Torchwood Declassified (2006) s01e08 Episode Script
Beyond the Grave
Episode 8, I think, is so dark.
It's about death.
It's reincarnation.
This is about old friends returning.
This is about the what ifs.
It's about mortality.
It's about our own fragility.
-Who are you? -I'm just trying to help, sweetheart.
-I'm just trying to help.
-I want my mum.
If you could come back for a couple of seconds, would you want to? Alex, you were attacked.
Do you know who it was? Who attacked you? It's about what we can never have, which is speaking to somebody who's gone to the other side and then come back again.
Right from the start, I invented that resurrection glove in Episode 1 .
And we always said, ''Oh, Suzie could come back.
'' JACK: Suzie Costello.
She's second in command.
Suzie was such a fascinating character.
It's kind of a continuation of the first episode because we were introduced to Suzie, she killed herself, and this is resolving Suzie's story.
I loved this job.
I really loved it.
She betrays the team, commits murder.
I don't think we, as a team, actually ever got to the bottom of that.
Her name! Suzie.
The notion of bringing her back is quite a big thing for everybody else.
Tread carefully people, with respect.
This is the life of Suzie Costello.
But there's history there.
She's an old friend, you know.
She's gone.
Gwen took her place.
-Who's using the glove? -I'm sorry.
Wouldn't you know it? Gwen bloody Cooper.
They realise, you know, she was one of them.
Owen, hello.
You scared to face me? You frighten the shit out of me, yeah.
Then I think it takes them all into a very, dark emotional place.
Have you slept with Owen? 'Cause it makes them confront all of their feelings about how they had a relationship with Suzie.
Can't even look at me, can you? It's not like you to be so judgemental.
Not like you to go on a murder spree.
I think if we'd done this in series two, you'd have forgotten her.
It would have seemed very odd.
And I think, in series one, to bring her back is fantastic.
The glove is able to bring people back to life.
That glove is bad news.
Damn! Bad news in the wrong hands if it's used incorrectly.
We shouldn't play God.
Is it Suzie that's evil, or is it the glove that's made her evil? -Why did you kill those people? -For the glove.
This wasn't just lost.
Whoever made it, wanted rid of it.
So it's always been a very powerful, iconic object, an image for the whole series.
I mean, the glove is very much a plot device.
It was Obviously, I invented it for Episode 1 thinking it was a one-off, never expected it to come back, and now I rather love it.
JACK: Come back.
GWEN: How does it work? You just sort of feel like reaching into the dark, finding the dead.
I can't Damn! Sorry.
Never was very good with this thing.
-Owen? -No, I tried last time.
We all had a go.
It only responded to Suzie.
Well, I never had a go.
She has a gift.
It's not just a talent.
I think it's more of a gift.
(GASPS) She's connected.
Somebody help me! Oh, my God! It's an adrenalin rush and it's a turn-on.
Let me keep trying.
-Gwen, he's dead.
-But I can bring him back.
-The glove only works once.
-But I can do it.
Just let me try! Something with that amount of power which could help heal, bring people back to life, solve crimes, of course you're gonna become If you've got something like that at your disposal, it's gonna be easy to become obsessed.
It's the glove.
I told you, they get hooked.
I can't portray these people as being very at home with this extraordinary world they're part of.
Did you ever think what that glove would do to her? That's the glove, Gwen.
Gets inside your mind.
It gets to you.
It must get to you.
It's like, yes, they are protecting other people, but who protects them? The glove.
Tosh, destroy the glove.
It's keeping them connected.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! The resurrection days are over, thank God.
Oh, I wouldn't be too sure.
That's the thing about gloves, sir.
They come in pairs.
I put those lines in at the end about gloves always come in pairs 'cause I'm so dying to bring that glove back again.
I think you'll see glove number two one day.
In between Episodes 1 and 2 of Torchwood, what we never really deal with, 'cause we just wanna get on with it, setting up a new series there, is how Gwen must feel about Suzie.
Hello, again.
She has replaced her, she is the new girl, that, actually, this woman shot herself in front of her.
It's not Gwen's fault, but you would think it was your fault.
That's human nature to think, ''Oh, it's all my fault.
''I set all that in motion.
'' You thought Suzie's death was because of you 'cause it happened when you arrived.
Then you brought her back to life, all the way.
She's new to Torchwood.
So the things that she's experiencing, the things she's seeing, she's not hardened to them.
-Can I see my father? -No.
And so she reacts in a very emotional Her responses to these things is a very emotional one and a very human one.
What's wrong with him? Cancer.
And that makes it easier, I think, for her to get sucked in by Suzie's story of her father.
And she's helping a human being, so in her mind, she is doing the right thing.
I think it's a huge betrayal that Gwen takes Suzie out of the Hub and takes her to see her father, and they go on a kind of road trip together.
Toshiko, where the hell's Suzie? And where's Gwen? OWEN: What's she doing? JACK: Getting herself fired.
And what you get coming out here is Gwen's compassion.
Because she does betray the team, in one sense.
She smuggles Suzie out of the Hub and takes her.
But, actually, she's taking her to see her dying father in hospital.
