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07 –"Greeks Bearing Gifts" | |||
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Torchwood episode | |||
Cast | |||
Starring | |||
Others
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Production | |||
Directed by | Colin Teague | ||
Written by | Toby Whithouse | ||
Script editor | Brian Minchin | ||
Produced by | Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) | ||
Executive producer(s) | Russell T Davies Julie Gardner | ||
Music by | Ben Foster | ||
Production code | 1.7 | ||
Series | Series 1 | ||
Running time | 50 mins | ||
First broadcast | 26 November 2006 | ||
Chronology | |||
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"Greeks Bearing Gifts" is the seventh episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood , [1] which was originally broadcast on the digital television channel BBC Three on 26 November 2006.
In the episode, a killer shape-changing alien known as Arcateenian called Mary (Daniela Denby-Ashe) has been stranded in Cardiff for nearly two hundred years. She seeks to retrieve a recently unearthed transporter so she can escape the planet Earth.
Torchwood is called to a building site where a centuries-old human skeleton and a rusted alien artefact have been discovered in the ground. Later, at a local bar, Toshiko meets Mary, a scavenger of alien artefacts that has been following Torchwood. Mary gives Toshiko a pendant that allows her to read minds; Toshiko promises to not tell Torchwood from whom she got it.
The next day as Toshiko examines the pendant, she reads Owen and Gwen's minds, both having dismissive and contemptuous thoughts about her. She races home, only to find Mary there; Toshiko attempts to return the pendant but Mary insists it can be used for good. Mary convinces Toshiko to read her mind again, and reveals romantic intentions for Toshiko. The two spend the night together. The next day, Toshiko asks Mary her true identity but she remains coy, answering "Philoctetes", the name of an archer from Greek mythology who was exiled on an island. Toshiko wears the pendant in a crowded street, and though overwhelmed with the thoughts of everyone, identifies one man preparing to commit murder, and she is able to follow and stop him.
Later, Mary convinces Toshiko to ask the others at the Hub about the artefact, using the pendant as they may be hiding information from her. Toshiko finds Owen lacks any information on the artefact, while she is unable to read Jack's mind. Meanwhile, Owen has discovered that the same trauma that had been inflicted on the skeleton has been reported several times in the last few centuries, while Jack becomes aware of Toshiko's strange behaviour.
When Toshiko returns to Mary, she reveals herself as an alien, an exiled dissident, and that the artefact is a transporter that can help her to leave the planet. Mary asks Toshiko to take her to Torchwood so she can retrieve the artefact herself. At the Hub, they find that Jack has deduced that Mary is an alien and the serial killer. Jack explains that the transporter carried a prisoner, Mary, and a guard, which Mary killed before taking the body of a human woman. Mary holds Toshiko at knifepoint, demanding the artefact. Jack trades Toshiko for the artefact, which Jack reprograms to send Mary to the centre of the sun. Owen and Gwen apologise to Toshiko for their behaviour to her. Jack offers Toshiko the pendant, but she smashes it underfoot.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2024) |
Mary is a member of the species known as Arcateenians. An Arcateenian later appears in The Sarah Jane Adventures episode "Invasion of the Bane." [2] A letter to Doctor Who Magazine noted "Mary"'s strong resemblance to Destrii, a companion from the magazine's Eighth Doctor comic strips. The magazine's editors concurred with the observation. [3] Later, The Torchwood Archives by Gary Russell specified that Destrii and Mary are from the same system. Destrii's home planet Oblivion along with Devos, Krant and Arcateen IV, V and VI form the Arcan system. [4]
Gwen Elizabeth Cooper is a fictional character portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles in the BBC science-fiction television programme Torchwood, a spin-off of the long-running series Doctor Who. The lead female character, Gwen featured in every episode of the show's 2006–2011 run, as well as two 2008 crossover episodes of Doctor Who. Gwen appears in Expanded Universe material such as the Torchwood novels and audiobooks, comic books and radio plays.
