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164 of 184 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
C.S.I. with Aliens and Sex and Alien-sex, October 15, 2007
Torchwood is the most-times dark, sometimes gory, adult tie-in to the new Doctor Who series, but that hardly matters as it is the most unique TV you'll ever see. ..Dr. Who producer & two-time Hugo-nominated writer Russell T. Davies created the series as an opportunity to do more than just family fare, part CSI, part X-files and the remaining part is out there on its own. In Dr. Who there have been hidden references to the "secret" organization TORCHWOOD (the name which is an anagram of DOCTOR WHO) since season one (an answer given by the ANNE DROID in BAD WOLF episode 12 ), then appearing more physically throughout season two, even featuring the origin of the organization created by Queen Victorian herself to defend the Earth from alien threats, including The Doctor. The series takes place over a hundred years later as Jack says on the promos, "In the 21st century, everything changes." Captain Jack Harkness (played BRILLIANTLY by the dashing John Barrowman, best known to Americans as the singing Nazi lead in the "Springtime for Hitler" number in the Producers musical) is a character introduced during season one of Dr. Who, an ex-time agent, con-man, the Doctor & Rose meet in the 1940's and turn towards the path of good and righteousness, well almost.
Jack is originally from the 51st century, which is intended to explain his oversexed ways (i.e. he is very liberal in who he "SNOGS"& "SHAGS" ) His background is really complex, even before he meets the Doctor, but he is missing some of his memories from his time as a time-agent, during the "Parting of the Ways" the first season finale of Dr. Who his character becomes even more interesting, but I won't say more without spoiler warnings.
I know I've referenced Dr. Who, a lot, but WATCHING DR. WHO IS NOT A PREREQUISITE FOR ENJOYING TORCHWOOD, MERELY A BONUS. There is a level to Torchwood that is directed at DW fans, but it isn't obtrusive. The initial season of Torchwood begins introducing the viewer to its world through the eyes of Gwen, a low-rung Cardiff lady cop, eventually becomes part of a jaded almost amoral group that uses scavenged alien-tech to protect the world from future threats. The neophyte member eventually serves as catalysis to re-humanize the team. But the dynamic of the characters is one of abrasiveness, deceit, love and lust. The major players are far from perfect, by the end of the season, most of the team have done things both unexpected and at times alarming.
Most of the performances are great to watch, much Americanized, gritty acting. Gwen, played by Eve Myles, who oddly enough played a Victorian servant girl named Gwyneth who opens the closes the very rift Torchwood is build on in Dr. Who season 1. Gwen is an earthy attractive but not unrealistically so, as are most of the players, except Jack, of course, who is over-the-top silver-screen good looking, which is perfect for his over-the-top fearless-leader-with-a-mysterious-past archetype.
Torchwood is very stylish, lots of aerial shots of building in Cardiff, the Welsh city where the series is filmed and most of the action takes place. Its waterside features remind me of New Orleans. Another anchor location of the show in Cardiff is soooo appropriately the Roald Dahl Plaza (Carciff-born creator of Willy Wonka) it would naturally hold a time-space rift and the headquarters of a secret organization under the fountain where it can monitor extra-terrestrial traffic through the rift. Kind of a sexed up Men in Black, except no one wears black, well ok Iantos does, but he's more of a case manager type. The series music co-composed by Dr. Who's Murray Gold is both edgy and original. As is the special effects and make-up. In the pilot episode, the make-up on the Weevil, a reoccurring species, is so good that a long scene is shot in full-light with Gwen and another character studying the creature. That is how confident and bold the makers of Torchwood are! The series won a BEST DRAMA SERIES BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts), besting Doctor Who season 2 in the category and first episodes gave BBC 3 its highest ratings ever. One series flaw is that Torchwood is meant to be very covert, but they also seem to be high profile "special ops," other than that amusing conflict, I love the series and think that many Americans who may have never watched any British TV before, will be hooked!
