sam_storyteller (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-17 02:35 pm
sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-17 02:35 pm
Entry tags:
Torchwood Season Zero: Introduction & Pilot
Originally posted at livejournal community tw_season_zero on 01.01.2009. Past comments may be found there.
Also available at AO3.
A few months back, an anonymous posted a secret to![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets lamenting that we didn't get a season with the pre-Gwen cast of Torchwood. From their POV it had a lot to do with disliking Gwen, but I looked at the secret and thought, what a great idea.
I decided I would write the pre-season. It started out to just be a series of summaries, and then summaries with quotes, and then expanded summaries that contained more detail, since by then I was laying all this out in an isolated community dedicated specifically to it. And I figured as long as I was doing detailed summaries and quotes files, why not include BBC Extras and Captain's Blogs?
Why not indeed.
So. I hope you enjoy the little pre-show world I've built here, and I'd love to see some other fanfic arise out of this.
If you'd like to read some excellent fanfics set in or about the "Season Zero" era, I recommend the following.
Phalaenopsis byantelope_writes: Jack rescues Tosh from UNIT and sets about making her the best possible agent she can be. PG, no ship.
Employee Orientation bykayliemalinza: Jack is trying to acclimate Tosh to his management style. Suzie doesn't need any help. PG, no ship.
Teacher's Pet byaeshna_uk: Suzie thinks Jack would approve. PG, no ship.
Vitamin A bybasingstoke: Jack beats some obedience into his new medic -- literally. PG, no ship.
As We Mean To Go On bypaperclipbitch: Owen thinks Ianto doesn't belong at Torchwood, so Jack makes them work together. Ianto has PTSD, Owen knows they're going to shag. Jossed, but still splendid. PG, Owen/Ianto.
For Your Own Good byreel_me_in: There's something Jack wants Ianto to do, for his own good. G, no ship.
The End Is Where We Begin (Again) byadina_atl: Jack begins building his own handpicked team for the first time. Sometimes he gets it right; sometimes he gets it very, very wrong. PG, no ship.
Moving In byukcalico: Jack is intrigued by Ianto when he hires him -- but when Ianto stays after-hours to finish a project, Jack is more than intrigued. R, Jack/Ianto.
PILOT
0.01 Lost Causes
It's been a month since Torchwood London fell to alien invaders and most of its staff were killed. Torchwood Cardiff, which broke ties with London before the invasion, is now left with the responsibility of sifting through the remains to secure anything alien or dangerous. Team medic Owen Harper and second-in-command Suzie Costello spend their days in the burned-out hull of the tower at Canary Wharf, recovering artifacts, while technologist Toshiko Sato tries to glean what she can from the damaged digital records.
Captain Jack Harkness, leader of the small Cardiff branch, has spent as much time as he can ignoring their reports, refusing to consult on the recovered artifacts, and making himself conspicuously absent when shipments from London arrive to be catalogued. Suzie thinks he's mourning some secret love who died in London; Owen just thinks he needs to get over himself and help them with the recovery effort.
Captain Jack's misery and Owen's stroppy insubordination both become moot, however, when reports begin to surface of artifacts from London making their way into the hands of international private collectors. Someone is robbing the tower when Owen and Suzie aren't there, selling harmless and broken artifacts to the highest bidder. Torchwood, forced to investigate every strange event and crime in both London and Cardiff, eventually stumbles over something that isn't harmless: a pair of brutal murders with an MO Jack recognises immediately.
A semi-intelligent robotic mind manipulator, designed by an alien government to ensure its assassins never backed out of their missions, has escaped from its storage crate in one of the shipments to Cardiff and is now driving an innocent local citizen to kill. Torchwood doesn't care about the body count, but they have to recover or destroy the mainpulator before it falls into the wrong hands. To do this they must lay a trap for the assassin, based on the last two victims -- both dark-haired women, which means that as much as Jack wants to be the bait it'll have to be Suzie.
With a civilian's life in the balance as well as Suzie's, will Tosh be fast enough to disarm the robot, or will Jack be forced to watch Suzie die before he can execute her killer?
And when it's all over, with Suzie safe and the robot disabled by a brilliant spur-of-the-moment virus Tosh uploaded to it, there still remains the question: who was robbing Torchwood Tower?
Episode Quotes:
Suzie: Let him alone, Owen.
