Lost Souls (Torchwood)
Encyclopedia
"Lost Souls" is an original BBC Radio 4
audio play
written by Joseph Lidster
and is a spin-off
from the British
science fiction television
series Torchwood
, itself a spin-off from Doctor Who
. It aired on 10 September 2008 in the Afternoon Play
slot as part of Radio 4's Big Bang Day which celebrated the switching on of CERN
's Large Hadron Collider
that same day. Andrew Marr
introduced the audio play live from CERN. An mp3
version of the audio play was freely available until 18 September, when the play was released on CD
and as a purchasable download
.
through Cardiff Bay. Dr. Martha Jones
phones Captain Jack Harkness
, requesting help. Jack immediately agrees to meet Martha when she says people are disappearing from the CERN
facility in Switzerland, where she's working. Martha suggests they go undercover, and Torchwood set off for Geneva.
Gwen Cooper
says there aren't any records of the disappearances, but instead on the Large Hadron Collider
, or LHC
. Jack explains to her and Ianto Jones
that CERN seeks the 'Higgs Particle
', the fundamental particle of existence. CERN had found a way of examining the building blocks of matter itself; and built the world's largest particle collider which runs from Switzerland to France, in a 27 km round tunnel. Jack excitedly states that the plan is to collide protons moving at the speed of light together, to produce what would effectively be like the "Big Bang
". Jack guesses the people may have discovered something unusual and were forcibly removed. He explains that the particle collision is thought to expose parallel dimensions, create black holes or turn the world inside out. After noticing Gwen and Ianto's expressions, Jack assures them that it would all be fine since it's theoretical.
Meeting in Geneva, Martha and the others discuss how they're coping since Toshiko Sato
and Dr. Owen Harper's
funeral. Gwen replies they're okay, and Martha says she's been spending her time working in Switzerland. She informs Torchwood about her missing friend, Julia Swales. Working as a CERN doctor, Julia realised people were falling ill with undiagnosable symptoms. The patients were sent to a hospital in France because of this, but upon contacting the hospital, Julia was informed the 11 patients never arrived. Julia told Martha, but UNIT
couldn't find anything wrong. Martha called Torchwood when Julia disappeared, knowing she'd need their help.
Martha and the team head to the facility, where a reception for the LHC is being held. Martha introduces Ianto as the Welsh Ambassador and Gwen as his wife to the guard, Jack being their assistant. Arriving in what Martha calls an 'underground city' - where the research takes place - the team view the housing of ATLAS, the largest particle detector (Gwen and Ianto describe it as a jet engine the size of the London Eye
), and are met by Professor Katrina Johnson.
Being informed that the collider countdown has started, Martha introduces her UNIT boss, Dr Oliver Harrington, who dismisses claims of side effects from the collider activation. Martha mentions his wife's death and that his coping mechanism is to work. She leads them to an ill patient, Leon, who worked as a technician in the tunnel. There aren't any physical signs of injury, and Martha states that he is comatose. Gwen suggests a deep tissue scan, amazing Martha. Gwen mentions that Owen was working on its adaptation before he died. The readings aren't comprehensive; Leon's skin starts glowing. As Martha tries to help Leon, he speaks in a strange voice. Jack suggests they find a link between the patients; Gwen and Ianto head to the control room to hack computers, himself and Martha remaining. They talk about Owen and Tosh; Jack stating he needs to be strong for Gwen and Ianto. Martha doesn't believe it, and Jack dismisses her, lamenting his immortality and the fact he couldn't save them, blaming himself.
Gwen and Ianto search for the patients. According to their findings, the missing people were all in the tunnel when they became sick. Martha notes that Leon is disintegrating, discovering that his neutrons are missing. Jack reveals he'd seen a colony fall victim to a creature the same way. As Gwen and Ianto search for links between the tunnel and the collider, Jack and Martha inform them about Leon. The creature in question feeds on neutrons in the body. They deduce that the bodies are in an unmarked building, and Martha heads there while Jack goes to the Professor. Gwen and Ianto head to the tunnel to locate the creature. Jack instructs them to scan for creatures and not to engage with them, before they split up on bicycles.
Meanwhile, the activation of the collider is about to begin. As Professor Johnson makes a speech, Jack demands the closure of the operation. He reveals himself as Torchwood, explaining that a creature slipped through during a test in May. The Professor asks him about the missing people; Jack assuming she is feigning. Martha contacts Gwen and they talk about Owen and Tosh. Gwen says she can't accept they're gone and that the funeral didn't give her the closure she wanted. Martha finds the building and attempts to enter. After commenting on the lack of sonic screwdriver, she breaks in using a rock, finding Julia and the others in comas.
