Torchwood Declassified (2006) s02e08 Episode Script
Dead Eyes Open
Episode 8 is about Owen finally coming to terms with the state he's in.
JACK: Watch TV.
Chill.
Jack, I'm dead.
I'm permanently chilled.
It's definitely about finding Owen's role again within the Torchwood team.
MAN 1 : And set.
MAN 2: Action.
He can't eat.
He can't drink.
He can't even feel if somebody touched him.
Get off me.
GIRL: What? He wants to prove to himself and the others that he can still function as part of the team.
As we join the story, he's just completely bogged down with the monotony and the emptiness that is his wretched life.
(CREW CHATTING) It's very much about finding something to cling onto, finding a reason to keep going.
Finding hope, basically.
Okay, so if we can start off, just at the moment talking about Owen being dead.
How do you want him to look? One thing we wanted to avoid was to make Owen look dead.
So we talked a lot about not having him in any kind of makeup.
And he would actually look relatively normal.
And also, to be absolutely blunt, we didn't want to have to have him in makeup for two hours every morning.
And I think Burn wanted to bring something to it that was much more performance-based.
So why are you doing my job? -Because Gwen asked me to.
-That's not what I mean.
BURN GORMAN: We thought we would just freeze him, almost, like he was at the end of Episode 6 and keep him like that.
The one motif that we did keep was the hand which needs to be dressed.
You've slashed your hand open.
(SCALPEL CLANGING) From that moment on, he's always got this bandage.
MAN: Here we go.
And action.
I can't feel anything.
I can't feel the needle or thread.
I can't feel your hands on mine.
RAY HOLMAN: From the moment that his hand was cut, we knew that we would always have to put bandages on.
We do something called costume breakdowns.
We take the photographs, we put the scene numbers on the photographs, and underneath the list of the scene numbers, we put the notes.
Absolutely every single thing they wear is written down for every single scene.
OWEN: I can't feel anything.
I'm numb.
Do you see why Jack's worried? Bruises won't heal, bones won't mend.
You're fragile.
GODDARD: When Owen jumps into Cardiff Bay, we shot it multiple times until he came to the edge.
MAN 1 : Here we go and MAN 2: 4092, take one.
MAN 1 : Thank you.
Shooting and action! MAN 1 : Thank you.
Good rehearsal.
GODDARD: I wanted to get the run up completely right.
And once I was satisfied we had that, we shot it with a rickshaw camera.
Maybe back down there.
I don't know.
I had a wetsuit on, so it meant that I ran like Daffy Duck.
MAN 1 : Ready? MAN 2: Yes! (SHOUTING) MAN 1 : Thank you.
We'll cut there.
Then he finally did jump in, and we shot it on two cameras.
MAN: Three, two, one, action.
(SHOUTING) MAN 1 : Go pull him! Cardiff Bay has gone through a lot of redevelopment.
However, the water is still pretty rank.
Apparently they did lots of tests to see if there was any pathogens in there.
But to be honest, it was fine.
It was good fun.
Let's be honest.
It was a beautiful, shining day.
Owen finally takes a bath.
GODDARD: So we did it once, and it worked.
I was glad that Burn was up for doing it and that we didn't shoot it with a stuntman.
When we pick him up underwater, that's in a private swimming pool which is about six-foot deep.
It's a big housing, obviously, to set the camera, 'cause you're going underwater.
And that housing that we're actually using is It's so big because it can actually take the camera down to about 1 20 metres so it has to withstand a lot of pressure.
We haven't got that sort of pressure in six feet of water, here, and it is really heavy on land, but when we get it in here, it'll only just be heavy enough to sink.
If he needs air, there's gonna be a tank down there with a regulator much like this.
So if he needs to breathe, he can just take hold of it.
But again, because it is shallow, he can just put his head up and take a breath when he needs to.
And so in the storyline, he can't actually die.
And so, yeah, there's no bubbles coming out.
Which is also going to be a bit tricky, because once you've jumped in, there are inherent bubbles that come in with you.
Hopefully there won't be any coming out of his mouth.
So we'll just have to keep shooting until we get that.
You have to first say, ''Okay.
And three, two, one, action!'' Then you go under, and you're on your own.
