“Tomorrow's
their last training exercise. Just another day. They go out on a sortie and are
surprised by two formations of Messerschmitts. He destroys three of the enemy.
His men listen to his whoops of joy over the radio. Then it all goes quiet. He
can't bail out because his whole plane is on fire, but his men all make it back
to safety.”
Captain Jack Harkness is
the first of a two parter leading us towards the end of Series One. Its story
begins with the Head of Torchwood Three, and Toshiko Sato arriving at the Ritz
Dance Hall, amidst reports of music in the early hours coming from the
building. Inside however, there is nothing but cobwebs and birds in the
rafters, but as Jack and Toshiko waltz across the dancefloor and head down the
opposite staircase to which they’d ascended, music fills their ears, and the
room back upstairs is transformed from the drab interior to the dance hall of the
1940s, with dancing girls and boys in uniform – black out blinds on the windows
and much merriment as you can get inside.
Naturally Jack looks like
he belongs in this era, Toshiko feels ill at ease. Jack promises to look after
her as he moves through the dancing throng of people and orders her a drink
without realising he’s not carrying any cash. George, a young British airman
offers to pay for their drinks on the condition he can dance with Toshiko.
In amongst all the
frivolities something else is at play, and while the pair are away, Ianto, Owen
and Gwen are researching rift activity around the building, especially when
they discover that the caretaker, Bilis Manger is in an old photograph with
none other than their illustrious leader and Toshiko, caught in a moment in an
old newspaper article. With Jack and Tosh still missing, the team work overtime
in order to bring them back from the past, hoping not to bring anything else
with them along the way.
This is one of my
favourite episodes, the second one to follow also.
Matt Rippy
‘The Captain’
“I'm
Captain Jack Harkness. 133rd Squadron.”
The night before they head
out to battle and it must add a lot of pressure to the leader of the team to
keep spirits up of his men. However, struggling with your own sexual feelings
can also add to the pressure, especially when you don’t want to break the heart
of the one girl who thinks she stands a chance with you – and then to cap it
all, you find a man who gets you, and wants you, and although you don’t know
him from Adam, you feel a connection and if you could just get that one night…
Since Torchwood Matt Rippy
has appeared in Day of the Dead, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Dark Knight,
Bonekickers, Boogeyman 3, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Jack Ryan: Shadow
Recruit (but a brief blink and you’ve missed it kind of character as didn’t see
him much in the film). In the same year as Jack Ryan, Rippy played Colonel
Gregg in The Monuments Men, playing Eddie ‘Buck’ Rogers III in Doctors (check
our Beyond the Hub review of that episode). In the same year he also played
Terry in the film Crystal Skulls. A year later and he’s in Roboshark playing
Rick, and I knew I’d not been seeing things when I spied him playing US
Anchorman in Eddie the Eagle in 2016.
As most actors seem to be
over at the Star Wars studios these days, it’s no surprise to see that Rippy is
there also, playing Corporal Rostock in Rogue One.
Leaping on another year
and Rippy plays Dylan Figgis in Ransom episode Celina in 2017, USS Flynn Captain
in American Assassin, and US Intelligence Officer in The Crown episode
Vergangenheit. He’s currently finished filming Hunter Killer and is rumoured to
be playing Carl in The Tea Chest currently in pre-production.
Murray Melvin
‘Bilis Manger’
“I
could think of better things to photograph than numbers, my dear. Do call
again.”
In any abandoned dance
hall you need a creepy caretaker with an interest in the occult, and who better
to play that than Bilis Manger – a man who can step from one century to another
in the time it takes to fasten a button. He’s made a lucrative business in
antique time pieces and keeps a vital cog of the Rift Manipulator at the Hub,
which he’s been using to travel through time and have the odd chinwag to the
young Abaddon, the beast beneath the Rift.
With his oily voice and
quintessential manner, he’s far more suited to the 1940s like our Captain Jack,
and he knows far more than he’s letting on when he catches them in his study,
completing the equation for Gwen to find.
Murray Melvin played a
blinding performance as Bilis returned to play the role again with Big Finish
this year (2018) for further Torchwood stories. He doesn’t appear to have aged
either – must be all that time travelling!!!
Since his initial episode
of Torchwood in 2007, it wasn’t until 2010 that Melvin played a Librarian in
the television film The Village. He later played Bentham Dequetteville in
Midsomer Murders in 2012 (saw that – it was an interesting story). In the Emeli
Sandé music video Clown in 2013 he played the Judge. Leaping towards 2016 and
The Lost City of Z which was a brilliant film, sad in many places and left you
wondering if the two intrepid explorers were eaten or did actually survive
their journey, Melvin played Lord James Bernard.
In 2017, he played
Caravaggio Al in Starhunter Transformation series for 3 episodes and in the
Redux series for 2 episodes. Currently in post production of Jusqu’a la lie,
Murray plays The English Lord and it’s been announced that he will play a
Pastor in Wurdilak.
Elen Rhys
‘Nancy’
“That's
his excuse for not dancing. Mind if I join you?”
Nancy was deeply in love
with Captain Jack the RAF airman of the 1940s only until he finally kissed her
goodbye did she whisper in his ear how very much in love with him she was. She
wasn’t to know it would be the last time she ever saw him.
Since Torchwood, Elen has
played characters from Welsh dramas such as Y Pris, to Wild at Heart, Trinity,
Pen Talar, Season of the Witch, Holby City, Panic Button, Doctors and World War
Z. She played Eara in A Viking Saga: The Darkest Day, Jocasta in Atlantis in
2013, the voice of Blodwen in The Lingo Show, played Mari Davies in Hinterland
in 2015, Petra Brattle in The Bastard Executioner in the same year. Amy Coulter
in Silent Witness a year later, and Alicia in Crow. In 2017 Elen played Zoe in Broadchurch
and Sian Hughes in Keeping Faith/Un Bore Mercher. She’s just completed filming
for The Mad Axeman where she plays Lisa, and Jennifer in Apostle which is in
post production.
Nadine Beaton
‘Audrey’
“I
haven’t seen you two here before. Is she with you? Maybe she’s a spy. You’re
hardly an ally then.”
Audrey was suspicious of
anything that didn’t look right, and a Japanese woman escorted by a good
looking American airman was still as suspicious as putting tomato ketchup on
salad!!! She concluded that Toshiko was most definitely a spy, and if she wasn’t
going to let her see inside her laptop bag, then she clearly was ticking all
those confirmation boxes.
Since her role as Audrey,
Nadine put aside her acting shoes in favour of her new role as a culture and
engagement consultant, where she invigorates
people through bespoke development opportunities and effective communication
which you a competitive edge. http://www.nadinebeaton.com/
Gavin Brocker
‘George’
“I
can't wait to get up there and give Jerry what for. How many did you kill in
the Battle of Britain, sir? Twenty six, wasn't it?”
George seemed an affable gentleman.
He offered to buy Jack’s drinks on the condition that Toshiko danced with him.
Of course, he wasn’t taking no for an answer as he literally dragged Toshiko
onto the dance floor with him. When Toshiko felt she’d had enough and implored
Jack to intervene however, George was a little put out and threw a punch,
connecting with Jack, which brought the party to a standstill and took his own
leader, the Real Jack Harkness to break things up.
George also couldn’t wait
to get back up in the air again and regales in the stories as told by his
Captain to the rest of the men.
Since Torchwood Gavin has
appeared in Foyle’s War, Incendiary, Trial & Retribution, The Bill,
Britannia High, Minder, Coming Up, Bonded by Blood, Sarah Jane Adventures as
Caleb in the episodes Sky in 2011. Suspects in 2014, Holby City, Mapp &
Lucia, and where many Whoniverse actors wind up – Stan Lee’s Lucky Man. In 2017
he played Crane in the series Howards End, and plays Clipper for In Fabric
which is currently in post production as well as Doom which is released in 2019.
Peter Sandys-Clarke
‘Tim’
“The
sun rose this morning at oh eight twelve, twenty one by seven degrees. I note
it down every day. It's a bit silly, I suppose.”
Tim is the navigator. He’s
quiet. He jots down dates and times and makes notes on times the sun rose and
set. Toshiko warms to him instantly. Although, strictly professionally.
Before Torchwood, Peter appeared
in Foyle’s War, in 2008 played Sheridan in Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me
film, played Silverman in Bonekickers in the same year. Played Doctor Barnado
in The Charles Dickens Show in 2012, Lance Hendry in Doctors a year later,
Captain Roberts in Indian Summers in 2016. In The Crown in 2017 played a BBC
Producer for the episode Marionettes, and played a Doctor in The Royals this
year. He has also appeared in stage plays.
Ciaran Joyce
‘Smiler’
“The
thing is you could be the last girl I ever kiss.”
Tim was partnered up with
Audrey during the evening, and when the air raid sirens screamed they all
headed down to the basement. Aware that he might never return from battle, hopes
that Audrey will relent and make out with him before the All Clear is given
outside.
Ciaran Joyce to many of us
is known as Lol from the Tracy Beaker series on CBBC but played a very young
pilot in Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness. Since the series, Ciaran played
Bingo in Summer Scars, Boris in Young Dracula, Robbie in After You’ve Gone and
Travis Stone in Po5t. He’s currently in rehearsals for Les Misérables on the
West End.
Melissa Moore
‘Singer’
(sings
various verses throughout episode)
Dressed in the style of
the day, the singer croons to songs of the 1940s that gets the boys and girls
up onto the dance floor. She appears to sing the right verse at the right time
when Jack and George spar or when Captain Harkness sits with Nancy or the other
Harkness sits with Toshiko, etc.
There’s nothing listed
about Melissa since her role on Torchwood.
Lynsey Muir
‘Woman’
No
quote
Unsure which ‘woman’
Lynsey played in the episode. Lynsey’s other career is as a second and third assistant
director on shows such as Foyle’s War, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Love
Soup, Doctor Who, Torchwood, 10 Days to War, Ashes to Ashes, All Stars, Lewis,
Chirchill’s Secret, Liar, Trust and Black Eyed Susan.
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