Owen: But I need to --
Suzie: He's grieving. Let him alone.
Tosh: Why? I thought he hated Torchwood One.
Suzie: He did. He does. But he's mourning for someone -- I saw his face when he was going over the list of the dead. There's a name on there that means something to him.
Owen: We all lost people from London. Work still has to get done.
Suzie: I'm warning you, Owen. Bother him and it'll be trouble for all of us.
Owen: What I want to know is, why evil? Why are robots always evil? Why aren't there any good robots?
Jack: There are plenty of good robots.
Suzie: Then why don't we ever see any?
Jack: Because you only hear about the bad ones.
Owen: Well, I say, when all this is over, we find some good robots.
Jack: And do what, tell them what a good job they're doing?
Owen: Sometimes I just like to see something to know it's there.
Jack: Have a little faith!
Owen: I'm an atheist.
Tosh: Is there anything you wanted to talk about? You know you can talk to us. I mean, who else can you talk to?
Jack: Yeah.
Tosh: So if you did want to...
Jack: It's just...*dramatic pause* this coffee is really, really awful.
Tosh: Ah.
Jack: Don't ask me about London again, Tosh. I'm fine.
Owen: I could have sworn that thing killed you.
Jack: I'm tougher than I look.
Owen: Not difficult.
Jack: Are you calling me a wimp?
Owen: Period military, Jack...
Suzie: Back to London tomorrow. You know in all the excitement over that robot we forgot about the investigation.
Jack: Nothing new's turned up in two weeks.
Suzie: Sometimes Owen and I swore we saw someone in the ruins.
Jack: Shoot to kill. Looters get no mercy.
Suzie: Weird sort of looter. We've dug up a lot of really valuable kit, Jack, but only the totally worthless rubbish got sold. It's like whoever did it knew what was safe to get rid of. I could look into the personnel --
Jack: Don't bother.
Suzie: But --
Jack: I want this done with. Get what's left and shut the tower down.
Suzie: Yes, sir.
BBC WEBSITE EXTRAS
Personnel Profiles
JACK HARKNESS
Hire status: New hire. Recruited by CLASSIFIED. Former occupation, CLASSIFIED.
Tenure: CLASSIFIED.
Position(s) held: Current: Base Commander. Former: Freelance Consultant, Field Agent, Technologist (as needed).
Training: Expert firearms, expert hand-to-hand (completed before hire with Cardiff).
Father: Deceased.
Mother: Deceased.
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: J. Harkness has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: None.
Clearance Level: All.
***
TOSHIKO SATO
Hire status: Transfer from UNIT. Recruited by CJH. Former occupation, database QA, MoD.
Tenure: Active in Torchwood Cardiff for the past four years.
Position(s) held: Technologist, Field Operative.
Training: Standard firearms, minimal hand-to-hand.
Father: Deceased.
Mother: Living. Normal contact (see "Security Notes").
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: T. Sato was recruited on condition of minimal contact with relatives, mandated by Torchwood London, which monitored contact. CJH executive decision to extend normal contact without permission or knowledge of London, 2.5 yrs ago. Since closure of London office, contractual conditions null and void. T. Sato has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: Toshiko is an able and loyal member of the Torchwood team. Though quieter than Suzie and Owen, Toshiko has shown no signs of social withdrawal or isolation beyond standard for Torchwood. She forms strong bonds with her teammates and has no history with Torchwood of insubordination. Makes a mean spinach omelette.
Clearance Level: Top Secret.
***
OWEN HARPER
Hire Status: New Hire. Recruited by CJH. Former occupation, medical doctor.
Tenure: Active in Torchwood Cardiff for the past three years.
Position(s) held: Medic, Field Operative.
Training: Standard firearms, standard hand-to-hand (at request).
Father: Status unknown.
Mother: Living (estranged).
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: Due to parental status, possibility of half-siblings or paternal contact. O. Harper was mandated by Torchwood London to report any contact from individuals claiming blood relation and since closure of the London office has agreed to voluntarily continue compliance. O. Harper has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: Owen has a temper but also a good deal of common sense. He requires cautious handling at times. He is by far the most outgoing of the team, engaging in civilian social contact on a regular basis. He has been briefed on security precautions for these activities and they are not considered a security threat. Has something against the Welsh, but doesn't seem to mind Cardiff too much. Raided his porn library, pretty vanilla.