So you're kind of in this world where you can't hear anyone, you can barely see anyone.
What we were trying to work out was that Owen didn't have any oxygen bubbles coming out.
So when I jump in, there's a load of bubbles, but we basically had to do lots of takes where I held my breath for as long as I could.
And let everything settle.
And then, you know, sort of check that there's no air and that I'm not gonna die.
MAN: Action.
GODDARD: We had air bubbles popping all over the place.
And it was just difficult to try and get those shots where there were at least as few air bubbles as possible.
And there's a beautiful shot where I kind of drift off into the ether which is very nice.
MAN 1 : Here we go.
MAN 2: Camera set.
MAN 1 : And action.
I like the idea that Parker is almost like the old man behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz.
He's built up to be this kind of great, big powerful figure.
GWEN: Alien energy pulse.
We've got to check this Parker out, okay? There's all this kind of shroud of mystery around him.
PARKER: I've been watching you.
And yet when you finally get to meet him, it's Richard Briers.
Henry Parker, yeah? You're Torchwood, yeah? They could have sent that Japanese girl.
I liked her.
MAN: Cut there.
Okay.
STOKES: We talked a lot about who we wanted to play Parker.
And as soon as Richard Briers' name came up, we all kind of leapt on it and went, ''But that's just perfect!'' BRIERS: Parker is a dying millionaire.
And this old boy is very frightened, naturally, as we all are, of dying.
So there's not many laughs.
But it's It's a very atmospheric scene.
I thought rather well written.
JOSEPH LIDSTER: It was brilliant that it was Richard Briers.
He doesn't play him too soft.
Just 'cause he's an old man dying in a bed doesn't mean he becomes soft and fluffy.
He's still got bite to him.
(CREW CHATTING) MAN: Okay, so we're gonna regroup, please.
The scene was about 1 0 or 1 1 pages long, which is a long scene for a telly.
'Cause, you know, they cut, cut, cut all the time.
But it was nice, the luxury of having that duologue with the leading character.
I thought it was quite a challenge.
PARKER: I'm dying.
Both he and Burn literally were doing nine, nine and a half minute takes, word perfect.
It was It was like watching a theatre piece.
BRIERS: When I was young, you pick up a script like that, you learn it in about a couple of days.
Now I take much longer.
So I take five days just to get it into the aged brain.
MAN 1 : 4 325.
Take 4.
MAN 2: Here we go, folks.
Shooting.
And action.
Is she on the phone thing of yours? Earpiece? -Yeah.
-Oh.
Hello? Just to say that you've got very beautiful legs.
You should show them off more.
(COUGHING) BRIERS: It's lovely being in the bed.
You've got no moves to remember.
You've got no business, you've got no gestures.
You're just there, trying desperately to remember what the next line is.
OWEN: What's wrong with you? But I always subscribe to the great Spencer Tracy about preparation in acting.
He said They said, ''How do you do it, Spencer?'' You know.
And he said, ''Son'', he said, ''I learn my lines and I say them.
'' And I've always tried to follow that rule.
Three heart attacks and a failed bypass.
But I'm fine because I have this.
It's called the Pulse.
OWEN: And what do you think it does? It's keeping me alive.
When I wrote for Parker, I almost wrote him as Owen.
He's Owen as an old man.
PARKER: Christ, it's cold.
Oh, I'm alone.
I'm alone, I'm so alone.
It's all right, I'm here with you.
(MOANS) I'm still stuck here, though.
GODDARD: There's an irony in the fact that Parker is basically preaching to Owen about darkness and what lies on the other side.
When we, the audience, know that in fact the irony is there's two people in this room, one of them's dead, one of them's not.
The dead person is Owen.
(HEART MONITOR FLATLINING) MAN: Cut.
GORMAN: God, I'm so sorry.
MAN: Okay, lovely, people.
That does indeed complete Richard Briers' work on Torchwood.
Thank you very much, Mr Richard Briers.
There are two parallel themes in the story.
One is hope, the other is choice, freedom of choice.
Owen comes to realise Parker had no choice.
He was bed-ridden, stuck in a situation.
Owen does have a choice to go on or not.
