Greeks Bearing Gifts (Torchwood)

07 – "Greeks Bearing Gifts"
Torchwood episode
The alien reveals herself to Tosh.
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 Daniela Denby-Ashe – Mary Tom Robertson – Soldier Ravin J Ganatra – Neil Eiry Thomas – Carol Shaheen Jafargholi – Danny Paul Kasey – Weevil
Production
Writer	Toby Whithouse
Director	Colin Teague
Script editor	Brian Minchin
Producer	Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer)
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Production code	1.7
Series	Series 1
Length	50 mins
Originally broadcast	26 November 2006
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "Countrycide" "They Keep Killing Suzie"

"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.

Plot

The Torchwood team is called to a building site where a human skeleton and a rusted alien artifact have been discovered in the ground. Owen initially identifies the skeleton as a woman who died from a gunshot, having been buried for nearly two centuries. Back at the Hub, Owen and Gwen flirt incessantly, distracting Tosh enough to make her step out and go to a nearby pub for a drink. There, Tosh meets the blond, beautiful, and funny Mary, who introduces herself as a "Scavenger", a person who collects alien artifacts. Mary explains she knows a significant amount of information about Torchwood and about Tosh, implying that research on the internet and intercepted radio transmissions have turned up this presumably classified information. She self-deprecatingly references "IT guys" and enthusiasts and talks eagerly of Torchwood and aliens. Tosh is lonely enough to overlook the implausibility of Mary's story (and its implications of stalking) and to sit chatting with Mary at the pub. After a few drinks, Mary shows Tosh a pendant that gives the wearer mind-reading powers, which she claims has been in her family for years. Tosh is remarkably unsuspicious about the pendant's origins, given its attributes and tendency to glow in the dark. Wearing the necklace, Tosh is initially overwhelmed by the thoughts of others in the bar, but when Mary urges her to filter them out, she focuses on Mary's thoughts. At that moment, Mary appears to be thinking only of kissing Tosh. Blushing, Tosh accepts the pendant as a gift, noting she plans to show it to her colleagues at Torchwood. Mary asks her not to - claiming, in fact, that she knows Tosh will not share the information.

Tosh returns to the Hub to investigate the pendant, but is shocked when she reads the thoughts of Owen and Gwen. Not only are they flirting, but they are dismissive - if not contemptuous - of Tosh; her work, her attitude, and even her clothes. Gwen worried about Owen's 'smell' on her clothing after the two had shagged in his car earlier, and Owen thinking about what Gwen did while in the car together. Tosh is hurt and angry (about both the insults and Owen's affair with Gwen); she races home, only 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. Tosh asks Mary who she really is, and Mary replies "Philoctetes". Tosh takes Mary's advice and wears the necklace in the midst of a crowded street. She hears the thoughts of many people, including those of a man who is planning a murder; Tosh is able to stop him. 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 who died of an unidentified trauma. Tosh asks Jack about the name "Philoctetes", and he explains that it is a reference to Greek mythology; Philoctetes was an archer who was exiled on the island of Lemnos during the Trojan War.

Tosh meets with Mary again, who starts to ask questions about the artifact found with the skeleton. When Tosh says she doesn't know anything about it, Mary manipulates her into trying to find out, suggesting that Jack is withholding information from her. Tosh asks Owen about the artifact; she can hear his thoughts and learns that he has no more information than she does. (She continues to overhear Owen and Gwen thinking about their ongoing affair). She then asks Jack about the artifact, but learns nothing - except that she cannot read Jack's mind. Her attempt to do so seems to alert Jack, however. Tosh returns to Mary, who reveals herself to be an alien: she says that she is an exiled dissident, that the pendant she gave Tosh is their way of communicating, 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. She does not want to become a figure of study for Torchwood and instead insists that Tosh bring Mary to the Hub so she can retrieve the artifact directly. Meanwhile, Owen's investigation of the skeleton reveals multiple cases of similar trauma reported in the last two centuries.

Tosh brings Mary into Torchwood, where they find Jack holding the artifact; he knows that Mary is an alien - and a murderer. Jack explains that the artifact is a two-person 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 woman, killing others to keep her human form through the centuries. Mary takes Tosh hostage at knife-point and demands the transporter. Tosh is still wearing the pendant, and hears her colleagues' panicked thoughts - as well as clear and calm telepathic instructions from Jack, who tells her not to move. Jack makes the trade, and when he is standing next to Mary, she notes that he "smells different" from the others. "What are you?" she asks, and Jack responds "I don't know." As soon as Mary holds the artifact, it activates and disappears, taking her with it. Jack explains that he programmed the device to teleport to the center of the sun. As the team recovers, Gwen and Owen argue outside Jack's office over who is going ask her. Owen asks what Tosh knows (about them) Tosh apologizes to Gwen and Owen for her behavior, it being none of her business, and then, Jack asks what she wants to do with the pendant, she smashes it on the pavement. They discuss the fact that Tosh was unable to read Jack's mind, and Tosh describes the attempt as hearing only silence, like trying to read the mind of a dead man.

Continuity

• For the dating of this episode, see the Chronology.
• The officer is killed in 1812 (per caption), and Toshiko calculates his skeleton has been there for "196 years, 11 to 11 1/2 months", placing the episode in 2009 with the concurrent Doctor Who timeline. This is in potential contrast with "Ghost Machine" in which Tommy Flannigan had arrived in Cardiff in 1941 and says he has made the city his home for sixty-six years (he also explained that he was taken out to the countryside upon arrival in 1941, so the 66 years could be counted from his subsequent return to the city).
• 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. This refers to a deleted scene in which Jack explains that UNIT wants Torchwood to handle a certain alien problem, and Jack wants Tosh to draw up a list of reasons why they can't.
• Jack speaks to the Prime Minister on the telephone asking why documents listing Torchwood operations are being given to the opposition, believed to be Harold Saxon (i.e, the Master). This may explain how the Master knows about Jack in the Doctor Who episode "The Sound of Drums," and how the Master is able to send the rest of the Torchwood team on what he describes as "a wild goose chase" in the same episode.
• 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 appears in The Sarah Jane Adventures pilot episode "Invasion of the Bane", albeit this time as a "star poet". The episode clarifies that Mary's home planet is called "Arcateen 5" and that they are largely a peaceful race. Although this particular species has been referenced in the Torchwood novel Something in the Water as "Arcateenians", the Sarah Jane website originally referred to this alien species as the "Butterfly People".
• Mary recites Toshiko's biographical summary to her, stating that Toshiko was born in London in July 1975, and that her grandfather had worked at Bletchley Park. Toshiko's personnel record, shown in "Exit Wounds", records her birth date as 18 September 1981. Toshiko's grandfather, a Japanese man, being able to work at Bletchley Park is inconsistent with both reality and her paranoia about being captured when transported to 1941 in "Captain Jack Harkness".

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.
• When Tosh enters the autopsy room, Gwen sings a part of Dem Bones to Owen ("The leg bone's connected to the... hip bone") after his prediction about the skeleton (female died from a gunshot wound) have proven entirely false (it is a male with unknown chest trauma, with only GSW ruled out).
• 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.
• There are at least five versions of the story of "Philoctetes"

External links

• Greeks Bearing Gifts on TARDIS Index File, an external wiki
• "Greeks Bearing Gifts" episode guide entry on the BBC website
• "Greeks Bearing Gifts" at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
• "Greeks Bearing Gifts" at the Doctor Who Reference Guide