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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Production Code

1.7

Written by

Toby Whithouse

Directed by

Colin Teague

Runtime

50 minutes

Time Travel

Present

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

LGBTQA+

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Cardiff, Earth, Wales

UK Viewers

1.31 million

Synopsis

Tosh is given an alien pendant which lets her hear other people's thoughts. As the Torchwood team puzzle over a centuries-old skeleton, the pendant forces Tosh to question her commitment to Torchwood. Is her new-found ability a blessing or a curse?

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How to watch Greeks Bearing Gifts:

Reviews

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4 reviews

The core conceit of this plot is the predatort lesbian trope, and that's not helped by the transphobic joke that comes from out of nowhere.

 

Unfortunately I do like gay characters with problems. Lesbian situationship so bad one of you has to get forcefully teleported into a star


An odd episode, but it has a very interesting hook. I like the idea of a pendant that can allow you to hear people's thoughts. I think that's such an interesting premise, and they really use this to explore character dynamics. Pace is slow though.


The story itself is pretty decent, but on principle, I have to give this story a 1/10 for being overtly transphobic for no reason whatsoever.
This, for me, is one of the case studies as to how bigotry affects your reasoning skills, because the transphobic writer of this story made Captain Jack Harkness of all people, the openly omnisexual man from the 51st century, have a problem with trans people. Not the rapist. Not the police officer. Not the slightly withdrawn, quite traditional woman. Captain Jack Harkness, which on its own doesn't pass the smell test, but then puts it down to him not being able to trust his friend because she realized something about herself???
Ridiculous, callous, horrible, terrible.

1/10.


Greeks Bearing Gifts is a Tosh focused episode, and I have to say I was largely checked out by the events of this one. The effects don't look great, the plot is meandering, and it not only does Tosh a bit of a disservice but overly playing up her submissiveness while at the cost of making the rest of the cast truly treat her like garbage. The plot doesn't really go anywhere and this episode is easily best forgotten as yet another dud chapter of Torchwood.


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Statistics

AVG. Rating283 members
3.21 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating388 votes
3.77 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating65 votes
3.20 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

745

Favourited

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Reviewed

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Saved

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Skipped

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Owned

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Quotes

Add Quote

(A young woman is leading a soldier through the trees.)

MARY: Nearly there. We've been right busy since you lot were billeted here. This your first time? The others been teasing you, is that it? My name's Mary. Mary, like the virgin.

(She starts unbuttoning his tunic. He slaps her, hard.)

MARY: Religious man, are you?

(He slaps her again.)

MARY: I'm not your bloody hound.

(She scratches him and runs.)

SOLDIER: Whore!

(A strange sound is coming from a pulsing light amongst the trees. The soldier is still chasing her, so Mary runs towards it. There is a flash as the soldier approaches, and he draws his flintlock pistol. He aims it at Mary, who is just standing there, smiling.)

SOLDIER: Do whores have prayers?

(He fires.)

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Transcript Needs checking

[Woods - Cardiff 1812]

(A young woman is leading a soldier through the trees.)

MARY: Nearly there. We've been right busy since you lot were billeted here. This your first time? The others been teasing you, is that it? My name's Mary. Mary, like the virgin.

(She starts unbuttoning his tunic. He slaps her, hard.)

MARY: Religious man, are you?


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