Torchwood: The Way it Looks... The Ten Best Visual Details of Torchwood

[fajrdrako]

Excluding people. Picspam follows.

1. Jack's Coat
   
   
   
   It isn't just that it looks good on him; it's that it makes the right kind of statement on several levels:
   
   • It's reminiscent of World War II, and the period when he met Rose and the Doctor.
     
   • It's reminiscent of his hero, role model, and lover, the other Captain Jack Harkness.
     
   • It looks good, stylish in a classic way, a fashion statement - and yet is masculine, militaristic and imposing.
     
   • It's something for Ianto to tend; I love it when Ianto hands Jack the coat, or holds it for him, and of course, I love the scene where he held it to his face, weeping, in "End of Days". Ianto taking care of Jack's coat is also reminiscent of Jack taking care of the Doctor's coat in Doctor Who.
     
   • It has big pockets to keep things in.
   
   Looks good on him, looks good hung on its peg.
   
   
   
2. The pterodactyl, Myfanwy
   
   
   So cool. So unique. A symbol of the far-ranging scope of Torchwood's range, and also of the way it holds the alien, the exotic, and the bizarre in its realm - to tame, to tend, to study, to keep, to control and contain. She's a pet, a guard-dog, and a weapon.
   
   I particularly like it that they let her fly free at night.
   
   
   
3. The window in Jack's office
   
   
   
   I like the way it looks. The Hub is full of interesting shapes; the rectangular tiles, the arched doorways, the interesting juxtapositions of rounded and squared hallways and rooms. Curves and straight lines, all emphasized and complicated with the curves of wires, cords, hoses and other objects in the place. There are several particularly interesting uses of roundness in the design of Torchwood, all of them oddly significant:
   • The heavy round door at the entranceway;
     
   • The entrance to Jack's bedroom;
     
   • The window, which combines the round exterior with the straight panes within it.
   
   The window has diagrams on it, whose significance I am not sure of. Did Jack put them there? Is it possible to understand what it shows? Does it look somewhat Gallifreyan, or Victorian, or contemporary? Though the design isn't precisely the same, there's a similarity to the Doctor's fob watch: circles and intersecting curves with a circular frame.
   
   The window looks out from Jack's office down to the visible main level of the Hub. It isn't clear to me how much he can see from the window, but he can see the workstations, and the entrance. There's something nicely introspective about a window that looks into it own heart, rather than an exterior view of the world.
   
   I also like the way Jack leaves books on his rounded windowsill.
   
   
   
4. The Dragon
   
   
   
   A symbol of Wales, heraldically, except that this isn't the same as the heraldic dragon, and it isn't red. Who put it there, and why?
   
   But it's a nice symbol of Torchwood. Dangerous, far-reaching; something that can burn the unwary. Something that guards secrets in deep lairs. Something that is unpredictable and old.
   
   
   
5. The baby TARDIS on Jack's desk
   
   
   
   It's easy to overlook this, or to not know what it is - it was mentioned in publicity for the show, but it's yet another object which has far more to it than meets the eye onscreen. Almost always under the lamp on Jack's desk, I often think it looks like popcorn or scrambled eggs, but it's coral which, according to Russell T Davis, will eventually grow into a TARDIS, ready to be carved in another 500 years or so.
   
   Interestingly, it looks quite different from episode to episode, though always distinctively yellow. Here's a slightly more detailed close-up:
   
   
   
   I wonder what the other Torchwood employees think of it, or whether they know what it is. They probably just think Jack finds coral decorative. It does add a nice splash of colour.
   
   It raises another interesting question: how many of the objects lying around Torchwood have stories yet to be told?
   
   
   
   
6. The Doctor's 3-D Glasses
   
   
   
   Usually hanging over Jack's lamp in series one, the 3-D glasses are only one artifact of the Doctor that Jack has tracked down and collected. There's the Hand, the televisions from "The Idiot's Lantern" - what else?
   
   
   
7. Torchwood's name
   
   
   
   I love the way Torchwood's name is painted on the tiles of the main room of the Hub. The font gives it that antique-industrial look, in contrast and to highlight the high-tech and futuristic nature of so much of the material in the Hub. The name appears in the background in a lot of significant scenes, along with "cold storage". There's something just a little steampunk about this.
   
