bbc three-related stories
Posted Jan 3rd 2007 9:01PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC
(S01E12 / S01E13) I really only have one minor complaint about this end-of-season double-bill of
Torchwood, and it's barely worth mentioning.
For a debut season of a large budget sci-fi show on the BBC, scheduled late in a poor slot on a digital channel with limited viewers and decidedly adult themes, strong language and graphic violence, this show succeeded where so many others fail miserably.
And it achieved its success by giving viewers a taste of something usually only witnessed in much higher-profile shows, such as its big sister show
Doctor Who; originality.
Continue reading Torchwood: Captain Jack Harkness / End of Days (season finale)
Posted Dec 27th 2006 12:02PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC
(S01E11) The first rule of
Torchwood is, you do not talk about
Torchwood.
The second rule of
Torchwood is, you should steal plots from other movies and TV shows, but do so in such a way that it feels compelling and relatively original.
The third rule of
Torchwood is, make sure you throw something in at the very end which knocks everything out of balance and makes the show even more of an interesting prospect for the series finale.
Continue reading Torchwood: Combat
Posted Dec 19th 2006 1:09PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC
(S01E10) Imagine this: you suddenly find yourself accidentally transported 50 years into the future with absolutely no hope of getting back to where you belong.
It would be great, wouldn't it? All that new technology, fashion changes, a better lifestyle? A whole new world to explore?
Don't be so stupid.
It would be awful. And this week's episode of
Torchwood proved it.
Continue reading Torchwood: Out of Time
Posted Dec 14th 2006 2:02PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC
(S01E09) It's been a fairly bumpy ride with
Torchwood in recent weeks, what with Sam Raimi-style plots one week, and maniacal robots the next, only to be followed by sexually deviant aliens and sub-dimensional pixies.
However, this week's episode 'Random Shoes' was a series-stealer, on a parallel with the classic
X-Files episode featuring the late Peter Boyle,
Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose.
I can honestly say I almost had a tear in my eye towards the end; certainly, my wife was sniveling in the corner, rubbing her eyes and producing a heart-warming smile at this decidedly down-to-earth story of a young lad who simply needed some direction in life.
Continue reading Torchwood: Random Shoes
Posted Dec 5th 2006 9:06AM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, BBC, Sci Fi
(S01E8) To explain the origins of this week's fantastic episode of
Torchwood, we need to go all the way back to episode one (
"Everything Changes") and the resurrection glove employed in the opening act, which not only revived the dead for brief spells, but also brought about the death of a Torchwood member.
The important thing to remember is that this is science-fiction folks, and the dead don't sleep for long when technology such as a metal gauntlet which can raise stiffs exists -- even if it's only for a minute or two.
And especially if it's a former member of the Torchwood team.
Continue reading Torchwood: They Keep Killing Suzie
Posted Nov 28th 2006 11:33AM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC
(S01E07) Let's face it folks, sex sells.
You might not like it, and you especially might not fancy it where sci-fi is concerned -- but
Torchwood seems to thrive on the notion that adult audiences fancy a bit of girl-on-girl action in order to reel in the numbers for a show which would otherwise probably only attract nerdy types with unkempt facial hair and poor personal hygiene.
Oh, sure, it certainly gets your attention in the trailers, but it often seems an unnecessary -- and
Torchwood is no exception -- but for once, the steamy action formed a genuine part of the central plot (which probably owed more to M. Night Shaymalan's
Unbreakable than anything else).
Continue reading Torchwood: Greeks Bearing Gifts
Posted Nov 20th 2006 9:04PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, BBC, Horror
(S01E06) Well, didn't I make a big mistake in sitting down to watch the latest episode of
Torchwood all by myself, late in the evening?
Why didn't I just wait until my wife was ready to watch it with me, so that she could reassure me that the doors and windows rattling around the house was just the wind playing tricks on my mind?
But no, I just
had to sit and watch it all by myself. I was too impatient.
And now I don't think I'll get to sleep tonight.
Or tomorrow night, for that matter.
Continue reading Torchwood: Countrycide
Posted Nov 13th 2006 9:03PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, OpEd, BBC
(S01E5) It's difficult not to find yourself comparing
Torchwood with the
X-Files, since both shows investigate paranormal happenings, alien sightings and other 'unexplained' activity.
And while I could never put my hand on my heart and say Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper come anywhere near the quality of Mulder and Scully, I'm starting to feel that
Torchwood is capable of hitting much higher notes when it comes to the fear and terror factor, bringing slightly more of an edge to its so-called adult theme.
"Small Worlds" was one of those episodes where the comparisons to the
X-Files couldn't have been more obvious -- the 1996
X-Files episode "Paper Hearts," with Tom Noonan and 'Invocation' from 2000 both immediately came to mind.
Continue reading Torchwood: Small Worlds
Posted Nov 7th 2006 8:01PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC, Torchwood
(S01E04) Who would be a pizza delivery girl in Cardiff?
Now that I'm up to date with all of the recent episodes of
Torchwood which seem to have piled up on my Sky+ box, I think I can safely say that I'm enjoying this show much more than I did a few weeks ago.
The most recent episode to air in the UK, 'Cyberwoman', set a new standard for this much-confused series, allowing the viewer to settle in and enjoy some traditional
Doctor Who-style sci-fi with a bit more edge, gore and excitement than we would normally experience from our favorite time-traveling Gallifreyan.
Continue reading Torchwood: Cyberwoman
Posted Nov 6th 2006 7:49PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, BBC, Torchwood
(S01E03) If you were unaware that you were watching
Torchwood, you would have been easily forgiven for thinking you were watching an episode of
The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Tales of the Unexpected, The X-Files -- or any one of the above.
So mainstream and straightforward was the theme of this episode, it could have easily slotted in to the schedule of
Lost, Star Trek or
Battlestar Galactica, with a few minor character adjustments and a lick of fresh paint on the set.
Despite this, it managed to set itself apart from last week's dreadful mess with some simple science-fiction of the time-traveling kind.
Continue reading Torchwood: Ghost Machine
Posted Oct 30th 2006 7:34PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, OpEd, BBC, Torchwood
(S01E02) This could have quite easily been the first episode of
Torchwood, so quickly was the viewer thrown into the action.
Chuck in some backflash references introducing our main characters; Captain Jack Harkness from the recent series
Doctor Who, along with his team of
Torchwood operatives, and our central character Gwen Cooper, the ex-cop who takes on the vacant position with a gang of supernatural alien hunters.
And we're done.
A two-hour special would probably have wrapped it all up nicely, but Russell T Davies decided to split things up, especially since this week's episode was more about setting up the adult theme of the entire series than giving viewers a decent run at the characters involved.
Continue reading Torchwood: Day One
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