'End of Days' by Chris Chibnall

Gwen receives a call from Jack instructing her to turn on the television; reports are coming in of U.F.O. sightings over the Taj Mahal, while a shootout is taking place on the streets of London between the police and soldiers from the English Civil War. With more incidents occurring across the globe, panic breaks out amongst the public – do these extraordinary events herald the Biblical apocalypse known as the End of Days? At Torchwood, Jack announces that the cracks in time trace back to the Rift, and are centred on the Hub – Owen’s decision to use the fissure has had serious consequences: the fissure has been splintered, and time is seeping through. Desperate for a plan, Jack instructs his team to collect those people who have fallen through the Rift and place them in the Torchwood holding cells until such a time as they can find a way to return them. Responding to reports of a deadly virus at Cardiff hospital, Owen and Toshiko are shocked to discover that the arrival of several people from the Fourteenth Century has resulted in an outbreak of the Black Death. While Owen tries to deal with the results of his actions, Tosh sees a vision of her late mother, who warns her that something is “coming out of the darkness”. Gwen is contacted by her former police colleague, P.C. Andy, who asks for her help dealing with an enraged Roman soldier who has killed two people; while Jack tranquillises the centurion in his cell, Gwen sees Bilis Manger, who apologises for his actions and then vanishes into thin air. Back at Torchwood, the cells are filling up with Weevils, as the vicious creatures flee from their lairs in the city’s sewer system; Ianto sees a vision of his deceased girlfriend, Lisa, who warns him that more people will die unless he opens the Rift. As tempers flare amongst the Torchwood team, Jack finds his authority challenged by Owen. After pointing out that their situation is a result of Owen’s reckless actions, Jack relieves his second-in-command of duty; knowing that he will have his memory wiped at some point, Owen storms out of the Hub. Jack and Gwen investigate Bilis’ shop, ‘A Stitch in Time’, where they learn that the mysterious owner is selling valuable timepieces that he has obtained by travelling into the past via the Rift. Bilis appears and reveals that he can see the whole of history – the only way to solve the crisis is to fully open the Rift and allow it to suck everything back through. Jack pulls a gun on the proprietor, but Bilis vanishes before his eyes; however, after Jack leaves the shop, Bilis reappears and shows Gwen a vision of her future, in which she returns home to find Rhy’s bloody corpse. Racing home, a hysterical Gwen is relieved to find her boyfriend still alive; knocking him unconscious with a taser, she takes him back to Torchwood and locks him inside a cell for his own protection. Seeking solace in a bar, Owen is surprised to see a vision of Diane, who begs him to save her by opening the Rift. Back at Torchwood, the Hub is hit by a security breach as someone overrides the controls for every door in the complex. As Rhys steps out of his cell, Bilis appears and stabs him twice in the stomach; too late, Gwen and Jack rush in, only to find Rhys’ lifeless, blood-soaked body lying alone on the floor. Gwen is devastated, and demands that Jack find a way to bring Rhys back; when Jack refuses, Gwen breaks down in tears. Owen returns and vows to reopen the Rift; Gwen, Tosh and Ianto agree to help him, and together they form a united front against Jack’s order to stand down. Jack is convinced that recent events are part of a trap by Bilis; he pulls a gun on his comrades, but Gwen punches him, enabling Owen to seize his weapon. Relieving Jack of his command, Owen promptly shoots him dead. Using his teammates’ retinal scans – including those of Jack’s corpse – Owen overrides Torchwood’s protocols and activates the Rift manipulator. To everyone’s surprise, Jack returns to life, just as the manipulator sends a powerful beam of energy into the Rift above the city. Shockwaves from the newly opened Rift cause the Hub to break apart, while Rhys’ body vanishes and the temporally displaced people in the cells each return to their own time. Supporting Jack between them, Gwen, Tosh, Ianto and Owen head outside, where they are confronted by Bilis; the shopkeeper stands triumphant, and announces the coming of The Great Beast, Abadon, from out of the darkness – its prison beneath the Rift. As the Torchwood team look up, a huge, horned demon appears in the sky above them – the Great Devourer has arrived on Earth. As the terrifying demon strides through the city on giant, cloven hooves, its shadow kills everyone it touches. With death taking place on a massive scale, Jack realises he has only one option left; he instructs Gwen to drive him to an open space and then calls out to the demon. As Abadon’s shadow falls across him, Jack writhes in agony, but instead of dying, he releases the Vortex energy within him into the demon – sending the mighty creature crashing lifelessly to the ground. As the demon’s corpse vanishes back into the Rift, Gwen rushes to Jack’s side, only to find her seemingly indestructible leader apparently dead. Returning home, Gwen is elated to find Rhys alive, and completely oblivious to recent events. Some time later, Jack’s body is pronounced dead and placed inside Torchwood’s morgue; however, Gwen refuses to give up hope, and for the next five days she keeps a vigil beside Jack’s corpse. Although the others believe her faith to be a lost cause, Gwen never gives up, and, days later, Jack is finally resurrected. A tearful reunion between Jack and the Torchwood team ensues, and even his differences with Owen are reconciled. Later that day, Jack tells Gwen that although the Rift has now closed, it will be more volatile that ever; when she asks what vision would have persuaded him to open the Rift, Jack replies “the right kind of Doctor”. At that moment, Jack notes that the severed hand kept in a jar out in the Hub is reacting to something; when he investigates, Jack hears a familiar wheezing, groaning noise, and an exited smile comes to his lips… Moments later, when Gwen and the others come looking for Jack, they are surprised to find no trace of their leader – something has taken Jack…

John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Burn Gorman (Owen Harper), Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Murray Melvin (Bilis Manger), Tom Price (P.C. Andy), Caroline Chikezie (Lisa Hallett), Louise Delamere (Diane Holmes), Matthew Gravelle (Doctor), Noriko Aida (Toshiko’s Mother), Jamie Betton (Roman Soldier), Carrie Grace (Newsreader), Paul Kasey (Weevil), Rhian Wyn Jones (Religious Woman)

Directed by Ashley Way
Produced by Richard Stokes
Executive Producers Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC3):
Monday 1st January 2007 @ 10.15 pm
(BBC2 TX: Wednesday 10th January @ 9.45 pm)

Notes:
*Featuring Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Ianto Jones

*Working title: 'Apocalypse'

*This episode was shown as part of a double bill with 'Captain Jack Harkness'

*Only one cast list was used, at the end of 'End of Days', which combined the details for both episodes