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STORY PLACEMENT THIS EPISODE TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE TV EPISODES "COUNTRY- CIDE" AND "THEY KEEP KILLING SUZIE."
WRITTEN BY TOBY WHITHOUSE
DIRECTED BY COLIN TEAGUE
RATINGS 1.31 MILLION (BBC3) 1.80 MILLION (BBC2)
RECOMMENDED PURCHASE 'THE COMPLETE FIRST SERIES' BLU-RAY DVD BOX SET (BBCBD0015) RELEASED IN JUNE 2008.
BLURB TOSHIKO IS GIVEN AN ALIEN PENDANT WHICH
ENABLES HER TO HEAR THOUGHTS. |
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Greeks Bearing Gifts 26TH NOVEMBER 2006 (50-MINUTE EPISODE)
The man who brought us the action-packed, amusing and actually rather moving Doctor Who episode School Reunion acquits himself admirably once more here. Toby Whithouse’s contribution to Torchwood is more than just (and even I’m cringing at my use of the word ‘just’ here) a slick and sexy lesbian shagathon. Beneath the shiny, shiny gloss is a story about human relationships and the damage that absolute honesty can do.
“So I’m shagging a woman and an alien?”
Until now, Tosh has quite easily had the least exposure of all the regular characters. Greeks Bearing Gifts is the first real ‘Tosh’ episode, and whilst it progresses one part of her story arc quite predictably, the content of the rest of the episode came as a complete surprise to me. Over the past few episodes it has become painfully obvious that Tosh has a big thing for Owen. A real big thing. And so when in this episode Tosh is given a pendant that allows her to read peoples’ thoughts – including those of Owen and Gwen – it is of course a recipe for disaster…
“It changes how you see people.”
One of the most arresting scenes in the episode sees Tosh listening to her colleagues’ thoughts. As she hears Owen internally slag her off and think about shagging Gwen, and as she becomes privy to Gwen’s sordid thoughts about Owen, you can almost see Tosh’s heart being ripped out. But it doesn’t stop there. As she stands with a knife at her throat, Tosh has to hear Owen thinking that he would rather save Gwen than her. She has to listen to Ianto’s thoughts as behind his smiling face he is thinking “there isn’t an inch of me that doesn’t hurt”. And then she tries to read Jack… and he just isn’t there. It’s as if he were dead.
Turning to the unpredictable; well! I certainly didn’t think Tosh - the goody-two-shoes techie - had this in her. When Mary first propositions her in the bar, I think it’s pretty evident that Tosh is more concerned with Mary knowing all about Torchwood than she is about getting some. But as they sit talking, Tosh seems to be revelling in being able to do what most people take for granted – have a normal conversation with somebody about work. Like Gwen, Tosh does not seem to be able to handle keeping everything bottled up. From there, I don’t know what happens. Is Tosh bisexual, or is she simply overwhelmed by Mary’s seductive powers? After all, I don’t think that there are many who wouldn’t be.
Daniela Denby-Ashe (2.4 Children) plays the femme fatale absolutely flawlessly, combining the danger and the attraction to devastating effect. Denby-Ashe being an absolute stunner helps, of course – she’s certainly come on a bit since her wholesome days in EastEnders! Colin Teague has to be given a lot of credit for how he directs her, though; one very vivid sequence really stuck in my mind. Mary sits in a chair in the corner of the bedroom, casually smoking a fag, whilst Tosh lies in the bed, ruminating. The scene is then punctuated with an apparently random scene of Jack stood on a rooftop looking out over Cardiff. It’s stunning cinematography, succinctly summing up Tosh’s inner conflict.
As you can probably tell, I absolutely love this episode and can’t fault it in the slightest. There is plenty ‘for the Dads’ as they say in Doctor Who, but even putting the more sensationalist elements aside, Whithouse’s story is absolutely first-rate. Another triumph for Torchwood.
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Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2006
E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. |
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