17 - "Meat"
Torchwood episode
The ever growing alien provides a seemingly unlimited supply of meat.
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"
IMDb profile

"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]

[edit] Plot

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 see that one of his employees and friend has died. Torchwood appears on the scene and Rhys spots Gwen.

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. At home 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.

He sees Gwen meeting up with Jack near the lift in Roald Dahl Plas 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 collabaration. The men show Rhys that they have captured a live large creature 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. He agrees to join them.

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 disbeliving till she shows him around the Hub. With Rhys' help the team manages to inflitrate 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 gun the men and sedate it so they can move it back to the hub till the Rift reopens. They confirm that the creature is sentient, but the men discover them and in the fights Rhys is shot. The creature becomes distressed and Owen has 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.

[edit] Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness — John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper — Eve Myles
• Owen Harper — Burn Gorman
• Toshiko Sato — Naoko Mori
• Ianto Jones — Gareth David-Lloyd
• Rhys Williams — Kai Owen
• Policeman — Colin Baxter
• Ruth — Patti Clare
• Vic — Garry Lake
• Greg — Gerard Carey
• Dale — Matt Ryan

[edit] Continuity

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

[edit] Outside references

• When it is suggested that the team drive into the meat factory hidden in the back of a van, Gwen derisively replies "What is this, Scooby-Doo?", referencing the children's TV series. Early reviews of Torchwood detractingly compared it to Scooby-Doo.^[2]
• Ianto quips "Listen to Ahab", a reference to the Whaler captain who was obsessed with a white whale, in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
• When Toshiko mentions that the creature could have enough meat to feed the world, Ianto jokes that they could release a single.

[edit] References