Anyone seen Torchwood?

Has it lived up to the hype? Is it a worthy spin-off of Doctor Who?

I watched it. The short answer (as I see it) is that it showed much [as yet] unrealised potential, and was slightly underwhelming. I'm hopeful that things may pick up, though.

A longer answer might include the following points:


It was very much a case of style over substance. Everything looked nice and glossy, but the plots failed to deliver - the first episode, simply because nothing much happened, and what did happen was poorly plotted; the second, because the plot was so utterly banal. Far from being "adult", the second episode looked more as though some spotty, hormonal adolescent had been given a typewriter and told to write TV. The two episodes in general seemed pretty much like Doctor Who, in many respects, but with swearing and some embarrassingly bad sex scenes, which were only a step away from being like those seen in Casanova.
Whilst the aerial shots looked rather spiffy, showing off Cardiff pretty well and lending a sense that some money had been spent on this, they were greatly overused. Captain Jack seems to like standing on the top of buildings for no other reason than to give an impressive shot (you may have noticed from the trailer that they'd managed to find the only building in Wales that looks like a kid's drawing of a cock, and made John Barrowman stand on top of it).
If you haven't watched it yet, I'm not going to give anything away, but I will say that both episodes have big plot holes (the second not helped by the fact its a stupid plot in the first place). For example: Torchwood's status as a secret organisation seems to fluctuate according to whatever's required of the plot. Sometimes it is (so why are they riding around in a Range Rover that looks as though it's been on Pimp My Ride!?), and sometimes it isn't (in which case, why do they think they are?).

Despite this, I did enjoy both episodes as disposable, non-taxing entertainment. I liked the more realistic photography - there was a real sense that weird shit may indeed be happening in the real world. Captain Jack is as likeable as he was in Doctor Who (with John Barrowman putting in typically good performances), and here there's very much a continuation of his story post-Parting of the Ways. The Doctor Who references were sprinkled through, ranging from the clever to somewhat forced and unnecessary. I like the regular cast, despite the minimal roles most of them have played so far, and can see potential for character development for them. All in all, not great so far, but not bad enough to dissuade me from watching further.

And for anyone who missed it the first time, or doesn't have BBC3, the first two episodes are being repeated on BBC2 in fifteen minutes.

I'm yet to decide, but I can say with relative certainty it's better than 'K9 and Friends' :)

ANYTHING is better than K9 & Company!

Last night's was much better, and bodes well for Helen Raynor's Series 3 Doctor Who story. I can't remember much about it, though, since I was drunk at the time of watching. I do remember that it featured Gareth Thomas playing a rapist, or some other sexual deviant, which was a nice touch - his titular character in Blake's 7 was framed as a rapist, and this, that and the other, and here he played someone who really was.

I've also decided that "the Rift" is the gap between Gwen's teeth.

I watched the first couple of episodes of the series when it premiered. I wasn't bowled over but I did like it more than Dr. Who. Apart from Capt. Jack the cast generally pissed me off.

For me, there wasn't much hype for it. I think I only knew about it a week before it aired, gave it a try but I don't think i'll watch it again soon.

I liked K-9 and Friends and found it to be a decent spinoff pilot for a series that would have probably gotten better had it been given more time. I live in the states and have yet to see Torchwood or the Sarah Jane Adventures but will eventually buy them on DVD but I am waiting for US releases instead of importing.

Well, Torchwood was a massive disappointment. Peurile in the extreme, it claimed to be an 'adult' drama, but was pretty much how Scooby Doo would be, if it was written by some spotty, over-hormonal teenager. Being responsible for this stream of juevenile tossery, Chris Chibnall was lucky to keep his fingers at the end of it all, let alone be let loose on an episode of Doctor Who. Some weird sex gas feeding on 'orgasmic energy' (whatever the **** that is); a 'sexy' Cyberwoman, complete with plastic bra and thong; a bunch of mindless (and apparently motiveless) cannibals, and; what I can only describe as the Chewits Monster (you know, the dinosaur thing in those old Chewits adverts, skating around London on doubledeckers for rollerskates, to the tune of 'I like to chew it, chew it... I like to chew it, chew it... CHEW IT!'), this truly was a catalogue of cretinism.