SummaryTorchwood, a spin-off from the popular sci-fi show Doctor Who, follows a group of investigators working for the secret organisation of the same name. Set in Cardiff, Wales the team specialise in alien technology that has landed on Earth, and crime, whether it be alien or human. The mysterious Captain Jack Harkness is the leader of the eq...
SummaryTorchwood, a spin-off from the popular sci-fi show Doctor Who, follows a group of investigators working for the secret organisation of the same name. Set in Cardiff, Wales the team specialise in alien technology that has landed on Earth, and crime, whether it be alien or human. The mysterious Captain Jack Harkness is the leader of the eq...
There are a fair number of leaps of logic in the light-hearted Torchwood and mysteries abound. The special effects are generally decent and the writing and characterizations leaps and bounds better than in "Flash Gordon," "Eureka" or "The Dresden Files," to name just a few pathetic contemporary sci-fi shows.
I'm just gunna pretend that Miracle day, didn't happen. However I guess that wouldn't be eas if Torchwood was real. Sorry need extra characters, hope you found this interesting.
Terrible show. Torchwood is supposedly a top-secret organization given unlimited resources and authority by UK government, and charged with defending Earth and being custodian of powerful alien artifacts. Yet: none of the personnel know anything about each other or have had background checks; none of the personnel have formal military training; all of the personnel are emotional trainwrecks. Seriously: it seems like each episode, someone breaks down and cries as a result of the normal day-to-day duties of their job. The Earth is defended by incompetent crybabies. On the plus side, Captain Jack is an interesting character portrayed by a skilled actor. They should fire everyone else on the team, and start over.
There's a lot to love about Torchwood, especially for fans of the early days of "The X-Files," when it was more of a clever horror anthology series and the alien conspiracy had yet to take over the plot.
Briskly paced if relatively unimpressive in its sets and effects (one "alien" more than anything resembles a Vegas showgirl), Torchwood has the fixings of a thinking-man's sci-fi series that doesn't take itself too seriously.
A thrill ride that actually makes you think.
Torchwood is a British show that has lived a charmed life over the years but remains to be as resilient as its immortal lead character. After the hit and (largely) miss first two seasons the show exploded onto a much bigger, and critically acclaimed, scene with the five-part mini-series 'Children of Earth' in which the British government conspired to surrender 10% of its children to an alien species. Captain Jack Harkness (the immortal hero played by John Barrowman, star of Desperate Housewives among others) was forced to sacrifice his grandson in order to defeat the invaders in a shocking twist in the final episode. Torchwood had finally found its feet and discovered how to create shocking, thrilling, chilling and thoughtful drama and it hasn't looked back since.
'Miracle Day' starts with Oswald Danes (played by the thoroughly magnificent Independence Day star, Bill Pullman) being dosed with a lethal injection as punishment for the sexual assault and murder of a twelve year old girl but something goes horribly wrong. After a few minutes of writhing agony it becomes clear; he won't die. Mekhi Phifer's CIA character Rex Matheson suffers a similar fate when his is impaled after a freak car accident as it becomes clear that this issue has become a global one. Dark themes are explored here with solders, of whom are blown to bits, remain alive (even after being beheaded by a surgeon in a chilling/funny scene halfway through the premiere). Danes, the now immortal murderer, argues that he has been punished for his crimes and that now should be released; a wish that is granted by a local governor threatened by legal action. The Torchwood team, in ruins after the events of 'Children of Earth' come back into the fold to unravel the mystery in explosive fashion as Captain Jack leaps from a suicide bomber out the top floor of a tower block and Gwen Cooper (Welsh actress Eve Myles) blows up a helicopter with a bazooka, obviously. Torchwood is a mix of fascinating intrigue, sound acting, mind-blowing action sequences, chilling themes and impressive writing (from the likes of Doctor Who's Russell T Davies, House's Doris Egan and Buffy's Jane Espenson). Despite a few questionable moments, Torchwood is unashamedly magnificent madness which you'd be a fool to miss.
Interesting premise. I want to like the show and am close to doing so but, can the show be about the central plot and a little less about Jack being ****? Yes, yes, we all get it. He's **** and has been **** for a very long time but, the seemingly forced **** thread woven into every episode is a distraction. I don't really care that Jack likes hot guys. . . what does it have to do with the darn plot? It's almost as if, there's a quota of **** sex & love scenes that needs to be worked into every episode whether or not it has anything to do with the central theme of the story to satisfy some count.
Producers & Writers episode planning meetings:
+ Gory chest wound on should be dead actor - Check
+ One world government conspiracy subtext - Check
+ Secrete evil society lurking in the shadows pulling the strings - Check
+ Seemingly pointless 5 minute man on man sex scene - Check Throttle it back a bit already. . . . . we get it! And for the most part, don't care. Is the show a science fiction drama or an audition reel for the LOGO network. Make up your mind already. . . .
Torchwood is original, clever, inventive, exciting and all around great sci-fi. Unfortunately, in the first season at least, the tone is completely inconsistent, most of the characters are unconvincing and underdeveloped and some of the dialogue is gut-wrenchingly awful. Good news then that these problems are (almost) entirely fixed by the second series, where the show becomes one of the best around. I would recommend this (occasionally excellent but mostly mediocre) first series simply because of how good it gets in the next.