How Gwen is that? So if we think that the whole plan of Suzie, it relies upon the fact that Gwen will react to Suzie in an emotional way.
Bit more colour in your cheeks.
It's all thanks to you.
So that's the kind of twist in the tale.
That's the deceit.
That's the ultimate betrayal in a way.
You know, she's using Gwen's goodness and Gwen's heart as a weapon against her.
What's happening to me? Sorry, Gwen.
You're getting shot in the head.
It was much more of a challenge working with the actors in terms of getting to the right emotional points for the story and making sure Suzie wasn't just a kind of villain, we actually understood her motives.
Why are you doing this? Because life is all, Jack.
You should know.
I'd do anything to stay.
In a way, you kind of want Suzie to get away with it 'cause she's such a brilliant character.
And Indira gives her such a humanity and such an emotional resonance.
-Do you believe in heaven? -I don't know.
Yes, you do.
What do you believe? It's stupid, but I always sort of think, like, you know, white light and all that.
I wanted to give it an elegance and a kind of cinematic feel.
And I think of my gran.
Like she'll be there, waiting for me.
'Cause there's lots of people talking in this one, lots of conversations, so it was trying to make that interesting.
I mean, when you die, what happens? -What do you want me to say? -The truth.
Really? There's lots of two-shots, there's lots of symmetry of the two of them together.
And how Suzie is trying to replace Gwen, in that you see her literally become her in the same shot.
-So what's out there? -Nothing.
Just nothing.
You always start some episodes, most episodes, with images.
You just think, there's the plot and there's the story and there's the characters, but sometimes you're driven by images.
And this was always those two women in that car at night.
And that was a big set-up, actually.
It's more complicated than you think, filming two women in a car at night.
But it's the one thing I would never let go from the script.
I would say, ''You can cut this, you can cut that.
'' That's the heart of the story.
It's not about the glove.
It's not about Suzie coming back from there.
It's about two women driving through the night, talking about the fact that there is no afterlife.
But if there's nothing, what's the point of it all? This is.
I love it.
I absolutely love it.
It's not something Torchwood can do all the time 'cause I think we'd be the most miserable series on Earth if we were this dark all the time.
But, oh, I'm so proud of it.
I think it's my favourite episode.
Episode 9, a very different episode compared to what we're used to on Torchwood.
Uh Hi, um I'm Eugene Jones.
He's got a bad opinion of himself and he's not all that, you know, not much self-esteem.
Hi.
Um And then he gets sort of dragged into this world which he is so inquisitive about.
-What are these These -Look, I've got to go.
Please, these And then he investigates his own death.
It's quite a moving story, really.
It's about death.
It's reincarnation.
This is about old friends returning.
This is about the what ifs.
It's about mortality.
It's about our own fragility.
-Who are you? -I'm just trying to help, sweetheart.
-I'm just trying to help.
-I want my mum.
If you could come back for a couple of seconds, would you want to? Alex, you were attacked.
Do you know who it was? Who attacked you? It's about what we can never have, which is speaking to somebody who's gone to the other side and then come back again.
Right from the start, I invented that resurrection glove in Episode 1 .
And we always said, ''Oh, Suzie could come back.
'' JACK: Suzie Costello.
She's second in command.
Suzie was such a fascinating character.
It's kind of a continuation of the first episode because we were introduced to Suzie, she killed herself, and this is resolving Suzie's story.
I loved this job.
I really loved it.
She betrays the team, commits murder.
I don't think we, as a team, actually ever got to the bottom of that.
Her name! Suzie.
The notion of bringing her back is quite a big thing for everybody else.
Tread carefully people, with respect.
This is the life of Suzie Costello.
But there's history there.
She's an old friend, you know.
She's gone.
Gwen took her place.
-Who's using the glove? -I'm sorry.
Wouldn't you know it? Gwen bloody Cooper.
They realise, you know, she was one of them.
Owen, hello.
You scared to face me? You frighten the shit out of me, yeah.
Then I think it takes them all into a very, dark emotional place.
Have you slept with Owen? 'Cause it makes them confront all of their feelings about how they had a relationship with Suzie.
Can't even look at me, can you? It's not like you to be so judgemental.
Not like you to go on a murder spree.
I think if we'd done this in series two, you'd have forgotten her.
It would have seemed very odd.
And I think, in series one, to bring her back is fantastic.
The glove is able to bring people back to life.
That glove is bad news.
Damn! Bad news in the wrong hands if it's used incorrectly.
We shouldn't play God.
Is it Suzie that's evil, or is it the glove that's made her evil? -Why did you kill those people? -For the glove.
This wasn't just lost.
Whoever made it, wanted rid of it.
So it's always been a very powerful, iconic object, an image for the whole series.
I mean, the glove is very much a plot device.
It was Obviously, I invented it for Episode 1 thinking it was a one-off, never expected it to come back, and now I rather love it.
JACK: Come back.
GWEN: How does it work? You just sort of feel like reaching into the dark, finding the dead.
I can't Damn! Sorry.
Never was very good with this thing.
-Owen? -No, I tried last time.
We all had a go.
