Torchwood 101: Welcome to Torchwood!

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“We don’t just catch aliens. We scavenge the stuff they leave behind. Find ways of using it. Arming the human race for the future. The twenty-first century is when it all changes, and you’ve got to be ready.”

Welcome to Torchwood: a world of violence, sex, humor, and plotholes you can drive a tractor trailer through. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can make for some of the most entertaining twists that happen in the show. When I took on the assignment of being your guide to the Torchwood universe, I was going to start off with just jumping into doing recaps and reviews of the episodes. But I started thinking about those who might not be familiar with the the universe the show is set in (the Whoniverse, so to speak) and changed my plans.

So what, or who, exactly is Torchwood?

First airing in October of 2006 on BBC Three in the UK, Torchwood is the story of a secret organization based in Cardiff, Wales. Located in a hidden base under the water tower in the Roald Dahl Plass, the team’s job is to protect the citizens from aliens – and their technology – that fall through a rift that runs through Cardiff. Show creator Russell T. Davies initially planned to call the show “Excalibur”, but later changed the name to “Torchwood”. The name Torchwood was originally an anagram of “Doctor Who”, which was used when New Who was being filmed to try and keep it secret.

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