The episode guide that follows may have some MINOR SPOILERS, okay?
#1 "Everything Changes"
This is a good one, I give it 9 out of 10, it is one of the best series pilots I've seen. Unlike some series openers, it seems familiar with characters and where they are going, there's no early season one awkwardness here, INFACT, Eve Myles WON a "BEST-ACTRESS" BAFTA (Wales) for this one, John Barrowman got a nom...
Episode Synopsis:
South Wales coffee makin' cop Gwen Cooper is at the scene of a murder when Torchwood shows, Gwen snoops on the group and sees in a disturbing scene in which the victim is temporally resurrected, then questioned. She starts her own investigation to learn more, and ends up meeting an alien and literally going underground unsuccessfully disguised as a pizza-girl, joins up and then things get weird....
#2 Day One
This one is less good, but is all about the fact that Torchwood is an adult series and begins to set some boundaries. Even so, this one has a great pre-titles scene with Gwen & her boyfriend, and a great opening line...7 out of 10 for this one...
Episode Synopsis:
The title says it all...it is Gwen's first day on the job, and because of her obligatory noob screw up she unwittingly unleashes a hot-sex-addicted-alien....no REALLY...this one is about AN ALIEN WHO SHAGS HER WAY THROUGH THE EPISODE...it seems like a Captain Jack natural. There are some great moments and some great lude dialogue, like following the discovery of the alien's nature and the disintegrated remains of its first partner, Harkness remarks that the guy "came and went, at the same time." More lines like that and hot-girl-on-alien action...
#3 Ghost Machine
This one is spooky and provides some insights into the gruff team member Owen's character. Usually, so far, Owen, played by Burn Gorman, isn't the sort to get involved or outwardly show his real feelings, in the series thus far, he has deflected them and given Gwen and the others attitude to cover. This time, due to his unique interaction with the machine, he is very open and driven.... 8 out of 10 for this one...
Episode Synopsis:
The team retrieve an alien artifact that shows ghost images of the past, thus allowing Owen to witnesses a girl's murder some forty years before. He becomes obsessed with bring the murderer to justice, while Gwen tries to stop future projections from occurring as well.
#4 Cyberwoman
This one may be too much for the Dr. Who fans, but you need not know the back-story to appreciate the story, but it helps to forgive the nature of the story that seems awkward when compared to the rest of the season. The Cybermen, humans converted from a parallel Earth, were all meant to be destroyed at another Torchwood base on this Earth, this is the exception. This time a half converted erotic-cyborg with more gruesome conversion effects and other creepiness, oh and Cyberwoman vs. the pterodactyl...did I mention they have a pterodactyl in the Torchwood HQ...7.5 out of 10 for this one...
Episode Synopsis:
Ianto, played by Gareth David-Lloyd who is sort of the teams Alfred the Butler, managing the Batcave, has hidden what's left of his girlfriend at Torchwood. His plans to get outside help end with the entire team at risk of finding themselves converted or worse!
#5 Small Worlds
This one is creepy, if a little predictable, take something inherently cute and friendly, like say fairies, and make them dangerous, powerful and a little homicidal, throw in a spooky little girl, an old girl friend of Jack's er... Dad...and you have a winning mix, 8.5 out of 10 for this one....
Episode Synopsis:
Jack's senior friend has discovered fairies in a nearby wood, while Torchwood uncovers a mysterious jail death and weird weather bursts. Jack sees a pattern connected to his mysterious past....
#6 Countrycide
This one is grisly, edgy and very frightening, playing-out like a mainstream horror movie, a good one! This one isn't for the squeamish. ...9 out of 10 for Countrycide...
Episode Synopsis:
Deaths in the middle of nowhere split up the team, Gwen and Owen find themselves in another tight situation, a survivor hides from the killer, Tech-chick Tosh and Ianto race against the clock, and the team fight to stay off the menu.
#7 Greeks Bearing Gifts
This one isn't the best of the season, but it does give more development to Tosh's character...6.5 out of 10...
