Meat (Torchwood)

17 – "Meat"
Torchwood episode
The ever growing alien provides a seemingly unlimited supply of meat.
Cast
Starring John Barrowman – Captain Jack Harkness Eve Myles – Gwen Cooper Burn Gorman – Owen Harper Naoko Mori – Toshiko Sato Gareth David-Lloyd – Ianto Jones
Others Kai Owen – Rhys Williams Colin Baxter – Policeman Pattie Clare – Ruth Garry Lake – Vic Gerard Carey – Greg Matt Ryan – Dale
Production
Writer	Catherine Tregenna
Director	Colin Teague
Script editor	Brian Minchin
Producer	Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer)
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Production code	2.4
Series	Series 2
Length	50 mins
Originally broadcast	6 February 2008
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "To the Last Man" "Adam"

"Meat" is the fourth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Two on 6 February 2008.^[1]

Plot

Synopsis

Rhys Williams is out driving when he is telephoned by a work mate to inform him that one of their firm's lorries has crashed. He drives to the site of the crash and sees that one of his employees and friends has died. Torchwood appears on the scene and Rhys spots Gwen amongst them.

The Torchwood team confiscates the meat that the lorry was transporting when they suspect it of being alien. Gwen recognises the lorry as one from Rhys' firm. Back at the Hub, Toshiko rings Rhys' office for information, pretending to be the police. Rhys texts Gwen asking for her to come home. He attempts to get her to confess to being at the crash site but she is evasive.

Rhys sees Gwen meeting up with Jack near the invisible lift in Roald Dahl Plass and follows her to a factory. While there he is captured by a group of men and taken into the factory. Jack and Gwen see this and mistake his actions for collaboration. The men show Rhys that they have captured a live "space whale" (nicknamed the "cash cow" by its captors) which is the source of the meat and which continues to grow despite them cutting chunks of its flesh away while it is still alive. In an act of self-preservation, Rhys agrees to replace his dead employee for the men.

Back at their flat, Rhys and Gwen argue over her being at the crash and Gwen admits to the nature of her work for Torchwood. Rhys is disbelieving until she shows him around the Hub. With Rhys' help the team manages to infiltrate the factory so they can free the alien creature. The team hides in one of Rhys' vans and Rhys drives them to the factory where the team sneaks in.

They locate the creature and plan to stun the men and sedate it so they can move it back to the Hub until the Cardiff spacetime Rift reopens. They confirm that the creature is sentient, but the men discover them and in the fight Rhys is shot. The creature becomes distressed and Owen can see no other option but to euthanise it when it poses a threat to them by struggling. They are able to stun the men and feed them amnesia pills. Back at the Hub, Owen patches up Rhys' wound and Jack orders Gwen to give Rhys a pill too. She finds that she cannot bring herself to do so and Jack relents, disappointed about this but unwilling to fire Gwen and face losing her from the team.

Continuity

The Pterodactyl makes a brief appearance in this episode, its first of this series.

Outside references

There are passing references to Scooby-Doo, Captain Ahab, and Band Aid.

When describing the other planets and worlds, Rhys used the word 'Fantastic' to describe them. A catch phrase of the 9th Doctor.

Reception

On overnight returns, The Guardian reported that the episode gained a healthy 11% share, 2.9 million viewers on BBC2 in is first broadcast at 9pm on February 6 while BBC One showed a live Match of the Day featuring the debut of new England football manager Fabio Capello in a match with the Switzerland team and ITV fielded the drama series Honest starring Amanda Redman.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Week 6" (Press release). BBC - Press Office. 17 January 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/wk6/wed.shtml. Retrieved 2008-02-06. 
2. ^ Capello's first night watched by 10m, The Guardian, February 7, 2008

External links

• Meat on TARDIS Index File, an external wiki
• "Meat" at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
• "Meat" at the Doctor Who Reference Guide