Series 4 (Torchwood)



Series 4 of Torchwood consisted of ten episodes broadcast between July and September 2011. Like Series 3, the season carried an umbrella title, Miracle Day. This season marked a major departure from past Doctor Who-franchise productions as it was a co-production of BBC Wales and the American cable network, Starz, and was filmed in both Wales and Hollywood. The episodes of Miracle Day were broadcast on Starz in the US several days before their broadcast on BBC One in the UK.

Production occurred after an aborted attempt to interest the Fox network (which had aired the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie) in mounting a fully Americanised remake. The Starz/BBC production is a continuation of existing canon, set at some point after the events of TW: Children of Earth and featuring several returning cast members, primarily John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Kai Owen, along with several scripted references to the Doctor and creatures from both Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Overview
When C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy, he finds himself unearthing a threat which challenges the entire Human race.

One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next. People keep ageing. They get hurt and sick, but they never die. The populace of the planet dub this "Miracle Day" for the immortality they now seem to have. However, this leads to a negative result: a population boom, overnight. With all the extra people unable to die and continuing births, resources have become limited. It’s suggested that in four months’ time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone must have caused "Miracle Day". It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?", he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.

The answers seem to lie within Torchwood itself. But Torchwood (3rd branch) was destroyed, years ago, and the keys to the institute are held by its only two surviving agents: former Police Officer Gwen Cooper, who has long since disappeared along with her husband and child, and the mysterious Captain Jack Harkness, a man whose history seems to stretch back for centuries and has disappeared off the face of the earth.

Things become even more complicated as Rex soon becomes one of the people continuing to live thanks to "Miracle Day" and his firing from the C.I.A. along with his assistant, Esther Drummond. Luckily, Gwen comes out of hiding and Jack returns to Earth to help. Combining their experience with bizarre situations and information gathered from one of Rex's contacts, a new Torchwood team takes shape.

Adding to the bizarre circumstances, Jack has lost his immortality. While some pharmaceutical companies take advantage of the people needing pain killers, Jack begins to think that something from his past may be causing "Miracle Day".

Miracle Day was written by Russell T Davies and co-produced by BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide and Starz Entertainment. It starred John Barrowman as Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, Mekhi Phifer as Rex Matheson, Alexa Havins as Esther Drummond, Bill Pullman as Oswald Danes and Arlene Tur as Dr. Vera Juarez. It was primarily set in Wales and the US. The series covers an arc in which death ceases to exist on Earth.

Regular series

 * Note: for the first time in a Doctor Who franchise series, individual episode titles are not displayed on screen.

Primary cast

 * Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Rex Matheson - Mekhi Phifer
 * Esther Drummond - Alexa Havins
 * Oswald Danes - Bill Pullman

Secondary cast

 * Dr. Vera Juarez - Arlene Tur
 * Jilly Kitzinger - Lauren Ambrose
 * Andy Davidson - Tom Price
 * Geraint Cooper - William Thomas
 * Mary Cooper - Sharon Morgan

Guest stars

 * Lyn Peterfield - Dichen Lachman
 * Dr. Alicia Patel - Lena Kaur
 * Surveillance - Danny Szam
 * Guard - Daniel Adegboyega
 * Brian Friedkin - Wayne Knight
 * Stuart Owens - Ernie Hudson
 * The Gentleman -C Thomas Howell
 * Brad - Dillon Casey
 * Olivia Colasanto - Nana Visitor
 * Agent Allen Shapiro - John de Lancie

Aliens and enemies

 * Central Intelligence Agency
 * Brian Friedkin
 * Lyn Peterfield
 * Oswald Danes
 * Jillian Kitzinger
 * The Gentleman
 * Three Families
 * Blue-Eyed Man
 * Colin Maloney
 * Trickster's Brigade
 * Brain parasite
 * Charlotte Willis
 * Ralph Finch
 * The Mother
 * The Cousin
 * The Blessing

Radio

 * The Lost Files

Novels

 * First Born
 * Long Time Dead
 * The Men Who Sold the World

Other releases

 * Web of Lies

Casting notes

 * Prior to the US co-production being announced, James Marsters stated he would like to return as John Hart for the new series and Freema Agyeman stated there was still a possibility for her to return as Martha Jones. Neither character is expected to appear during the Miracle Day arc.
 * This series will feature a whole new cast of characters, with only four of the original characters returning (Gwen Cooper, Jack Harkness, Rhys Williams, and Andy Davidson), and only two of the original members of the Torchwood team returning, (Gwen Cooper and Jack Harkness).

Rumours

 * Alonso Frame will appear. This was proven false.
 * It has been hinted that Ianto, who was killed off in the Series 3 episode Children of Earth: Day Four may come back. This was proven false.
 * More of Jack's past will be revealed.  This was proven true. Some of his activities in his Torchwood career in the 20th century was shown, it is revealed he had a relationship with a man called Angelo Colasanto.
 * Prior to Starz confirming the writers for Series 4, two notable writers were rumoured to have written scripts for the season: A resume posted online and attributed to Andrew Cartmel indicated he had written an episode entitled "The Jinx" for Series 4 ; and a report of TV and film writer Bryan Fuller (House, Superman Returns) meeting with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner in the summer of 2010 led to rumours that he, too, was writing an episode. These were proven false.