Out of Time (TV story)

Out of Time was the tenth episode of the first series of Torchwood. During this episode, Owen Harper would strike a sexual relationship that became more meaningful than pleasure alone. The hope of making it last later influenced him to spur a disastrous act near the end of the series.

Synopsis
A plane from the 1950s lands in modern Cardiff, courtesy of the Rift; the passengers are reoriented by the Torchwood team, who becomes drawn closely to their lives.

Plot
A plane called the Sky Gypsy lands on a Cardiff air strip. Out step the pilot, Diane Holmes, and passengers Emma-Louise Cowell and John Ellis. The Torchwood team welcomes them. The people on the plane think that they are in the year 1953. Jack informs them they fell through the rift and were transported over fifty years into their future. The team make it their duty to look after the occupants of the plane until they can adapt to the 21st century. At first, they are fascinated, yet appalled by new items they never seen before such as tea bags and dirty magazines.

Gwen looks after Emma, since her parents have died. She takes her to her home, where she lies to Rhys that Emma is her cousin and that she came for a visit. The couple take her to a nightclub. They separate Emma from a man she is kissing. Gwen explains that things are different than in the 1950s. Later Emma finds a job as a shop-girl in London. Gwen is hesitant, wanting to get her a job in Cardiff where she can look after her, but she has to change her mind when Rhys discovers that Emma is not Gwen's cousin. Gwen agrees to let her go and tells her to not talk to strangers when travelling to London. As Emma leaves, they wish each other a happy Christmas. Meanwhile, Jack starts a friendship with John, who wants to find his son, Alan Ellis. Tosh finds him, John pays a visit, but is devastated to find his son is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Severely depressed, John takes Ianto's car to kill himself by carbon monoxide poisoning. Jack tries to convince him to stop. John said that he died decades ago. A reluctant Jack joins him in the car as the carbon monoxide slowly kills John. Jack's immortality leaves him unaffected; all he can do is express sorrow at the sight of another life cut short.

Owen looks after Diane, who wants to fly, but can't because her license expired decades ago. Owen convinces her to go out to lunch with him. They begin a sexual relationship. As it progresses, Owen falls in love with her. Diane admits to the same feelings. One morning, Owen finds she has gone, leaving a note on his pillow. He rushes to the airfield, where he finds her attempting to take off in the Sky Gypsy. Owen tries to convince her to stay, but she is confident that due to the exact weather conditions from where she took off, the rift will open again to take her back to her time. After she kisses Owen goodbye, she takes off and her plane disappears into the clouds. Heartbroken, Owen cries softly.

In the end, Jack, Gwen and Owen think back on how the three have touched their lives.

Cast

 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Owen Harper - Burn Gorman
 * Toshiko Sato - Naoko Mori
 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Diane - Louise Delamere
 * John Ellis - Mark Lewis Jones
 * Emma - Olivia Hallinan
 * Alan Ellis - Sam Beezely
 * Nurse - Manon Fenner
 * Alesha - Janine Carrington
 * Jade - Rhea Bailey
 * Flying Instructor - Andrew MacBean
 * Barman - Ciaron Dowd

Books

 * Glitter is a magazine.
 * Cardiff Examiner was a Cardiff newspaper.
 * South Wales Mail was a South Wales newspaper.

Individuals

 * Amelia Earhart, another famous woman pilot, went missing on July 2, 1937.

Events

 * Alan mentions the 1953 FA cup and the match between Blackpool and the Bolton Wanderers.

Locations

 * Diane Holmes flew over the Bengal Bay.

Story notes

 * Emma set off for London on the same day the Webstar came to London. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
 * A plane carrying composer Glenn Miller also disappeared while flying over the United Kingdom in 1944, similar to the Sky Gypsy. He composed "Moonlight Serenade" and "In the Mood", both of which featured heavily in TV: The Empty Child, which introduced Jack Harkness.
 * This is the first episode in the Doctor Who franchise to have a "love scene". There was previously a "sex scene" in TV: Day One.
 * The way the film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian handled the departure of Amelia Earhart is very similar to how Diane's departure is handled, including the aspect of a female pilot having fallen in love with a leading man and flying off with uncertainty regarding her survival.
 * This is the second consecutive episode to have no antagonist or enemy of any kind.
 * As is routine for Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the revived Doctor Who itself, a "NEXT TIME" trailer for the next episode is shown at the end of the episode.

Ratings

 * 1.0 million viewers.

Filming locations

 * Plane landing at the beginning of the episode - RAF St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan
 * John visits the Millennium Stadium's gate 3 - Westgate Street, Cardiff
 * The restaurant Owen and Diane visit is The Pearl of the Orient - Cardiff Bay.

Production errors

 * The events occur in December. However, in several scenes, including those of the airfield and outside the supermarket, the foliage on the trees indicates that the episode was filmed during the summertime.
 * During a scene in the conference room, a window can be clearly seen behind the characters, and a street can be seen outside. This is impossible because the Hub is underground.
 * Diana mistakenly states that Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1932, while she actually disappeared in 1937.

Continuity

 * The events of this episode are happening around the same time as TV: The Runaway Bride.
 * Jack mentions that he has died once and that he fell through time.

Home video releases

 * Out of Time was first released on DVD, with three other episodes as Torchwood: Series 1, part 3 on 26 March 2007. It was included in Torchwood: The Complete First Series on 19 November 2007.