   
   
8. Jack's cufflinks
   
   
   
   When did Jack start wearing these? A smart set of cufflinks, shaped like a World War II plane. Commemorative of his own flying days, when he met the Doctor? Or a souvenir of his meeting with the other Captain Jack Harkness?
   
   
   
9. Jack's wristband
   
   
   
   We saw it in use from Jack's first appearances in Doctor Who. It's a high-tech device apparently issued to all Time Agents, which functions as a Vortex Manipulator (allowing for time travel, when it isn't dismantled), a communications device, a hologram projector, a computer, and an encyclopedia. Does it have other uses?
   
   Jack is almost never without his. I don't blame him. If I had one, I'd keep it on all the time, too. But we know Jack takes it off to rest - hard though it is to see his wrists here, there's clearly no watch or wristband:
   
   
   
   And he also takes it off for sex:
   
   
   
   And yes, of course I had to research this detail. It's necessary to be thorough. I wonder if he removes it to shower or bathe?
   
   Here's a more detailed picture:
   
   
   
   Captain John seems to think his might be bigger than Captain Jack's, but we have reason to doubt it.
   
   
   
10. Jack's Handwriting
    
    
    
    As far as I know, the only time we see Jack Harkness' handwriting is in "Captain Jack Harkness", when Owen looks into his personal notebook.
    
    I love the way his handwriting looks: old-fashioned, precise, but still natural. I like to imagine it being used for love letters.

So what are your favourite visual details?

Comments

[deedeedee123.livejournal.com]

love this and good catch with spoting the wristband wasn’t in the hothouse scene i missed that:)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I wonder if there are other scenes where he isn't wearing the writstband? It's something to keep an eye on while watching.

The hothouse scene must be studied in great detail, of course, just so we can get these things right in our fic and art. Can't allow mistakes, right?

[deedeedee123.livejournal.com]

fave visual detail hhhhmmmmmm John Barrowman lol

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Unquestionably!

That's why I had to specify "excluding people" becuase otherwise I could just list 100 (or 1,000) good shots of Captain Jack....

Mmm, that might be fun to do.

[topgeargirl2.livejournal.com]

Why is it that we feel giggly when we look at photos of Jack?

I think the reason I didn't spot that he wasn't wearing the wristband is because being too distract at what he was doing with Ianto.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Why is it that we feel giggly when we look at photos of Jack?

Maybe because it is such a pleasure to look at him?

Of course it is easy to be distracted, especially when Jack is distracting Ianto in the best possible way. The best way to handle this is to watch it all over and over. Just in case we miss something.

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

The dragon is my favorite, followed by the cavernous space of the main area of the Hub, with the water tower drawing your eyes upward. It's unexpected to have a space like that underground, and it's gorgeous.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The dragon is wonderful - such a fearsome beast! That icon shows it well. I'd love to know the story behind it.

As for the cavernous space, one of the pictures I love and considered using was this:



...because of the way it shows the space looking up from the main Hub floor. I am used to thinking of the many levels under the main section that they use; I tend to forget that there are levels and passages above, too. The place is huge. Another offhand comment in one of the novels that the Hub extends under Cardiff Bay got me thinking, too.

I wish we saw more of it in the show.

[midasu.livejournal.com]

I love this. I watched the Torchwood episodes on a tiny screen on my computer and never caught all these lovely, awesome details. I really enjoyed this picspam and your reasons for what you loved.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So glad you enjoyed it. It was fun finding the pictures. And yes, it's something I love about the show. In terms of character and storyline they often seem incredibly - and annoyingly - inconsistent and careless of details. But in terms of set dressing and concept, they're inventive and imaginative and details either enrich the background, or add intriguing mysteries. I find myself thinking, "what is all that stuff?" I like that. It's delightfully realistic.

[mylenn.livejournal.com]

The Torchwood name on the wall looks the way London tube stations have the names on the walls. Just a thought.... :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, and that reinforces the impression of age or... what, motion in time? Venerability? Stability and travel together? I tried to find a photo of one of the names from a London tube station, and failed, but I did find this:



and it reminds me of Torchwood. Not just the combination of curves and tiles, but the colours of the tiles (off-white with black detail) and visual complexity.

