Torchwood: Difference between revisions

* [[Broken Masquerade]]:

** Any shreds of secrecy probably evaporated somewhere between the episode where a psycho started writing TORCHWOOD in blood on walls and the episode where an [[Eldritch Abomination]] stomped around the Millennium Centre.

"...Bloody Torchwood." }}

** Ask for Torchwood and people will point you in the right direction. They order pizza under the name.

** The character Frobisher could have been named after a talking penguin companion from the [[Big Finish Doctor Who]] Audios.

** Of course, there are plenty of these to ''[[Doctor Who]]'', particularly while Martha shows up in series 2.

'''Jack''': [[Mind Probe|"It's just a mind probe."]] }}

* [[Continuity Snarl]]: Given the multiple writers, mediums and moods between seasons, it's not much of a surprise. Among the lighter contradictions we have the one concerning whether Jack sleeps or not that came up in series one.

** Though typically Owen uses more of a bitter sarcasm while Ianto covers the 'deadpan' angle.

** Even outside of the team members, this seems to be a staple of the series.

* [[Dead Person Impersonation]]: {{spoiler|Captain Jack Harkness, who assumed the identity of a deceased American pilot while working as a con man during World War II (and still uses the name as his own).}}

* [[Dead Star Walking]]: Suzie.

* [[Fluffy the Terrible]]: Janet, the [[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family|man-eating]] resident Weevil.

* [[Free-Love Future]]: The 51st century.

** Taken even further by John Hart. He admits to finding a ''poodle'' attractive.

* [[A Friend in Need]]

* [[Head-Tiltingly Kinky]]:

** Jack, of course, but even more so -- Captain John Hart.

'''Gwen''': That's a ''poodle''. }}

** While not too kinky by Torchwood standards, in "Day One", Toshiko was doing a head tilt when the team were watching Gwen making out with the [[Monster of the Week]].

* [[The Heart]]: Gwen's hired to fulfil this very purpose. Lampshaded very strongly in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", when [[It Makes Sense in Context|a doped up alien blowfish is dishing out the]] [[Hannibal Lecture|Hannibal Lectures]] left, right & center:

* [[Hellhole Prison]]: Run by UNIT.

* [[Hurting Hero]]: Jack.

* [[The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life]]

* [[Mayfly-December Romance]]: Jack and most of his love interests. To make matters worse, most of the people he falls for are {{spoiler|tragic heroes who die young}}.<br /><br />[[Lampshaded]] pretty painfully by {{spoiler|Ianto's death.}}

* [[Meaningful Background Event]]: During the episode "Captian Jack Harkness", Vote Saxon signs can be seen hung on the door of the dance hall.

* [[The Men in Black]]: Torchwood itself.

* [[Noodle Implement]]: Jack and Ianto know there's lots of things you can do with a stopwatch...

* [[Noodle Incident]]: Jack and Ianto again

'''Ianto:''' (doing up his pants) He cheats. He always cheats. }}

* [[The Nothing After Death]]: Comes up several times throughout the series. The general consensus is that there is nothing but a black void or even a [[Cessation of Existence]], however several people have claimed that there is ''something'' moving in the void and that it's coming for Jack.

* [[Oddly Small Organization]]:

** "We're outside the government and beyond the police, arming the Earth against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes, and we gotta be ready. All five of us."

** The decline in team size is rather surprising. Much is made of the fact that Torchwood operatives have a high mortality rate, yet there seems to be no system of formal recruitment for new members, nor anyone in any kind of backup position for any of the existing team members. Jack recruits entirely at random, and despite the fact that Torchwood team members are "paid by the Crown" (according to Gwen), there is nothing even remotely resembling a recruitment, staffing or human resources organization.

** The Torchwood Three Hub is a massive underground complex, several stories high, which is somehow maintained by a team of five or fewer people. It is also somehow expanded periodically.<br />The "invisible lift" leading up to the Roald Dahl Plass had to have been installed sometime after the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode ''Boomtown'', since the "perception filter" that conceals it did not exist until the Doctor parked his TARDIS there.<br />Sometime during Jack's year-long absence, the remaining four members of the team performed extensive renovations in the Hub, including adding a large new conference room.<br />The entire complex is apparently cleaned and maintained by Ianto, who also somehow finds time to make coffee, do various administrative work ''and'' staff the tourist office that conceals the Hub's other entrance. Then again, their xenobiologist and computer expert also find time to perform their jobs, go out to hunt aliens and somehow squeeze in a bit of time at home. They are all very good at multitasking it would appear.

* [[Our Zombies Are Different]]: In ''Bay of the Dead''. They may look, act, and ''smell'' like shambling reanimated corpses, {{spoiler|but they're little more than malfunctioning protein-based search drones based on a human's memories from watching a zombie flick.}}

* [[Out with a Bang]]: In ''Sleeper,'' when the [[The End of the World as We Know It]] seems imminent, Owen suggests that he, Tosh, and Ianto evoke this trope. The reply:

* [[Pizza Boy Special Delivery]]: In the first episode, Gwen "sneaks" into the Hub by delivering pizza, but the team just can't restrain the giggles. Jack recites both halves of the script of this trope, stopping just before the bow-chicka-wow-wow.

* [[Power Perversion Potential]]: Among other things mentioned in the first series, such as bottled pheromones.

*** In the bar he mentions that Torchwood needs a blonde. Considering that Spike had a thing for blondes it seemed...

** The Torchwood novel ''Bay of the Dead'' contains a [[Shout-Out]] to ''Shaun of the Dead'':

'''Ianto:''' -zed word. }}

** There are shout outs to other series and mediums, such as in the Torchwood Online Mission game...

'''Ianto''': Meh. No one will believe it's real. In 1938 the government convinced the entire world that an [[War of the Worlds|alien attack on New Jersey was just a radio play]]. Relax. }}

** Possible [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Babylon 5]]: Torchwood 4 has supposedly "gone missing" which, at the beginning of the series, was the status of Babylon 4

[[Category:TV Series]]

[[Category:Whoniverse]]