Torchwood Declassified (2006) s01e01 Episode Script
Jack's Back
Episode 1 really is a wonderful introduction to the world of Torchwood.
You kind of see us mid-flow.
You're dead.
There's a real dynamic within the team.
Just concentrate.
It's the first introduction of our main creature.
It's an introduction to Torchwood through the eyes of Gwen.
Gwen comes into this world and discovers that the most dangerous thing about Torchwood is Torchwood.
Jack, I would describe as dangerous.
Sexy.
Dark.
Enigmatic.
He reeks with confidence.
That is so Welsh.
He's got a story.
He's got a history.
He's got a mystery.
I can't die.
And that's what makes him magnetic.
He's such a curious man.
You can't help but want to know more about him.
Captain Jack has settled down on planet Earth to help save the planet from turmoil and destruction that is going to happen very soon.
The 21 st century's when it all changes, and you gotta be ready.
He's a man who clearly talks as though he's not from this planet.
Contraceptives in the rain.
I love this planet.
He's got a perspective that seems to be outside the human race.
He's not told anyone where he's from or what his background is.
But where are you from? All sorts of places.
The thing about Captain Jack in Episode 1 is we learn a lot about him, but we also learn there's a lot more to find out about him.
-I can't die.
-Okay.
But I can't.
How does it affect a character if they can't die? Is that a great, glorious, exciting, wonderful thing? Or is it a terrible curse, as well, and the loneliness of that, and what does it mean? Tosh, finish that calibration tomorrow morning.
Jack is the leader.
He's a born leader.
He's not close, in particular, to anyone in his team.
He's very good, he's one of those enigmatic people.
He's very friendly.
Loves his team, is passionate about them, will defend them with his life, but always gives very little away about himself.
Slipping back into Jack's boots was just like coming home again.
BARROWMAN: What? -Action.
-Camera.
GARDNER: The start of a series is always really terrifying and, in some ways, you always want to film your Episode 1 as late in the run as you can.
Though often, for schedule reasons, it's not possible.
What we did do is we filmed in blocks of two episodes.
And so we filmed a lot of Episode 2 before we then went back and shot Episode 1 , because you want a bit of time for the team to get to know each other, start to feel what the show is.
So that worked very well.
MAN: Okay, rehearsal.
Here we go.
Watching, and action.
You just have to believe in what the script is saying, which, if it's a good story and it's a good script, then you just go, ''Right, that is what we're making.
'' Okay.
Welcome to the first read-through of Torchwood.
And you believe in the vision of what people are trying to do and you're just trying to do that as best as you can onscreen.
''Gwen walks across the space.
''She can't help staring at one thing as she passes, ''a severed hand in a glass tube, suspended in gently bubbling liquid.
''But she keeps going.
'' (OWEN LAUGHING) I can't do this.
I'm sorry.
I'm rubbish.
I give up.
He set me off.
-Well, that lasted 0.
2 seconds.
-Hmm.
She's actually carrying pizza.
Choosing the right director, getting the cast right, all those kind of things, is propped up and becomes easier when everybody in every department is going, ''Isn't this script amazing? ''Isn't this idea amazing?'' It's an urban tone.
It is gritty.
It's gritty without being grimy, I hope.
It's got those modern thriller genre-type moments in it, of streets at night, alleyways, car parks, rain, the city.
That sort of stuff.
With our helicopter shots, as well, giving it a certain glamour.
The point about Torchwood is that it's the real world in which fantastic things happen.
-Do you want to come see? -See what? You saw the murder, come and see the murderer.
The Weevil was in Russell's first script.
We knew quite early on that we wanted it to be a prosthetic monster rather than a CGI monster.
You know that, if you're doing a prosthetic, that you want, in the case of a Weevil, for them to be able to run around.
So it's going to be a man in a suit.
I thought that the Weevils were a very 21 st-century alien.
The Weevils are a mystery.
Even I'm not sure where they come from, to be honest.
They're like the resident monster.
They're a bit like a big, fat, kick-ass rottweiler.
You know, they're aggressive, they're instinctive, but they're not coming up to you and saying, ''Take me to your leader.
'' You know, they're just here.
The critical thing about the Weevil is it's the first alien that Gwen sees.
Okay.
If you could answer, this is official business.
And in the scene in the hospital corridor, it has to be credible enough that it could be human.
That's good.
That's a good mask sort of thing.
In story terms, it's really important that Gwen believes it's a man in a mask.
Without that, that whole scene would die.
We've pulled it off, I think.
It's the bridge from her normal life into her extraordinary life.
I was in shock for about 20 minutes after I saw it the first time.
Weevils remind me of somebody's granny.
You know, with a little bit of a hump, and the face and the teeth.
That's a Weevil.
Action.
It's all right, it's safe.
It's sedated.
I thought the Weevil today was stunning.
I was really taken aback.
Paul, who's inside the Weevil suit at the moment, has really kind of captured the movement.
And that was without any kind of genuine steer from us.
I think he's a dancer by training, because under all that prosthetic, he can't get any facial expression.
He has to compensate for that by using his body more.
Next week, Episode 2.
That's called ''Day One''.
It really kicks in.
Very raunchy.
It's non-stop.
It's a big story.
It throws Gwen right into the action.