And so he chooses to go on.
OWEN: My name is Owen Harper, and this is my life.
JACK: Watch TV.
Chill.
Jack, I'm dead.
I'm permanently chilled.
It's definitely about finding Owen's role again within the Torchwood team.
MAN 1 : And set.
MAN 2: Action.
He can't eat.
He can't drink.
He can't even feel if somebody touched him.
Get off me.
GIRL: What? He wants to prove to himself and the others that he can still function as part of the team.
As we join the story, he's just completely bogged down with the monotony and the emptiness that is his wretched life.
(CREW CHATTING) It's very much about finding something to cling onto, finding a reason to keep going.
Finding hope, basically.
Okay, so if we can start off, just at the moment talking about Owen being dead.
How do you want him to look? One thing we wanted to avoid was to make Owen look dead.
So we talked a lot about not having him in any kind of makeup.
And he would actually look relatively normal.
And also, to be absolutely blunt, we didn't want to have to have him in makeup for two hours every morning.
And I think Burn wanted to bring something to it that was much more performance-based.
So why are you doing my job? -Because Gwen asked me to.
-That's not what I mean.
BURN GORMAN: We thought we would just freeze him, almost, like he was at the end of Episode 6 and keep him like that.
The one motif that we did keep was the hand which needs to be dressed.
You've slashed your hand open.
(SCALPEL CLANGING) From that moment on, he's always got this bandage.
MAN: Here we go.
And action.
I can't feel anything.
I can't feel the needle or thread.
I can't feel your hands on mine.
RAY HOLMAN: From the moment that his hand was cut, we knew that we would always have to put bandages on.
We do something called costume breakdowns.
We take the photographs, we put the scene numbers on the photographs, and underneath the list of the scene numbers, we put the notes.
Absolutely every single thing they wear is written down for every single scene.
OWEN: I can't feel anything.
I'm numb.
Do you see why Jack's worried? Bruises won't heal, bones won't mend.
You're fragile.
GODDARD: When Owen jumps into Cardiff Bay, we shot it multiple times until he came to the edge.
MAN 1 : Here we go and MAN 2: 4092, take one.
MAN 1 : Thank you.
Shooting and action! MAN 1 : Thank you.
Good rehearsal.
GODDARD: I wanted to get the run up completely right.
And once I was satisfied we had that, we shot it with a rickshaw camera.
Maybe back down there.
I don't know.
I had a wetsuit on, so it meant that I ran like Daffy Duck.
MAN 1 : Ready? MAN 2: Yes! (SHOUTING) MAN 1 : Thank you.
We'll cut there.
Then he finally did jump in, and we shot it on two cameras.
MAN: Three, two, one, action.
(SHOUTING) MAN 1 : Go pull him! Cardiff Bay has gone through a lot of redevelopment.
However, the water is still pretty rank.
Apparently they did lots of tests to see if there was any pathogens in there.
But to be honest, it was fine.
It was good fun.
Let's be honest.
It was a beautiful, shining day.
Owen finally takes a bath.
GODDARD: So we did it once, and it worked.
I was glad that Burn was up for doing it and that we didn't shoot it with a stuntman.
When we pick him up underwater, that's in a private swimming pool which is about six-foot deep.
It's a big housing, obviously, to set the camera, 'cause you're going underwater.
And that housing that we're actually using is It's so big because it can actually take the camera down to about 1 20 metres so it has to withstand a lot of pressure.
We haven't got that sort of pressure in six feet of water, here, and it is really heavy on land, but when we get it in here, it'll only just be heavy enough to sink.
If he needs air, there's gonna be a tank down there with a regulator much like this.
So if he needs to breathe, he can just take hold of it.
But again, because it is shallow, he can just put his head up and take a breath when he needs to.
And so in the storyline, he can't actually die.
And so, yeah, there's no bubbles coming out.
Which is also going to be a bit tricky, because once you've jumped in, there are inherent bubbles that come in with you.
Hopefully there won't be any coming out of his mouth.
So we'll just have to keep shooting until we get that.
You have to first say, ''Okay.
And three, two, one, action!'' Then you go under, and you're on your own.
So you're kind of in this world where you can't hear anyone, you can barely see anyone.
