Former Doctor Who show~runner Russell T Davies has revealed his thoughts and information on the audio commentary for episodes one and ten on the Torchwood: Miracle Day box set. Speaking with executive producer Julie Gardner on the topic of the show’s television ratings Davies said:
“So far Britain has transmitted two of these episodes, which has done alright. It’s done good. Episode One was good, episode two was alright. So by the time you listen to this we could have been taken off air or shown on Sunday nights for all we know.” [UK sci~fi drama Outcasts was “relegated” to Sunday nights after under~performing.]
The topic of aliens was broached and how they “didn’t quite fit” in Miracle Day, with the following conversation:
RTD: I kind of thought, do you miss aliens? I do slightly.
JG: I do. I do miss aliens.
RTD: Oh, now we realise! If there’s another series I’d definitely do bigger aliens in it. More alien presence.
Discussing the future of Torchwood, Davies states, “Will we ever come back again? I don’t know,” whilst Gardner adds, “I hope so.” As a final tidbit, and somewhat sensational at that, Russell debates on whether or not Captain Jack was mortal during Miracle Day:
RTD: Was Jack ever mortal, that’s what we’ll never know. ‘Cos I think, by the way, that he was a fixed point in time and space that I’m not sure he was ever mortal during the whole story [Miracle Day]. We never got to prove it because we never killed him.
JG: [STUNNED SILENCE]
RTD: That’s thrown you.
JG: Oh my god!
RTD: If The Doctor says someone is a fixed point in time and space, then they’re a fixed point in time and space.
JG: I am horrified!
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So it was my imagination when Captain Jack got exterminated and brought back to life, was it???
@Tom Greeves
As stated twice, RTD is referring to Jack during Miracle Day.
Rule 1. Never forget it.
From my guess, Jack was never mortal ever. Even before Rose brought him back to life they never got to find out if he was mortal for the same reason (they never killed him). Every time he's ever died he's come back to life, immortal forever.
@Anonymous:
That would mean he was immortal when he first met the Doctor (in Empty Child). But the Doctor didn't mention that he felt 'wrong'…
I think it was clear that he was brought back permanently in The Parting of the Ways.
Everything with him becoming mortal and his blood making Rex immortal doesn't make sense.
Technically I think he is still mortal. He is just fixed. He's not immortal, he's just mortal forever.
Whatever caused the turnaround in Miracle Day had to be of a different nature because people healed at average pace (if at all; it didn't seem clear). This is proven in how people were being killed via incineration but Jack survived incineration in series 4 of Doctor Who.
I'm assuming then that the effect had to be similar to that of the Immortality Gate. Jack simply didn't fit the template, or at least the whole template. Perhaps it took him as human but attempting to apply the Miracle to him didn't work and the resulting effect was making him a proper person. Like giving certain medicines to a healthy person. Even this doesn't make sense though, unless maybe the whole miracle was some kind of alteration in time.
The Rex thing doesn't even make sense though. I'm not touching that.
It always bothered me that Jack just assumed he was mortal again because he got a cut that behaved exactly like every other post-Miracle humans' injuries. And everyone just went along with it! If/when it healed naturally, that would have been grounds to suspect he was mortal but not before.
I just hope they shove Rex into once of the furnaces sharpish and miraculously discover some Jack blood in Esther.
Esther was a far better character in Miracle Day and was played far better. I kinda liked Rex, but no where near as much as Esther because Esther could both weild a gun and throw the punches when required to AND feel emotion, whereas it seemed Rex could only do the former.
Since Esther won't come back and Rex (probably) won't be going anywhere, I hope they improve his characterisation if TW comes back.