History Recap / TorchwoodS1E6Countrycide

->''♪ "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-ECag8xbIw Here Comes Jack in a ruddy great Tractor...]]" ♪''

* StiffUpperLip: Owen jokes Gwen should [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland lie back and think of Torchwood]] while he sets to digging the shotgun pellets out.

* Mundanger: This episode is devoid of any supernatural elements, and relies on a CannibalClan disgusting the whole crew, and for Gwen to accept that HumansAreBastards just as much as aliens are.

* ItsProbablyNothing: Ianto thinks a screech is a fox. [[spoiler:It isn't, obviously.]]

** Ianto's eyes are basically popping out of his skull when he realises what the meat in the fridge is.

* TownWithADarkSecret: The village, once a decade, feasts on passer-by's that nobody would miss and eat them. All for fun, apparently. Gwen is not happy to hear this at the end of the episode.

* {{Leitmotif}}: This episode's use of Jack storming in with a tractor and shotgun in tow has a unique variation of "Captain Jacks Theme" playing over it. This is because, according to Murray Gold, the scene reminded him of the phrase "Here he comes in a ruddy great tractor", and translated that sentence into a {{Leitmotif}} for Jack, the origins of which are later referenced in the soundtrack for ''Children of Earth'', which has a noticeably out of place track called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIgxoW3Fb1w "Tractor Attack"]].

* WholePlotReference: The episode is very similar in conception to the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' season 1 episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E15TheBenders "The Benders"]], which also involves human hillbilly cannibals as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] on a normally supernaturally-driven show where the protagonists mistake the killings for the work of non-human monsters at first.

->''♪ "[[Music/MurrayGold Here Comes Jack]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-ECag8xbIw in a ruddy great Tractor...]]" ♪''

** Ianto and Tosh's reaction to the wife lying to them being an unwilling subordinate meant to fetch them; instead, ''she's the wife of the murderer''

* {{Leitmotif}}: This episode's use of Jack storming in with a tractor and shotgun in tow has a unique variation of "Captain Jacks Theme" playing over it. This is because, according to Murray Gold, the scene reminded him of the phrase "Here he comes in a ruddy great tractor", and translated that sentence into a {{Leitmotif}} for Jack, the origins of which are later referenced in the soundtrack for ''Children Of Earth'', which has a noticeably out of place track called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIgxoW3Fb1w "Tractor Attack"]].

* {{Leitmotif}}: This episode's use of Jack storming in with a tractor and shotgun in tow inspired the music for "Captain Jacks Theme", which, according to Murray Gold, is the phrase "Here he comes in a ruddy great tractor", but in musical form.

This episode has the distinction of being, as of 2023, the only televised episode of any ''Doctor Who'' franchise series to have absolutely zero science fiction aspects in the story (Jack's immortality has no bearing on the plot, and the most advanced technology the episode features is an SUV tracker). This is all PlayedForDrama of course, as Gwen has to come to terms with humans being just as horrifying as aliens sometimes.

This episode has the distinction of being, as of 2011, the only televised episode of any ''Doctor Who'' franchise series to have absolutely no science fiction aspects in the story (other than Jack's immortality, which isn't necessary to the plot, and incidental Torchwood technology). This is PlayedForDrama, as Gwen has to come to terms with humans being just as horrifying as aliens sometimes.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Poor old Tosh.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Conceptually, the episode is very similar to the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' season 1 episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E15TheBenders "The Benders"]], which also involves human hillbilly cannibals as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] on a normally supernaturally-driven show where the protagonists mistake the killings for the work of non-human monsters at first.
* ArtisticLicenceGunSafety: Even more egregious than the standard Torchwood fare, although one of the team is injured.
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: This shows why Jack is the leader in the first place. [[BerserkButton Harm his team]] and [[BigDamnHeroes he'll come crashing in]] to the tune of his own {{Leitmotif}}.

* BigDamnHeroes: Go, Jack.

