Greeks Bearing Gifts (Torchwood)

Doctorwhobox
number = 07
serial_name = Greeks Bearing Gifts
caption = The alien reveals herself to Tosh.


show = TW
type = episode
cast =
* John Barrowman – Captain Jack Harkness
* Eve Myles – Gwen Cooper
* Burn Gorman – Owen Harper
* Naoko Mori – Toshiko Sato
* Gareth David-Lloyd – Ianto Jones
guests =
* Daniela Denby-Ashe – Mary
* Tom Robertson – Soldier
* Ravin J Ganatra – Neil
* Eiry Thomas – Carol
* Shaheen Jafargholi – Danny
* Paul Kasey – Weevil
writer = Toby Whithouse
director = Colin Teague
production_code = 1.7
producer = Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer)
executive_producer =Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
script_editor = Brian Minchin
series = Series 1
length = 50 mins
date = 26 November, 2006
preceding = "Countrycide"
following = "They Keep Killing Suzie"
imdb_id = 0852918

"Greeks Bearing Gifts" is an episode of the British science fiction television series "Torchwood". It is the seventh episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 26 November 2006.

Synopsis

Faced with sudden telepathic abilities, Toshiko finds a mixed blessing when the dark secrets of others are revealed to her.

Plot

The Torchwood team are called to a building site where they find a human skeleton with a rusted alien artifact buried in the ground. They return the skeleton and artifact to the Hub, and Owen identifies the skeleton as a woman who died from a gunshot, having been buried there for nearly two centuries. Owen and Gwen flirt around the Hub, distracting Tosh enough to make her step out and go to a nearby pub for a drink. There, Tosh meets Mary who introduces herself as a "Scavenger", a person that collects alien objects. Mary explains she knows everything about Torchwood and Tosh's background from a pendant that gives the wearer mind-reading powers, and presents it to Tosh. Tosh is initially overwhelmed by the thoughts of others, but is able to focus on Mary's thoughts which suggest Mary has a romantic interest in Tosh. Tosh claims she needs to show the pendant to the others at Torchwood, but Mary asks her not to.

Tosh returns to the Hub to investigate the pendant further, but is shocked when she reads the thoughts of Owen and Gwen about her as they flirt. Tosh races home to find Mary waiting for her. Tosh tries to return the pendant, but Mary insists she wear it, and lets Tosh read her mind, again showing a romantic interest in Tosh. Tosh and Mary break into a kiss and spend the night together. Tosh wakes up feeling guilty about what she did, but Mary insists that the pendant can be used for good ways. Tosh asks Mary who she really is, and Mary replies "Philoctetes". Tosh takes Mary's advice and overhears the thoughts of a man who is on his way to kill his ex-wife and son, and is able to stop him before he can harm them. She returns to the Hub to find that Owen is being teased by the others about misidentifying the skeleton; it was actually that of a man that died of an unidentified trauma. Tosh asks Jack about the name "Philoctetes", and he explains it is a Greek mythology character that was exiled to the island of Lemnos.

Tosh meets with Mary again, who starts to ask questions about the artifact found with the skeleton, and tells Tosh that Jack is withholding information from her. Tosh asks Jack about the artifact but Jack admits he is still looking into it; Tosh finds she cannot read Jack's mind to find out what he is thinking. Tosh returns to Mary with this information, and Mary reveals herself to be an exiled alien: the pendant she gave Tosh is their way of communication, and the artifact is a transporter that brought her to Earth and her way to leave the planet. Tosh offers Torchwood's help, but Mary refuses, and instead insist that Tosh bring Mary to Torchwood to retrieve the artifact themselves. Meanwhile, Owen's investigation of the skeleton reveals several more cases of similar trauma reported in the last two centuries.

Tosh brings Mary into Torchwood, where they find Jack holding the artifact. Jack explains that it is actually a two man transporter for a guard and a prisoner. Through flashbacks, Mary explains that when the transporter landed in Cardiff in 1812, she killed her guard and then took the body of a human prostitute, killing others to keep her human form through the centuries. Mary then quickly takes Tosh at knife point and demands the transporter back. Jack obliges, but as soon as Mary holds it, it activates and it disappears along with Mary. Jack explains that he programmed the device to teleport to the center of the sun. As the team recovers, Tosh apologizes to Gwen and Owen for her behavior, and then, when presented with Jack whether to keep the pendant, she smashes it on the pavement, though she admits to Jack that when she had tried to read his mind, it was like reading that of a dead man.

Continuity

* For the dating of this episode, see the Chronology.
*A pair of 3-D glasses, originally used by the Tenth Doctor in "Doomsday" and seen in "Small Worlds", makes another fleeting appearance. Also visible is a rifle used against the Daleks in "Doomsday", and a replica of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver can be seen on Toshiko's desk. The Sycorax Leader's staff and sword from Doctor Who episode The Christmas Invasion are visible next to the Doomsday Rifle. Presumably the sword was retrieved with the severed hand of the Doctor or from The Sycorax Leader with the staff.
* A man of questionable mental state is said to be having visions of Cybermen.
* Jack has asked Toshiko to prepare "a list" for UNIT, the first verbal mention of that organisation in the series.
* Jack speaks to the Prime Minister on the telephone asking why documents listing Torchwood operations are being giving to the opposition, believed to be Harold Saxon.
* Some scan images of the Cyberwoman are in the autopsy room where the body they find is being held.
* Toshiko now knows about the affair between Gwen and Owen, first seen at the end of "Countrycide".
* An alien of the same race as Mary reappears in "The Sarah Jane Adventures", although this alien is a "star poet", in the pilot episode "Invasion of the Bane". The episode clarifies that Mary's home planet is called "Arcateen 5" and that they are largely a peaceful race. The Sarah Jane website later refers to this alien race as the "Butterfly People".

Music

*The songs "Spitting Games" by Snow Patrol (when Mary introduces herself to Toshiko, last heard in "Everything Changes"), "Sing" by Travis (when Tosh tells Mary about alien cultures & artefacts, last heard in "Ghost Machine"), "Drag" by Placebo (when Mary tells Tosh about the pendant and tells her to keep it) and "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall (when Mary kisses Tosh in the cafe then asks about the object from the building site) are featured in this episode.

Outside references

* The phrase "Beware Greeks bearing gifts" refers to the Trojan horse described in Virgil's The Aeneid.
* James Bond and the film "Alien" are referenced.
* Jack makes a reference to the American television series "Quincy, M.E." when Owen is first examining the skeleton at the building site ("Good job, Quincy").
* Mary quotes the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The historical Kublai Khan appeared in the First Doctor serial "Marco Polo" (1964).
* The overheard thought "Six cigarettes today and all of them post-coital... glorious." is a quote from "Bridget Jones's Diary".
* Gwen teases Owen by calling him "Amanda Burton", in reference to that actress's role as a pathologist in the BBC drama series "Silent Witness". She also imitates the sound played when contestants give an incorrect answer in the game show "Family Fortunes".
* Reference to the Cybermen are also referenced breifly in a conversation from Owen.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/sites/episodes/series1/ep07_greeksbearinggifts.shtml "Greeks Bearing Gifts" episode guide entry on the BBC website]
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