With season 2 of Torchwood set to premiere in a few hours on BBC America, I’ve been trying to think of any specific instances in which Torchwood and the new Doctor Who have retconned in the existence of Torchwood since the Victorian era. Obviously there was no mention of it prior to the new Doctor Who, so has there been any canonical attempt to, for instance, explain how Torchwood (with its charter declaring the Doctor an enemy of the Crown by name) allowed him to work with UNIT in the 70s and 80s or any other of his activity on Earth from the founding of Torchwood through “Army of Ghosts”?
Not that I know of - but then I’m not a Who geek. Nothing has been mentioned in series 2 so far, if that’s what you’re wondering.
Weelllll…Torchwood is British and UNIT isn’t, I guess. But yeah, that’s a good point.
Expanded universe-wise, the 8th Doctor was stranded on Earth from around 1900 to the early 2000s, even at one point becoming a Bill Gates like figure in the tech and space industry near the end there (he had lost much of his memory during this period, but he still went by The Doctor). I’d like to see them explain how THAT went unnoticed by UNIT, Torchwood, and the 3rd Doctor, among others.
Of course, Torchwood was supposed to be ultra-high total top double-secret-probation classified - so much so that the Prime Minister herself wasn’t supposed to know about it, but that’s pretty much ignored even in season 1 of Torchwood when they drive around in cars with the logo blazoned across it.
There’s no internal consistency in the show, so I’m not in the least surprised with there being none between the two shows.
Well, UNIT was/is a United Nations organization, not a British one …
Also, one of the conceits about Torchwood was (seems to have been dropped in season 2) that it was so ultra-top-super-duper-hush-hush-secret that nobody was supposed to know about it. Which, if you think about it, makes it bloody hard for an organization to operate. So, you could envisage a situation, back in about 1970, something like this:
The Brigadier: Right. I’ll sort out the security clearances. Good to have the Doctor on board.
Torchwood operative: (crashes into the Brigadier’s office, strikes impressive pose in war surplus overcoat) Not so fast, Lethbridge Stewart! You cannot employ the Doctor! We forbid it!
The Brigadier: Err … yes … quite. And who are you, exactly?
Torchwood operative: (strikes impressive pose in war surplus overcoat) WE … are … Torchwood!
The Brigadier: Jolly good. And what are you doing in my office without proper authorization?
Torchwood operative: (strikes impressive pose in war surplus overcoat) We have all the authorization we need! WE … are … Torchwood!
The Brigadier: (surreptitiously presses button marked “Call Sergeant Benton to get loony out of office”) That must be very nice for you. But what authorization do you have, exactly?
Torchwood operative: (strikes impressive pose in war surplus overcoat) You’re not cleared to know that.
The Brigadier: I mean, are you Home Office? Ministry of Defence? Foreign Office?
Torchwood operative: (strikes impressive pose in war surplus overcoat) WE … are … Torchwood! We’re ABOVE the Government! BEYOND the law!
The Brigadier: Well, quite. That must be jolly nice for you, and I’m sure we’ll take everything you say very, very seriously. Now, why don’t you go off with Sergeant Benton, there, and he’ll make you a nice cup of tea? (The extra-calming kind, please, Benton. If you catch my drift.)
Torchwood operative: (strikes impressive pose in war surplus overcoat) Don’t forget, Lethbridge Stewart! You are to have nothing to do with the Doctor! We forbid it … and WE … are … Torchwood!
The Brigadier: Jolly good. *(Watches Sergeant Benton escort the Torchwood operative out of the office.) * Strange man. Oh, well, never mind. (Carries on filling out the Doctor’s security clearance.)
Right, I knew UNIT was UN (if they were UK they’d be UKIT) but they operated in England.
I couldn’t recall any attempts to reconcile the two either.
Torchwood was founded after Doctor 10 met Queen Victoria. If Torchwood had interfered with Doctor 1-9, they’d have wiped themselves out of history.
I was discussing this with a colleague the other day and yes, as a black ops unit they’re not particularly black. Very minor spoiler, but at the start of the second series the car drives by someone and asks if they’ve seen someone they’re pursuing and the person (a little old lady) says “Bloody Torchwood”. So it appears that anyone who lives in Cardiff knows who they are. :smack:
But they have no way of knowing that the Doctor(s) that UNIT was working with was an earlier regeneration than the one that inspired the founding of Torchwood.
You know, one of the great things about a show where the main character zips around in a time machine changing history is that it gives you a lot of flexibility when it comes to continuity.
I don’t know if this is exactly what you mean, but in the Dr Who ep “Last of the Time Lords”, the Doctor is angry and incredulous that Cap’n Jack is involved with TOrchwood, and he says something like “I built it up for you”. I got the impression that it had largely dissolved before Jack got involved in it. Or I could just be imagining this.
StG
IIRC in the premiere episode of Torchwood Jack says something about his group being “Torchwood 4” (Canary Wharf being Torchwood 3). No explanation that I can recall as to why the organization was apparently reduced from an organization with dozens or hundreds of employees, a military contingent and nigh-unlimited funds to five people hanging out in a basement. You’re right that Jack said something about rededicating the group in honor of the Doctor.
Oops. Turns out Cardiff is Torchwood 3. Canary Wharf is Torchwood 1, Torchwood 2 is in Glasgow and Torchwood 4 is “missing.”
You seem to have missed out the seminal line
The Brigadier: Benton! Chap in the big coat - five rounds rapid!
IIRC, Canary Wharf was Torchwood 1. Torchwood 2-5 were only small, local branches.
And the reason why Torchwood was so reduced was they were mostly wiped out in the battle, leaving only a handful of survivors.
Otto - I’m watching the Runaway Bride ep of Dr WHo. The Doctor has been talking about Canary Wharf, the cyberman invasion and the dalek invasion. THe company the bride worked for had been bought by Torchwood years before. He said “Torchwood was destroyed, but someone else bought the company. I think someone else came in and took over the operation.” (Gotta love closed captioning). Anyway, it seems to me that’s when Cap’n Jack must’ve taken over what was left of Torchwood and redirected it to helping the Doctor.
StG
Torchwood 3’s purpose is to keep track of the rift and anything hazardous that emerges, and Jack is there because he knows the Doctor will come back to the rift to recharge his tardis.
IIRC, he’s referring to “Mr. Saxon”.
That’s one thing that bugs me about the Torchwood series as well. You’d think anyone with half a brain in Cardiff would have found out what they do. Or maybe they already have, and have had their memories wiped more than once.
Well they went to all these lengths in the first episode to make out how clandestine they are (with the amnesia pill and everything) but in “They keep killing Suzy” it was clear that the local police know and dislike Torchwood. They’re not very consistent on this point.
It’s a common theme in US TV shows the FBI & CIA & local cops don’t really like each other that much and they like to play jurisdictional authority games. I figure everyone knows about Torchwood but what they mostly know is they can walk in, flash their badges and take over, but don’t know exactly what it is they do.
It also seems to have been established the most ridiculous things can happen to Cardiff and the local populace is easily convinced it’s swamp gas or something.