Adrift (Torchwood) - Production

Production

"Adrift" was produced as part of its own production block: block seven. Filming of the episode was "double banked" with block five, which consisted of the episodes "From Out of the Rain" and "Fragments". This accounted for the lack of availability of some of the regular cast members. Unlike the rest of the episodes in the series, this episode was not solely produced by regular series Richard Stokes but by guest producer Sophie Fante. Discussing the premise of the story writer Chris Chibnall states that "the issue of loss" is what drives the narrative and that he had "always wanted to write a story about people who go missing". Director Mark Everest noted that "people go missing all the time" and that to tackle this theme was "a brave thing to do". Executive producer Russell T Davies felt it provided good drama to have a story that would also examine elements of "paranoia" and "fear" and "mistrust" between Gwen and Jack as result of her realising she does not know the full extent of his work within Torchwood. Davies later stated in his book The Writer's Tale that "Adrift" was one of the scripts that "paved the way" for the third series of the show; his intention being to write Torchwood characters as "real people" with "families, feuds, aches and pains". The episode underwent less rewriting that any other script from the first two series with the final version being essentially a second draft. Gwen was initially referred to by her husband's surname, Williams, but Eve Myles vetoed this idea as she believed that an independent professional woman would want to keep her maiden name. A change made in the editing of the episode was the cutting of a short scene hinting at a possible romance between Nikki and Andy. This scene is included in the deleted scenes included in the series two boxset.

Ruth Jones was cast in the central guest role of Nikki. The actress stated that she was both "excited" and "scared" to appear in the series as it was "a very serious role" and comedy had previously been her "comfort zone". Robert Pugh was cast as the aged and scarred version of Nikki's son Jonah. Richard Stokes estimated that the actor had to spend between two and two and a half hours in make-up in addition to a twelve-hour filming day to have prosthetics applied to create the appearance of scarring. Ruth Jones found the prosthetics to be "absolutely fantastic" and "very gruesome". The reveal of Jonah's Scream was initially going to be a wholly alien effect with Pugh just miming on set. However, Pugh was keen to give the scream a go. Everest states that in the final dub the scream was "tweaked" and "layers were added" although stated that the fundamental basis of it was Pugh "screaming his lungs out". Discussing the return of Andy, Stokes stated that it was always the plan for the production team to give the character greater focus in an episode due to his "comic value", whilst Eve Myles had joked it was her "personal mission" to get the character back.

The episode was largely filmed on location around South Wales. Jonah's disappearance and Jack's subsequent investigation were filmed at the Cardiff Bay Barrage. The exteriors of Nikki's house were filmed at the Penarth Marina, whilst the scenes of the missing persons meeting were filmed at the Church of All Saints on Victoria Square, Penarth on 22 September 2007. The café sequences with Gwen and Andy were recorded in Fortes Café on Barry Island whilst the scene of Gwen and Rhys' picnic and argument were shot in Bute Park, Cardiff. The main location shoot for the episode was the island of Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel where exterior shots were filmed at the end of September. As the island does not allow vehicular access the production team were restricted in the filming equipment they could take on to the island. Though Flat Holm does possess a derelict cholera isolation hospital, the scenes of Torchwood's isolation facility were in fact filmed inside a Ministry of Defence building in Caldicot,_Monmouthshire. Incidental music used included Richard Hawley's song "Serious" from his 2007 album Lady's Bridge and the song "Hard to Beat" by Hard-Fi from their album Stars of CCTV which are head the first and second time Gwen and Andy meet in the café. Also used is the song "Other Side of the World" from KT Tunstall's album Eye to the Telescope which plays during a scene where Gwen brings Rhys breakfast.