Saturday, 30 November 2013

Articles A History of Torchwood Part One by DJ Forrest



We all know of Torchwood!  We all remember the Battle of Canary Wharf between the Cybermen and the Daleks, we remember those who were upgraded and those who fought to protect the Earth against the metal monsters that threatened to destroy it.  But what about Torchwood, where did it come from, how did it start? We’re going to take you right back to the moment the Institute began, from its very beginnings and take you through its turbulent history, and the various leaders throughout the years. We also uncover some interesting facts along the way. 

So let’s start with the beginning.

The History of Torchwood began in 1879 during Queen Victoria’s reign, and after Prince Albert’s untimely death, due to typhoid fever, the Queen took a trip to Scotland.  Her initial journey was to take her to Balmoral Castle, her usual retreat, but a tree on the railway track meant that the Queen had to travel by horse and carriage, making the journey much longer, and naturally would take her along the moors towards the MacLeish Estate upon within ten miles of the house, she happened upon the 10th Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler.

Prior to the Queen’s arrival at Torchwood House, the staff of the Estate were taken hostage by the brethren of the Glen of St Catherine, who had an important package to deliver to the Queen upon her arrival.  With the staff and Lady Isobel MacLeish held hostage in the cellar, having already caused the tree to fall on the line preventing the Queen’s journey to Balmoral by train, the brethren lay in wait.  Their trap was set.

Rose and the Doctor were meant to have been stepping out onto Sheffield soil in 1979 in time for an Ian Drury concert, however due to the Doctor and his miscalculation, they were 100 years early and nowhere near Sheffield.  Following the royal entourage to Torchwood House they arrived at dusk and were hesitantly welcomed by Sir Robert, the son of the late Sir George MacLeish.  Despite his attempts to encourage the Queen back into her carriage for the journey further north, the Queen insisted on remaining, after spending far too long travelling. 

The Queen had heard many accounts of Endeavour at Torchwood House, the telescope in the Observatory and wished to see it for herself.  It was most certainly a large telescope and the largest of its kind.  The Doctor wasn’t sure what to make of it, other than calling it rubbish, for a telescope! 

After supper, Sir Robert, prompted by Queen Victoria, began to tell the company at the dinner table the tales of the supernatural, the myths and legends of the wolf. 
Sir Robert began his story that dated back 300 years.
   “...every full moon the howling rings through the valley.  The next morning livestock would be reported ripped apart, devoured.... Sometimes a child goes missing.  Once in a generation a boy will vanish from his homestead.... 
   Drawings and wood carvings...it’s not a wolf, it’s more than that, this is a man who becomes an animal.”
 
In the basement, along with the staff and the Lady of the house, Rose Tyler and a young house maid, Flora, who had been caught out in the corridor upon finding the royal guards asleep on the floor, are made aware of the cage across the large cellar.  The creature is shrouded in a hooded cloak, but as the outer doors are opened, and it feels the moonlight, it begins to change, and transform into the werewolf they all fear. 
Rose not wishing to be its next meal encourages the staff and the Lady, to pull on the chain link secured against the wall to release them all, and joint effort they succeed just as the Doctor and Sir Robert enter the cellar and discover the werewolf for themselves.  Up in the dining room, having realised that the butler is none other than Father Angelo of the monastery, and that he wants the royal throne, is shot dead by Queen Victoria, who after six attempted assassinations is now more than ever capable of dealing with threats to her life.

As the men staff gather weapons to shoot the werewolf, the women staff head to the kitchen and try and escape, but the doors are sealed and the monks stand sentry wearing mistletoe about their necks.  Seeing this, Lady Isobel realises that this is what is keeping them alive, for in the kitchen as she huddles in a corner with her maids all about her, expecting to be devoured by the werewolf, is still alive due to the overpowering scent of the mistletoe that lay on the ground and on the table.

The Doctor with Rose, the royal guard who had regained consciousness, Sir Robert and the Queen, who carried with her the Koh I Nor, took the central Grand Staircase up to the library.  It was there that the Doctor discovered that something was preventing the werewolf from doing everything in its power to gain access to the room. 
All the wood around the walls, even the coat of arms bearing a wreath of mistletoe, is coated with the oil of the mistletoe, painted on so thickly that it forms a barrier and a deterrent to the wolf, which, given that the monks were opposed to the investigations by Sir George that perhaps he had seen for himself what protected the brethren from being slaughtered by the creature.

As with most houses, the name Torchwood comes from the timbers used for the central Great Staircase in the Torchwood House.  The timbers came from the North American torchwood tree Burseraceae family, called Amyris elemifera.  The tree can reach heights of 25ft to 39ft and its fruit feeds many finches and small birds.  It’s a popular tree in Florida providing a home for the Swallowtail butterflies.

The Doctor also realised that as much as the trap had been set by the brethren for the Queen, that in fact, the brethren had also been trapped by Sir George and Prince Albert.  It was a trap within a trap. 
Knowing how much Prince Albert and Sir George were friends, the plan to trap the wolf had taken a considerable amount of time and money, but given the investigations, and the funding, it seemed to have paid off.  When the Doctor having realised that the telescope was not for star gazing but was in fact a light telescope, that didn’t require electricity but was powered by the moon, sought to set it before the werewolf burst through the door. 
As the wolf entered, the Doctor slid the diamond into place, the light amplified and hit the wolf, throwing it away from the queen and elevated mid way between floor and ceiling.
The host changed from wolf to man, it begged the light to be made brighter, to let it go.  The Doctor did so and the wolf howled before dispersing in moonlight. 
As the light faded and the room returned to normal the queen seemed mesmerised by a cut to her arm.  She told the Doctor that it was merely a splinter but didn’t wish for the Doctor to view it.  She seemed almost pleased by it. 
After Rose and the Doctor were knighted for their services against the werewolf, the Queen banished the Doctor, exiling him from the Empire, never to return.

The Doctor later told Rose, after they were returned to the TARDIS that Queen Victoria was the first carrier of haemophilia in Britain’s royal family.  Her Mum and Dad didn’t have it, nor did her ancestors.  Only her children Beatrice and Alice, and her son Leopold who died from it.  Perhaps it was more than just a scratch...

On the eve of her departure from Torchwood House for Balmoral, Queen Victoria enquired after Lady Isobel’s plans for the Estate.  After the death of her husband at the hands and teeth of the werewolf, Lady Isobel had no desire to remain at the Estate. 
Queen Victoria, casting a glance back made plans.
   “I propose an institute to investigate these strange happenings and to fight them.  I will call it Torchwood.  The Torchwood Institute!  And if this Doctor should return then he should beware because Torchwood will be waiting!”

    

Research and Photo acknowledgements

©BBC Doctor Who 1963
Tooth & Claw episode featuring 10th Doctor and Rose Tyler

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