What we were trying to work out was that Owen didn't have any oxygen bubbles coming out.
So when I jump in, there's a load of bubbles, but we basically had to do lots of takes where I held my breath for as long as I could.
And let everything settle.
And then, you know, sort of check that there's no air and that I'm not gonna die.
MAN: Action.
GODDARD: We had air bubbles popping all over the place.
And it was just difficult to try and get those shots where there were at least as few air bubbles as possible.
And there's a beautiful shot where I kind of drift off into the ether which is very nice.
MAN 1 : Here we go.
MAN 2: Camera set.
MAN 1 : And action.
I like the idea that Parker is almost like the old man behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz.
He's built up to be this kind of great, big powerful figure.
GWEN: Alien energy pulse.
We've got to check this Parker out, okay? There's all this kind of shroud of mystery around him.
PARKER: I've been watching you.
And yet when you finally get to meet him, it's Richard Briers.
Henry Parker, yeah? You're Torchwood, yeah? They could have sent that Japanese girl.
I liked her.
MAN: Cut there.
Okay.
STOKES: We talked a lot about who we wanted to play Parker.
And as soon as Richard Briers' name came up, we all kind of leapt on it and went, ''But that's just perfect!'' BRIERS: Parker is a dying millionaire.
And this old boy is very frightened, naturally, as we all are, of dying.
So there's not many laughs.
But it's It's a very atmospheric scene.
I thought rather well written.
JOSEPH LIDSTER: It was brilliant that it was Richard Briers.
He doesn't play him too soft.
Just 'cause he's an old man dying in a bed doesn't mean he becomes soft and fluffy.
He's still got bite to him.
(CREW CHATTING) MAN: Okay, so we're gonna regroup, please.
The scene was about 1 0 or 1 1 pages long, which is a long scene for a telly.
'Cause, you know, they cut, cut, cut all the time.
But it was nice, the luxury of having that duologue with the leading character.
I thought it was quite a challenge.
PARKER: I'm dying.
Both he and Burn literally were doing nine, nine and a half minute takes, word perfect.
It was It was like watching a theatre piece.
BRIERS: When I was young, you pick up a script like that, you learn it in about a couple of days.
Now I take much longer.
So I take five days just to get it into the aged brain.
MAN 1 : 4 325.
Take 4.
MAN 2: Here we go, folks.
Shooting.
And action.
Is she on the phone thing of yours? Earpiece? -Yeah.
-Oh.
Hello? Just to say that you've got very beautiful legs.
You should show them off more.
(COUGHING) BRIERS: It's lovely being in the bed.
You've got no moves to remember.
You've got no business, you've got no gestures.
You're just there, trying desperately to remember what the next line is.
OWEN: What's wrong with you? But I always subscribe to the great Spencer Tracy about preparation in acting.
He said They said, ''How do you do it, Spencer?'' You know.
And he said, ''Son'', he said, ''I learn my lines and I say them.
'' And I've always tried to follow that rule.
Three heart attacks and a failed bypass.
But I'm fine because I have this.
It's called the Pulse.
OWEN: And what do you think it does? It's keeping me alive.
When I wrote for Parker, I almost wrote him as Owen.
He's Owen as an old man.
PARKER: Christ, it's cold.
Oh, I'm alone.
I'm alone, I'm so alone.
It's all right, I'm here with you.
(MOANS) I'm still stuck here, though.
GODDARD: There's an irony in the fact that Parker is basically preaching to Owen about darkness and what lies on the other side.
When we, the audience, know that in fact the irony is there's two people in this room, one of them's dead, one of them's not.
The dead person is Owen.
(HEART MONITOR FLATLINING) MAN: Cut.
GORMAN: God, I'm so sorry.
MAN: Okay, lovely, people.
That does indeed complete Richard Briers' work on Torchwood.
Thank you very much, Mr Richard Briers.
There are two parallel themes in the story.
One is hope, the other is choice, freedom of choice.
Owen comes to realise Parker had no choice.
He was bed-ridden, stuck in a situation.
Owen does have a choice to go on or not.
And so he chooses to go on.
OWEN: My name is Owen Harper, and this is my life.