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To the Last Man (Torchwood)
Encyclopedia
"To the Last Man" is the third episode of the second series of British science fiction television
series Torchwood
, which was broadcast by BBC Two
on 30 January 2008.
soldier, shell-shocked
from his experiences in the trenches, is the key to saving the world. He is taken into custody by Torchwood in 1918 - Torchwood having been told to do so by his future self - and held in cryonic storage
until the time comes for him to save the world. He is awoken one day each year for a medical check-up and a "day out" as a precautionary measure in case he is needed.
A time shift is set to cause 1918 and the present to bleed together at an unspecified time, and when this happens it is Tommy who will be "stitching" the fragments of 1918 back to their rightful place in time.
It is ninety years before this eventually happens and fragments of 1918 are appearing in an old abandoned hospital. Before the team realise that this is the year, Toshiko becomes infatuated with Tommy. Owen, noticing the closeness between them and having experienced something similar (cf. "Out of Time"
), warns Tosh about the eventuality of saying goodbye.
When Tommy is told what he must do - actions that will result in him not seeing Toshiko again - Tommy initially refuses to take part. However, with encouragement from Toshiko, he begins to see the bigger picture and agrees. Toshiko is reluctant to do this, as Jack explains that Tommy is destined to be court martialled and shot for cowardice upon being sent back to the trenches. Jack eventually persuades her that it is for the greater good and she relents. During a brief time shift, Tommy tells Torchwood employees from that era that they must take him into custody. Then, with the next time shift, after a tearful goodbye, Tommy goes back to his own time. However, in his own time he reverts to being shell-shocked and forgets all about Torchwood and why he has the Rift Key therefore the time shift still continues. As the time shifts are forcing the rift open Toshiko is able to be psychically transmitted into Tommy's mind in the past and encourages him to the use the key. Tommy turns the key in his Rift manipulator device, dragging all of 1918 back with him.
Douglas Haig
's Order of the Day on 11 April 1918, in response to the German Spring Offensive
: "There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end." Reporters at the time recognised that his order echoed that of Général Joffre
to the commanders of the French Armies in September, 1914, at the outbreak of the First Battle of the Marne
: "The hour has come to advance at all costs, and to die where you stand rather than give way."
"Tommy
" was a common slang term for a British soldier, particularly associated with the First World War.
Jack suggests that the British army executed "more than 300" shell-shocked soldiers for cowardice during the First World War. Executions for all offences numbered 346, of which 40 were for murder or mutiny. The remaining 306 were for desertion (266), cowardice (18), and other offences (22). While some of these can now be attributed to shell shock, most cannot, although all 306 were posthumously pardoned in 2006.
plays towards the start and at the end of this episode. The song "She's Got You High
" by Mumm-Ra plays in the pub as Toshiko and Tommy play pool. The song "Squares" by The Beta Band
plays later in the pub, after Tommy watches news about war in Iraq.
News 24
stock footage is used to depict the Iraq War, again with the BBC
logo omitted as it has been in Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures
episodes and in more recent Doctor Who
episodes when news reports have been included as part of the story.
reported that the episode achieved a 13% share, 3.2 million viewers, in its first broadcast on January 30, 2008, at 9pm. BARB later listed the episode as BBC2's top audience draw for the week ending February 3, with a certified estimate of 3.51 million viewers including timeshift
.
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
, which was broadcast by BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on 30 January 2008.
Synopsis
Tommy Brockless, a young World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
soldier, shell-shocked
Combat stress reaction
Combat stress reaction , in the past commonly known as shell shock or battle fatigue, is a range of behaviours resulting from the stress of battle which decrease the combatant's fighting efficiency. The most common symptoms are fatigue, slower reaction times, indecision, disconnection from one's...
from his experiences in the trenches, is the key to saving the world. He is taken into custody by Torchwood in 1918 - Torchwood having been told to do so by his future self - and held in cryonic storage
Cryopreservation
Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperatures, such as 77 K or −196 °C . At these low temperatures, any biological activity, including the biochemical reactions that would lead to cell death, is effectively stopped...
until the time comes for him to save the world. He is awoken one day each year for a medical check-up and a "day out" as a precautionary measure in case he is needed.
A time shift is set to cause 1918 and the present to bleed together at an unspecified time, and when this happens it is Tommy who will be "stitching" the fragments of 1918 back to their rightful place in time.
It is ninety years before this eventually happens and fragments of 1918 are appearing in an old abandoned hospital. Before the team realise that this is the year, Toshiko becomes infatuated with Tommy. Owen, noticing the closeness between them and having experienced something similar (cf. "Out of Time"
Out of Time (Torchwood)
"Out of Time" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on 17 December 2006. It is the tenth episode of the first series.- Synopsis :...
), warns Tosh about the eventuality of saying goodbye.
When Tommy is told what he must do - actions that will result in him not seeing Toshiko again - Tommy initially refuses to take part. However, with encouragement from Toshiko, he begins to see the bigger picture and agrees. Toshiko is reluctant to do this, as Jack explains that Tommy is destined to be court martialled and shot for cowardice upon being sent back to the trenches. Jack eventually persuades her that it is for the greater good and she relents. During a brief time shift, Tommy tells Torchwood employees from that era that they must take him into custody. Then, with the next time shift, after a tearful goodbye, Tommy goes back to his own time. However, in his own time he reverts to being shell-shocked and forgets all about Torchwood and why he has the Rift Key therefore the time shift still continues. As the time shifts are forcing the rift open Toshiko is able to be psychically transmitted into Tommy's mind in the past and encourages him to the use the key. Tommy turns the key in his Rift manipulator device, dragging all of 1918 back with him.