But they aren't an old tube station, are they? For one thing, Cardiff never had such a thing. It's original purpose was... industrial? A Victorian power station? I don't remember where the source reference for that is, but that's what I recall.

[pinkfairy727.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! This is brill! I think I'd have to go with Jack's coat though I love all Ianto's old-fashioned trinkets as well.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ianto's old-fashioned trinkets? What are you thinking of? I do love his hockey stick... That almost made it to the list, on the strength of one appearance.

[moonlitcactus.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I read or heard somewhere (a Declassified? an interview?) that the dragon is meant to by a hybrid of Welsh and Japanese, and the backstory is that it was painted by Tosh (and Gwen?) during a 'quiet moment'. I honestly can't pin down where I got that from right at this moment though, does anyone else know?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the dragon is meant to by a hybrid of Welsh and Japanese

Cool.

the backstory is that it was painted by Tosh (and Gwen?) during a 'quiet moment'.

Tosh is an artist?

I hadn't seen any hint of that. It's credible - that girl never ceases to amaze me.

Let's hope someone remembers where the reference came from.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Awesome post! Great pics, observations and analyses.

Jack's coat is almost a character in itself, isn't it? It flaps nicely in the wind, or when he's running, and helps to highlight the similarities between him and the Doctor(with his own "dashing" coat).

I hadn't noticed the office window detail before. It does look like Gallifreyan. Maybe it says something like, "Jack + Doctor = OTP"? *snork* I like the books on the sill too -- just what I'd do -- and how they're falling over because the sill isn't flat.

I saw Torchwood before New Who, so I wondered what that thing on Jack's desk was for a while. To me it looked like a cheese pizza. Or a piece of shag rug. (not trying to be funny there, honest)

In some season one screenshots there's a spiky paperweight thingie on Jack's desk that looks like a bunch of colored pencils (pens?) stuck together and all pointing outward. I believe it was in an ep of Who as well.

I like all the piles of hardware and tech cluttering up the place. It may be alien tech, but it still looks like somebody needs to clean out their garage and have a yard sale :) Also the chains hanging from up above -- what are those for, anyway? Does Ianto climb up and clean out Myfanwy's nest, or what? (There's a fic in there somewhere :) )

Now that I think of it, the hanging chains are reminiscent of the dangling cables in the TARDIS console room. Likewise, the round structural details. Probably just RTD having fun :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Awesome post!

Thank you! [Insert happy bashful smile.]

Jack's coat is almost a character in itself, isn't it?

Delightfully so! It's a very heroic coat.

helps to highlight the similarities between him and the Doctor(with his own "dashing" coat).

Yes. Both such dashing coats. At the same time, there are subtle differences that highlight the differences between them, too. The Doctor's is less militaristic, more fey, less solid, more mobile, and earth colour rather than a sky colour.

Maybe it says something like, "Jack + Doctor = OTP"?

Well, you know, Jack just might write that! Or "come and get me, I'm yours!"

I like the books on the sill too -- just what I'd do -- and how they're falling over because the sill isn't flat.

Yeah. I'm sure Ianto puts the books away, and I'm sure Jack just puts another set there.

To me it looked like a cheese pizza. Or a piece of shag rug.

Yup, that would fit too.

In some season one screenshots there's a spiky paperweight thingie on Jack's desk that looks like a bunch of colored pencils (pens?) stuck together and all pointing outward. I believe it was in an ep of Who as well.

Cool! I'll have to look for it.

It may be alien tech, but it still looks like somebody needs to clean out their garage and have a yard sale :)

I believe they do pick up some of that stuff in yard sales. Funny we've never seen a story about that - onscreen or in fanfic. "C'mon, Ianto, it's time to explore the yard sales for Rift debris..."

Also the chains hanging from up above -- what are those for, anyway?

Chaining prisoners to the wall, like Captain John did to Captain Jack in "Exit Wounds"? (Or when Ianto and Jack are feeling 'innovative'?) More likely heavy haulage, though of what, I'm not sure.

