This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
19 –"Reset" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Torchwood episode | |||
Cast | |||
Starring | |||
Others
| |||
Production | |||
Directed by | Ashley Way | ||
Written by | J.C. Wilsher | ||
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 | 2.6 | ||
Series | Series 2 | ||
Running time | 50 mins | ||
First broadcast | 20 February 2008 | ||
Chronology | |||
| |||
"Reset" is the sixth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood , which was broadcast on BBC Two on 20 February 2008, with an initial airing on BBC Three on 13 February. [1]
In the episode, the alien-hunting team Torchwood seeks to shut down a pharmaceutical company that is experimenting on live aliens to develop a drug that restores the human body to its "factory settings".
Jack recruits UNIT medical specialist Martha Jones to assist Torchwood after a series of deaths of drug trial subjects from the secure medical facility called the Pharm, which Martha, and Torchwood's medic Owen, identify as murders. Further investigation shows that the murder victims have previously suffered from incurable diseases such as diabetes and HIV, but were cured of them prior to their deaths. One victim, Marie, still alive when Torchwood find her, dies while being questioned and fly-like creatures erupt from her mouth.
Jack detects a strong presence of alien life forms within the Pharm, and the facility's security system proves to be beyond the ability of Torchwood to hack from the outside. Martha offers to infiltrate the facility disguised as a human test subject and is accepted after claiming to be infected with hepatitis. Once inside, Martha discovers that the Pharm uses a substance called Reset that releases alien parasites called Mayflies into the host's body. The parasites cure the patient of any diseases and restore them to "factory settings", but at the price of infecting the patient with the parasite. When the eggs hatch, the creatures destroy the host. The director, Professor Aaron Copley, injects Martha with multiple doses of Reset, curious to determine the effect of Mayflies on her immune system, which has changed from travelling in time.
Martha compromises the Pharm's computer systems. Torchwood discover Billy, the assassin employed by the Pharm to dispose of research subjects, and realise he is about to kill the last living test subject. Ianto and Gwen apprehend Billy and return him to the Hub for questioning. Billy is infected with Mayflies, likely contracted from one of his previous victims, and Owen kills him by improperly using the singularity scalpel. The team rush to the Pharm hidden in Billy's vehicle, using his corpse in the driver's seat to fool the security guards into letting them inside the compound.
Within the Pharm, they find numerous aliens being used to produce various test substances, including the mature Mayfly that is the source of Reset. Owen successfully uses the singularity scalpel to neutralise the Mayfly within Martha. Jack orders Toshiko to shut down the Pharm, euthanising all of the trapped aliens with inert gases, and crashing all computer systems. Before the team depart, Copley kills Owen by shooting him in the chest and Jack responds by shooting and killing Copley.
"Reset" was the first episode of the second series to have an advance broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three ahead of its terrestrial debut. The episode was first broadcast on BBC Three on 13 February 2008 at 9.50pm. It received its first terrestrial broadcast a week later, 20 February, at 9.00pm on BBC Two. A pre-watershed version of the episode was aired at 7.00pm 21 February 2008. [2] According to consolidated figures the episode's BBC Three broadcast was watched by 850,000 viewers, its BBC Two debut by 3.22 million viewers and the pre-watershed version by 0.96 million viewers, amounting to an aggregated total of 5.03 million viewers across its three initial showings. [3]
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".
Torchwood is a British-American science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from BBC Three to BBC Two to BBC One, and acquiring American financing in its fourth series when it became a co-production of BBC One and Starz. Torchwood is aimed at adults and older teenagers, in contrast to Doctor Who's target audience of both adults and children. As well as science fiction, the show explores a number of themes, including existentialism, LGBTQ+ sexuality, and human corruptibility.
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".
Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A regular within the show, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series excluding the finale of series 3, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwood's parent show, Doctor Who. Additionally, Ianto appears in Expanded Universe material such as the Torchwood novels and audiobooks, comic books and radio plays. Within the narrative of the series, Ianto begins as general support officer for Torchwood Three, a team of alien hunters stationed in Cardiff, and develops into an active field agent. Initially the regular character with the least screen time, Ianto's role expanded in response to growing cult appeal.
"Cyberwoman" is the fourth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by James Strong, the episode was first broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three on 5 November 2006, and later repeated on terrestrial channel BBC Two on 8 November.
"Last of the Time Lords" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007. It is the last of three episodes that form a linked narrative, following "Utopia" and "The Sound of Drums".
"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.
"Meat" is the fourth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast on BBC Two on 6 February 2008. It was written by Catherine Tregenna, who had previously written episodes for the first series of the show, directed by Colin Teague and produced by Richard Stokes. The episode featured the five initial series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd plus recurring actor Kai Owen in a central role.
"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 Two on 5 March 2008 with an intial airing on BBC Three on 27 February.
"Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of the British science-fiction television series Torchwood. It was first broadcast on BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. The episode was written by Phil Ford, directed by Ashley Way and produced by Richard Stokes. The episode featured the five initial series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd plus recurring actor Kai Owen in a central role.
"Adrift" is the eleventh episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast on BBC Three on 19 March 2008, and repeated on BBC Two two days later. The episode was written by series one and two head writer Chris Chibnall, directed by Mark Everest and produced by Sophie Fante and Richard Stokes. The episode featured the five initial series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd plus recurring actors Kai Owen and Tom Price.
"Fragments" is the twelfth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on BBC Two on 28 March 2008 with an initial airing on BBC Three on 21 March.
"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.
Children of Earth is the banner title of the third and penultimate series of the British television science fiction programme Torchwood, which broadcast for five episodes on BBC One from 6 to 10 July 2009. The series had new producer Peter Bennett and was directed by Euros Lyn, who had considerable experience on the revived Doctor Who, Torchwood's parent show. The eponymous series is about an organization known as Torchwood which defends the Earth against alien threats. The plot of Children of Earth deals with aliens demanding 10% of the Earth's children, and a related earlier conspiracy 40 years ago; as such, Torchwood is pitted against the British government when the government attempts to conceal its past actions and accede to the present-day aliens' demands. The first, third, and fifth episodes of the serial were written by executive producer Russell T Davies, who also conceived its overall storyline. The third episode was co-written by James Moran whilst the second and fourth were penned by newcomer John Fay.
Andy Davidson is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, portrayed by Tom Price, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. Andy, an officer with the South Wales Police, is a supporting character who first appears in Torchwood's premiere episode "Everything Changes" and recurs regularly from thereon. Though initially only credited as 'PC Andy', the character's surname 'Davidson' was given in novels and online media and eventually confirmed by dialogue in Children of Earth, "Day Three" (2009). Like Gwen's partner, Rhys, Andy is used by the production team as an everyman character who grounds the series in a recognisable real-world setting. The character had originally been slated to be killed off in the first series, though the production team had a change of heart, believing him to work well as a supporting character. Both cast and crew, as well as professional reviewers have spoken of the character's role in providing comic relief and an outsider's perspective on the Torchwood Institute.
Captain John Hart, played by James Marsters, is a fictional character from the BBC science fiction television programme Torchwood. He is introduced in the episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"—the first episode of Torchwood's second series. Whilst the character has not featured subsequently to the second series finale, he went on to appear in a Torchwood Magazine comic strip and Marsters has stated his interest in reprising the role on more than one occasion.