Random Shoes (TV story)

Synopsis
A hit-and-run victim, obsessed with aliens in life, realises only one person can solve the mystery of his death: Gwen Cooper.

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
 * Eugene Jones — Paul Chequer
 * Young Eugene — Luke Bromley
 * Bronwen Jones — Nicola Duffett
 * Mr Garret — Roger Ashton-Griffiths
 * Josh — Steven Meo
 * Gary — Celyn Jones
 * Linda — Robyn Isaac
 * Shaun Jones — Gareth Potter
 * Terry Jones — Joshua Hughes
 * Waitress — Amy Starling
 * Café owner — Leroy Liburd
 * Pete — Ryan Chappell

Crew
to be added

Story Notes

 * This episode was originally titled Invisible Eugene up until two weeks before it aired. It was then changed to its present title. It was still listed as "Invisible Eugene" in the Radio Times and other television listings.
 * Toshiko only has two lines in this episode, in the first scene when she claims that Eugene "couldn't even die properly" and in the final scene when she says that they need to go.
 * Screenshots of Eugene's website as posted on the Torchwood Institute website suggest it to be hosted on the fictional Cheapserve webhost. Cheapserve has been used before by the Doctor Who production team.
 * For the first 8 minutes of the original broadcast of this episode, the BBC Three digital on-screen graphic identifier was absent, with the DOG of the CBBC Channel in its place. After this, the DOG disappeared.

Music

 * The songs "Starman" by David Bowie and "Hope There’s Someone" by Antony and the Johnsons feature in this episode.
 * Eugene's father sings "Danny Boy" at the funeral.

Outside of Universe References

 * This story bears some structural similarities DW: Love & Monsters, in particular the heavy use of flashbacks and voice-overs by a guest character as narrative devices. In addition, both Eugene Jones and Elton Pope (from Love & Monsters) are lonely young men with fixations on the respective main characters of each series and both come to similar epiphanies about taking life as it comes rather than waiting for the unobtainable while confronting painful memories. Also, Love & Monsters featured an organization called "LINDA" and Random Shoes featured a woman named "Linda."
 * In the flashback to Eugenes maths contest, Rushmore are described as having 'a mountainous forty-two [points]', a possible reference to Mt. Rushmore in the United States and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
 * The Internet auction website eBay is referenced, although the page displayed in this episode does not match eBay's current page layout.
 * The DVD Owen is watching is the 1960s version of the BBC science fiction drama A for Andromeda.
 * The name and logo of the "Happy Cook" resemble those of the Happy Eater chain of roadside restaurants.

Ratings

 * BBC3 - 1.1 million viewers
 * BBC2 - 2.3 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations

 * The Cardiff Museum was used in place of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Time and financial limitations meant the journey to Aberystwyth would have been impractical, especially considering the short amount of time it appears onscreen.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * Despite his arm passing straight through Tosh when trying to get her attention, Eugene has no trouble climbing into the Torchwood car.

Continuity

 * During the scene in the conference room, Jack is handling an object that resembles the bolt gun from DW: The Satan Pit.

DVD Releases
to be added