Does Ianto climb up and clean out Myfanwy's nest, or what?

Maybe he does.

Maybe pterodactyls are very clean.

Hmm.

the hanging chains are reminiscent of the dangling cables in the TARDIS console room.

Yes - yes! Another visual similarity.

Probably just RTD having fun :)

They have a certain look, just slightly unusual, and they stick with the motif. I love that.

[aresnz.livejournal.com]

Well done. I enjoyed the comments and you did a good job of finding little items here-n-there that were probably not noticed first time around

Lori

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love finding more details in the Hub. There's all sorts of weird and wonderful things that you don't notice because it's bits of background that you don't need to notice.

[prochytes.livejournal.com]

My favourite visual detail was Tosh's hand-held tricorder thingum in Season Two. It appealed to me because

a) It was so Tosh to end up building her own equivalent to a sonic screwdriver. Fanciful though it is, I also like to think of this as a symbolic progression in Tosh's tech. The sonic modulator which she was originally blackmailed into building, brilliant though it was, seems to have been entirely destructive; by Season Two, Tosh has taken on the mantle of the Doctor and devises magitech tools as well as weapons. "It's really good at opening doors", indeed.

b) Even more fancifully, I like to think that (if one uses the old and interesting hypothesis that the Time Agency is what Torchwood will become in the far future), Tosh's gizmo is actually the original prototype and ancestor of what will eventually become the wrist-band widget favoured by Jack and John.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I like all those ideas - and your oh-so-suitable icon! We know Jack would initiate work on that sort of thing, because (a) he's working on his own TARDIS, (b) he likes sonic stuff. Besides which, of course, its usefulness.

Go Tosh! She is magnificent.

[woodencoyote.livejournal.com]

Some of my favorite details:

Everything on your list, plus...


The feet in the dumpster in Day One.

Gwen's wedding dress in Something Borrowed. It's not hard to get a dress that can soften or hide a pregnant belly, but consciously or unconsciously, Ianto picked the tightest and most obvious dress he could find.

The pins on Owen's lab coat.

The fact that half the time they're running around like superheroes and the other half they're sitting around like they've got nothing to do but drink and get into trouble with each other. And eat.

The design of the Hub itself. The fact that it looks nothing like the sleak, high tech bases of other scifi shows but more like something that was cobbled together over time: modern metal walkways built into old brick, the glass walls of the conference room turned hothouse jutting out into the space, the railway tunnel turned firing range.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Love those feet. I am planning another picspam sometime (soon?) that isn't just 'neat stuff in Torchwood' but 'inexplicable stuff in the background that's so darn weird it's delightful'. The feet in the dumpster would have to be pic #1.

consciously or unconsciously, Ianto picked the tightest and most obvious dress he could find.

Well, actually, Ianto did. (Subconscious envy? Desperation?)

The pins on Owen's lab coat.

What are they?

The fact that half the time they're running around like superheroes and the other half they're sitting around like they've got nothing to do but drink and get into trouble with each other. And eat.

And tease - or bicker.

The fact that it looks nothing like the sleak, high tech bases of other scifi shows

Oh my goodness yes. That is just so brilliant. Why try to out-tech all the other shows on TV when you can go all scruffy-Victorian and have a lot more fun? I was thinking that when I was looking at pictures of London tube stations. "Too modern for Torchwood", I was thinking, as I looked at and discarded the pictures of the new ones - and then I thought, "too modern for Torchwood?", which made me laugh. Torchwood is such a wonderful jumble of old/new/undefinable and definitely the inexplicable. I love that!

the glass walls of the conference room turned hothouse jutting out into the space, the railway tunnel turned firing range.

All of that. Wonderful. I hope we see the firing range again. I'd like to see their gym/workout room. So much we haven't seen!

(I'd especially like to see Jack giving Ianto shooting lessons in the firing range. So what if Ianto doesn't actually need the lessons. I'm sure he'd enjoy them.)

[kaimu-art.livejournal.com]

Oh lovely idea! I absolutely adore Jack's coat beyond any other single wardrobe in Torchwood. And that window is a very neat piece of art in of itself.