Alien on the loose, death and disaster.
And we see how Gwen finds her feet.
You kind of see us mid-flow.
You're dead.
There's a real dynamic within the team.
Just concentrate.
It's the first introduction of our main creature.
It's an introduction to Torchwood through the eyes of Gwen.
Gwen comes into this world and discovers that the most dangerous thing about Torchwood is Torchwood.
Jack, I would describe as dangerous.
Sexy.
Dark.
Enigmatic.
He reeks with confidence.
That is so Welsh.
He's got a story.
He's got a history.
He's got a mystery.
I can't die.
And that's what makes him magnetic.
He's such a curious man.
You can't help but want to know more about him.
Captain Jack has settled down on planet Earth to help save the planet from turmoil and destruction that is going to happen very soon.
The 21 st century's when it all changes, and you gotta be ready.
He's a man who clearly talks as though he's not from this planet.
Contraceptives in the rain.
I love this planet.
He's got a perspective that seems to be outside the human race.
He's not told anyone where he's from or what his background is.
But where are you from? All sorts of places.
The thing about Captain Jack in Episode 1 is we learn a lot about him, but we also learn there's a lot more to find out about him.
-I can't die.
-Okay.
But I can't.
How does it affect a character if they can't die? Is that a great, glorious, exciting, wonderful thing? Or is it a terrible curse, as well, and the loneliness of that, and what does it mean? Tosh, finish that calibration tomorrow morning.
Jack is the leader.
He's a born leader.
He's not close, in particular, to anyone in his team.
He's very good, he's one of those enigmatic people.
He's very friendly.
Loves his team, is passionate about them, will defend them with his life, but always gives very little away about himself.
Slipping back into Jack's boots was just like coming home again.
BARROWMAN: What? -Action.
-Camera.
GARDNER: The start of a series is always really terrifying and, in some ways, you always want to film your Episode 1 as late in the run as you can.
Though often, for schedule reasons, it's not possible.
What we did do is we filmed in blocks of two episodes.
And so we filmed a lot of Episode 2 before we then went back and shot Episode 1 , because you want a bit of time for the team to get to know each other, start to feel what the show is.
So that worked very well.
MAN: Okay, rehearsal.
Here we go.
Watching, and action.
You just have to believe in what the script is saying, which, if it's a good story and it's a good script, then you just go, ''Right, that is what we're making.
'' Okay.
Welcome to the first read-through of Torchwood.
And you believe in the vision of what people are trying to do and you're just trying to do that as best as you can onscreen.
''Gwen walks across the space.
''She can't help staring at one thing as she passes, ''a severed hand in a glass tube, suspended in gently bubbling liquid.
''But she keeps going.
'' (OWEN LAUGHING) I can't do this.
I'm sorry.
I'm rubbish.
I give up.
He set me off.
-Well, that lasted 0.
2 seconds.
-Hmm.
She's actually carrying pizza.
Choosing the right director, getting the cast right, all those kind of things, is propped up and becomes easier when everybody in every department is going, ''Isn't this script amazing? ''Isn't this idea amazing?'' It's an urban tone.
It is gritty.
It's gritty without being grimy, I hope.
It's got those modern thriller genre-type moments in it, of streets at night, alleyways, car parks, rain, the city.
That sort of stuff.
With our helicopter shots, as well, giving it a certain glamour.
The point about Torchwood is that it's the real world in which fantastic things happen.
-Do you want to come see? -See what? You saw the murder, come and see the murderer.
The Weevil was in Russell's first script.
We knew quite early on that we wanted it to be a prosthetic monster rather than a CGI monster.
You know that, if you're doing a prosthetic, that you want, in the case of a Weevil, for them to be able to run around.
So it's going to be a man in a suit.
I thought that the Weevils were a very 21 st-century alien.
The Weevils are a mystery.
Even I'm not sure where they come from, to be honest.
They're like the resident monster.
They're a bit like a big, fat, kick-ass rottweiler.
You know, they're aggressive, they're instinctive, but they're not coming up to you and saying, ''Take me to your leader.
'' You know, they're just here.
The critical thing about the Weevil is it's the first alien that Gwen sees.
Okay.
If you could answer, this is official business.
And in the scene in the hospital corridor, it has to be credible enough that it could be human.
That's good.
That's a good mask sort of thing.
In story terms, it's really important that Gwen believes it's a man in a mask.
Without that, that whole scene would die.
We've pulled it off, I think.
It's the bridge from her normal life into her extraordinary life.
I was in shock for about 20 minutes after I saw it the first time.
Weevils remind me of somebody's granny.
You know, with a little bit of a hump, and the face and the teeth.
That's a Weevil.
Action.
It's all right, it's safe.
It's sedated.
I thought the Weevil today was stunning.
I was really taken aback.
Paul, who's inside the Weevil suit at the moment, has really kind of captured the movement.
And that was without any kind of genuine steer from us.
I think he's a dancer by training, because under all that prosthetic, he can't get any facial expression.
He has to compensate for that by using his body more.
Next week, Episode 2.
That's called ''Day One''.
It really kicks in.
Very raunchy.
It's non-stop.
It's a big story.
It throws Gwen right into the action.
Alien on the loose, death and disaster.
And we see how Gwen finds her feet.