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Overview

First aired

Friday, March 21, 2008

Production Code

2.12

Written by

Chris Chibnall

Directed by

Jonathan Fox Bassett

Runtime

50 minutes

Time Travel

Past, Present

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

LGBTQA+

Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!)

Gray

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Cardiff, Earth, Wales

UK Viewers

3.6 million

Synopsis

A booby-trapped building explodes and knocks the Torchwood team unconscious, and kills Jack again. Each team member's life flashes before their eyes.

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2 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

This is a really interesting episode, where we get to find out how each Torchwood agent was recruited. It shows the dark side of the agency quite well, with Jack basically blackmailed into working for them in the Victorian times, and Owen made to think gone mad with grief upon losing his girlfriend to an alien parasite. And then there's Tosh's origin, her Mum kidnapped by a criminal gang no less and Tosh held prisoner by UNIT in a sort of prison camp facility, being told that she's not allowed to contact her to make sure she's okay. UNIT were really cruel there!

 

It's no surprise who it turns out planted the bombs, but then I don't think its meant to be, and the confirmation just makes for an exciting cliffhanger into the final episode.


This review contains spoilers!

Fragments is another strong story from Chibnall. Unsurprisingly whenever Doctor Who spin offs dabble with time travel things start to sparkle a little bit more. Captain Jack’s backstory is a yawning chasm of potential, so it’s a relief to be able to fill in some gaps between Parting of the Ways and the start of Torchwood Series One. Big Finish have made good use of Victorian Torchwood, I wish more of this had made it to screen. Again, the inherent sadness of a being who can’t die and watches the world pass around them is not unique to Torchwood, but it makes for good drama.


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Statistics

AVG. Rating242 members
4.15 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating275 votes
4.05 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating52 votes
4.40 / 5

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Transcript Needs checking

[Outside an abandoned building]

(Ianto phones their missing colleague.)

IANTO: Gwen, texting you the location. Appearing four or five signs of life, definitely non-human. Get here as soon as you can.
OWEN: So, sure they're not Weevils?
TOSH: Don't think so. Different energy patterns. I can't make sense of it. Not a species we've encountered before.
OWEN: Well, let's hope they're friendly, then.
JACK: Owen, Ianto, take the other side of the building. Check the upper floors. Toshiko with me.

[Abandoned building]

JACK: Okay? Go.
TOSH: I'm getting mirror readings on both floors. One creature at either end of the building.
JACK: Toshiko, split up.


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