Something Borrowed (Torchwood)

Something Borrowed (Torchwood)

"Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was first broadcast by BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. The episode was written by Phil Ford, directed by Ashley Way and produced by Richard Stokes. The episode featured the five initial series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd plus recurring actor Kai Owen in a central role.

The episode centers on the marriage of Torchwood employee Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) to her long-term partner Rhys Williams (Kai Owen). The wedding is complicated by Gwen's sudden impregnation by a shape-shifting alien Nostrovite. Although she resolves to see her wedding through, her nuptials are interrupted by an attack from the biological mother of the alien fetus (played successively by Collette Brown, Nerys Hughes and John Barrowman). With the help of Rhys and Gwen's Torchwood colleagues the fetus is neutralised and the attacking alien defeated. Gwen and Rhys marry, and their families have their memories of the wedding day wiped.

The episode was designed to be the most humorous of Torchwood's second series and incorporated elements of broad comedy and soap opera style storytelling to the monster of the week story. It was filmed largely on location in South Wales—prominent locations included the tourist attractions Margam Country Park and Dyffryn Gardens—and featured an ensemble of previously unseen Welsh characters. The episode was seen by an aggregated total of 4.76 million viewers across its three debut showings in the United Kingdom. Critical response was extremely mixed. Some reviewers praised the inclusion of a less serious episode in the series whilst others felt that the comedy in the episode was too overt and detracted from the overall tone of the show.