25 –"Fragments" | |||
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Torchwood episode | |||
![]() Tosh, Jack, Rhys, Gwen, Ianto and Owen watch the holographic message depicting Gray and Captain John. | |||
Cast | |||
Starring | |||
Guest
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Production | |||
Directed by | Jonathan Fox Bassett | ||
Written by | Chris Chibnall | ||
Script editor | Gary Russell | ||
Produced by | Richard Stokes (producer) Chris Chibnall (co-producer) | ||
Executive producer(s) | Russell T Davies Julie Gardner | ||
Music by | Ben Foster | ||
Production code | 2.12 | ||
Series | Series 2 | ||
Running time | 50 mins | ||
First broadcast | 21 March 2008 | ||
Chronology | |||
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"Fragments" is the twelfth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood , which was broadcast on BBC Three on 21 March 2008.
The episode follows four members of the alien-hunting team Torchwood having flashbacks to how they were recruited after getting trapped under debris.
Searching an abandoned building for alien life, Torchwood Cardiff (apart from Gwen, who is running late) are blown up by bombs and trapped under debris. Gwen and Rhys arrive to dig everyone out and escape. Jack, Toshiko, Ianto, and Owen flash back to how Torchwood recruited them.
Over 100 years ago, Jack is waiting in Cardiff to find the Doctor, who refuels at the Cardiff Rift. [N 1] Torchwood Cardiff assign Jack a job to find an alien. They blackmail him into cooperating when they notice him mentioning the Doctor, whom Torchwood treat as a threat. [N 2] Jack refuses his next assignment when an agent, believing the alien to be a threat, shoots it. At a bar, a tarot card reader tells Jack he will meet the Doctor in 100 years. [N 3] Needing something to do until then, Jack returns to Torchwood as an employee. Later, in 1999, Torchwood Cardiff's leader Alex murders his team and himself as a "mercy killing" after Alex sees a vision of the future. Jack becomes the new leader of Torchwood Cardiff.
Five years ago, Toshiko steals plans for a sonic modulator from the government and builds one. She gives it to one of her mother's kidnappers to trade for her release. UNIT soldiers break in and arrest the group, including Toshiko. Toshiko is locked in a cell indefinitely with no rights. Jack arrives and recruits Toshiko to release her, and also in recognition of her talents, as she created a sonic modulator from faulty plans.
21 months ago, Ianto, a former employee of Torchwood London, [N 4] is repeatedly denied a job by Jack as Jack severed links with the old regime after its destruction. [N 5] Later on, Jack tells Ianto to come to work after the two successfully catch a pterodactyl.
Four years ago, Owen and his fiancée Katie are planning a wedding. After Katie receives scans relating to memory loss, she is admitted to an operation on a brain tumour, which Jack tries to prevent. An alien parasite has buried itself in Katie's brain and emits a toxic gas which kills Katie and the operating surgeons. Seeing Owen's love of saving lives, and giving him a purpose, Jack recruits Owen as a medic.
In the present, Jack receives a message from Captain John Hart, who reveals that he had placed the bombs and shows Jack an image of his brother Gray. John then vows to tear Jack's world apart.
![]() | This section possibly contains original research .(September 2020) |
Clare Clifford had played Kyle in the Fifth Doctor story Earthshock .
Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy reacted highly positively saying 'this episode demonstrates the power of the ensemble cast', praising the narrative structure and acknowledging the 'gripping twist ending.' The fansite Androzani.com, who react mostly negatively to Torchwood, say 'It's not entirely stellar. But when it does work, it works very nicely indeed.' This episode is also a favourite among the fan base.
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. The character first appears in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the remaining episodes of the first series (2005) as a companion to the series' protagonist, the Doctor. Subsequent to this, Jack became the central character in the adult-themed Torchwood, which aired from 2006 to 2011. Barrowman reprised the role for appearances in Doctor Who in its third, fourth, and twelfth series, as well as specials "The End of Time", and "Revolution of the Daleks".
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