In the tunnel, the creature poses as Owen, Tosh and Lisa Hallett, tempting Ianto to 'help' them return to life. Gwen contacts Jack, who is trying to stop the activation, informing him that Ianto has found the creature. Martha also contacts him, reporting that she'd found the building and the missing people, who are all glowing. In the tunnel, Ianto is torn between going to Gwen and succumbing to the alien posing as Lisa. Martha, trying to help Julia and the other patients, is held at gunpoint by Dr. Harrington, who reveals himself to be behind their storage. As Gwen reaches Ianto, she resists the alien as she helps Ianto. Ianto expresses his sorrow over losing Tosh, Owen and Lisa, and begs to be with them.
Professor Johnson prepares for lockdown. Jack suggests they use CERN's Anti-Proton Beam Facility to reverse the polarity of the magnets; combining a proton beam and an anti proton beam will cause them to cancel each other out. Dr. Harrington arrives with Martha and demands control. In the tunnel, Gwen struggles with Ianto, who has begun to glow. Harrington states that he'd been contacted by his wife (the creature), and thinks all the dead can come back to life if he helped his wife. Martha tells him that their neutrons are missing and that his wife isn't coming back. He exits, Martha following him.
As Gwen and Ianto struggle towards the exit, Ianto remarks the irony of seeing the wonders of the universe before dying in a tunnel in Switzerland. Gwen reassures him and herself and the alien tempts her to release it. In the Anti-Proton Beam Facility, Jack and the Professor note that they'll see the Higgs Particle because the proton beams will hit the anti proton beams instead, exposing it. They are informed that Harrington activated the tunnel shut down sequence. Gwen and Ianto meet Harrington in the tunnel and he helps her to get them out. Martha arrives and before they can stop him, Harrington heads back to the tunnel, locking himself in. With the tunnel locked down the collider is activated, creating the anti proton beams. Martha informs them about Harrington, Jack realising it's too late to help him. In the tunnel, Harrington and the creature perish in the tunnel as the collider is activated. Jack notes that the comatose patients should return to normal. The Professor thanks Jack before he returns to Gwen, Ianto and Martha.
Ianto thanks Gwen for helping him, although he cannot remember any of it, and Martha reports that all the patients have returned to normal. As Ianto quotes Tennyson, Gwen asks why the human race 'needs to be ready'. Jack simply says that they're worth fighting for, which the others dismiss. Jack says they never stop searching for answers - even when they don't know what the questions are - and that makes them special. Jack states that the answer is somewhere out there, and that sometimes asking the question IS the answer, before they head home.
and Toshiko Sato
. They have not seen Martha Jones, who is working for UNIT
, since the funeral. Upon greeting Martha, Jack welcomes her with the words "voice of a nightingale", the phrase he greeted her with upon her arrival in the Torchwood episode "Reset
" and upon commencing their telephone conversation in the Doctor Who episode "The Stolen Earth
". The team are heard in pursuit of recurring Torchwood monsters Weevils
and reference is made to Martha's fiancé, Thomas Milligan, a character seen in the Doctor Who
episode "Last of the Time Lords
" and her friend Julia Swales, a character seen in the Doctor Who episode "Smith and Jones
".
An alien creature poses as the ghosts of Owen, Toshiko and Ianto's deceased girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, a character seen in the Torchwood episode "Cyberwoman
". Jack uses the phrase "reverse the polarity", a phrase associated with the Third Doctor
in Doctor Who. The Bekaran deep-tissue scanner first appeared in the Torchwood spin-off novel Another Life
and Martha mentions the sonic screwdriver
, a device used by the Doctor
. Ianto's phrase on dying in a tunnel in Switzerland also echoes the Ninth Doctor
's line on dying in a cellar in Cardiff in "The Unquiet Dead
".
, "they're apparently big Torchwood fans." Representatives from CERN read the script to check for scientific accuracy; they also approved the plot, which required "that if the team were going to CERN, something had to go wrong".
When Lidster began writing the script, he did not know that the characters of Owen and Tosh would be killed in the episode "Exit Wounds
, so the characters were included in his first treatment
. He subsequently introduced the theme of grief into the episode, to address the characters' reactions to their friends' deaths.