Episode Synopsis:
Tosh gets a strange pendant from a strange woman and she gains the strange ability to read minds. In the process learning way more than just casual thoughts, in order to make things right Tosh must get this woman into Torchwood H.Q.
#8 They keep killing Suzie
This is a great one...disturbing and well written, a fallen Torchwood member returns providing a unique opportunity to deal with the consequences of events in the pilot episode. A great exploration of Gwen and her place in Torchwood... I give it 9.5 out of 10...
Episode Synopsis:
The "Resurrection-Gauntlet" was classified as too dangerous to continue experimenting with, but a link to pre-pilot events, force the team to use the gauntlet on a deceased Torchwood member. The process goes wrong and events go from bad to worse
#9 Random Shoes
Another surprisingly good story, most of the regular team is sideline for much of this one as it's point of view is from a deceased peripheral character, like Dr. Who's B team stories (used for shooting two shows simultaneously ), it brilliantly features an outsider's view of the team, more outside than even Gwen's episode one intro...9 out of 10...the end is a bit sappy...
Episode Synopsis:
Eugene Jones learns that he has been the victim of a hit-and-run and is dead. He retracing his "steps" leading up to his death, including his interaction with the Torchwood team and what he believed was an alien artifact, while Gwen is the unwitting partner in the same investigation.
#10 Out of Time
This one is a weak one, "the fish out of water/ romance that can never be," great pre-title opening with the Team on hand as a temporally -displaced plane touches down on an airstrip, mostly-predictable and unnecessarily sappy...7 out of 10...
Episode Synopsis:
Three stangers from the early 50's are trapped in present-day Cardiff, after flying from the Rift. Torchwood helps each of the them deal with making a new life, one way or another and Owen gets serious with one.
#11 Combat
This one is written by Noel Clarke a.k.a Mickey Smith, really. You've asked for it, you got it! The Weevil Fight Club! This one is pretty good, what it lacks in originality it makes up for in style and intensity...9 out of 10...
Episode Synopsis:
Weevils continue to come from the rift surfacing across Cardiff, but where are they disappearing to? Owen goes undercover to find out.
#12 Captain Jack Harkness
Warning this one is not for the homophobic; Jack is particularly randy in this one. There's loads of drama and amazing acting in this one, although a visually limited view of the WWII era, the character of Bilis Manger, mysterious time-walker, is fascinating to watch as he manipulates the staff in this episode and the next, played by Murray Melvin (who could play William Hartnell if they every need him). .. 9.5 out of 10
Episode Synopsis:
Jack and Tosh are transported to the 1940s, during the Blitz where they meet another Captain Jack Harkness and it isn't Jack. The rest of the team go in search of decades old clues Jack and Tosh may have left.
( Watch for the "Vote Saxon" posters in this one. A Dr. Who series 3 ref.)
#13 End of Days
Tightly following the events in the last episode, all hell breaks loose, literally as the mysterious Mr. Bilis plans for the Rift continue with it wide enough to release the deity he worships. This one has its roots in H.P. Lovecraft's work, ...10 out of 10...
Episode Synopsis:
People from thoughout history come through the rift into the present across the world. Jack learns he is the only thing standing between the world and the "Son the Beast". Jack is put in a position where he may have to sacrifice it all to save everyone. (This one connects directly to the final 3 episodes of Dr. Who season 3.)
Check out the Deadringer's spoof of the series on YOUTube.
And BBC America showing Series TWO in January, it has had such a good response in the States that it seems we're getting it "fresh" this time, synchronized with UK broadcast premiere.
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91 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"That is so Welsh. I show you something fantastic - and you find fault.", September 30, 2007
Some SPOILERS here.
TORCHWOOD, a spinoff of DOCTOR WHO, is yet another television show with nifty science-fiction and paranormal elements, and it IS a marvelous and fun show. The premise: the Torchwood Institute is a covert organization given the responsibility of being Great Britain's watchdog against all things malicious and extraterrestrial. This series revolves around the amazing exploits of Torchwood Three, a branch of the Torchwood Institute which operates out of Cardiff, Wales.