Clearance Level: Top Secret.
***
SUZIE COSTELLO
Hire Status: Transfer from Torchwood London with intent to monitor CJH command of Torchwood Cardiff (see "Security Notes").
Tenure: Active in Torchwood Cardiff for the past three years.
Position(s) held: Deputy Command, Field Operative, Social Specialist.
Training: Expert firearms, expert hand-to-hand (completed before transfer to Cardiff).
Father: Living.
Mother: Deceased.
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: S. Costello was originally transferred to Cardiff as a liaison to London and expected to report to London on activities in Cardiff. Under command of CJH, began voluntary refusal of information barter (without London's knowledge) 2.5 years ago. Considered a stable and loyal employee. S. Costello has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: Suzie is exceptional in research and in the field. She has voluntarily taken over archival duties and maintains the staff rotas. She assists Toshiko when necessary and is trained in command protocol should CJH become incapacitated. We all trust her implicitly. Absolutely necessary in management of Torchwood's day-to-day operations. Workaholic.
Clearance Level: Top Secret.
CAPTAIN'S BLOG
Entry -13
Ongoing Archive Notes
Torchwood 3
Volume 71, Week 1
Alien activity: Smart evil robot assassins!
Rift activity: Negligible.
Security: Items from the wreckage of Torchwood London have been turning up in the hands of private collectors. Suzie and Owen assure me they can have the rest of the London site stitched up by the end of the week with a little help from UNIT. I've asked them to tap only UNIT operatives they trust implicitly.
Other security issues: One of the items got loose from an unsecured crate (UNIT will be hearing about this) and ran amok in Cardiff. Suzie showed outstanding guts in posing as bait for the aforementioned smart evil robot assassin.
Staff: Suzie is concerned about the security breach in London and taking it personally. Owen is less worried, but then isn't he always. Tosh has been working round the clock and I know she's a little frustrated; I think maybe sometime soon we need a team pub night.
Other Staff issues: Way to go, Tosh!
Capt. Jack Harkness.
Episodes 2, 3, and 4
Also available at AO3.
 | Torchwood: Outside the government, beyond the police. A secret organisation, fighting for the future on behalf of the human race. Torchwood One: The London headquarter office, destroyed by an alien attack. Torchwood Two: A listening post in Glasgow. Torchwood Three: Cardiff, under the command of Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood Four: Disappeared. The twenty-first century is when it all changes. Are you ready? TORCHWOOD: PRESEASON |
A few months back, an anonymous posted a secret to
fandomsecrets lamenting that we didn't get a season with the pre-Gwen cast of Torchwood. From their POV it had a lot to do with disliking Gwen, but I looked at the secret and thought, what a great idea.I decided I would write the pre-season. It started out to just be a series of summaries, and then summaries with quotes, and then expanded summaries that contained more detail, since by then I was laying all this out in an isolated community dedicated specifically to it. And I figured as long as I was doing detailed summaries and quotes files, why not include BBC Extras and Captain's Blogs?
Why not indeed.
So. I hope you enjoy the little pre-show world I've built here, and I'd love to see some other fanfic arise out of this.
If you'd like to read some excellent fanfics set in or about the "Season Zero" era, I recommend the following.
Phalaenopsis by
antelope_writes: Jack rescues Tosh from UNIT and sets about making her the best possible agent she can be. PG, no ship. Employee Orientation by
kayliemalinza: Jack is trying to acclimate Tosh to his management style. Suzie doesn't need any help. PG, no ship. Teacher's Pet by
aeshna_uk: Suzie thinks Jack would approve. PG, no ship. Vitamin A by
basingstoke: Jack beats some obedience into his new medic -- literally. PG, no ship. As We Mean To Go On by
paperclipbitch: Owen thinks Ianto doesn't belong at Torchwood, so Jack makes them work together. Ianto has PTSD, Owen knows they're going to shag. Jossed, but still splendid. PG, Owen/Ianto.For Your Own Good by
reel_me_in: There's something Jack wants Ianto to do, for his own good. G, no ship. The End Is Where We Begin (Again) by
adina_atl: Jack begins building his own handpicked team for the first time. Sometimes he gets it right; sometimes he gets it very, very wrong. PG, no ship.Moving In by
ukcalico: Jack is intrigued by Ianto when he hires him -- but when Ianto stays after-hours to finish a project, Jack is more than intrigued. R, Jack/Ianto.PILOT
0.01 Lost Causes
It's been a month since Torchwood London fell to alien invaders and most of its staff were killed. Torchwood Cardiff, which broke ties with London before the invasion, is now left with the responsibility of sifting through the remains to secure anything alien or dangerous. Team medic Owen Harper and second-in-command Suzie Costello spend their days in the burned-out hull of the tower at Canary Wharf, recovering artifacts, while technologist Toshiko Sato tries to glean what she can from the damaged digital records.