The Torchwood Institute, or simply Torchwood, is a fictional secret organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive is to defend Earth against supernatural and extraterrestrial threats. It is later revealed in "Army of Ghosts" that the Torchwood Institute has begun to use their findings to restore the British Empire to its former glory. To those ends, the organisation started to acquire and reverse engineer alien technology. Within Torchwood, an unofficial slogan evolved: "If it's alien, it's ours". According to one base director, Yvonne Hartman, its nationalist attitude includes refusing to use metric units.
Dr Owen James Harper is a fictional character played by Burn Gorman, and a regular in the BBC television series Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character last appeared onscreen in the Series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds".
Toshiko "Tosh" Sato is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" (2005), Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood premiere episode "Everything Changes" (2006). The character appears in every episode of the show's first two series as well as Expanded Universe material including Torchwood novels, audiobooks and comic strips.
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. The show's first female black companion, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, after Rose Tyler but before Donna Noble. According to the character's creator Russell T Davies in his non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, Martha was developed from the beginning with the intention of appearing for the whole of the 2007 series, and to later make guest appearances in subsequent series and crossover appearances in the show's two spin-offs; Martha subsequently made guest appearances in Torchwood series two and in Doctor Who series four in 2008 and special episode "The End of Time" in 2010. Martha was also intended to make guest appearances in the 2009 series of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, but could not due to the actress's other work commitments.
"Everything Changes" is the first episode of the British science fiction television programme Torchwood, which was first broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three on 22 October 2006. The story was written by show creator and executive producer Russell T Davies as an introduction to the show's mythos. The episode re-introduces Captain Jack Harkness, who had proved popular in the first series of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, as the leader of Torchwood, a team of alien hunters.
"Day One" is the second episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. Directed by Brian Kelly, the episode was first broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three on 22 October 2006 with the series pilot, "Everything Changes", and later repeated on terrestrial channel BBC Two on 25 October. It was the first work in the Doctor Who universe to be written by future Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall.
"Ghost Machine" is the third episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on the digital television channel BBC Three on 29 October 2006.
"Captain Jack Harkness" is the twelfth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was originally broadcast on the digital television channel BBC Three on 1 January 2007.
"Countrycide" is the sixth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was originally broadcast on the digital television channel BBC Three on 19 November 2006.
"End of Days" is the thirteenth and final episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It originally aired on the digital television channel BBC Three on 1 January 2007, alongside the previous episode, "Captain Jack Harkness". The episode was written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Ashley Way.
"Reset" is the sixth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast on BBC Three on 13 February 2008.
"To the Last Man" is the third episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast on BBC Two on 30 January 2008. The episode was written by returning series guest writer, Helen Raynor, directed by Andy Goddard and produced by Richard Stokes. As with all episodes of Torchwood's first two series, "To the Last Man" featured series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd, with Mori's character Toshiko Sato given the main focus.
"Adam" is the fifth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on BBC Two on 13 February 2008.
"Dead Man Walking" is the seventh episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three and BBC HD on 20 February 2008; it made its terrestrial debut on BBC Two on 27 February.
"A Day in the Death" is the eighth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on BBC Three on 27 February 2008.
"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.
"Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008. It marked the final appearance of Burn Gorman as Owen Harper and Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato, with both characters being killed off at the end of the episode. It is also the final Torchwood episode in its original format.
"Lost Souls" is an original BBC Radio 4 audio play written by Joseph Lidster and is a spin-off from the British science fiction television series Torchwood, itself a spin-off from Doctor Who. It aired on 10 September 2008 in the Afternoon Play slot as part of Radio 4's Big Bang Day which celebrated the switching on of CERN's Large Hadron Collider that same day. Andrew Marr introduced the audio play live from CERN. An mp3 version of the audio play was freely available until 18 September, when the play was released on CD and as a purchasable download.
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