In the debut episode "Everything Changes," Policewoman Constable Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) witnesses a deceased stab victim's temporary return to life. This becomes her introduction to a hidden world of frightening monsters, incomprehensible alien technologies, and extreme paranoia. She meets the very charming Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), a man displaced in time and leader of Torchwood Three. Oh, and he can't die. He obligingly places Gwen in the loop: "We don't just catch aliens. We scavenge the stuff they leave behind, find ways of using it, arming the human race against the future." Fairly soon, after some fairly interesting - not to mention, harrowing - moments, Gwen finds herself recruited as the group's police liaison. And with a spacetime rift located in Wales, she and the other Torchwood members remain up to their necks in weirdness and peril. On a more personal scale, Gwen struggles to maintain a normal relationship with her lived-in boyfriend. It's not easy being Scully.
I happened to stumble onto this dark, moody series on the On Demand's BBC America channel and became speedily hooked. It's done by the Brits and they bring their sensibilities to the table. Its tone, while somewhat reminiscent of the X-FILES, also does remind me a bit of DOCTOR WHO, but that one's to be expected as these two shows are closely linked. In fact, the word "Torchwood" is an anagram of Doctor Who and was a security code used by the crew of that series to foil television piracy.
The sci-fi elements naturally loom large. The show immediately immerses the audience in its peculiar and scary universe lurking just behind the veil of normality. Cool and wondrous gadgets and concepts abound: perception filters, invisible lifts, ghost machines, time rifts, resurrection gloves - you know, screwy science-run-amok stuff. The show's contents do tend to stray toward more adult themes, and the casual use of earthy language underscores this. As a reflection of this maturity, the show isn't shy in depicting several of the team members as leaning towards an alternative lifestyle. Captain Jack Harkness himself is bisexual and disarmingly casual about it. In the sexually-charged "Day One" the baddie is a snog-happy (wonderful word, "snog") space creature who snuffs out its victims at the moment of orgasm (As Jack off-handedly comments regarding one casualty: "He just...came and went."). So, no, not for the young 'uns, this show.
There are 13 episodes in the first series, and they are thoughtful and lushly plotted and just as splashy as their American counterparts. The CG is certainly there. The mostly British actors are very good. Gwen Cooper is played by Welsh actress Eve Myles, and Gwen makes for an engaging and ideal point-of-view character. The popular Captain Jack Harkness, last seen in the DOCTOR WHO series, comfortably crosses over into this show and drags actor John Barrowman with him. Barrowman, by the way, is magnetic! The cast of characters is interesting and complex and develops as the series progresses, with team members keeping their share of dark and dangerous secrets. One of them even turns traitor, dies, and comes back from the dead. Needless to say, the group dynamics tend to be volatile.
One negative is that most of the episodes are self-contained, which introduces a certain faltering in overall cohesion and continuity. However, the episodes will still suck you in. The best ones, in my opinion, are "They Keep Killing Susie" (Former Torchwood member Susie Costello returns), "Out of Time" (great and melancholy episode with three aircraft passengers from 1953 disembarking in the present and forced to acclimate to this brave new world), "Captain Jack Harkness" (very good time travel story as Jack and Toshiko journey temporaly to 1941 and meet the real Captain Jack Harkness, whose identity Torchwood's Jack would soon steal), and the exciting season finale "End of Days" (Wales' time rift becomes unstable and begins causing disturbing temporal anomalies).
Hmm, the Doctor Who universe seems to be rapidly expanding. First, this riveting Torchwood offshoot and now followed by THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES (longtime Doctor Who-philes will recall investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, a popular companion to the 3rd and 4th Doctor). As a fan, I say keep it coming. To the curious out there who somehow haven't yet turned on to a good thing: c'mon, get hip to TORCHWOOD.
