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Torchwood

  • TV Series
  • 2006–2011
  • 12
  • 50m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
45K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,346
171
John Barrowman, Eve Myles, and Gareth David-Lloyd in Torchwood (2006)
In an epic story told over five nights, the new series to be broadcast on BBC America (U.S.) in July promises to be Torchwood's most enthralling adventure yet.
Play trailer2:02
9 Videos
99+ Photos
Alien InvasionActionDramaHorrorMysterySci-FiThriller

The members of the Torchwood Institute, a secret organization founded by the British Crown, fight to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.The members of the Torchwood Institute, a secret organization founded by the British Crown, fight to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.The members of the Torchwood Institute, a secret organization founded by the British Crown, fight to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.

  • Creator
    • Russell T. Davies
  • Stars
    • John Barrowman
    • Eve Myles
    • Kai Owen
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.7/10
    45K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,346
    171
    • Creator
      • Russell T. Davies
    • Stars
      • John Barrowman
      • Eve Myles
      • Kai Owen
    • 239User reviews
    • 67Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 11 wins & 47 nominations total

    Episodes41

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Videos9

    Torchwood: Children of Earth
    Clip 1:06
    Torchwood: Children of Earth
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 3)
    Clip 1:00
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 3)
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 3)
    Clip 1:00
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 3)
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 2)
    Clip 1:00
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 2)
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 1)
    Clip 1:00
    Torchwood: Children Of Earth (Clip 1)
    Torchwood: Children of Earth
    Trailer 2:02
    Torchwood: Children of Earth
    Torchwood
    Trailer 0:58
    Torchwood

    Photos769

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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    John Barrowman
    John Barrowman
    • Captain Jack Harkness…
    • 2006–2011
    Eve Myles
    Eve Myles
    • Gwen Cooper
    • 2006–2011
    Kai Owen
    Kai Owen
    • Rhys Williams
    • 2006–2011
    Gareth David-Lloyd
    Gareth David-Lloyd
    • Ianto Jones
    • 2006–2009
    Burn Gorman
    Burn Gorman
    • Owen Harper
    • 2006–2008
    Naoko Mori
    Naoko Mori
    • Toshiko Sato
    • 2006–2008
    Tom Price
    • PC Andy…
    • 2006–2011
    Paul Kasey
    Paul Kasey
    • Weevil…
    • 2006–2008
    Mekhi Phifer
    Mekhi Phifer
    • Agent Rex Matheson
    • 2011
    Alexa Havins
    Alexa Havins
    • Esther Drummond
    • 2011
    Bill Pullman
    Bill Pullman
    • Oswald Danes
    • 2011
    Lauren Ambrose
    Lauren Ambrose
    • Jilly Kitzinger
    • 2011
    Sharon Morgan
    Sharon Morgan
    • Mary Cooper…
    • 2008–2011
    William Thomas
    William Thomas
    • Geraint Cooper…
    • 2008–2011
    Peter Capaldi
    Peter Capaldi
    • John Frobisher
    • 2009
    Nicholas Farrell
    Nicholas Farrell
    • Brian Green
    • 2009
    Susan Brown
    Susan Brown
    • Bridget Spears
    • 2009
    Arlene Tur
    Arlene Tur
    • Dr. Vera Juarez
    • 2011
    • Creator
      • Russell T. Davies
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews239

    7.744.8K
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    Featured reviews

    olmac

    A favorite gone bad.

    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.
    8mijbril

    The Humanity of Captain Jack

    is what really makes this series. I've watched it a couple of times now, stories are largely good fun, but the self-sacrificing humanity of the deathless man that is Captain Jack is quite heartbreaking at times and so often, it's his own heart that breaks, but something keeps him going (and the series for that matter).

    For what was a spin-off then from Dr Who, by focusing on the characters and not the events, it quickly established its own feet as something different and very worthwhile.

    The cast is largely fine, each role is stereotypical in a "secret organization", the geek, the streetwise one, the IT guru, the "everyday" police one that we can all identify with, it's just Jack that is out of the ordinary and John Barrowman plays the role perfectly.

    Love the show, recommended viewing.
    8fung0

    Ignore the nay-saying uber-fans

    It's amazing how a high-quality production can sometimes draw reviews that would be more appropriate to low-grade syndicated filler. Torchwood is, at the very least, an imaginative, well-acted, well-photographed and, more than anything, totally idiosyncratic series.

