Torchwood

From November 1963 until recently I have loved all things WHO (the first Doctor Who hit TV the day after JFK was killed). I've enjoyed all the spin-offs, including, and maybe especially, Torchwood (letters of Doctor Who rearranged, as most people realize). Then along comes 2011 and the move to Starz and the U.S. and the whole show goes flat. All the cool stuff is gone; alien jail; alien artifacts (idea stolen by Warehouse 13), Captain Jack's immortality, occasional Dr. Who crossovers, assorted creatures, etc. Each episode was a complete story with a few ongoing tie-ins. Now it's just another soap opera, and an especially bad one at that. We've had Lost, Heros, V, The Event and others. These things just go on and on, sometimes for years, and just fizzle, or just get left in mid-story. Torchwood: Miracle Day has a weak story, a castrated hero and nowhere to go. I hope it goes back to the BBC as soon as possible.

To all the people that voted low, try watching past the first episode before commenting.

In general the first episode or two aren't the best due to time taken for character development. Get past that and you're in for a fun ride.

If you're looking for good feelings and happy endings, or another Dr. Who, this show is not for you.

It takes a sci-fi element and puts it in real life terms. It's a British Area 51, but they don't have all the answers, and you learn as they do. We have always been told that we are kept in the dark to protect ourselves, but this shows that even the protectors are human, with the same weaknesses and curiosities that we would all have. It's Dark and it's good.

Torchwood. There is nothing else like it. If you're looking for serious conventional scifi that tackles the universal problems of the cosmos and ends in an epic battle between good and evil this won't be the show for you.

OTOH, if you're looking for a fun sexy romp that gets serious when it needs to, focuses on the human factor and plays fast and loose with just about every "rule" imaginable, you'll find it in Torchwood. It's just what it's billed to be - Doctor Who for the grown-up set, the open-minded set, the slightly skewed set.

John Barrowman does a terrific job as Cap'n Jack Harkness, a man whose lived a life that won't allow him to die and has taught him a flexible sense of morality to match his flexible sense of sexuality. Cap'n Jack laughs, jokes, flirts and fights his way through one set after another of impossible circumstances, but a heart of gold beats beneath his suspendered chest. His team means everything to him and he'll give anything to protect them.

Playing Alfred to Jack's Batman is Ianto Jones. Gareth David-Lloyd is a lovely young talent who adds more depth to Torchwood's favorite coffee boy with each passing episode. He's bright and soulful with a very British sense of humor that hides a deep and painful sorrow. A real find for the producers of the show. He's fascinating to watch and even more fascinating to guess his motivations.

Every superhero needs someone to keep them in touch with their humanity and that exists in the person of Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles). A terrific spunky heroine with the sensibilities of a crafty cop, she keeps her boss focused on the human factor when his instincts tell him to shoot first and ask questions later--a conscience when Jack needs one the most.

But beware, this may not be the show for family viewing on a Saturday night. It deals frankly with human sexuality. It can be violent, gruesome, bloody and heart breaking. It can make you laugh one moment and tear up the next, but it can also send chills down your spine.

All in all if your up for some alternative entertainment this show can be pretty terrific. Open your mind and dive in. It won't be for everyone but if you like, chances are you'll love it.

is what really makes this series. I've watched it a couple of times now, stories are largely good fun, but the self-sacrificing humanity of the deathless man that is Captain Jack is quite heartbreaking at times and so often, it's his own heart that breaks, but something keeps him going (and the series for that matter).

For what was a spin-off then from Dr Who, by focusing on the characters and not the events, it quickly established its own feet as something different and very worthwhile.

The cast is largely fine, each role is stereotypical in a "secret organization", the geek, the streetwise one, the IT guru, the "everyday" police one that we can all identify with, it's just Jack that is out of the ordinary and John Barrowman plays the role perfectly.

Love the show, recommended viewing.

Really, each series of Torchwood ought to be rated in isolation since they're so different in consistency and quality.

I've not marked this as a spoiler review, but if you truly want to know NOTHING about it, don't read further

S1 is fine. It's a 6/6.5. With some gems and a few real STINKERS in there. Countryside being a highlight, alongside They Keep Killing Suzie, Out Of Time, and obviously the two part finale, but after the first 4 episodes being pretty poor, it isn't a surprise many people never make it that far in. Not to mention in episode 1, Owen (among the least likeable protagonist characters in all of DW media) using some alien technology to habitually commit date rape and this being played for laughs (I am definitely not the first person to point this out and I won't be the last)

S2 is a definite improvement, with both tone and consistency getting more sure of itself. Still far from perfect, it's very "of its time", and some of the humour doesn't land very well, but the more emotional aspects olto the character development here are undeniably better.

S3, Children of Earth, is very possibly the best bit of TV media in the entire Doctor Who universe. A single story which was originally broadcast across 5 consecutive nights, this transcends the schlocky, teen/young adult sci fi genre, and becomes simultaneously a Sci Fi, a conspiracy, and a tense political thriller. That might sound confused, but it is executed PERFECTLY

S4, Miracle Day, is not as bad on a rewatch as I remember it having been from the time, but it's still the weakest. Like CoE, it is a serialised season, but it's got about 4/5 episodes of plot stretched over 10 episodes, has plot threads that don't go anywhere, introduces multiple uninteresting characters, and ends very unsatisfyingly.

All in all, I think it's worth watching, but there are definitely some pretty rubbish episodes you can definitely afford to skip.