Torchwood Magazine # 9

I'm zeroing in on a complete collection of Torchwood Magazine--a legacy my children and grand-children will surely treasure. But for now, let's focus on some of the interesting things from issue # 9:

* A feature on the making of the first Torchwood radio play, Lost Souls. Between this and last week's episode of Big Bang Theory, I really want to visit CERN.

* A six-page diagram of the Torchwood SUV--a prop I've never found particularly interesting (and, as others have mentioned before me, if you drive around in a massive honking vehicle with "Torchwood" stenciled on the hood, you can't complain if your secret organization is not-so-secret anymore). In related news, John Barrowman is described as a "Petrolhead", which I guess is the British version of "gearhead".

* A "are we running out of things to talk about?" feature on the show's make-up artists--not the really cool alien prosthetic make-up artists, just your ordinary everyday "John Barrowman's forehead is too shiny" type of make-up artist. Perhaps next issue will be a profile on the caterers, with insight on how to keep lasagna warm without drying it out . . .

* Part Six of the Rift War! comic strip--if you've read my descriptions of previous entries, you know how crappy I think this strip is. Part Six is notable only for the appearance of Harriet and Gerald, the circa World War I Torchwood duo from the episode To the Last Man.

* Part Two of Trevor Baxendale's Harm's Way short story. The giant alien insect thing in the Hub gets frozen in a temporary time-stasis trap due to Tosh's quick thinking, but Gwen is badly hurt and Owen and Ianto have stumbled onto another one which is attacking civilians in downtown Cardiff. The third and last part ("The final shocking instalment!") appears in issue # 10.