Stephen J Walker on Torchwood Companion Inside The Hub : UK SF Book News

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May

14

Stephen J Walker on Torchwood Companion Inside The Hub

Posted in: UKSFBN Talks To on 14th May 2007 by Sandy Auden

Want to know more about the first Torchwood series? Then look no further than Stephen James Walker's Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Torchwood: Inside The Hub.

Its six sections cover every single episode in series one, plus in-depth details about how the show was incepted, went into production and progressed, what the Torchwood format is, and includes profiles of each character.

It's a detailed book so where did Walker get all his information from? "Whatever sources I could!" he said. "These included the episodes themselves (of course), published interviews, articles etc from newspapers and magazines, BBC press releases, various internet resources, and personal contacts.

"I even found myself consulting a few websites of a kind I wouldn't normally visit for my own pleasure when researching things such as what Captain Jack and Ianto might have been getting up to together in private with a stopwatch, as mentioned at the end of the episode 'They Keep Killing Suzie'. (I didn't really find an answer to that stopwatch mystery, although a few theories did present themselves!)"

A book like this always takes a lot of effort to assemble. "The main episode guide and analysis were the hardest," said Walker, "simply because it was the longest section of the book and required a great deal of thought and hard work. I had to watch each episode about five or six times all the way through, and I went back and checked specific points by dipping into the episodes as and when necessary." Did any episodes get more viewings than the others? "Apart from the last two or three episodes, I think it was pretty much equal. I probably watched those last two or three slightly fewer times, simply because the deadline for completing the manuscript was the end of January 2007, and the series only finished transmission on New Year's Day, so I didn't have so much time to go back and rewatch those repeatedly."

One of the most interesting parts of Inside The Hub is the Analysis section at the end of each episode. "For me, this is an almost essential aspect of any TV series guide book. If an author presents just the facts and figures, without any sort of analysis or opinion, it can make for very dry reading, I find.

"In principle, anyone with sufficient time and resources could research the factual side of a series, but the analysis is unique to the author, because it represents his or her own personal take on the subject matter. This is where an author can really 'add value', by offering insights and observations that might not have occurred to the reader, and in that way hopefully enhance the reader's appreciation and enjoyment of the episodes."

So has familiarity bred contempt? Is Walker sick of Torchwood now? "Not at all! I really enjoyed the series, and found that I didn't tire of it at all with repeated viewings. I'm really looking forward to Series Two!"

Inside The Hub is out now from Telos Publishing. Check the Telos.co.uk website for more information.

Source: Stephen James Walker

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