Captain Jack Harkness (Torchwood episode)
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| 12 - Captain Jack Harkness | |
|---|---|
| Executive producer(s) | Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner |
| Production code | Series 1, Episode 12 |
| Series | Series 1 |
| Length | 50 mins |
| Transmission date | 1 January 2007 |
| Preceded by | Combat |
| Followed by | End of Days |
Captain Jack Harkness is an episode in the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on 1 January 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Jack and Toshiko are transported back to the Blitz, while Owen tries to open the Rift, as Jack faces an unexpected secret from his past as they meet a handsome young American squad leader named… Captain Jack Harkness.
[edit] Plot
Jack and Tosh go to investigate a possible breach in time: 1940s music has been heard from an abandoned dance hall. They find themselves back in time, in 1941, at a dance for service personnel. They meet Captain Jack Harkness, the man whose identity Torchwood's Captain Jack stole after his death, which will occur the following day during a training exercise.
Back at Torchwood, Owen thinks the best way to rescue Jack and Tosh is to open the rift, but Ianto thinks it is too dangerous. Gwen investigates the dance hall; from time to time, Jack and Tosh can hear her shouts.
Bilis Manger, the caretaker of the dancehall in present-day Cardiff, appears to be the same man as the dancehall manager in 1941, and uses the same office, where Owen finds the missing key to the Rift Manipulator, hidden on the pendulum of a clock.
Tosh leaves messages for the Torchwood team in the future, the necessary mathematical equations to open the rift safely. First, she takes a photograph of her writing, but then realises that she accidentally cut parts off, and it is too risky to return to take another. She tries to leave the remaining equations by cutting her hand and writing in blood, which she believes will stay throughout the years. However, Bilis Manger scratches out some of the numbers.
Without the whole equation, it is dangerous to attempt to open the rift. Owen, however, claims it will be safe to open, and also the better option. Ianto disagrees, holding Owen at gunpoint and warning him not to continue. Owen claims that as second in command, he is in charge. As Owen moves to put the key in the machine, Ianto shoots him in the shoulder; however, Owen manages to finish the task, and the rift opens.
Back in 1941, the real Captain Jack reveals he is attracted to Torchwood's Jack, and the two share a brief moment holding hands. Captain Jack invites Torchwood's Jack to dance. The rift opens as the pair are about to kiss and Torchwood's Jack pulls away, saying it is his duty to go. However, on his way over to Tosh, he stops and turns back to the real Captain Jack. They share a passionate kiss, to the further astonishment of the other dance hall guests, before Captain Jack and Tosh return to the present day. There is a tear on Torchwood Jack's cheek.
[edit] Cast
- Captain Jack Harkness — John Barrowman
- Gwen Cooper — Eve Myles
- Owen Harper — Burn Gorman
- Toshiko Sato — Naoko Mori
- Ianto Jones — Gareth David-Lloyd
- Bilis Manger — Murray Melvin
- The Real Captain Jack Harkness — Matt Rippy
[edit] Music
The songs My Melancholy Baby (when George dances with Toshiko), (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover (during the air raid) and A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (when Jack dances with his namesake) are performed in this episode sung by Melissa Moore. The latter also featured in The Empty Child, the Doctor Who episode which introduced Captain Jack Harkness.
[edit] Trivia
- The camera that Bilis Manger is using in the dance hall (and that Toshiko later uses to convey the formula to the future) is a Polaroid Land Camera. Toshiko is alarmed when she sees the camera on the man's desk because it is anachronistic for 1941. Land Cameras were not put into production until 1948.
[edit] Continuity
- This episode features clips from and references to Owen and Diane's relationship seen in Out of Time.
- References are made to Ianto's relationship with Lisa, seen in Cyberwoman.
- The hallway seen in the Ritz is the same hall way used for 10 Downing Street in the Doctor Who episode World War Three.
- Jack refers to "flotsam and jetsam", a running theme throughout the series.
- Ianto and Owen refer to Ianto and Jack's relationship, first suggested in They Keep Killing Suzie.
- A fly-poster encouraging people to vote for "Saxon" is seen on the dance hall. Mr. Saxon has also been mentioned in The Runaway Bride and an identical poster is seen in Smith and Jones, in this episode Mr. Saxson is also mentioned on the radio Martha was listening to, it also appears on a newspaper in Love & Monsters. It has been revealed that Mr. Saxon will have something to do with the finale (in which Jack will also appear) of the 2007 series of the revived Doctor Who.
- In the modern day ballroom "Bad Wolf" graffiti can be seen painted on a wall on the stair case.
- One of the small bollards in the hall has graffiti of a circled P emblem. This was the emblem of the Preachers in Doctor Who episodes Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel, and also appeared in Ghost Machine as graffiti on a bin.
- Jack tells Tosh that he stole Harkness's name because he (Jack) was a con-man. This ties in with Jack's first appearance in the Doctor Who episode The Empty Child.
- When Owen is looking for the blueprints of the rift manipulator, the Ghost Machine and the Life Knife are shown.
- Tosh writes the equation in her own blood in 1941. When the team find it in the present, it's still red. Real blood would turn brown with age.
- Owen appears to open Bilis Manger's safe with the universal key Toshiko used to escape from the hub in the episode Cyberwoman.
- The model of the plane on Jack's desk is a P-51 Mustang. It refers to the numerous mentioning of Jack the pilot in photographs on the show as well as on the website.
- In Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, Yvonne Hartman states that, "Torchwood refuses to go metric," though in this episode all the measurements are in metres and centimetres.
- In truth, sharing a gay kiss in 1941 would have resulted in Captain Jack being stripped of his rank of captain and maybe even expulsion from the Royal Air Force.
- The password to Torchwood Jack's safe is Rhea Silvia who in Roman mythology was raped by the God of War Mars and was the mother of Romulus and Remus who founded the city of Rome.
- It has been questioned why Billis Manger did not scratch out all of Tosh's code-writing in blood. However, it seems likely that this is because if the Rift is opened without the full correct code, it would rupture and release Abbadon.
- The time period they are stuck in takes place 17 days before The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances Doctor Who episodes featuring Captain Jack.
[edit] Broadcast
This episode was first shown as a double-bill with End of Days. The two episodes' end credits were merged and shown at the end of the second episode. They were first shown on the same day as the first broadcast of Invasion of the Bane, the first episode of the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. However, during repeats (and broadcast on BBC HD), they showed the 'next time' trailers. This did not happen on the first day of transmission.
