Torchwood

This is a spun off from Doctor Who. Jack was killed off, resuscitated and abandoned sometime in the future but inexplicably we now find him safely back in the present leading ‘Torchwood’ an organisation which investigates and deals with inexplicable phenomena (like X-Files).

John Barrowman, whose guest appearances on Doctor Who added a fun and humorous factor to the show, seems to only be competent to genuinely shine while in the presence of a Doctor. And while his bogus American accent is fine in little doses on Doctor Who, in Torchwood the extended use gets very annoying very quickly. Plus his story is mishandled, his missing two years which played an important motivation for his reputation in the Empty Child are not addressed at all. And the rest of the characters are unlikable and two dimensional at best.

But personally, the most disappointing aspect of the show is it is billing as adult-oriented. The throwing in of a heap of swearing and sex doesn’t make it adult when the script is simplistic, juvenile and utterly missing out in any of the intelligence, edge or wit necessitated to raise it to the level of a authenti adult drama, it plainly comes all over as a kids show suitable for Saturday mornings than anything else.

Now, shows like Battlestar Galactica (the new one) manage to come throughout as adult through intelligent, layered scripts, which, if the need arises, include sex, violence and the rest, whereas Torchwood seems to have stapled these excesses on.

The other problem with this show is the overwhelming, dreadful music, which is not only awful in it is own right but any kind of atmosphere or tension is more often than not blared out by the terrible, dated, cheesy techno.

The only thing that impresses me with regards to the show are the particular effects, which are in truth decent but on the whole not worth keeping your eyes open for an hour.

Torchwood

Separate from the government, outside the police, beyond the United Nations, Torchwood sets it is own rules. Led by the enigmatic, ever watchful Captain Jack Harkness, the Torchwood team delves into the unknown and fights the impossible. Everyone who works for Torchwood is young. Some say that’s because it’s a new science. Others say it’s because they die young.

Heroes and Battlestar Galactica) is the candidly adult tone of the series: The violence is plentiful and at times graphic, and there are usual bedroom couplings amongst the team members and supporting players. There’s also a maturity to the relationships that outperforms the general scope of sci-fi, most notably in the affecting “Captain Jack Harkness,” which sends him back to the London Blitz, where he meets and falls in love with a handsome American pilot who happens to percentage his name. Their love affair, like the majority of Torchwood‘s “grown-up” storylines, is handled with taste and real emotion. Extras on the First Series are in an outstanding manner plentiful; six of the seven discs include exclusively new behind-the-scenes featurettes that explore the main characters and their major story arcs, emplacement shooting, the impressive SUV that the team drives, and the show’s spacious special effects and alien creations. Barrowman also contributes a very amusive “Captain’s Log,” which invites viewers to join him on one of the final shooting days of the series. The entire seventh disc is given over to Torchwood Declassified, the 13-part program which explored each episode on BBC Three and the BBC’s Torchwood website. Commentaries are offered for all 13 episodes, with Davies, Barrowman, Myles, Burn Gorman (who plays Torchwood’s medical officer, Owen Harper), David-Lloyd, manufacturers Richard Stokes and Julie Gardner, and respective episode writers, directors, and makers all lending their voices. A little battery of deleted scenes and outtakes, as well as previews for DVD releases of other BBC programs, including Doctor Who and MI-5, round out this impressive set. –Paul Gaita

Stills from Torchwood (click for more spectacular image)