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20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Torchwood" comes across as "The seX-Files" mixed with a healthy dose of "Who", good show that could improve, January 26, 2008
I'm always mystified that people think a three or four star review is bad; it's not folks it just shows that a good show could use some improvement. "Torchwood" is one of those shows that has a lot of potential and could become quite exceptional. Russell T. Davies "Dr. Who" spin-off "Torchwood" is a pretty good show and could be an exceptional show if it layed off the sex and violence so much. Why? Because the show focuses entirely too much on it to its own detriment. The first series starts off well if a bit uneven. The pilot "Every Thing Changes" sets up the premise of the series but really would have benefited from a two hour or two episode set up since the serial killer story angle isn't developed enough. We meet Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)the new head of Torchwood a MI-5 like organization that deals with threats from aliens and we don't mean illegal aliens. Torchwood (which is an anagram for "Doctor Who") was developed BECAUSE of the good doctor and, when all of its members were turned into Cybermen, Harkness started the organization again in honor of its original primary target--the good Doctor himself. He and his crew including Owen (who looks a bit like Willem Dafoe), Tosh and Suzie deal with alien incursions that occur because of a rift in time/space located in Cardiff. When Gwen a police officer witnessesTorchwood ressurecting one of the victims of the serial killer to try and find out his identity she starts trying to find out more about the investigation, she gets drawn into their world. Gwen is later invited to join Torchwood and assist the group and becomes its conscience filled with the compassion that have become as alien to them as the creatures they hunt.
The quality of the writing veers from weak to brilliant over the course of the 13 episodes included. As mentioned the pilot episode could have been much better (it's good but underdeveloped) if it was longer allowing for the plot and characters to be better deveoped. As the series progresses it does get better with "Countrycide", "They Keep Killing Suzie", "Random Shoes" and "Out of Time" all well written. The problem is that the show will deal with a emotionally charged issue and then two characters will decide, "oh, let's go have casual sex right now". It's an odd shift in tone much more in keeping with a series like "Queer as Folk" (also created by Davies)or "Coupling" than, say, "Doctor Who". As Davies himself states in an extra just because they can show more gore and sex doesn't mean they necessarily have to ALL the time. It disrupts some of the well written narratives and seems almost like the focus of those that are NOT well written with else everything is built around it. "Out of Time" and "Greeks Bearing Gifts" are both perfect examples where the sexuality is well integrated into the script and inseparable from the story itself. There are others, however, where is like those moments in "NYPD Blue" where it felt like it was the obligatory sex scene.
Regardless, I like this show and I think fans of "The X-Files" or "Doctor Who" (and "Supernatural") will as well but the writing isn't as sharp as any of those shows. In fact, it suffers from the same flaws (but to a larger degree)as the third season of "Supernatural".
The show looks like it came from an inferior source with the image quality good when it should be terrific. Perhaps in the switch from the normally incompatable European format to the US or during the Telecine process something unexpected happened or the source wasn't properly handled. Either way, it looks good but could look GREAT given the high definition video format it is shot in.
Audio sounds extremely good unlike "Doctor Who" the 5.1 mix sounds very good even when it is listened to in 2.0 (the dialogue in"Doctor Who" tends to get lost in the mix with the music and sound effects overwhelming it--it's not as big an issue here).
The extras are terrific as with other BBC shows released by Warner. There are commentary tracks by cast and crew in for every episode of the series. We also get outtakes, a variety of featurettes on each disc on various episodes and, as with "Doctor Who", we get the weekly edited version of "Torchwood: Unclassified" that runs around two hours on the last disc.
"Torchwood" is a good series that hasn't completely found it's way yet. Once the series begins to find a better balance between its brand of "adult" sex and violence (as well as language)with the science fiction, supernatural elements AND character development, "Torchwood" will really be something. Here's hoping season two improves on season one as the inexperience of some of the writers in working within the genre shows.
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