Founded by Queen Victoria in 1879, the Torchwood Institute has long battled against alien threats to the British Empire. The Torchwood Archives is an insider's look into the secret world of this unique investigative team. Take a step behind the closed doors of the secret institute and have all your questions answered...

The Torchwood Archives is a reference guide for the BBC TV series. The book is designed to look like the contents of a folder from a filing cabinet locked in a dusty basement - so all the cliched elements are present and correct: including pages that look like they've had photos sticky taped on them; paper clips; post-it notes; and the obligatory coffee cup stains.

Contained here are in-depth background on personnel, case files on alien enemies of the Crown and descriptions of extra-terrestrial technology collected over the years. This book uncovers more about the world of Torchwood than ever previously known, including some of the biggest mysteries surrounding the Rift in space and time running through Cardiff.

This is a great book to dip in and out of - or to read from start to finnish - and there are plenty of pictures you won't have seen before. There isn't a contents page, as such, so if you're looking for a certain aspect of the show you won't be able to find it quickly.

For Torchwood fans this is an entertaining, though not essential, read.

6

Nick Smithson