Torchwood

[Rutabaga]

I'm curious to know if anyone else here, either in the US or in the UK, has been watching Torchwood. I'm actually a little surprised that I got so hooked on it considering that it's a spin-off of the updated Doctor Who, which I have simply never been able to warm up to. The second season finale of Torchwood aired on BBC America tonight, and it was one of the most devastating season finales I've ever seen. Definitely a game-changer to a significant degree.

I have a question for our friends across the pond...I would presume that a third season is pretty much a given, since it's been so popular both in the UK and in the US (apparently it was the highest rated series premiere ever on BBC America, when season one premiered last fall). But have any official announcements been made, and any info about new characters we're obviously going to be seeing? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Locksmith]

Well, if it wasn't a soap opera concerned more with who is sleeping with who (or what) this week, rather than cool alien advetures, I'd like it more. As a big Doctor Who fan, I was pretty disappointed in Torchwood, at least in season one. I haven't gotten to see season two yet, is it any better than one?

[Rutabaga]

Well, that's kind of a loaded question, since I enjoyed the first season quite a bit. Although I do admit that you have a point about the soap opera-ish elements, to an extent...the episode with the female aviator from the 40's who of course ended up sleeping with Owen just about made me choke.

There are definitely still some soap opera kinds of elements in the second season, but I think that's somewhat unavoidable in a continuing series, whether it be sci-fi or not. And in the end, some of that stuff leads to a huge emotional payoff in the finale that just aired. Plus, through season two, I really grew to love Gwen and Rhys's relationship, it was a lot more substantial than some of the fluff I see on American TV series.

Overall, to answer your question...I do think season two was better than season one. But that's just my opinion :).

[Rutabaga]

When I first heard that an American network (specifically Fox) was looking toward doing Torchwood, I cringed. With rare exception, Americanized versions of English TV series suck. In Torchwood's case, I couldn't even imagine how they would destroy the series. No doubt, the first thing to go would be Jack's bisexuality. You know how Puritan American TV audiences can be. :grumble

Well, now I can stop cringing. Yes, an American network is pitching in the moolah to produce a 10-episode season. The good news is, it's Starz. A premium cable network. The same one that produces the wonderfully over-the-top Spartacus. Which means all the things that make Torchwood so great will stay INTACT. John Barrowman and Eve Myles will continue to star in the series.

Huzzah! Here's a link to the story:

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/06/starz-picks-up-torchwood-.html

[Dasquian Belargic]

I wonder how, if at all, the in-universe happenings in the current Doctor Who series will affect any new Torchwood storylines.

[Captain Untouchable]

My hope is that they mix together Torchwood and UNIT. So far, we've only seen the British version of UNIT - the UNited (Nations) Intelligence Taskforce [the modern version isn't allowed to be affiliated with the UN, or some bull like that] - showing up in the David Tennant seasons, and in Children of Earth. However, it's an international organisation, and I think that could make for a really good twist for them, to let them hop across to the US, but other international locations as well, as they're planning.

I don't think we know as yet if it'll be a Torchwood team with an international jurisdiction - the Doctor Who version of Spectrum from Captain Scarlet, complete with indestructable Captain and (if UNIT-based) flying aircraft carrier! :lol - or if it'll just be "Jack and Gwen: On Tour", with a single plot arc that continues from episode to episode like the miniseries. I hope they take a leaf out of the Doctor Who playbook, since this season in particular has had a fantastic mix of stand-alone stories and arc-bases storytelling.

[Mu Satach]

Always wanted to use this -
<center><img src="http://www.sw-fans.net/imagegallery/data/502/threadnecro.jpg"></center>



Well, if it wasn't a soap opera concerned more with who is sleeping with who (or what) this week, rather than cool alien advetures, I'd like it more. As a big Doctor Who fan, I was pretty disappointed in Torchwood, at least in season one. I haven't gotten to see season two yet, is it any better than one?

Ok, to pass the time while I wait for Doctor Who S:5 to show up on Netflix, I started watching Torchwood... currently on episode I don't know, I just finished watching the one where they nabbed (survived?) a bunch of cannibals out in the sticks.

Does it get better?

They are failing more than anything at their jobs, (and I'm not asking for much here, I watch crap like Mega Shark vs. Giant Squid on a regular basis) but that along with the soap opera elements are making my gut churn and tell me to walk away. Because I'd rather watch the Species movies and I really don't care to watch those ever again. Except for the scene where the astronaut loses his head and it grows back. <b>Now THAT</b> was interesting.

Or, maybe I've just been spoiled by Fringe and X-files and am having too much of a "Simpson's did it" type experience when I watch these.

