B00DPX9ST8 EBOK (187 page)

Some fans are uneasy with the notion that Torchwood - even as an organisation that by definition is given to deception - could have existed throughout the twentieth century without the third Doctor or UNIT learning about them. A few attempts have been made to explain this, and a recurring one speculates that, temporally speaking, Torchwood didn’t exist until the tenth Doctor and Rose went back and annoyed Queen Victoria (
Tooth and Claw
). This theory is hard to credit, however, partly because it overlooks the obvious point that Torchwood does, in fact, predate the Doctor and Rose’s trip to 1879. The group is mentioned in
Bad Wolf
and
The Christmas Invasion
, and in the latter story obliterates the departing Sycorax spaceship.

There is nothing special about
Tooth and Claw
in terms of time mechanics, so if such revision occurred, it would almost presuppose that the timeline gets revised nearly each and every time the TARDIS lands. Logically, this would suggest that the Great Fire of Rome shouldn’t exist in time until the first Doctor inspires Nero to do it (
The Romans
) - even though the Doctor and Vicki both mention it beforehand. A similar case applies to the fifth Doctor causing the Great Fire of London in
The Visitation
, even though it’s cited in
Pyramids of Mars
. Therefore, the idea that Torchwood didn’t “exist” until
Tooth and Claw
might help to explain its secrecy in the 1970s, but would throw the entire
Doctor Who
timeline into chaos.

It is far, far simpler to think that Torchwood was officially listed in the 70s as a Special Ops group; that Torchwood let UNIT get on with the business of actually combating alien incursions; that the Torchwood agents of the time operated with a high degree of stealth (not surprising, if a “Britain first” group were attempting to out-fox a United Nations organisation); and that the Doctor and UNIT were never given reason to look upon the group with suspicion.

[
1147
] Dating
Ghost Machine
(
TW
1.3) - Thomas Erasmus Flanagan and his daughter say they’re watching the
Strictly Come Dancing
finals - this is a bit hard to credit, as the show routinely starts in October and finishes in late December. It’s possible they’re watching a rerun, but it’s presented as if it’s the original broadcast.

[
1148
] Mentioned in
TW: Another Life
.

[
1149
] Dating
Another Life
(
TW
novel #1) - The novel is set before
Cyberwoman
- Ianto is seen sneaking down to the basement in the novel. The spines of the first three
Torchwood
novels fit together to make one picture, suggesting a reading order of
TW: Another Life
,
TW: Border Princes
and
TW: Slow Decay
.

[
1150
] Dating
Border Princes
(
TW
novel #2) - There are three mentions of the book taking place in October, one of which reads “An October night, almost Halloween” (p221). It’s after the release of
Pirates of the Caribbean III
(in May 2007).

[
1151
] Dating
TW: Web of Lies
(
TW
animated serial #1) - The year is given in a caption.

[
1152
] Dating
Small Worlds
(
TW
1.5) - A calendar appears in Jasmine Pearce’s kitchen, but it’s too fuzzy to read.

[
1153
] Dating
TW: Hidden
(
TW
audiobook #1) - The story takes place during
Torchwood
Series 1. Ianto and Jack are decently friendly toward one another but don’t seem to be an item, suggesting a placement between
TW: Cyberwoman
and
TW: They Keep Killing Suzie
. Also, Ianto tells Tosh during a crisis that he should “never leave the bloody office ever again”, which could be taken as a reference to
TW: Countrycide.

[
1154
] Dating
TW: Greeks Bearing Gifts
(
TW
1.7) - Tosh estimates that the dead British soldier who was killed in 1812 has been buried for “one hundred ninety-six years, eleven to eleven and a half months”. This would seem to suggest a dating of 2009, save that Tosh stresses she’s estimating, and - for that matter - can hardly be expected to have knowledge of the on-screen caption denoting the murder as occurring in 1812. Most likely, Torchwood - without benefit of the omnipotent narrator - concludes the soldier was killed in 1810.

[
1155
] Dating
TW: They Keep Killing Suzie
(
TW
1.8) - “Three months” have passed since Suzie’s death in
TW: Everything Changes
.

[
1156
] Dating
TW: Random Shoes
(
TW
1.9) - The story is rife with minor glitches. The eBay listing for Eugene’s alien eyeball claims the auction began on “14-Oct-06”, but the date only appears on the full graphic on the
Torchwood
website, and isn’t actually seen on screen. As such, it can be safely ignored. Another anomaly is that the “Black Holes and the Uncertainty Principle” flyer says the convention will begin on the 27th, a Thursday. This doesn’t match any later month of the year in 2006, but such a day happened in September and December 2007. Those months don’t seem viable (given this episode’s relation to other
Torchwood
Series 1 stories), but the flyer is minor evidence. More glaringly, Eugene says it’s been “fourteen years” since his father left in 1992 - which would indicate a dating of 2006.

[
1157
] Dating
TW: Out of Time
(
TW
1.10) - Owen says in
TW: Captain Jack Harkness
that Diane flew back into the Rift on 24th December, denoting when the story ends. Diane says the
Sky Gypsy
flew into the Rift on 18th December, 1953 -
Captain Jack Harkness
also claims that she and Owen only had “a week” together, so it would appear that the
Sky Gypsy
reappears on the very same day it flew into the Rift, just in half a century later. (The Rift surely doesn’t care about matching the Gregorian calendar for aesthetic reasons, so this must owe to the position of the Earth around the sun or some other factor.) An anomaly is that 29th December is said to be a Friday - which is was in 2006, not 2007. The
Cardiff Examiner
is seen with the headline, “Drunk Driving Records Soar This Christmas”.

[
1158
] Dating
The Runaway Bride
(X3.0) - It’s “Christmas Eve”, and the Sycorax invasion was “last Christmas”. It’s also after the Battle of Canary Wharf (
Doomsday
). Strangely, Donna comments in
The Fires of Pompeii
that the Doctor “saved her in 2008”, seemingly referring to this story (she must be rounding up from “Christmas 2007” by way of discussing temporal mechanics with the Doctor). Donna’s surname is misspelled “Nobel” by some sources such as
Doctor Who Adventures
and in the official
Doctor Who
Exhibition.

[
1159
] Dating
Turn Left
(X4.11) - This is the alternate timeline version of
The Runaway Bride
.

[
1160
]
The Sontaran Stratagem

[
1161
]
The Sound of Drums

[
1162
]
Partners in Crime

[
1163
] Events in 2008 include the last few episodes of
Torchwood
Series 1, the “present day” sequences of
Doctor Who
Series 3, most (but not all) of
Torchwood
Series 2, and
The Sarah Jane Adventures
Series 1.

[
1164
]
The Janus Conjunction
(p79). It’s referred to as around in the twenty-second century in
The Face-Eater.

[
1165
] “A little over two hundred and seventy-one days” from
Borrowed Time
.

[
1166
] According to a label on Martha’s television in
The Sound of Drums
, referencing
The Idiot’s Lantern
.

[
1167
]
Mad Dogs and Englishmen

[
1168
]
The Waters of Mars

[
1169
] The certificate for this is hanging on his bedroom wall in
SJA: The Curse of Clyde Langer
. This would appear to be a school competition, separate from the “country’s most promising young artist” contest that Clyde wins in
SJA: Mona Lisa’s Revenge
. Even so, there’s a small continuity error in that
Mona Lisa’s Revenge
is better suited to occur in 2009, and yet Clyde protests that his being entered in a “nerdy competition” isn’t “good for his image”, as if such a thing hasn’t happened to him before now.

[
1170
]
Situation Vacant
. The global recession that Lawson triggered is presumably the same as the real-world economic thrashing that started in 2008.

[
1171
] Dating
The Girl Who Never Was
(BF #103) - Fireworks spell out the new year as 2008, and the audio came out in December 2007. A glitch is that Madeleine is said to have been 21 in 1942, but is “85 now” - even allowing that she hasn’t had a birthday this year, that only gets matters as far as 2006. Contrary to that, the Doctor says (allowing for the new year) that the
Bavaria
has been missing for “sixty-six years”.

[
1172
] Dating
TW: Combat
(
TW
1.11) - Owen is greatly depressed and avoiding work owing to the loss of Diane, and Gwen here learns from Tosh about their relationship. Both facts suggest that weeks (or possibly just
a
week) rather than months have passed since
TW: Out of Time
(set in late December). It is possible, therefore, that
TW: Combat
takes place before the New Year, although a 2008 dating is perfectly feasible. (The episode itself broadcast on 24th December, the same day that
TW: Out of Time
concludes.) One anomaly is that
TW: Combat
opens with Gwen and Reece having dinner at an outside restaurant, and looking very comfortable despite their lack of winter clothing.

[
1173
] Dating
TW: Captain Jack Harkness
(
TW
1.12) - The last two episodes of
Torchwood
Series 1 seem to occur in rapid succession, and placing them on the timeline is problematic. Deciding where to date them depends on whether one favours the overall aesthetic of
Captain Jack Harkness
and the pacing of plotlines in Series 1 (in which case, it’s probably January 2008) or a “Vote Saxon” poster seen outside the Ritz dance hall in Cardiff (in which case, it’s probably June 2008).