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The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Torchwood #1
Inside the Hub: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Torchwood
Torchwood. Protecting the Earth against alien threats in the 21st Century - the time when everything changes.
Created by Russell T Davies and starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, Burn Gorman as Owen Harper, Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones, Torchwood is dark and gritty, rain soaked and blood drenched, sexy and thrilling. Its first season covered subjects as diverse as a sex-addicted alien mist, a powerful Cyberwoman, a telepathy-inducing pendant, an invisible man and alien Weevils.
In this, the first factual book to be published on the series, noted TV historian Stephen James Walker charts the story of Torchwood, complete with character profiles, cast and production team information, behind-the-scenes details and a comprehensive guide to each of the 13 episodes, looking at the key elements and the many links to Doctor Who that permeate the show.
"Inside the Hub" is every fan's one-stop guide to the secret world of Torchwood.
"Published by Telos, who have obviously decided to corner the market in 'must have' television reference books" Sci-Fi-Online (about Triquetra)
Created by Russell T Davies and starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, Burn Gorman as Owen Harper, Naoko Mori as Toshiko Sato and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones, Torchwood is dark and gritty, rain soaked and blood drenched, sexy and thrilling. Its first season covered subjects as diverse as a sex-addicted alien mist, a powerful Cyberwoman, a telepathy-inducing pendant, an invisible man and alien Weevils.
In this, the first factual book to be published on the series, noted TV historian Stephen James Walker charts the story of Torchwood, complete with character profiles, cast and production team information, behind-the-scenes details and a comprehensive guide to each of the 13 episodes, looking at the key elements and the many links to Doctor Who that permeate the show.
"Inside the Hub" is every fan's one-stop guide to the secret world of Torchwood.
"Published by Telos, who have obviously decided to corner the market in 'must have' television reference books" Sci-Fi-Online (about Triquetra)
251 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2007
About the author
Stephen James Walker
44 books4 followersStephen James Walker was a Consultant for Doctor Who Classic Comics and the co-editor for the Doctor Who anthologies Decalog and Decalog 2: Lost Property.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 15, 2025
Five stars from me. I am an old Torchwood fan (since the start of the series), and going Back to the Hub now, after almost 20 years, with Stephen James Walker, was a blast 💚 Thanks and kuddos to the author on this amazing work of journalism.
May 14, 2009
Inside the Hub: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Torchwood chronicles the hit BBC series from the first announcement of the Doctor Who spin-off through the time that Series 1 aired in the UK. The book features many quotations from magazine and newspaper articles, biographies of the cast and crew, and a very thorough episode guide.
The episode guide and the section detailing the influence American science fiction shows (such as The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) on Torchwood are interesting and probably the best parts of the book. It's obvious that a lot of time and thought went into both of these sections.
Unfortunately, the book's flaws are more prominent than its attributes. Run-on sentences abound; the most egregious example of this is a 170-word sentence in the Introduction. There are no pictures, which I assume is due to the unauthorized nature of the work. The text is small and hard to read at times. The book often gets bogged down with minutiae; things like air dates for 30-second trailers are listed in detail.
With the exception of the episode guide, most of the content of the book is available elsewhere. There are many quotations from popular British magazines, British TV critic web sites, and even "fan reactions" taken from sites such as LiveJournal. As an American, it was interesting to see how the launch of the series was covered by the British press. While having all of this information collected into a single book is nice, I would have preferred more original content from the author.
I heartily recommend both The Torchwood Archives and The Official Torchwood Magazine Yearbook to Torchwood fans. Give Inside the Hub a miss.
The episode guide and the section detailing the influence American science fiction shows (such as The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) on Torchwood are interesting and probably the best parts of the book. It's obvious that a lot of time and thought went into both of these sections.
Unfortunately, the book's flaws are more prominent than its attributes. Run-on sentences abound; the most egregious example of this is a 170-word sentence in the Introduction. There are no pictures, which I assume is due to the unauthorized nature of the work. The text is small and hard to read at times. The book often gets bogged down with minutiae; things like air dates for 30-second trailers are listed in detail.
With the exception of the episode guide, most of the content of the book is available elsewhere. There are many quotations from popular British magazines, British TV critic web sites, and even "fan reactions" taken from sites such as LiveJournal. As an American, it was interesting to see how the launch of the series was covered by the British press. While having all of this information collected into a single book is nice, I would have preferred more original content from the author.
I heartily recommend both The Torchwood Archives and The Official Torchwood Magazine Yearbook to Torchwood fans. Give Inside the Hub a miss.
March 25, 2017
Inside the Hub is entitled The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Torchwood Series One. It is an indepth look at the first series, beginning with the start of Torchwood, moving to the crew and cast, then delving deeply into each episode. The book is a great companion for those who are more involved into the bits and pieces of the series as well as a great reference for fanfiction writers.
It can be ordered from Amazon.UK, which is where I ordered it and the one that looks at Series Two, but doesn't show up if you use Amazon.US. Seriously, check it out. I may not always agree with the writer's analysis of the episodes, but I enjoyed the read.
It can be ordered from Amazon.UK, which is where I ordered it and the one that looks at Series Two, but doesn't show up if you use Amazon.US. Seriously, check it out. I may not always agree with the writer's analysis of the episodes, but I enjoyed the read.
January 15, 2016
Incredibly detailed, this book surely has every piece of information you might need on Torchwood series 1.
In some respects there was too much information. Most fans would not be interested in the transmission times of promotional trailers. However you cannot fault a book for too much detail when it is so clearly and systematically laid out. If all you want is an episode synopsis, it's easy to skip to the page you want.
The episode guides themselves are also well structured with sections for continuity, Dr Who references, fan reactions etc. Some images would have added to the book's appeal but it's safe to say I got a lot from this book and will re-watch the series with new eyes.
In some respects there was too much information. Most fans would not be interested in the transmission times of promotional trailers. However you cannot fault a book for too much detail when it is so clearly and systematically laid out. If all you want is an episode synopsis, it's easy to skip to the page you want.
The episode guides themselves are also well structured with sections for continuity, Dr Who references, fan reactions etc. Some images would have added to the book's appeal but it's safe to say I got a lot from this book and will re-watch the series with new eyes.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews