It was harrowing to watch and to think about those realities on a TV programme that is easily dismissed as fantasy. The same was true last year of the Doctor Who episode, Human Nature when the same war was touched upon. In both stories, we were asked to remember something that has almost been forgotten about the sacrifice made by those men in that war which is barely understood by the generations these programmes are written for.
There are some minor subplots developing, too. Ianto and Jack’s relationship took a step forward when Ianto initiated the kiss this time and they looked so very in love. Owen and Toshiko is another relationship that seems to be developing. I don’t know if the writers mean for the two of them to be sexually involved. It might be better if they didn’t. But Owen, quite often an insensitive bastard, showed his kinder side. When he tried to warn Toshiko about getting too close to Tommy he did so because he cared for her feelings. At the end, when he was the one who stood beside her on the waterfront, he was offering his moral support. She wasn’t quite ready to accept it, but it was there. The two upper class Torchwood people from 1918 were fascinating. We know Torchwood has been around a long time, but it is good to have proof of that sort to reinforce our impression of the organisation.
A few little in-jokes snuck in that those who aren’t armed with a card index memory of Doctor Who and Torchwood trivia might miss. Harriet Derbyshire – possibly a Doctor Who reference – Delia Derbyshire was the arranger of the original theme tune. Although it is just possible that’s a coincidence. Tommy saving the world in a pair of old pyjamas, of course should put us in mind of the 10th Doctor in Christmas Invasion – very Arthur Dent. Jack’s attempt to explain non-linear time with a screwed up paper puts The Doctor’s “timey-wimey” explanation in the shade. It was a fantastic story. Better than I expected from Helen Raynor. The image projection thing did seem a bit of a strange idea. Especially when they seemed to be using the same equipment that served as a mind probe last week. The critic on the AfterElton site who hates technobabble and hops on one leg and sings while they do it would have had a ‘lalalal-hop hop hop’ moment just there. But it is a small point in an otherwise great script.
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