Prior to the special's broadcast, the prospect of a radio version of Torchwood yielded mixed responses from the critics. Writing in The Sunday Times
, Paul Donovan celebrated the special, particularly the contributions of the "beguiling" and "sympathetic" Freema Agyeman; of the special and the rest of the Big Bang Day programming, Donovan said, "This is the sort of output we pay the licence fee for, the sort of ambitious and expensive programming no commercial radio station could ever hope to do in the present ecology of broadcasting." However, at The Times
, Chris Campling lamented "a special radio episode of the terrible Dr Who spinoff Torchwood, set at CERN and involving the supernatural. It's as though Radio 4 approached the point of serious educational broadcasting — and then disappeared into the black hole of celebrity." According to John Barrowman, Lost Souls was the most downloaded radio or television that day on the BBC's iplayer site, leading to a further three radio episodes being commissioned.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
audio play
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
written by Joseph Lidster
Joseph Lidster
Joseph Lidster is an English television writer best known for his work on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.-Biography:His debut work was the audio play The Rapture for Big Finish Productions in 2002...
and is a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
, itself a spin-off from Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It aired on 10 September 2008 in the Afternoon Play
Afternoon Play
The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year....
slot as part of Radio 4's Big Bang Day which celebrated the switching on of CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
's Large Hadron Collider
Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
that same day. Andrew Marr
Andrew Marr
Andrew William Stevenson Marr is a Scottish journalist and political commentator. He edited The Independent for two years until May 1998, and was political editor of BBC News from 2000 until 2005....
introduced the audio play live from CERN. An mp3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
version of the audio play was freely available until 18 September, when the play was released on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and as a purchasable download
Uploading and downloading
In computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems...
.
Plot
Torchwood Three are chasing a WeevilWeevil
A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than , and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae...
through Cardiff Bay. Dr. Martha Jones
Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
phones Captain Jack Harkness
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
, requesting help. Jack immediately agrees to meet Martha when she says people are disappearing from the CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
facility in Switzerland, where she's working. Martha suggests they go undercover, and Torchwood set off for Geneva.
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off to the long-running show Doctor Who, portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles. The series' lead female character, Gwen has featured in every episode of the sci-fi programme to date as well as two crossover...
says there aren't any records of the disappearances, but instead on the Large Hadron Collider
Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
, or LHC
LHC
LHC may refer to:* Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator and collider located on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, SwitzerlandLHC also may refer to:* La hora Chanante, a Spanish comedy television show...
. Jack explains to her and Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television series Torchwood, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A series regular, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwoods parent show, Doctor Who...
that CERN seeks the 'Higgs Particle
Higgs boson
The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive elementary particle that is predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. Its existence is postulated as a means of resolving inconsistencies in the Standard Model...
', the fundamental particle of existence. CERN had found a way of examining the building blocks of matter itself; and built the world's largest particle collider which runs from Switzerland to France, in a 27 km round tunnel. Jack excitedly states that the plan is to collide protons moving at the speed of light together, to produce what would effectively be like the "Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
". Jack guesses the people may have discovered something unusual and were forcibly removed. He explains that the particle collision is thought to expose parallel dimensions, create black holes or turn the world inside out. After noticing Gwen and Ianto's expressions, Jack assures them that it would all be fine since it's theoretical.
Meeting in Geneva, Martha and the others discuss how they're coping since Toshiko Sato
Toshiko Sato
is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" , Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood 2006 premiere episode "Everything Changes"...
and Dr. Owen Harper's
Owen Harper
Owen Harper is a fictional character played by Burn Gorman, and a regular in the BBC television series Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character last appeared onscreen in the Series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds"....
funeral. Gwen replies they're okay, and Martha says she's been spending her time working in Switzerland. She informs Torchwood about her missing friend, Julia Swales. Working as a CERN doctor, Julia realised people were falling ill with undiagnosable symptoms. The patients were sent to a hospital in France because of this, but upon contacting the hospital, Julia was informed the 11 patients never arrived. Julia told Martha, but UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
couldn't find anything wrong. Martha called Torchwood when Julia disappeared, knowing she'd need their help.
Martha and the team head to the facility, where a reception for the LHC is being held. Martha introduces Ianto as the Welsh Ambassador and Gwen as his wife to the guard, Jack being their assistant. Arriving in what Martha calls an 'underground city' - where the research takes place - the team view the housing of ATLAS, the largest particle detector (Gwen and Ianto describe it as a jet engine the size of the London Eye
London Eye
The London Eye is a tall giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England.It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually...
), and are met by Professor Katrina Johnson.
Being informed that the collider countdown has started, Martha introduces her UNIT boss, Dr Oliver Harrington, who dismisses claims of side effects from the collider activation. Martha mentions his wife's death and that his coping mechanism is to work. She leads them to an ill patient, Leon, who worked as a technician in the tunnel. There aren't any physical signs of injury, and Martha states that he is comatose. Gwen suggests a deep tissue scan, amazing Martha. Gwen mentions that Owen was working on its adaptation before he died. The readings aren't comprehensive; Leon's skin starts glowing. As Martha tries to help Leon, he speaks in a strange voice. Jack suggests they find a link between the patients; Gwen and Ianto head to the control room to hack computers, himself and Martha remaining. They talk about Owen and Tosh; Jack stating he needs to be strong for Gwen and Ianto. Martha doesn't believe it, and Jack dismisses her, lamenting his immortality and the fact he couldn't save them, blaming himself.