It only responded to Suzie.
Well, I never had a go.
She has a gift.
It's not just a talent.
I think it's more of a gift.
(GASPS) She's connected.
Somebody help me! Oh, my God! It's an adrenalin rush and it's a turn-on.
Let me keep trying.
-Gwen, he's dead.
-But I can bring him back.
-The glove only works once.
-But I can do it.
Just let me try! Something with that amount of power which could help heal, bring people back to life, solve crimes, of course you're gonna become If you've got something like that at your disposal, it's gonna be easy to become obsessed.
It's the glove.
I told you, they get hooked.
I can't portray these people as being very at home with this extraordinary world they're part of.
Did you ever think what that glove would do to her? That's the glove, Gwen.
Gets inside your mind.
It gets to you.
It must get to you.
It's like, yes, they are protecting other people, but who protects them? The glove.
Tosh, destroy the glove.
It's keeping them connected.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! The resurrection days are over, thank God.
Oh, I wouldn't be too sure.
That's the thing about gloves, sir.
They come in pairs.
I put those lines in at the end about gloves always come in pairs 'cause I'm so dying to bring that glove back again.
I think you'll see glove number two one day.
In between Episodes 1 and 2 of Torchwood, what we never really deal with, 'cause we just wanna get on with it, setting up a new series there, is how Gwen must feel about Suzie.
Hello, again.
She has replaced her, she is the new girl, that, actually, this woman shot herself in front of her.
It's not Gwen's fault, but you would think it was your fault.
That's human nature to think, ''Oh, it's all my fault.
''I set all that in motion.
'' You thought Suzie's death was because of you 'cause it happened when you arrived.
Then you brought her back to life, all the way.
She's new to Torchwood.
So the things that she's experiencing, the things she's seeing, she's not hardened to them.
-Can I see my father? -No.
And so she reacts in a very emotional Her responses to these things is a very emotional one and a very human one.
What's wrong with him? Cancer.
And that makes it easier, I think, for her to get sucked in by Suzie's story of her father.
And she's helping a human being, so in her mind, she is doing the right thing.
I think it's a huge betrayal that Gwen takes Suzie out of the Hub and takes her to see her father, and they go on a kind of road trip together.
Toshiko, where the hell's Suzie? And where's Gwen? OWEN: What's she doing? JACK: Getting herself fired.
And what you get coming out here is Gwen's compassion.
Because she does betray the team, in one sense.
She smuggles Suzie out of the Hub and takes her.
But, actually, she's taking her to see her dying father in hospital.
How Gwen is that? So if we think that the whole plan of Suzie, it relies upon the fact that Gwen will react to Suzie in an emotional way.
Bit more colour in your cheeks.
It's all thanks to you.
So that's the kind of twist in the tale.
That's the deceit.
That's the ultimate betrayal in a way.
You know, she's using Gwen's goodness and Gwen's heart as a weapon against her.
What's happening to me? Sorry, Gwen.
You're getting shot in the head.
It was much more of a challenge working with the actors in terms of getting to the right emotional points for the story and making sure Suzie wasn't just a kind of villain, we actually understood her motives.
Why are you doing this? Because life is all, Jack.
You should know.
I'd do anything to stay.
In a way, you kind of want Suzie to get away with it 'cause she's such a brilliant character.
And Indira gives her such a humanity and such an emotional resonance.
-Do you believe in heaven? -I don't know.
Yes, you do.
What do you believe? It's stupid, but I always sort of think, like, you know, white light and all that.
I wanted to give it an elegance and a kind of cinematic feel.
And I think of my gran.
Like she'll be there, waiting for me.
'Cause there's lots of people talking in this one, lots of conversations, so it was trying to make that interesting.
I mean, when you die, what happens? -What do you want me to say? -The truth.
Really? There's lots of two-shots, there's lots of symmetry of the two of them together.
And how Suzie is trying to replace Gwen, in that you see her literally become her in the same shot.
-So what's out there? -Nothing.
Just nothing.
You always start some episodes, most episodes, with images.
You just think, there's the plot and there's the story and there's the characters, but sometimes you're driven by images.
And this was always those two women in that car at night.
And that was a big set-up, actually.
It's more complicated than you think, filming two women in a car at night.
But it's the one thing I would never let go from the script.
I would say, ''You can cut this, you can cut that.
'' That's the heart of the story.
It's not about the glove.
It's not about Suzie coming back from there.
It's about two women driving through the night, talking about the fact that there is no afterlife.
But if there's nothing, what's the point of it all? This is.
I love it.
I absolutely love it.
It's not something Torchwood can do all the time 'cause I think we'd be the most miserable series on Earth if we were this dark all the time.
But, oh, I'm so proud of it.
I think it's my favourite episode.
Episode 9, a very different episode compared to what we're used to on Torchwood.
Uh Hi, um I'm Eugene Jones.
He's got a bad opinion of himself and he's not all that, you know, not much self-esteem.
Hi.
Um And then he gets sort of dragged into this world which he is so inquisitive about.
-What are these These -Look, I've got to go.
Please, these And then he investigates his own death.
It's quite a moving story, really.