Captain Jack Harkness, leader of the small Cardiff branch, has spent as much time as he can ignoring their reports, refusing to consult on the recovered artifacts, and making himself conspicuously absent when shipments from London arrive to be catalogued. Suzie thinks he's mourning some secret love who died in London; Owen just thinks he needs to get over himself and help them with the recovery effort.
Captain Jack's misery and Owen's stroppy insubordination both become moot, however, when reports begin to surface of artifacts from London making their way into the hands of international private collectors. Someone is robbing the tower when Owen and Suzie aren't there, selling harmless and broken artifacts to the highest bidder. Torchwood, forced to investigate every strange event and crime in both London and Cardiff, eventually stumbles over something that isn't harmless: a pair of brutal murders with an MO Jack recognises immediately.
A semi-intelligent robotic mind manipulator, designed by an alien government to ensure its assassins never backed out of their missions, has escaped from its storage crate in one of the shipments to Cardiff and is now driving an innocent local citizen to kill. Torchwood doesn't care about the body count, but they have to recover or destroy the mainpulator before it falls into the wrong hands. To do this they must lay a trap for the assassin, based on the last two victims -- both dark-haired women, which means that as much as Jack wants to be the bait it'll have to be Suzie.
With a civilian's life in the balance as well as Suzie's, will Tosh be fast enough to disarm the robot, or will Jack be forced to watch Suzie die before he can execute her killer?
And when it's all over, with Suzie safe and the robot disabled by a brilliant spur-of-the-moment virus Tosh uploaded to it, there still remains the question: who was robbing Torchwood Tower?
Episode Quotes:
Suzie: Let him alone, Owen.
Owen: But I need to --
Suzie: He's grieving. Let him alone.
Tosh: Why? I thought he hated Torchwood One.
Suzie: He did. He does. But he's mourning for someone -- I saw his face when he was going over the list of the dead. There's a name on there that means something to him.
Owen: We all lost people from London. Work still has to get done.
Suzie: I'm warning you, Owen. Bother him and it'll be trouble for all of us.
Owen: What I want to know is, why evil? Why are robots always evil? Why aren't there any good robots?
Jack: There are plenty of good robots.
Suzie: Then why don't we ever see any?
Jack: Because you only hear about the bad ones.
Owen: Well, I say, when all this is over, we find some good robots.
Jack: And do what, tell them what a good job they're doing?
Owen: Sometimes I just like to see something to know it's there.
Jack: Have a little faith!
Owen: I'm an atheist.
Tosh: Is there anything you wanted to talk about? You know you can talk to us. I mean, who else can you talk to?
Jack: Yeah.
Tosh: So if you did want to...
Jack: It's just...*dramatic pause* this coffee is really, really awful.
Tosh: Ah.
Jack: Don't ask me about London again, Tosh. I'm fine.
Owen: I could have sworn that thing killed you.
Jack: I'm tougher than I look.
Owen: Not difficult.
Jack: Are you calling me a wimp?
Owen: Period military, Jack...
Suzie: Back to London tomorrow. You know in all the excitement over that robot we forgot about the investigation.
Jack: Nothing new's turned up in two weeks.
Suzie: Sometimes Owen and I swore we saw someone in the ruins.
Jack: Shoot to kill. Looters get no mercy.
Suzie: Weird sort of looter. We've dug up a lot of really valuable kit, Jack, but only the totally worthless rubbish got sold. It's like whoever did it knew what was safe to get rid of. I could look into the personnel --
Jack: Don't bother.
Suzie: But --
Jack: I want this done with. Get what's left and shut the tower down.
Suzie: Yes, sir.
BBC WEBSITE EXTRAS
Personnel Profiles
JACK HARKNESS
Hire status: New hire. Recruited by CLASSIFIED. Former occupation, CLASSIFIED.
