A Guide to Classic Who references (and other references) in Torchwood episodes.
Torchwood: Series 1
episode 1 (Story 1): Gwen Cooper encounters the "secret" organisation Torchwood for the first time.
episode 1 (Story 1): Gwen Cooper encounters the "secret" organisation Torchwood for the first time.Warning: May contain Spoilers for
"Everything Changes"
Viewing Order
- Doctor Who 01-09 & 01-10 - "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" (Suggested viewing - introduction of character.)
- Doctor Who 01-12 & 01-13 - "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways" (Suggested viewing - character developments.)
[OLD] - Things that first appeared in the classic series (or the film.) Episode List.
For context, the following are also coved:
[1ST] - The first appearance of things in Doctor Who series.
[NEW] - Things that first appeared previously in the new series.
[OTH] - Other Doctor Who material.
For context, the following are also coved:
[1ST] - The first appearance of things in Doctor Who series.
[NEW] - Things that first appeared previously in the new series.
[OTH] - Other Doctor Who material.
- [NEW] Torchwood - This "Secret" organisation was created by Queen Victoria in 1879 and named for the Torchwood Estate ("Tooth & Claw") to fight aliens after she met the Doctor and Rose. The British PM (who wasn't supposed to know about Torchwood) order them to fire upon the Sycorax spaceship. Torchwood One (London) were responsible for the "Ghost Shift" ("Army of Ghosts") which led to the Battle of Canary Wharf. In the future, it was well known enough to be a question in "The Weakest Link" ("Bad Wolf").
- [NEW] Captain Jack Harkness - Was a Time Agent in the 52nd Century, but went rogue and disguised as an American airman tried scamming the Time Agency in 1941 accidentally meeting and joining the Doctor. He first appeared in the new series episodes "The Empty Child" and last appeared in "The Parting of the Ways."
- [1ST] Pregnant - First reference to Jack being pregnant, although he could be joking.
- [1ST] Weevil - A new race.
- [OTH] Jubilee Pizza - There were Jubilee Pizza boxes on the set of the episode "Dalek" as a reference to the radio drama it was based on.
- [NEW] Hand in the Jar - The Doctor's hand from "The Christmas Invasion."
- [NEW] Perception Filter - The first direct reference to one of these,
- [OLD] Dimensionally Transcendental Chameleon Circuit. - The TARDIS has a chameleon circuit, which allows it to blend into its surroundings. Fortunately, the TARDIS is stuck as a Police Call Box because of the Chameleon Circuit malfunctioned (first noted in the first First Doctor story: "An Unearthly Child." The Fourth Doctor attempted to repair it in "Logopolis" and that didn't turn out well for him. The Sixth Doctor briefly "repaired" the camouflage unit in "Attack of the Cybermen" only for it to turn into an elaborate dresser, an inappropriate organ and a tomb, before eventually materialising again as a police box.
- [NEW] Place right on this spot - As occurred in "Boomtown."
- [NEW] Spacial temporal rift - Cardiff Rift, first mentioned in "The Unquiet Dead."
- [1ST] Amnesia Pill - First mention. Retcon is a general fan term, especially in comic book fandom for "retroactive continuity": changing the history of a character, etc, in a comic book.
- [1ST] Jack's immortality - This is the first reference to Jack's immortality. When we last saw him ("Parting of the Ways") he was killed by Daleks and resurrected by Rose/Bad Wolf and left in the future.
- [OLD] The right sort of Doctor - Probably not a reference to anything in particular.
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| Who actually thought this spin-off was a good idea? |
It's neat that you're doing this for a spin-off show. I have one question about whether or not you should use the term [new] for material from the new doctor who series' ? I say it because Torchwood is a separate series and it would seem to me that 'proper' Doctor Who, almost seems like it should be in the [oth] category. or maybe use the phrase [dw-new] or [dw-old] and use [new] for material in the current Torchwood series, that has previously referenced.
ReplyDeleteor maybe [new] and [old] should be exclusively used for new-who and old-who, but than use [tw] for references exclusively from inside Torchwood.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was wondering that myself. I have used [TW] in the first episode of Sarah Jane Adventures and was thinking [NEW] and [OLD] for Who and [TW] and [SJA] for the spin-offs, but that could change if it doesn't work.
DeleteThanks for your comment on doing spin-offs. I know they're less popular so I thought some people may be bored by them, but I'm a bit of a completist and want to do everything.