Thursday, September 19, 2013

Torchwood: The Complete First Season



"That is so Welsh. I show you something fantastic - and you find fault."
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...

C.S.I. with Aliens and Sex and Alien-sex
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...

"Torchwood" comes across as "The seX-Files" mixed with a healthy dose of "Who", good show that could improve
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...

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