Tenure: CLASSIFIED.
Position(s) held: Current: Base Commander. Former: Freelance Consultant, Field Agent, Technologist (as needed).
Training: Expert firearms, expert hand-to-hand (completed before hire with Cardiff).
Father: Deceased.
Mother: Deceased.
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: J. Harkness has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: None.
Clearance Level: All.
***
TOSHIKO SATO
Hire status: Transfer from UNIT. Recruited by CJH. Former occupation, database QA, MoD.
Tenure: Active in Torchwood Cardiff for the past four years.
Position(s) held: Technologist, Field Operative.
Training: Standard firearms, minimal hand-to-hand.
Father: Deceased.
Mother: Living. Normal contact (see "Security Notes").
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: T. Sato was recruited on condition of minimal contact with relatives, mandated by Torchwood London, which monitored contact. CJH executive decision to extend normal contact without permission or knowledge of London, 2.5 yrs ago. Since closure of London office, contractual conditions null and void. T. Sato has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: Toshiko is an able and loyal member of the Torchwood team. Though quieter than Suzie and Owen, Toshiko has shown no signs of social withdrawal or isolation beyond standard for Torchwood. She forms strong bonds with her teammates and has no history with Torchwood of insubordination. Makes a mean spinach omelette.
Clearance Level: Top Secret.
***
OWEN HARPER
Hire Status: New Hire. Recruited by CJH. Former occupation, medical doctor.
Tenure: Active in Torchwood Cardiff for the past three years.
Position(s) held: Medic, Field Operative.
Training: Standard firearms, standard hand-to-hand (at request).
Father: Status unknown.
Mother: Living (estranged).
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: Due to parental status, possibility of half-siblings or paternal contact. O. Harper was mandated by Torchwood London to report any contact from individuals claiming blood relation and since closure of the London office has agreed to voluntarily continue compliance. O. Harper has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: Owen has a temper but also a good deal of common sense. He requires cautious handling at times. He is by far the most outgoing of the team, engaging in civilian social contact on a regular basis. He has been briefed on security precautions for these activities and they are not considered a security threat. Has something against the Welsh, but doesn't seem to mind Cardiff too much. Raided his porn library, pretty vanilla.
Clearance Level: Top Secret.
***
SUZIE COSTELLO
Hire Status: Transfer from Torchwood London with intent to monitor CJH command of Torchwood Cardiff (see "Security Notes").
Tenure: Active in Torchwood Cardiff for the past three years.
Position(s) held: Deputy Command, Field Operative, Social Specialist.
Training: Expert firearms, expert hand-to-hand (completed before transfer to Cardiff).
Father: Living.
Mother: Deceased.
Partner/dependent(s): None.
Security Notes: S. Costello was originally transferred to Cardiff as a liaison to London and expected to report to London on activities in Cardiff. Under command of CJH, began voluntary refusal of information barter (without London's knowledge) 2.5 years ago. Considered a stable and loyal employee. S. Costello has no current security restrictions.
General Notes: Suzie is exceptional in research and in the field. She has voluntarily taken over archival duties and maintains the staff rotas. She assists Toshiko when necessary and is trained in command protocol should CJH become incapacitated. We all trust her implicitly. Absolutely necessary in management of Torchwood's day-to-day operations. Workaholic.
Clearance Level: Top Secret.
CAPTAIN'S BLOG
Entry -13
Ongoing Archive Notes
Torchwood 3
Volume 71, Week 1
Alien activity: Smart evil robot assassins!
Rift activity: Negligible.
Security: Items from the wreckage of Torchwood London have been turning up in the hands of private collectors. Suzie and Owen assure me they can have the rest of the London site stitched up by the end of the week with a little help from UNIT. I've asked them to tap only UNIT operatives they trust implicitly.
Other security issues: One of the items got loose from an unsecured crate (UNIT will be hearing about this) and ran amok in Cardiff. Suzie showed outstanding guts in posing as bait for the aforementioned smart evil robot assassin.
Staff: Suzie is concerned about the security breach in London and taking it personally. Owen is less worried, but then isn't he always. Tosh has been working round the clock and I know she's a little frustrated; I think maybe sometime soon we need a team pub night.
Other Staff issues: Way to go, Tosh!
Capt. Jack Harkness.
Episodes 2, 3, and 4