Adrift first aired in
2008, and was directed by Mark Everest and written by Chris Chibnall. It
starred the regular cast, along with Ruth Jones, Robert Pugh and Lorna Gayle.
It told of the negative
rift spikes that would take people away to ravaged planets where they’d spend
years trying to get home, aged and mad. It told of young Jonah Bevan walking
home across the barrage, watched by his Mum. In the next instance, he was gone.
Vanished. Which led Andy Davidson to call on Gwen, to find the missing persons.
This led to her finding out about Flat Holm Island, and the Disappeared.
Ruth Jones
‘Nikki’
"Promise
me you won't do this to anyone else. Before, I had the memory. Whenever I
thought of him, I'd see him laughing with his mates, playing football, scoffing
his breakfast. And now I just hear that, that terrible noise."
Nikki Bevan was happier
when she knew her son might be out there somewhere. When she learnt of the
trauma her son had gone through and what he had become, it broke her.
To be fair, Ruth Jones
needs no introduction. For those of us who have seen back to back episodes of
Gavin & Stacey and Stella, we know who she is, and we can't wait for the
Christmas edition of Gavin & Stacey which is currently being filmed in
Barry as we speak.
Since Torchwood, Ruth has
played character roles in Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Little Dorrit, The Street,
Ar y Tracs, Agatha Christie's Marple, Igam Ogam, The Great Outdoors, The Vicar
of Dibley, Eat Locals, Stella, Nativity Rocks! and of course Gavin &
Stacey.
Robert Pugh
‘Jonah’
“I
was walking home. There was a light. I woke up and the land was on fire. There
were flames for miles on end. A man pulled me from the flames, took me to a
building where they tried to work on the burns. I thought I was going to die. I
don't remember when the ground started shaking. And then I realised it wasn't a
building after all. It was a rescue craft. The last off a burning planet. We
watched the Solar System burn. It was so beautiful.”
When Jonah returned, he
was very much the older man, changed and scarred by the ravages of a burning
planet, and went crazy staring into the heart of a dark star. What he'd seen
had driven him mad. His primal screams go on for 20 hours, and his best phases
grow less by the day.
Robert Pugh has appeared
in many familiar dramas and shows, including Doctor Who during the 11th
Doctor's incarnation as Tony Mack in the two parter The Hungry Earth and Cold
Blood in 2010.
Since Torchwood, Robert
has played characters for Silent Witness, Lark Rise to Candleford, Robin Hood,
Into the Storm, Framed, Accused, Justice, The Shadow Line, Midsomer Murders,
Hunky Dory, The Hollow Crown, Shameless, Love Bite, Game of Thrones, Inspector
George Gently, Atlantis, Doctor Foster, Mr Selfridge, Damilola, Our Loved Boy,
Canaries, Knightfall, Vanity Fair, and has just completed Eternal Beauty as
Dennis, and currently in post production with Chariot as Len Lewys-Jones.
Lorna Gayle
‘Helen’
"You've
seen him in the good phase. It gets briefer every day. It really might be best
if you leave."
Helen took care of those
taken by the negative rift spikes on Flat Holm Island. Jack told her that the
patients had been used in experiments.
Since Torchwood Helen has
played many character roles since 2008, from a Passenger in The Dark Knight,
Rose Watt and Lorraine Jackson in The Bill. Bimpe in This is England '86 in
2010, Phoebe Richards in Silk in 2011. Dancing on the Edge as Edith in 2013, a
Bus Driver in Love Matters in 2013 also. A Midwife in Utopia a year later. As
Colette and Irene Daniels in Eastenders from 2005 - 2015, Shontal in Fried in
the same year. A Midwife again, this time in Cuckoo in 2016, Ella Chambers and
Fay Harrison for Holby City from 2015 - 2017. Gracie Fields and Mrs Adeoye in
Doctors from 2013 - 2017, Gloria in The Rebel in 2017, Margaret in Carmilla in
2019 and has just completed a film short Shift the Plane as Danny's Mum.
Oliver Ferriman
‘Young Jonah’
(texts)
Chill.:-P
Young Jonah managed to
reply to his Mum's text as he crossed to the middle of the barrage bridge
before a negative rift spike destroyed his life forever.
Oliver Ferriman played Dai
in Granny of the Dead in 2017. Weirdly there are two Oliver Ferriman’s on
Internet, but not much written about the one in question.
Philippa Burt
‘Dweller (uncredited)’
On the island,
underground, Phillippa played one of the dwellers of the island, unable to
return home after being taken by a negative rift spike. I think Philippa played
the character who was watching the television in the room, and turned to face
Gwen, her face scarred at one side.
Prior to her role in
Torchwood, Phillipa played a peasant, again uncredited in the Doctor Who
episode The Family of Blood in 2007.
Since Torchwood, Burt has
played a host of uncredited and credited roles from an Air Hostess in Gavin
& Stacey, a Professor in Bonekickers, and a Court Attendant in Poirot
episode Mrs McGinty's Dead in 2008. Herman's wife in LifeSpam: My Child is
French, and a Maid in Desperate Romantics in 2009.
