Does he go to Earth in WWII before he meets the Doctor?

Yes.

If so, is he there twice, since he strands himself in the 1800s trying to get to him again?

Presumably, though we haven't heard it addressed on screen at all. I figure that the second time through, he's savvy enough to avoid the first iteration of himself. He avoids meeting Rose during the 1990s.

I throw my hands up. I guess this is as much as I'll understand it unless they paint pretty pictures on my TV screen.

They have been painting pretty pictures, just not so much with the timelines.

just saw our first two Torchwoods (yes, slow. toddler)... the end of this season and "they keep killing [someone]". Not good order, but we like - we really like. Granted, I was prepared to like.

Okay. Talk to me slowly. Captain Jack is born somewhere with a real name on a different planet. Does he go to Earth in WWII before he meets the Doctor? If so, is he there twice, since he strands himself in the 1800s trying to get to him again?

Jack's timeline:

• Born somewhere in (I think) the 52nd Century. Becomes a time agent. Loses about two years of memories and goes rogue, escaping to World War II.

• Takes the identity Capt. Jack Harkness. Meets the Doctor. Heads off on many adventures, the last of which he dies and is resurrected on. Gets stranded in the future and uses his wrist device to travel back to the 19th Century, a trip which fries the device.

• Travels to the 21st Century again the long way. which is to say, one day at a time for more than a century. Obviously, there were two of him running around for a spell here. (Actually, there were probably three. See below)

• Eventually joins Torchwood under undisclosed circumstances, and takes charge of either just the Cardiff branch or the entire operation after The Doctor's Battle of Canary Wharf.

• Travels with Toshiko briefly back in time to World War II, meeting the Capt. Jack Harkness whose name he borrowed.

• Clings to the side of the Tardis, travels to the end of the world, makes peace with The Doctor, reveals that he's probably the Face of Boe.

Any clearer?

Drat. I've just realized that Amazon isn't planning on shipping my dvds until a week after they come out. . .i.e, too late for me to have a season 1 marathon before the premiere.

And BSG season 3 is now coming out on March 18th.

Takes the identity Capt. Jack Harkness. Meets the Doctor.

And that's during the war too, right?

The first two seasons of Farscape, via cat macros: [link]

And that's during the war too, right?

Yes, during WW2. When we all meet Jack for the very first time in the episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" (new series 1). We only find out at the end of S1 Torchwood that he'd stolen the real Captain Jack's name, but he was there for a bit before the Doctor and Rose showed up, plenty of time for him to get settled.

I assume that he met, what was her name - the old biddy from the fairy story - on his long trip through the 20th Century.