Out of Time (TV story)

Out of Time was the tenth episode in the first series of Torchwood. It was written by Catherine Tregenna and directed by Alice Troughton.

It saw the fracturing of Gwen Cooper's affair with Owen Harper even further when he struck a second libido-driven relationship with Diane Holmes, who was removed from a bygone era after passing through the Cardiff Rift. Although Owen meant to use her simply for sexual favours, pleasure gave way to romance, and he began falling in love with her. However, Diane chose to part ways with Owen and return to the past through the Rift. The hope of seeing her again later influenced him to spur a disastrous act near the end of the series.

Synopsis
When a plane from the 1950s lands in modern Cardiff, courtesy of the Rift, the passengers are reoriented by the Torchwood team, who become 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 welcome them. The people on the plane think that they are in the year 1953, but 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.

Gwen looks after Emma. She takes 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, where Emma soon gains the attentions of a young man. Gewn and Rhys separate Emma from the man when they start kissing, and Gwen explains to her that things are different than in the 1950s. Emma eventually 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 and is upset at just how easily Gwen lied to him. Gwen agrees to let Emma 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. Tosh finds him, and 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, but John says that he died decades ago. A reluctant Jack joins him in the car, as a friend, 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, meanwhile, 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 and they soon begin a sexual relationship. As it progresses, Owen falls in love with Diane, and she admits to the same feelings. One morning, Owen finds she has gone, having left a note on his pillow. He rushes to the airfield, where he finds Diane 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 being present now, the rift will open again and take her back to her own 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 Beazley
 * Nurse - Marion Fenner
 * Alesha - Janine Carrington
 * Jade - Rhea Bailey
 * Flying Instructor - Andrew MacBean
 * Barman - Ciaran Dowd

Books

 * Glitter and Miss B are magazines.
 * Cardiff Examiner is a Cardiff newspaper.
 * South Wales Mail is a South Wales newspaper.

Individuals

 * Emma was flying to Dublin to visit Auntie Nora and Uncle Finn, who have been having trouble with their kids and want her to babysit for them.
 * Jack mentions that he has died once and that he fell through time.
 * Amelia Earhart, another famous woman pilot, went missing on 2 July, 1937.
 * Owen decides to make Diane a "f*ck buddy".
 * Emma mentions Deborah Kerr.

Products

 * Emma wants Super Excel Waterproof Luscious Lashes Mascara.

Music

 * Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" is playing on John's radio.
 * "I See You Baby" is playing in the bar.
 * "Just Blew in from the Windy City" from Calamity Jane is Emma's favourite song.

Events

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

Locations

 * Diane Holmes flew over the Bengal Bay.

Story notes

 * This is the first Torchwood episode to have no antagonist or enemy of any kind.
 * There are similarities between this episode and the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone", in which three people from the late-20th century are discovered cryogenically frozen in the year 2364 and must adjust to the era they find themselves in. The primary difference between the two episodes is that the temporally-displaced people are the focus of the narrative in Out of Time, while in the Star Trek episode theirs is the B-story for the episode.

Ratings

 * 1.03 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.

Continuity

 * Gwen's sleeping with Owen is obliquely referred to when discussing changed sexual attitudes with Emma. (TV: Countrycide)

DVD 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 later included in Torchwood: The Complete First Series set on 19 November 2007.
 * It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)

Blu-ray releases

 * Released in the US with the rest of Series 1 as a Complete First Season set on 16 September 2008.


 * It was released in the Series 1-3 Blu-ray boxset on 26 October 2009 in the UK. The US release was on 19 July 2011.
 * It was also released in the Series 1-4 Blu-ray boxset. (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011)