Small Worlds (TV story)

Small Worlds was the fifth episode of the first series of Torchwood. It was the first story to explore Jack's past in any detail. In particular, it revealed that Jack had been married to a British woman during the mid-20th century.

It also established a storytelling convention used in every subsequent series of Torchwood. From here forward, Jack's past would occasionally be teased through the use of extended flashbacks that demonstrated how his history tied in to a preesent-day problem that Torchwood was fighting.

Synopsis
Jack encounters monsters from his past: fairies, with the ability to choke people and change the weather, make a series of killings centred around a little girl, the Chosen One.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Owen Harper - Burn Gorman
 * Toshiko Sato - Naoko Mori
 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Estelle Cole - Eve Pearce
 * Jasmine Pierce - Lara Phillipart
 * Lynn Pierce - Adrienne O'Sullivan
 * Roy - William Travis
 * Mark Goodson - Rodger Barclay
 * Kate - Heledd Baskerville
 * WPC - Ffion Wilkins
 * Custody Sergeant - Nathan Sussex
 * Man in Street - Paul Jones
 * Bullies - Sophie Davies and Victoria Gourley

Species

 * Jack wonders if the fairies are part Mara.

Story notes

 * This episode's plot (a young girl been taken away by fairies) is very similar to the Spice Girl's music video for their song "Viva Forever".
 * The novel trilogy "Tithe", "Valiant" and "Ironside" by Holly Black features a hidden world of modern faeries (fairies) who like to indulge in murder and torture as entertainment. As in Small Worlds, the faeries can look classic (i.e. small with wings) or large and demonic.
 * This episode is also similar to the Charmed episode "Once Upon a Time".
 * Owen claims that Harry Houdini believed in the Cottingley fairies. In reality, he didn't, and got into frequent discussions with his friend Arthur Conan Doyle over them.
 * Gwen also states that the girls who took the photos admitted the whole incident was a hoax in their later years. While it is true that they confessed to faking the photos, both women went to their graves insisting that they really did see fairies.

Ratings

 * 1.3 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * When Roy is making the fence, the overhead view shows him nailing the third post. The view from the side shows him nailing in a different post, however.

Continuity

 * Jack wonders if the fairies are part Mara, a creature seen in the Fifth Doctor stories DW: Kinda and Snakedance.

In the present

 * Small Worlds occurs after TW: Cyberwoman.
 * Small Worlds occurs before TW: Countrycide.

For Jack (flashbacks)

 * Small Worlds occurs after TW: Fragments (flashbacks).
 * Small Worlds occurs before TW: Immortal Sins (flashbacks).

Home video releases
This episode was first released on DVD, with four other episodes entitled Torchwood: Series 1, part 1 on 26 December 2006. It was later released in Torchwood: The Complete First Series on 19th November 2007