Torchwood

Torchwood. There is nothing else like it. If you're looking for serious conventional scifi that tackles the universal problems of the cosmos and ends in an epic battle between good and evil this won't be the show for you.

OTOH, if you're looking for a fun sexy romp that gets serious when it needs to, focuses on the human factor and plays fast and loose with just about every "rule" imaginable, you'll find it in Torchwood. It's just what it's billed to be - Doctor Who for the grown-up set, the open-minded set, the slightly skewed set.

John Barrowman does a terrific job as Cap'n Jack Harkness, a man whose lived a life that won't allow him to die and has taught him a flexible sense of morality to match his flexible sense of sexuality. Cap'n Jack laughs, jokes, flirts and fights his way through one set after another of impossible circumstances, but a heart of gold beats beneath his suspendered chest. His team means everything to him and he'll give anything to protect them.

Playing Alfred to Jack's Batman is Ianto Jones. Gareth David-Lloyd is a lovely young talent who adds more depth to Torchwood's favorite coffee boy with each passing episode. He's bright and soulful with a very British sense of humor that hides a deep and painful sorrow. A real find for the producers of the show. He's fascinating to watch and even more fascinating to guess his motivations.

Every superhero needs someone to keep them in touch with their humanity and that exists in the person of Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles). A terrific spunky heroine with the sensibilities of a crafty cop, she keeps her boss focused on the human factor when his instincts tell him to shoot first and ask questions later--a conscience when Jack needs one the most.

But beware, this may not be the show for family viewing on a Saturday night. It deals frankly with human sexuality. It can be violent, gruesome, bloody and heart breaking. It can make you laugh one moment and tear up the next, but it can also send chills down your spine.

All in all if your up for some alternative entertainment this show can be pretty terrific. Open your mind and dive in. It won't be for everyone but if you like, chances are you'll love it.

To all the people that voted low, try watching past the first episode before commenting.

In general the first episode or two aren't the best due to time taken for character development. Get past that and you're in for a fun ride.

If you're looking for good feelings and happy endings, or another Dr. Who, this show is not for you.

It takes a sci-fi element and puts it in real life terms. It's a British Area 51, but they don't have all the answers, and you learn as they do. We have always been told that we are kept in the dark to protect ourselves, but this shows that even the protectors are human, with the same weaknesses and curiosities that we would all have. It's Dark and it's good.

There seems to be an awful lot of negative comment about Torchwood on these pages and there is definitely a certain 'its not like Doctor Who' element. I love the re-vamped Dr Who, and I was a fan as a child, I grew up with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and to me he was always the definitive incumbent, until being eclipsed by both the modern incarnations. No, Torchwood is not like Doctor Who, it's a different series; I feel that the characters are very well drawn. They are a team of typical people, they do not have the solutions to all the problems they face, they get scared, they argue, they make mistakes. As far as I see it they behave exactly how most normal people would if recruited and working in a tightly knit team under stressful conditions. There is of course the Russell Davies trademark BLG sexual behaviour, but it is portrayed in a refreshing manner and very much it keeping with the general vibe of the show.

What many of the reviewers seem to miss is the fact that the show is as much about the characters as the aliens, the scripts with a couple of exceptions have been excellent, exploring human relationships and attitudes from a range of perspectives, but most importantly they have been rip-roaring entertainment.

The acting is strong, Barrowman being particularly good, but they all acquit themselves well. The casting is excellent, rather than a stable of beautiful people, they have chosen actors that look, and thanks to good writing, behave, like real people.

A couple of points;

John Barrowman's American accent isn't fake; he lived there from the age of eight.

A lot of comments regarding how derivative the series is; I suspect that Bram Stoker might consider Buffy to be more than a little derivative of his work, but none the less entertaining for it.

This is an excellent series, watch more than one episode before reviewing and please try to approach it with out a particular expectation.

In summary, it is brilliant entertainment.

From November 1963 until recently I have loved all things WHO (the first Doctor Who hit TV the day after JFK was killed). I've enjoyed all the spin-offs, including, and maybe especially, Torchwood (letters of Doctor Who rearranged, as most people realize). Then along comes 2011 and the move to Starz and the U.S. and the whole show goes flat. All the cool stuff is gone; alien jail; alien artifacts (idea stolen by Warehouse 13), Captain Jack's immortality, occasional Dr. Who crossovers, assorted creatures, etc. Each episode was a complete story with a few ongoing tie-ins. Now it's just another soap opera, and an especially bad one at that. We've had Lost, Heros, V, The Event and others. These things just go on and on, sometimes for years, and just fizzle, or just get left in mid-story. Torchwood: Miracle Day has a weak story, a castrated hero and nowhere to go. I hope it goes back to the BBC as soon as possible.

The most instantly noticeable problem with this is the overwhelming, dreadful music, which is not only awful in its own right but any kind of atmosphere or tension is more often than not blared out by the terrible, dated, cheesy techno, which also has the effect of making the show sound like a kids program rather than the 'adult' effort it pertains to be.

As to it being 'adult', the throwing in of some swearing and sex doesn't make it so when the script is simplistic, juvenile and utterly lacking in any of the intelligence, edge or wit needed to raise it to the level of a genuine adult drama, it simply comes across as a mish mash suited more for teens than anyone else.

On the limited plus side the main female protagonist is kinda cute and Davies seems to have happily refrained from his usual trick of having at least one character being a hyperactive pain in the arse, more underplayed characters are a welcome relief but neither is enough to lift this much higher than being fairly embarrassing dross.