Gwen and Ianto search for the patients. According to their findings, the missing people were all in the tunnel when they became sick. Martha notes that Leon is disintegrating, discovering that his neutrons are missing. Jack reveals he'd seen a colony fall victim to a creature the same way. As Gwen and Ianto search for links between the tunnel and the collider, Jack and Martha inform them about Leon. The creature in question feeds on neutrons in the body. They deduce that the bodies are in an unmarked building, and Martha heads there while Jack goes to the Professor. Gwen and Ianto head to the tunnel to locate the creature. Jack instructs them to scan for creatures and not to engage with them, before they split up on bicycles.
Meanwhile, the activation of the collider is about to begin. As Professor Johnson makes a speech, Jack demands the closure of the operation. He reveals himself as Torchwood, explaining that a creature slipped through during a test in May. The Professor asks him about the missing people; Jack assuming she is feigning. Martha contacts Gwen and they talk about Owen and Tosh. Gwen says she can't accept they're gone and that the funeral didn't give her the closure she wanted. Martha finds the building and attempts to enter. After commenting on the lack of sonic screwdriver, she breaks in using a rock, finding Julia and the others in comas.
In the tunnel, the creature poses as Owen, Tosh and Lisa Hallett, tempting Ianto to 'help' them return to life. Gwen contacts Jack, who is trying to stop the activation, informing him that Ianto has found the creature. Martha also contacts him, reporting that she'd found the building and the missing people, who are all glowing. In the tunnel, Ianto is torn between going to Gwen and succumbing to the alien posing as Lisa. Martha, trying to help Julia and the other patients, is held at gunpoint by Dr. Harrington, who reveals himself to be behind their storage. As Gwen reaches Ianto, she resists the alien as she helps Ianto. Ianto expresses his sorrow over losing Tosh, Owen and Lisa, and begs to be with them.
Professor Johnson prepares for lockdown. Jack suggests they use CERN's Anti-Proton Beam Facility to reverse the polarity of the magnets; combining a proton beam and an anti proton beam will cause them to cancel each other out. Dr. Harrington arrives with Martha and demands control. In the tunnel, Gwen struggles with Ianto, who has begun to glow. Harrington states that he'd been contacted by his wife (the creature), and thinks all the dead can come back to life if he helped his wife. Martha tells him that their neutrons are missing and that his wife isn't coming back. He exits, Martha following him.
As Gwen and Ianto struggle towards the exit, Ianto remarks the irony of seeing the wonders of the universe before dying in a tunnel in Switzerland. Gwen reassures him and herself and the alien tempts her to release it. In the Anti-Proton Beam Facility, Jack and the Professor note that they'll see the Higgs Particle because the proton beams will hit the anti proton beams instead, exposing it. They are informed that Harrington activated the tunnel shut down sequence. Gwen and Ianto meet Harrington in the tunnel and he helps her to get them out. Martha arrives and before they can stop him, Harrington heads back to the tunnel, locking himself in. With the tunnel locked down the collider is activated, creating the anti proton beams. Martha informs them about Harrington, Jack realising it's too late to help him. In the tunnel, Harrington and the creature perish in the tunnel as the collider is activated. Jack notes that the comatose patients should return to normal. The Professor thanks Jack before he returns to Gwen, Ianto and Martha.
Ianto thanks Gwen for helping him, although he cannot remember any of it, and Martha reports that all the patients have returned to normal. As Ianto quotes Tennyson, Gwen asks why the human race 'needs to be ready'. Jack simply says that they're worth fighting for, which the others dismiss. Jack says they never stop searching for answers - even when they don't know what the questions are - and that makes them special. Jack states that the answer is somewhere out there, and that sometimes asking the question IS the answer, before they head home.
Continuity
The Torchwood team are still grieving the deaths of their colleagues Owen HarperOwen Harper
Owen Harper is a fictional character played by Burn Gorman, and a regular in the BBC television series Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character last appeared onscreen in the Series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds"....
and Toshiko Sato
Toshiko Sato
is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" , Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood 2006 premiere episode "Everything Changes"...