Some of my favorite visual details of Torchwood are:
-Gwen/Rhys photo's that are scattered around their flat, especially since they are usually seen in the background when they're fighting in their flat.
-Jack's coffee mug (I was tempted to go to Ikea to buy the exact same one...)
-The weevil-looking targets in the shooting range (Do they custom-order them from a supplier, or is there a huge printing press somewhere in Torchwood?)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh, good answers!

Yes, the coat is incomparable. And the window is beautiful. It implies insight, knowledge, and an unfathomable alien quality...

The coffee mug! Huge confession: I did go to Ikea for a coffee mug like that. And they didn't have any. Last year's design, I guess. Or maybe they just don't export it to Canada. Grump.

Good question about the printing press. My guess is that (though they might well have one), they have a huge high-tech (or even alien-tech) printer hooked up to their computer system that will print anything they want, any size, any material. Including the MISSING PERSONS posters they made up for Jack after "End of Days".

On the other hand, knowing Jack and the ease with which he dispenses and collects on 'favours', chances are he has a friend in the printing business who does special orders just for him.

[cirrocumulus.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love the entire design of Torchwood. I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately-- Torchwood might be lacking in writing sometimes but I think they have one of the best set dressers and prop teams I've ever seen. They add so much thought and detail to the set, clothing, and props-- it's just amazing. I am in love with the Hub, it's so unique and adds so much to the feel of the show. It really looks lived-in, too: instead of being all organized and shiny it's strewn around with quite a bit of rubbish in places, it looks grimy... really impressive. I don't have a cap of it but apparently there are two bricks missing from the wall in Jack's office-- and who knows how that got there, and why noone ever thought of fixing it. Just so many details that I don't even know HOW the set designers must have thought these things up.

I also adore Jack's costume design. It fits him perfectly, particularly his character as it is now vs. how it was back in Doctor Who. I found an early promotional shot for Torchwood (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a7/cirrocumulus/0e93797c.jpg) in which Jack is still dressed as he was in Doctor Who and Gwen just looks... weird... and I get the feeling that Torchwood would be an almost completely different show if they'd kept the character design this way. Jack's new clothing design is amazing, I think; the coat, the classic style of his shirts, the suspenders, even his hair, it all adds an immediate and iconic style to his character that really makes him stand out. And I think it betrays something soft about Jack's character; rather than adapt to the times he lives in, he's hung onto this style that he's fond of and it just really exemplifies how he forms these attachments to even little things in his life that make him feel comfortable.

Also, nice job spotting the cufflinks, I never noticed! That's really fantastic.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love the entire design of Torchwood.

I do too. It's brilliant.

Torchwood might be lacking in writing sometimes

Sadly. And even then, it's only sometimes, and only in some ways. Some bits are brilliant. It's so different from other shows. I must do a piece sometime about how it uses viewpoint and genre in ways I've never seen on television before. It's imaginative and unique while at the same time being deliberately referential - no wonder it fails sometimes.

I think they have one of the best set dressers and prop teams I've ever seen.

I can't think of better. Not just inventive, but imaginative and artistic.

It really looks lived-in, too: instead of being all organized and shiny it's strewn around with quite a bit of rubbish in places

Most shows going for high-tech play it for streamlined chrome and lack of clutter. The Hub looks like a place where people actually work, and a place that collects... stuff: alien debris that has to be worked on and with before it can be categorized and stored away.

Moreover, it looks like a huge place full of necessary stuff that doesn't have a maintenance staff, except for Ianto, who could probably be busy mopping the floors morning till night if he was so inclined. As it is - of course he prefers manning the tourist office and doing fieldwork and shadowing Jack and making coffee and doing archival stuff. I'm sure the others (theoretically) pitch in - well, not Owen, and Tosh is usually too distracted by her work.

In any case: of course there's no one keeping it neat and clean, there's only five of them (three now), with Weevils to tend clean and a pterodactyl to feed (when it isn't out foraging). So it looks... lived in, and they can't keep up with the clutter or ever, much of the time, with the old pizza boxes.

I don't have a cap of it but apparently there are two bricks missing from the wall in Jack's office-- and who knows how that got there

I must look! Very cool.

I don't even know HOW the set designers must have thought these things up.