Or, maybe it's because the last thing on my mind when squeezed in a dead man's icebox hiding from a cyberwoman bent on upgrading me is snoggin with the chap I can't stand.

OR, maybe they started losing me when you lock the human who's been infected with a gaseous alien you know nothing about up in a cell with BIG breathable holes and stand right next to her.

Oy - this from me - me, the person who has things titled Zombie Oasis, Planet of the Vampires, IT Conquered the World sitting on my DVD shelf.

- End of Rant -

[Dasquian Belargic]

I have only seen series 1 episode 1 of Torchwood and didn't feel compelled to go any further. It lacked the magic of Doctor Who, and as you say Mu.. there are US shows which do the whole 'paranomal investigation' thing much better.

[Mu Satach]

Currently, it has all the appeal of a pre-teen trying to act like an adult at the mall on Sunday.

[Captain Untouchable]

Season 1 is pretty bad: or rather, I found it very hit-and-miss. There were a few episodes that were okay, but there are some that I couldn't even stand to finish watching (the whole Toshiko lesbian thing was a blatant, shameless attempt to sex things up, and it really didn't work, imo). Season 2 was a little better; they grew up a little bit, and the James Marsters guest role was kinda fun.

The Children of Earth miniseries is FANTASTIC.

If you can't stomach the first two series', at least watch the miniseries. That's the tone that the next US collaboration series is going to try and replicate, and I for one am looking forward to it. If they can keep that level of quality going, it should be fan-bloody-tastic, I think.

[Mu Satach]

(the whole Toshiko lesbian thing was a blatant, shameless attempt to sex things up, and it really didn't work, imo).

there we go - I believe that's the teaser that pushed the inner threshold needle to into the "Why are you watching this?"

I had just finished watching them fail miserably with the pudgy out of shape cannibals -[what kind of special *trained* ops are these people? Take that damn shot gun away from the crazy fat lady - you have alien tech at your disposal use it damn it! and for godsakes - and don't give me any it's not in the FX budget, the Doctor has an LED flashlight that makes a cool noise and it does wonders - and btw - has no one bothered to enroll in a physical defense class? You deal with weird alien shit for a living, learn you some krav maga stat!] - then Gwen has her mini melt down and "fixes it" by cheating on her awesome mate and justifies it to herself she can't "talk" about it O_o [oh yeah, the Harlequin playbook rules o'romance *always* makes things better]

then that teaser of what to look forward to in the next exciting episode.

~brain snap~
*ding*
<i>soothing airline voice</i>
"Attention passengers, we are now entering the Unwatchable Zone. Those wanting to escape, may press the eject button at any time."

thus I now feel the need to vent here


The Children of Earth miniseries is FANTASTIC.

If you can't stomach the first two series', at least watch the miniseries. That's the tone that the next US collaboration series is going to try and replicate, and I for one am looking forward to it. If they can keep that level of quality going, it should be fan-bloody-tastic, I think.

a stay of execution has been granted - Children of Earth remains in the que

[Rutabaga]

:eek Sorry it wasn't your cup of tea...it definitely wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it.

I do highly recommend the Children of Earth miniseries, it was very daring and very well done. If that is the tone they'll pursue with the Starz version of the show, it should be good.

[Mu Satach]

I'm not saying it didn't have it's fun moments, but I'm fairly stingy with my time these days and that moment triggered the internal alarm of "Is this really what you want to be spending your time doing?"

Just not personally enjoyable for me if after every episode I'm wondering why I chose to watch it instead of working on any number of other fun &/or profitable side projects.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The above rant gets five out of five stars. Well done, Mu, well done. :cool::clap

[Dasquian Belargic]

Torchwood are also responsible for (Doctor Who spoiler) Ten losing Rose those jerks :colbert

[Captain Untouchable]

Torchwood are also responsible for (Doctor Who spoiler) Ten losing Rose those jerks :colbert

Y'see, that's why you need to watch Torchwood. It isn't quite as clear-cut as that. That's like saying "The police ran over my dog", and then holding a member of the Metropolitan Police responsible, despite it being the Northumbria Police that were responsible. ...or something. :uhoh

As for the bit of Mu's rant about tech - Captain Jack used to have cool gadgets. The Doctor keeps stealing them. And the later episodes add some justification of why they don't... granted, it's an "it's dangerous to use technology that you don't understand" justification, but still. :uhoh

[Mu Satach]

But isn't Jack from the 51st century? And been around the universe a bit? I know the doc disabled his time machine wristwatch, but he should have picked up a few tricks along the way.