Continuity
- For the dating of this episode, see the Chronology.
- Tosh and Tommy share a brief moment on Penarth PierPenarthPenarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...
- built in 1894, the same year that Tommy was born. - Tommy remarks on how ridiculous it is that he has to save the world in his pyjamas. The DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
did just that in the Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode "The Christmas InvasionThe Christmas Invasion"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
", and refers to it as being very "Arthur DentArthur DentArthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
." - Jack says Tommy's "been here for ninety years [i.e., 1918] - longer than any of us - well, any of you." Jack is shown to have been involuntarilly recruited to Torchwood Three in 1899, in "FragmentsFragments (Torchwood)"Fragments" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 21 March 2008.-Synopsis:...
". Tommy, however, has remained in Cardiff continuously since 1918, whereas Jack has travelled on missions, such as India in 1908 and 1924, France in the Great War, undercover in travelling circuses, and his travels with the DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
and Martha JonesMartha JonesMartha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
in the spring/summer of 2008. Unbeknownst to Jack, however, his own older self has been continuously in another morgue freezer drawer near Tommy since 1901 and continuously in Cardiff since 27 CE. - In 1918, Gerald Carter leaves sealed orders for his future counterparts, that sit unread for nine decades, timelocked to automatically open. Alice Guppy similarly timelocks Jack's morgue drawer in 1901, leaving its contents secret from her successors.
- The photograph of Gerald and Harriet in front of the glased Torchwood wall sign shows the present-day hub under Roald Dahl PlassRoald Dahl PlassRoald Dahl Plass is a public plaza in Cardiff Bay, part of Cardiff, Wales. It is named after Cardiff-born author Roald Dahl, and is located on the coast along the south of the city centre. The square is home to the Senedd and the Wales Millennium Centre, a performing arts centre...
was already in use in 1918, despite West Bute Dock being in use and open to the sea above them until after the Second World War. An different headquarters appears two decades earlier in "FragmentsFragments (Torchwood)"Fragments" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 21 March 2008.-Synopsis:...
".
Outside references
The title of - and dialogue within - the episode is a reference to Field MarshalField Marshal (UK)
Field Marshal is the highest military rank of the British Army. It ranks immediately above the rank of General and is the Army equivalent of an Admiral of the Fleet and a Marshal of the Royal Air Force....
Douglas Haig
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC, was a British senior officer during World War I. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 to the end of the War...
's Order of the Day on 11 April 1918, in response to the German Spring Offensive
Spring Offensive
The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht , also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I, beginning on 21 March 1918, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914...
: "There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end." Reporters at the time recognised that his order echoed that of Général Joffre
Joseph Joffre
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre OM was a French general during World War I. He is most known for regrouping the retreating allied armies to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in 1914. His popularity led to his nickname Papa Joffre.-Biography:Joffre was born in...
to the commanders of the French Armies in September, 1914, at the outbreak of the First Battle of the Marne
First Battle of the Marne
The Battle of the Marne was a First World War battle fought between 5 and 12 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. The battle effectively ended the month long German offensive that opened the war and had...
: "The hour has come to advance at all costs, and to die where you stand rather than give way."
"Tommy
Tommy Atkins
Tommy Atkins is a term for a common soldier in the British Army that was already well established in the 19th century, but is particularly associated with World War I. It can be used as a term of reference, or as a form of address. German soldiers would call out to "Tommy" across no man's land if...
" was a common slang term for a British soldier, particularly associated with the First World War.
Jack suggests that the British army executed "more than 300" shell-shocked soldiers for cowardice during the First World War. Executions for all offences numbered 346, of which 40 were for murder or mutiny. The remaining 306 were for desertion (266), cowardice (18), and other offences (22). While some of these can now be attributed to shell shock, most cannot, although all 306 were posthumously pardoned in 2006.
Production
The song "One Of These Mornings" by MobyMoby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
plays towards the start and at the end of this episode. The song "She's Got You High
She's Got You High
"She's Got You High" is the third and final single by Mumm-Ra, released by Columbia on May 14, 2007. It reached #41 in the UK Singles Chart, one place lower than previous single "What Would Steve Do?"....
" by Mumm-Ra plays in the pub as Toshiko and Tommy play pool. The song "Squares" by The Beta Band
The Beta Band
The Beta Band were a British musical group who received much critical acclaim and achieved cult status amongst avid followers of the underground and experimental music scene...
plays later in the pub, after Tommy watches news about war in Iraq.
News 24
BBC News 24
BBC News is the BBC's 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. The channel launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 17:30 as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic television channels, becoming the first competitor to Sky News, which had been running since 1989...
stock footage is used to depict the Iraq War, again with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
logo omitted as it has been in Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
episodes and in more recent Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episodes when news reports have been included as part of the story.
Reception
On overnight returns, The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that the episode achieved a 13% share, 3.2 million viewers, in its first broadcast on January 30, 2008, at 9pm. BARB later listed the episode as BBC2's top audience draw for the week ending February 3, with a certified estimate of 3.51 million viewers including timeshift
Time shifting
Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts....
.