Torchwood

"Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who". When the first series of 'Doctor Who' (2005) was being made, television pirates were desperate to acquire the preview tapes. One of the people in the office had the idea of labeling the tapes with the anagram Torchwood rather than Doctor Who, as a security measure to disguise the tapes when they were delivered from Cardiff to London. Writer Russell T. Davies liked this idea so much that it later inspired him to use it as a title when creating this spin-off series.

Prior to becoming involved in the revival of 'Doctor Who', Russell T. Davies had conceived of this series as a concept about an alien-fighting team called 'Excalibur'. After 'Doctor Who' became a success, Davies decided to rework the idea as a spin-off.

Owen is the only member of the Torchwood team never to have had direct contact with the Doctor. Jack has been companion to both the Ninth and Tenth incarnations, Toshiko met the Ninth Doctor while examining the space pig in 'Aliens of London' and Gwen and Ianto met the Tenth Doctor through the sub-wave network in 'The Stolen Earth'.