10 Torchwood Facts

Fact 1

Torchwood is a spin-off series from the BBC's legendary sci-fi series Doctor Who, the longest-running science fiction TV series in the world. The name "Torchwood" is an anagram of 'Doctor Who' and the name was originally invented as a clever way of hiding production documents and preview DVDs of the series from prying eyes.

Fact 2

Doctor Who's executive producer and head writer Russell T Davies had already come up with an idea for an adult science fiction series for the BBC, influenced by American shows he enjoyed such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The working title of the show, 'Excalibur', reflected Torchwood's eventual focus of a British-based group of experts trying to protect the UK, in much the same way as the legendary King Arthur and his sword Excalibur were supposed to protect the British at times of extreme danger. Russell T Davies then combined the new name ‘Torchwood’ with his idea for an adult sci-fi series – and a hit was born! Keep an eye open for the first conversation between Captain Jack and his old colleague Captain John, in which there’s a cheeky in-joke about ‘Excalibur’…

Fact 3

Torchwood was originally created for the BBC's youth-focused channel BBC Three - a digital network that traditionally attracts a small fraction of the number of viewers of its main channels BBC One and BBC Two. However, Torchwood instantly became the highest-rated non-Sport show in BBC Three's history and as a result was 'promoted' to BBC Two for its second series. When the ratings for Season 2 again improved, it was decided that Season 3 would premiere on the UK's most popular channel, BBC One.

Fact 4

The series is both filmed and set in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Traditionally most representations of the Principality of Wales in TV and film have focused on the history and heavy industry of Wales – coal miners, daffodils, male voice choirs, that kind of thing. Torchwood is one of the first TV programmes or films to show to an international audience what modern-day Cardiff actually looks like. Well, aside from the monsters and the space/time disturbances, of course… One unusual feature of Cardiff (and all locations in Wales) is that all road and public information signs are written in both English and Welsh, the two official languages of Wales.

Fact 5

The main location seen in most episodes of Torchwood is Roald Dahl Plass, an oval-shaped public plaza located just to the south of Cardiff City Centre. This area of the city used to be a vast series of docks, constructed in the 17th and 18th Centuries to help move tons of Welsh coal around the British Empire. Roald Dahl Plass is constructed on top of what used to be ‘West Bute Dock’, which was eventually filled in 1964. The dock area of Cardiff went into decline in the last half of the 20th Century as the demand for coal dropped away. However, a major project saw the whole area being remodelled and reopened to the public in 2000. The plaza is now home to the Senedd (the Welsh Assembly Building), the vast Wales Millennium Centre (a home for the performing arts), and the 21-metre high Water Tower - which in Torchwood, sits directly above the Torchwood Hub. Of course, Roald Dahl Plass is named after the Cardiff-born author of famous children’s fantasy stories like Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, The Witches and James & The Giant Peach.

Fact 6

Can’t get enough of Captain Jack and his team? Well, you’re in luck, because the BBC has licenced several official novels and audio books based on the TV series. Several of them have been written by the authors of TV episodes (such as Joseph Lidster and Phil Ford), and some of them feature characters from the series making a return (such as the sinister Bilis Manger in the novel ‘The Twilight Streets’).

Fact 7

John Barrowman (Captain Jack) has had a very varied career. Although born in Scotland, he was raised in the USA for most of his childhood – hence the American accent. He first came to fame in the UK as a children’s TV presenter before getting lead roles in several hugely successful West End musicals, such as Miss Saigon, Anything Goes, Grease, Chicago and The Phantom of the Opera. John then moved to the USA in the late 1990s, appearing in prime-time drama series such as Titans and Central Park West. He very nearly won the role of Will in the comedy Will and Grace but lost out because he apparently was “too straight” to play a gay character! You may also have seen him perform the legendary bad-taste song ‘Springtime for Hitler’ in the 2005 version of Mel Brooks’ comedy The Producers.

Fact 8

Most people know that the Torchwood Hub has a resident pterodactyl, that arrived in Cardiff through the space-time rift. But did you know that the pterodactyl was nicknamed ‘Myfanwy’ by the Torchwood team?

Fact 9

The adult nature of Torchwood's scripts (containing scenes of sex, violence and bad language) caused the production team some headaches - primarily from parents of younger children who were being pestered by their kids who wanted to watch a whole series of sci-fi adventures featuring one of their favourite characters from Doctor Who... Captain Jack Harkness. So starting with series 2, an alternative version of each episode was produced, removing most of the violence, strong language and sex scenes. However most of the same-sex kissing scenes were left in the 'family friendly' version as such scenes now rarely attract any criticism from UK viewers.

Fact 10

Torchwood is now screened in many countries around the globe, including the USA, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Ukraine, Turkey, Italy, Canada, Australia, Israel, Mexico and throughout South America – and in several of those territories it has proven to be a bigger hit with audiences than its parent series Doctor Who. Go Team Torchwood!