. They have not seen Martha Jones, who is working for UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
, since the funeral. Upon greeting Martha, Jack welcomes her with the words "voice of a nightingale", the phrase he greeted her with upon her arrival in the Torchwood episode "Reset
Reset (Torchwood)
"Reset" is the sixth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast by BBC Three on 13 February 2008, immediately after the broadcast of "Adam" on BBC Two...
" and upon commencing their telephone conversation in the Doctor Who episode "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
". The team are heard in pursuit of recurring Torchwood monsters Weevils
Weevil (Torchwood)
Weevils are a fictional extraterrestrial species from the British science fiction television series Torchwood, first appearing in the episode "Everything Changes". As Jack Harkness explains in that episode, the name "Weevil" is applied to them by Torchwood, but as communication with them is...
and reference is made to Martha's fiancé, Thomas Milligan, a character seen in the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode "Last of the Time Lords
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" and her friend Julia Swales, a character seen in the Doctor Who episode "Smith and Jones
Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)
"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones...
".
An alien creature poses as the ghosts of Owen, Toshiko and Ianto's deceased girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, a character seen in the Torchwood episode "Cyberwoman
Cyberwoman
"Cyberwoman" is the fourth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by James Strong, the episode was first broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three on 5 November 2006, and later repeated on terrestrial channel...
". Jack uses the phrase "reverse the polarity", a phrase associated with the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
in Doctor Who. The Bekaran deep-tissue scanner first appeared in the Torchwood spin-off novel Another Life
Another Life (Torchwood)
Another Life is a BBC Books original novel written by Peter Anghelides and based on the British science fiction television, Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood. It features all the regular cast of the show.-Plot summary:...
and Martha mentions the sonic screwdriver
Sonic screwdriver
The sonic screwdriver is a fictional tool in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spinoffs. It is a multifunctional tool used by The Doctor. Its most common function is that of a lockpick, but can be used to perform other operations such as performing medical scans,...
, a device used by the Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
. Ianto's phrase on dying in a tunnel in Switzerland also echoes the Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
's line on dying in a cellar in Cardiff in "The Unquiet Dead
The Unquiet Dead
"The Unquiet Dead" is an episode in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 9 April 2005 and is the first episode of the revival to be set in the past. In Victorian Cardiff, the dead are walking, and creatures made of gas are on the loose...
".
Writing
CERN was involved in the production of Lost Souls from its inception; according to writer Joseph LidsterJoseph Lidster
Joseph Lidster is an English television writer best known for his work on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.-Biography:His debut work was the audio play The Rapture for Big Finish Productions in 2002...
, "they're apparently big Torchwood fans." Representatives from CERN read the script to check for scientific accuracy; they also approved the plot, which required "that if the team were going to CERN, something had to go wrong".
When Lidster began writing the script, he did not know that the characters of Owen and Tosh would be killed in the episode "Exit Wounds
Exit Wounds (Torchwood)
"Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008.-Synopsis:...
, so the characters were included in his first treatment
Film treatment
A film treatment is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed than an outline , and it may include details of directorial style that an outline omits...
. He subsequently introduced the theme of grief into the episode, to address the characters' reactions to their friends' deaths.
Broadcast and reception
Lost Souls was commissioned and broadcast as part of Radio 4's "Big Bang Day", a day of special programming commemorating the switch-on of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. As part of the "Big Bang Day" coverage, James Gillies, director of communications for CERN, wrote an article for Radio 4's website comparing the fictional LHC of Lost Souls with the real LHC: "The CERN of reality bears little resemblance to that of Joseph Lidster's Torchwood script. The geography is all wrong and there's no way that anyone could be in the accelerator tunnel while it's running. The cool down happens inside a long blue tube, so the tunnel itself does not get cold. I could go on, but that would be churlish. By ignoring reality, by rearranging geography and by playing with time in his own way, Lidster creates drama." Gillies added "Captain Jack displays a surprising knowledge of particle physics."Prior to the special's broadcast, the prospect of a radio version of Torchwood yielded mixed responses from the critics. Writing in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, Paul Donovan celebrated the special, particularly the contributions of the "beguiling" and "sympathetic" Freema Agyeman; of the special and the rest of the Big Bang Day programming, Donovan said, "This is the sort of output we pay the licence fee for, the sort of ambitious and expensive programming no commercial radio station could ever hope to do in the present ecology of broadcasting." However, at The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Chris Campling lamented "a special radio episode of the terrible Dr Who spinoff Torchwood, set at CERN and involving the supernatural. It's as though Radio 4 approached the point of serious educational broadcasting — and then disappeared into the black hole of celebrity." According to John Barrowman, Lost Souls was the most downloaded radio or television that day on the BBC's iplayer site, leading to a further three radio episodes being commissioned.
External links
- "Lost Souls" at BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's website