    Many seem put off by the sex. Fortunately, that wasn't a problem for the show's writers. This is a series that neither glories in nor shies away from sex. Characters have believable sex lives, that affect their actions in realistic ways. Some episodes are frankly *about* sex, in a brilliantly science-fictional way. (Bear in mind, the series is very definitely *not* aimed at kids. These characters are adults, and the show is written for adults. That in itself is pretty refreshing!)

    Some of the interactions may border on soap opera... but that's the format. It works. It's an ensemble show, and it's about how the private lives of relatively normal humans are transformed by extraordinary events. No, these characters aren't as cute and lovable as, say, the crew of the Serenity. They're thorny, often irrational. I love that about them. Like real people, they often act in ways that even their best friends can't predict. And as with real people, one develops an affection for their faults as much as their virtues.

    Stories are clever, but not cerebral. This isn't Twilight Zone. It's not 'hard' Science Fiction. It's a 'pulp' show for adults who want to feel like kids for an hour. It creates a world where the bizarre is commonplace. The viewpoint character is a 'normal' policewoman... she moves into this strange world, adapting to its superhuman challenges and becoming addicted to its heady rewards. It's a highly involving formula... if you're the sort of viewer who often finds our 'real' world far too dull and predictable.

    Like Doctor Who, Torchwood is a show that, on paper, shouldn't really work. At every point in Doctor Who's long, long run, nay-sayers have proved with inescapable logic that it can't possibly work: it's too violent, it's too dark, it's too silly, it's too intellectual... it's too expensive. Many of the criticisms have been mutually contradictory! The same seems to be true of Torchwood... it's an odd, angular beast, that doesn't really follow any established paradigm. Saying it's "like Angel," or "like the X-Files" really isn't very revealing. In SOME ways, it's like Gunsmoke. Or Bless This House.

    I won't give Torchwood a 10/10. Yet. It could be tighter... I have the feeling the first season meandered just a bit. But considering the oddly discordant tone it's trying to hit, that's hardly surprising. It would be even more surprising if the show was able to attract more than a cult following. What does seem ironic is that the cult followings of other, genetically-similar shows such as Doctor Who seem largely unable to appreciate this one. Sci-fi and fantasy used to be about shedding one's preconceptions... now they're cults with preconceptions of their own.

    To me, that only adds to the attraction. Torchwood isn't 'like' Doctor Who, or any previous show, in tone, style, pace or perspective. But it has the same essence... the same willingness to take chances, to forge a new myth unlike any other that's gone before. Even if it stumbles a bit at the start, I can't wait to see where it's going.
    9marcw_w

    Try watching past the first episode before commenting!

    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.
    8gfw_gigan

    Signifigant rise in quality

    I hated the first season of Torchwood, because it lied. It promised to be a dark sci-fi series for adults. All it was was a show that pretended to be adult, with kisses and swears, but felt like a sillier show than Doctor Who, which is a great show, but Torchwood is supposed to be darker.

    But then the second season started. The quality of drama and script and even acting skyrocketed. I suggest seeing it. At least, now I do. And the kisses and swears suddenly feel like they belong. I had some issues with the effects of the episode Meat, but the script for it was about perfect.

    I only take off stars because of the crud first season.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who". When the first series of Doctor Who (2005) was being made, television pirates were desperate to acquire the preview tapes. One of the people in the office had the idea of labeling the tapes with the anagram "Torchwood" rather than "Doctor Who", as a security measure to disguise the tapes when they were delivered from Cardiff to London. Writer Russell T. Davies liked this idea so much that it later inspired him to use it as a title when creating this spin-off series.
    • Quotes

      Captain Jack Harkness: [voiceover during first season opening] Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Tracking down alien life on Earth, arming the human race against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes. And you gotta be ready.

    • Alternate versions
      As this series was released in Spain before Doctor Who, the translation modifies some mayor canon facts in order to make them understandable for the audience. Because of that, the Doctor is always referenced as "Doctor Who" and Cybermen are called Cyborgs. No dubbing actors repeated their roles in both series. Some other modifications were also made when Doctor Who (1963) was first broadcast in Castilian Spanish.
    • Connections
      Featured in Screenwipe: Review of the Year (2006)

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    FAQ28

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    • Why the name Torchwood?
    • When was Torchwood created?
    • Why was Torchwood created?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 12, 2007 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • BBC (United Kingdom)
      • BBC - Torchwoood.org (United Kingdom)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Torchwood: Children of Earth
    • Filming locations
      • Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff, Wales, UK
    • Production companies
      • BBC Wales
      • Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
      • BBC Worldwide Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1
      • 16:9 HD

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