Torchwood
Having just finished watching the first series of Torchwood and also viewed the extras on the first DVD of Torchwood (first of three double disc DVD’s), I thought I would put down my opinions, views and anything else that crawls into my brain while my fingers are typing.
Having been mentioned in several episodes of the most recent series of Doctor Who, Torchwood is the spin off for those who wanted to have the aliens, the mystery and the thrills but with a little more of an adult spin on it. Ok, a much more adult spin, with foul language, sex and more violence than seen in several series of Doctor Who.
To begin with, Torchwood is set in Cardiff, Wales, rather than changing location each episode. It is the name of the organization that covertly investigates anything alien-like, with the power to take over any investigations by the police or anyone.
The main characters in Torchwood are:
Captain Jack Harkness – Captain Jack (not Captain Jack Sparrow) had featured in several episodes of Doctor Who already when Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor. He leads a mixed team of experts who deal with a rift in time that runs through Cardiff. A mysterious man with a hidden past, he leads the team with intelligence compassion and often with knowledge that only he has.
Gwen Cooper – A police woman who encounters Torchwood tries to track down who and what they are.
Owen Harper – A doctor with Torchwood who on the surface is brash, confident and more than a little arrogant.
Toshiko Sato – The resident Torchwood computer wiz. She is quiet, unassuming but knows her job inside and out.
Ianto – An Alfred like character to the Batman of Torchwood.
Torchwood wastes no time letting everyone know that this isn’t your fathers Doctor Who. The first episode dealt with murder and the temporary reserection of the dead. Throw in some swearing, sex, same sex kissing, and alien tech and you have the first episode of a show that changes everything about television science fiction shows.
The second episode has a sex monster which is always fun, and following episodes featured such plot lines as a machine that lets you look into the past, a cyberwoman (a left over from the recent series of Doctor Who), faries, cannibalistic yokels, lesbian alien convict with a mind reading pendant, reserection, a fan of Torchwood, time travel, violence, oh, and a lessor known demon.
Its a crazy mixture of everyday life with science fiction. With the writing team that was involved in Queer as Folk, there is some expected same sex, erm sex, with nearly everyone having at least kissed someone of the same sex. With the exception of a seriously big kiss in episode 12, the kisses are not anything other than a kiss. I am sure that there are going to be some homophobics who will freak out but grown ups shouldn’t have a problem with some same sex tongue hockey.
The language perhaps stands out a little more than the sex, as it is a little unexpected for a television show, not on HBO, to contain the F word nearly every episode. It isn’t overused and does feel natural when used but still takes a little getting used to.
Torchwood is very different to any other science fiction television shows out there. Its real in many more ways than it is sci fi. It has a great cast, including the omni-sexual Captain Jack Harkness played by John Barrowman and with a brilliant writing team that also are involved in Doctor Who, the stories are strong and enjoyable.
After being such a Doctor Who fan for so many years, Torchwood is a big jump and one that perhaps not everyone will embrace, which will be a shame as this is a realistic show that takes the best of science fiction and makes it if not believeable, at least almost believeable.
