Official biographies for Torchwood Series 4 characters
The BBC have issued a press release detailing the forthcoming series of Torchwood, Miracle Day, which includes official biographies for its main characters.
Filming for the 10-part series began in LA earlier today, and John Barrowman and Eve Myles, back as Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper, will be joined by Mekhi Phifer as Rex Matheson, Alexa Havins as Esther Drummond, Bill Pullman as Oswald Danes and Arlene Tur as Dr. Vera Juarez. Read biographies for each of them below!
REX MATHESON (Mekhi Phifer)
He’s the golden boy. The embodiment of the American dream and has been all his life. Harvard education, Rex is destined for success and could make a fortune in Wall Street or Hollywood, but he chose the C.I.A. because he believes in justice and will fight for it. He can talk his way into anything, then charm his way out, fast. This may be just what he needs as he joins forces with Jack and Gwen to fight a global mystery behind “Miracle Day” that has them racing from one crisis to another, dodging assassins, blackmail, corruption and conspiracy, from Washington to Wales and the slums of Shanghai.
CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS (John Barrowman)
Jack looks like a hero. He’s handsome, witty and subversive with a killer smile. But there’s a reason for that glint in his eye. His dashing style hides a secret. Truth is Jack Harkness is immortal, the only one of his kind. He once ran the Torchwood Institute, a British organization dedicated to fighting the strange and bizarre. But Torchwood closed down, and Jack disappeared, to start yet another of his many new lives. When a new, epic danger affects the whole planet, Jack finds himself back at the center of events, fighting not just for his own life, but for everyone on Earth.
GWEN COOPER (Eve Myles)
Gwen once lived the ultimate double life – the funny, salty, earthy woman who loves home and family, combined with the tough, ruthless warrior, who loves the thrill of the fight. She was the heart and soul of an organization called Torchwood. She was a defender of the human race. But now she lives in seclusion, with her devoted husband Rhys and baby Anwen, knowing that one day trouble would come calling again. When events surrounding “Miracle Day” push Gwen to the limit, she’ll need to call on resources she never knew she had and make the most terrible decisions, on behalf of all mankind.
ESTHER DRUMMOND (Alexa Havins)
Esther is an innocent, in a world of assassins, liars and zealots. She got where she is with the C.I.A through diligence and application. Hard work keeps Esther focused but she still dreams of active duty as a field agent serving her country. The dream is going to happen faster than she thinks and in no time at all, Esther finds herself running alongside Jack, Gwen and Rex, living off the grid, gun in hand, fighting a global conspiracy against enemies ranging from big business to the state. It’s a tough, brutal, hard lifestyle where survival is hard won and life-changing choices have to be made.
OSWALD DANES (Bill Pullman)
Well-educated and a former school teacher, Oswald’s a convicted child killer, both guilty and unrepentant. But when Oswald survives his own execution, he’s given a whole new life. The most infamous man in the world, he becomes the most provocative figure in modern media. He’s a flare, reviled yet mesmerizing, whose very existence embodies how the world changed on “Miracle Day”.
DR. VERA JUAREZ (Arlene Tur)
An attending surgeon in Washington D.C., she’s smart, fast talking and hard working, Vera is on the frontline of medical care on “Miracle Day”. As the world crisis grows, Vera’s surgical and ER experience sees her recruited to advise on government think-tanks until she has to make a moral choice of enormous consequence. Sexy, confident and passionate, Vera’s life is soon inextricably tangled up with Rex’s.
Keep up to date with all the Miracle Day developments at our Torchwood site!
Uh oh – I smell romance ahead. And between ’sexy, confident and passionate’ and ‘the golden boy’ too. Ugh. We loved Tosh/Owen because he was occasionally a b*stard and she was always a geek. We loved Jack/Ianto because Jack would live forever and Ianto just wouldn’t. We like the relationships that have to be fought for, the ones that shouldn’t work but do. Therefore, please say I’m reading too much into this.
The balance of characters is also slightly unnerving. I know we’ve got Rhys and Andy from our Welsh contingent too, but if they don’t get their own bio, we can assume that there are more minor American characters who don’t, either. Not really half and half, is it?
But the real question is this: why am I being so pessimistic? Normally I’m the one saying “it’s not that bad”! Come on, someone, tell me I’m being an idiot, and tell me why.
@TSG
Meh, your right, and I could tell it would happen. It was a little obvious it would become very americanised…
Anwen!!
@TSG
You’re feeling pessimistic for the same reason I am: as amazing as this new Torchwood sounds and as excited as I am about Jack and Gwen and Rhys and Andy, there’s something in the back of my mind that keeps telling me this is being Americanized. I’m giving it a chance and I truly want it to succeed and be as fantastic as CoE was, but let’s face it: When American tv gets involved you lose something, whether it’s simply Welsh charm or British humor (and I can say this because I’m an American who winces every time a British show is re-made and destroyed).
*That probably didn’t actually help you with your concerns. Sorry!
Also, I’m still really excited to see how it turns out. July can’t come soon enough!
I hope there will still some of the original show left – what with the SUV gone, Janet and the Pterodactyl presumably killed, the Hub destroyed, all of Torchwood’s history (which was so cleverly developed by the production team) gone up in smoke etc. there’s not much remaining of what we knew and loved. The show had endless amounts of potential exactly as it was. All the background work that went into it – developing the characters and the history – down to the tiniest details. The endless plot lines they could have explored. All gone. Now if you want the ‘original’ Torchwood, there’s only the DVDs, books and fan fiction. All that work for 3 Series where it was relevant seems a shame to me.
Torchwood is a British TV show first and foremost – sorry America – but it was made in Wales and brought a lot of publicity/tourism and money to the country – particularly Cardiff. A lot of American characters been revealed and very few British. I hope Gwen/Andy and Rhys aren’t our island’s only representatives! Presumably they’ll show Wales but the majority is bound to be based in America – just like Children of Earth went from Cardiff to London.
Obviously I’m reserving final judgement until it has aired but I think this series is going to lose a lot of its authenticity and turn into another 24 / Lost type drama. I hope it works, I really do but I just can’t see it being as good as Series 1 and 2.
Miracle Day: Fast paced, exciting, interesting…yes. Torchwood – no.
@e.p
Ha ha – I’m glad I can agree with you without being telexenophobic (yes, I just made this word up. But it should exist, it really should).
My problem with American telly is it’s always so… big. There’s far more understatement in British telly, I think. Okay, a worldwide crisis involving the planet’s children is big, but then you reveal a one line lie that was told in series two to do with a character’s dad’s job, and it becomes small again. And maybe this is unfair, but the other thing I’m scared of is stereotypes. I wish I hadn’t read those bios, because now I’m worrying that “sexy, confident and passionate” will be nothing else. That’s not just American telly, actually, that’s telly from anywhere if it’s not thought out enough.
I know RTD wouldn’t write that. But would the other writers?