* CannibalClan

* DeadpanSnarker: As usual, most of the team, but Owen in particular.
** "Only in the bloody countryside!"
* ForTheEvulz: The patriarch's reasoning for their cannibalism. It made him happy.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Possibly one of the most disturbing examples in the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}}.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The Harvest.
* IdiotBall: Tossed around to an excessive degree even for a Torchwood mission - Gwen starts an incredibly uncomfortable conversation for no real reason, Owen leaves the keys in the car (which allows it to be stolen), the team split up to charge around houses and into dark rooms with cavalier abandon, and they all wave guns at each other even more than normal. Even Jack spends a bizarre amount of time insisting that Ianto and Tosh (who've been locked up in the cannibal cellar) are grown-ups and can handle themselves.
* ImAHumanitarian: It's not aliens this time.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Gwen's attempt at a lighthearted conversation about snogging ends when Ianto flatly points out that the last person he kissed was [[Recap/TorchwoodS1E4Cyberwoman Lisa]].

* LetsSplitUpGang
* OhCrap: An extended moment when Tosh and Ianto are trapped in the basement:
--> "That body we found in the woods -" "Don't think about it"
--> "Shoes. Dozens of them."
* OnlyAFleshWound: Not only Gwen's, but during Jack's big gunfight, it appears none of the cannibals he hits end up dying.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: In through the wall comes a tractor, and out of the tractor comes Jack Harkness with a shotgun, and [[TeamDad he is]] [[BerserkButton real pissed]].
* StatusQuoIsGod:
** Subverted when Ianto calls Gwen on her thoughtless question about who was the last person everyone kissed, replying it was [[Recap/TorchwoodS1E4Cyberwoman Lisa]].
** Played straight with Jack, as his recent MortonsFork choice regarding [[Recap/TorchwoodS1E5SmallWorlds Jasmine]] isn't brought up.

* TownWithADarkSecret

* [[WouldHitAGirl Would Shoot A Girl]]: Jack

->''♪ "[[Music/MurrayGold Here Comes Jack]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-ECag8xbIw in a Ruddy Big Tractor...]]" ♪''

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: This shows why Jack is the leader in the first place. [[BerserkButton Harm his team]] [[BigDamnHeroes and he'll come crashing in]] to the tune of his own {{Leitmotif}}.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vlcsnap-2011-08-16-14h19m00s82_5933.png]]

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Gwen's attempt at a lighthearted conversation about snogging ends when Ianto flatly points out that the last person he kissed was Lisa.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: This shows why Jack is the leader in the first place. [[BerserkButton Harm his team]] [[BigDamnHeroes and he'll come crashing in.]]

* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The Harvest

* OnlyAFleshWound: Not only Gwen's, but during Jack's big gunfight, it appears no one ends up dying.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Conceptually, the episode is very similar to the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' season 1 episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E15TheBenders The Benders]], which also involves human hillbilly cannibals as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] on a normally supernaturally-driven show.

* {{Adorkable}}: Ianto may [[Recap/TorchwoodS1E1EverythingChanges look good in a suit]], but he also looks adorable and initially very out of his depth striding around the countryside in a raincoat and jeans. If [[Recap/TorchwoodS1E4Cyberwoman Cyberwoman]] established that Ianto was actually a character of some weight in the show, this episode establishes him as a character we actually ''like.''

** Subverted when Ianto calls Gwen on her thoughtless question about who was the last person everyone kissed, replying it was [[Recap/TorchwoodS1E4Cyberwoman Linda]].

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Conceptually, the episode is very similar to the Supernatural season 1 episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E15TheBenders The Benders]], which also involves human hillbilly cannibals as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] on a normally supernaturally-driven show.

Conceptually, the episode is very similar to the Supernatural season 1 episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E15TheBenders The Benders]], which also involves human hillbilly cannibals as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] on a normally supernaturally-driven show.

->''♪ "[[Music/MurrayGold Here Comes Jack]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-ECag8xbIw in a Ruddy Big Tractor...]]" ♪''

* IdiotBall: Tossed around to an excessive degree even for a Torchwood mission - Gwen starts an incredibly uncomfortable conversation for no real reason, Owen leaves the keys in the car (which allows it to be stolen), the team split up to charge around houses and into dark rooms with cavalier abandon, and they all wave guns at each other even more than normal. Even Jack spends a bizarre amount of time insisting that Ianto and Jack (who've been locked up in the cannibal cellar) are grown-ups and can handle themselves.

* RoaringRampageOfRescue: In through the wall comes a tractor, and out of the tractor comes Jack Harkness with a shotgun, and he is [[BerserkButton real]] [[TeamDad pissed]].

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: This show's why Jack is the leader in the first place. [[BerserkButton Harm his team]] [[BigDamnHeroes and he'll come crashing in.]]