I can just imagine the production meetings.

Russell T Davies: We need alien things. We need high-tech things. We need unidentifiable objects. We need a baby TARDIS. What would it look like?

Set design/props guys: Uh... a plate of yellow coral? We can do that.

I also adore Jack's costume design.

Me too. I must do an item on that, too. I love the way all of them dress, but Jack's 'vintage military' is just perfect. Even his hair.

I found an early promotional shot for Torchwood in which Jack is still dressed as he was in Doctor Who and Gwen just looks... weird...

It's Jack of another era. It looks so wrong. It looks as if Jack borrowed Owen's clothes. (Not that they'd fit.)

I get the feeling that Torchwood would be an almost completely different show if they'd kept the character design this way.

I think it evolved. I think it was rushed. I think some of their rushed decisions were brilliant - thank goodness. I don't know who came up with Jack's outfit but it's outstanding in so many way - delineates his personality, his style and even his personal history: his stolen identity, and reminiscent of the time/place/circumstances in which he met the Doctor. It just works in so many ways, and shows Barrowman off to his best, at least in my opinion.

I think it betrays something soft about Jack's character; rather than adapt to the times he lives in, he's hung onto this style that he's fond of and it just really exemplifies how he forms these attachments to even little things in his life that make him feel comfortable.

His motto is "everything changes". It must seem to him that everything around him is ephemeral. I can imagine that he wants to hang on to this one aspect of his past. All the more so after "Captain Jack Harkness", where the style becomes more than the stolen identity of a war hero, but a tribute to someone he loved and admired.

Yeah, I love the cufflinks.

[finglitterfairy.livejournal.com]

I like the way the hub always seems to have an extra corner that we've never seen, something about it being round - it just feels like no matter how many times they do a huge wide shot of it or whatever, theres always something left to be found...

I have a coffee mug like Jack's - it is for use only wiht my proper coffee maker coffee - I get all twitchy if someone puts instant in it - its sad and a bit odd, but yeah...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I like the way the hub always seems to have an extra corner that we've never seen

So true. It seems to me that every time we get a wide view, I notice something I never noticed before. And it's disorienting: I still don't have a good map of it in my head, even though I've stared at 'real' maps of it, but it's all so interconnected and random - I can never keep it straight which staircases lead where, which corridors lead where, and how to you get to the Board Room, anyway? Can Jack see Owen's medical area from his office? And then, every once in a while, we see a new bit.

something about it being round

I should have mentioned that in my comments on the round window. (I keep thinking of more things - more details, more angles!) The fact that the very name 'the Hub' implies a huge circle with, somewhere, a circumference.

I have a coffee mug like Jack's

How wonderful! (whimper, but happy for you.) I wish I did.

[alba17.livejournal.com]

That was really fascinating. Thanks for pointing out some things I hadn't noticed, like the window - lovely. That coral on Jack's desk drove me crazy for ages until I found out it was supposed to be a baby TARDIS. I thought it looked like popcorn, but didn't know why that would be on his desk. I'm not sure I ever noticed the dragon and that backstory about it from TW Archives is fascinating. Never noticed the cufflinks or the fact that Jack doesn't have the leather cuff on in the hothouse scene. Distracted.

The thing I like about Jack's coat is that it's just very romantic - I suppose that subsumes the historical and military aspects.

This makes me wonder what's going to happen to all of this in S3.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So glad you enjoyed this.

like the window - lovely

I love the style of that window. Come to think of it, I also like the style of the fob watch, so I guess I like Gallifreyan design. (Not so much their funny hats, though!)

Who'd have guessed that a young TARDIS would look like popcorn? But then, we're so conditioned to thinking of something that looks like a Police Box when we hear the word.

The hothouse scene is pretty distracting. I imagine that Jack still hasn't put on the wristband when he's talking to Gwen right afterwards? - will have to check, but I don't think he had time.

Of course, my conclusion that he doesn't wear the wristband during sex isn't an absolute. I'm sure he sometimes does wear it during sex, but not that time - maybe because of the game of naked hide and seek going on?

Yes, Jack's coat is utterly romantic. Which suits him, because he is a romantic.

As for S3 - we'll see.