[Captain Untouchable]

If you watch more, you'll find out why he doesn't. If you can't be bothered to wait, he went rogue from the time agency, and got stranded with only his pistol, watch, and ship, which were stolen, disabled, and blown up because of the Doctor (respectively). He then got transported back to Earth in Victorian times, and lived on Earth working for Torchwood for most of it's existance. For all that time, he was working for humans, using predominantly Earth tech, plus whatever tech they reverse-engineered... which isn't much. Ultimately, he gets assigned to Torchwood 3 in Cardiff (Torchwood 1 is in London [Canary Wharf], and Torchwood 2 is presumably at the estate in Scotland), which is at the ass end of nowhere, so they had no resources. Then TW1 was destroyed, removing any and all access he had to reverse engineered technology.

For further interest, in Season 2 he gets sent in time several centuries again, and is buried alive. He has lived through World War 2 three times - once when he was mortal, and met Doc Nine and Rose; once as an agent for Torchwood; and once underground. All his time hopping makes him over a thousand years old already.

Basically, Jack has been on Earth for a long time, and hasn't done any interstellar travelling around for an extremely long time. All he had with him when he came to Earth was his metaphorical "hand luggage" - whatever he had in his pocketses - and most of the gadgets that were in there have been confiscated or disabled by the Doctor... or just plain blown up. He has, as the expression goes, "gone native".

[Mu Satach]

I never thought he was as widely traveled and knowledgeable as the Doctor. (maybe the Doctor at age 2) but even then he's not that "clever."

But, I thought that his personal time line started in the future on the Boeshane Peninsula where he grew up, joined the Time Agency then at somepoint went rogue and was hiding [stuck] in the past when we first meet him in the Empty Child. Though, I have no idea what the "Time Agency" is other than it's an agency and it's focus is time.

I know he doesn't want to repeat the mistakes the first Torchwood crew made, but still - tech is fun, even if its' just a hint of alien/spy/advanced tech. Jack should be like MacGyvering the snot out of alloys and compositions and things with...

molecular structures. ...

Sort of like in the Bad Wolf arc, he seemed quite comfortable running around on the TV station and fiddling with the tech available there.

Honestly, I'm just picking nits in regards to the tech comments. The writers were trying... just weren't very clever. At least in episodes 1 thru 6. ;)

[Captain Untouchable]

Sort of like in the Bad Wolf arc, he seemed quite comfortable running around on the TV station and fiddling with the tech available there.

I can use a computer. Hell, I can build a computer, given the motherboard, graphics cards, power supply, and all that. What I can't do is sit down with some assorted tools and materials, and build a graphics card or a power supply from scratch.

Look at how much technology has advanced over the last thirty years. Hell, my first computer at the start of the nineties had a 300 megabyte harddrive, and a processor that ran at around 300k. Now we have terabyte drives, quad-core processors, and the like. We have carbon fibre, lightweight materials, semiconductors, the technology for flat screens, flexible screens, and all sorts of other things that didn't exist a century ago. Imagine how different things would be thirty centuries from now.

Jack isn't a scientist or an engineer. Even if he was, it'd be like taking someone from CERN, transporting them back in time to the 1700s, and asking them to recreate the Large Hadron Collider. You just can't do it: the technology doesn't exist for just one man to succeed.


And as for the writers... *shrug* How many shows are actually at their best during the first six episodes? Most of my favourite shows have some pretty terrible opening gambits, particularly when you compare them to the standard of later bits. Sure, nowadays there's much more pressure on it because of ratings, but even so, very few shows get it right in their first few goes.

The writing isn't fantastic, no. But John Barrowman is in it - what did you expect? :mischief

[Dasquian Belargic]

http://io9.com/5804353/full-torchwood-miracle-day-trailer-brings-us-captain-jacks-charm-and-explosions

Full trailer for "Miracle Day"

[Tess Abrahams]

I always feel like it should be "charm" when they're referring to Captain Jack. But mind you, I've not yet come around to him.

That being said, after I've caught up with Doctor Who I will probably give Torchwood a try. And then this. :)

[Colonel M. James Hunter]

...did Gwen just have a rocket launcher? :cyduck

I have a lot of faith in this, if only based on the casting. Mekhi Phifer was an FBI guy on Lie to Me (with Tim Roth) and was great, so he should be able to pull off a pretty interesting CIA character; looking forward to seeing how he interacts with Jack. I'm interested to see what they do with Bill Pullman's character, particularly given that brief glimpse of him standing on the stage like some kind of celebrity / faith healer. I also heard that they've got John de Lancie involved at some point, and he is the awesomesauce.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Has anyone been watching the new series? Only the first episode has aired in the UK so far, but I really enjoyed it!

[Rutabaga]

I watched the first episode and liked it very much :). Episode 2 aired last night, it's on my DVR and I'm going to watch it tonight.