Torchwood Discussion – “Everything Changes / Day One / The Ghost Machine”

Three episodes have aired in the BBC so far. Should I bother watching it when it comes to Canada?

9 replies on “Torchwood Discussion – “Everything Changes / Day One / The Ghost Machine””

    • Re: So so

      I saw the first two episodes. The show is so-so.

      I have now seen Episode Three and it’s gone from "so-so" (Tivo it and watch it when nothing else is recorded) to "ok" (It will be watched, but after new episodes of BSG, Grey’s Anatomy, DHw, Doctor Who, Mythbusters and at least two weekly B5 episodes[dvd not tivo].)

  1. Brief review
    First off is no one reviewing these episodes? We did have someone doing Doctor Who, didn’t we?

    On with me ‘what can I remember over lunch’ review.

    First episode: okay.
    Second episode: better.
    Third episode: better still.
    Overview: At least it’s getting better.

    I’m holding out hope, this series is improving, finding it’s feet (hey, we’re Men in Black in Cardiff!). The first episode was… corny and predictable (an RTD episode) but the second was better. Somehow I appreciated they got the ‘creature takes you over and wants sex’ thing out the way. Third epsode was better still. I liked the moment where she used the device to remember happier times in her own house. It kinda worked for me. Though.. does everyone borrow technology from work?

    Personally I can’t wait until next. Cyberwoman… This could be interesting. Speaking of which, I really am hating the previews – they really give a fale impression of the episode.

  2. Torchwood so far is fun if not stellar
    As a Yank, I like its relatively unhindered sense of humor (using alien sex pheromones to break up a confrontation by sparking a guy/guy liplock? Nice!) As a NewWhovian, I rejoice at the return of Captain Jack Harkness, who (as one of his coworkers puts it) "will shag anything if it’s gorgeous enough."

    The show does seem a bit confused about whether it’s mining Who backstory/universe, or whether it wants to just break out on its own. Given the presence of Cap’n Jack and the nature of the show’s origin, it’s difficult to see how they can avoid interacting with Dr. Who going forward – especially since Davies & Co. have admitted that budgetary constraints will see the Doctor on Earth fairly frequently. If they don’t have crossover, given that, the handwaving will be too much to bear.

    What might carry the show, for me, is the nature of its delving into stuff that Doctor Who tends to treat as a mystery or puzzle and then toss aside into the slipstream. Whenever the Doctor & Co. run across some really neato bit of tech or history ‘out there’ which serves to advance a story, I can’t help but wonder ‘what would that do to us here on Earth?’ or ‘What would *I* do with that?’ or even ‘Why in heck did someone build that?’ Well, Torchwood has the potential to be the show whose purpose is to actually follow up on and answer those throwaway questions.

    SLIGHT SPOILER BITS FOLLOW:
    I’m not entirely sure if they’re going to escape the typical ‘I’m having a secret life’ plot arcs. Gwen is confusing to me, as she just doesn’t seem to have the ‘Holy cow, it’s a what and does what? COOL!’ attitude that the job would seem to either require or produce. Using her as a ‘grounding’ device, keeping the crew centered on ‘real humanity’s problems’ and the like – that could get old. I don’t care about humanity, I want to know where the glowing purple thing came from, why it makes things explode, and why on earth it has a penchant for cups of orange pekoe tea!

    Still, the very offhandedness with which the alien and different is tossed into an otherwise geekily stressed working environment alone makes for potential for much lightheartedness in the flow.

    "What…what’s that?"

    "Pterodactyl. You coming?"

    I’m still looking forward to new episodes. And I want a Land Rover like theirs, man.

  3. I’ve enjoyed what I have seen so far
    I know the episodes are the same length, but episodes of Torchwood seem longer than episodes of Doctor Who, and I really don’t feel compelled to go back and re-watch them.

    It’s a decent enough program, and it’s certainly starting better than other spin-offs I can name (Enterprise, for example) but episode two had me fearing a British version of Lexx … The whole "we can all snog whoever we want because it’s after nine o’clock" thing will wear thin, quickly.

    In the first two episodes I have seen enough same-sex kisses to let me know we’re not watching an American show (the big BBC3 logo in the upper left hand corner and the Queen’s English had already clued me in.) I don’t watch a lot of British programming, but because Britain is more mature in dealing with same-sex issues than my own country I suspect most other British shows simply deal with the whole subject in a matter of fact fashion: "some do, some don’t, and who really cares anyways, we don’t need it in every episode just to prove we’re not Americans. We do it as it is needed to develop a character or move a plot forward."

    Coming from a country where same sex kisses are announced two episodes in advance with the participants doing talk and news shows to declare their orientation and the networks running "mature subject matter" disclaimers before the controversial scene, Britain’s approach seems quite commendible, and much more sensible to me.

    So why did/does a same-sex kiss seem to be required for character devlopment? The only Torchwood staffers so far who don’t seem to be bisexual are the Japanese girl and the clean-up guy. Torchwood would seem to be one "swinging" place. :)

    Again, I don’t mind the more mature subject matter and I certainly don’t mind watching attractive people doing sexy things to one another, but every episode? This is a sci fi show, isn’t it? :)

    Back to the shows themselves, there’s decent continuity, and I like the way Captain Jack has referenced the Doctor, keeping the Doctor’s severed hand in a jar, using some of the time vortex energy to pacify the alien sex-gas-cloud-thingie. On an article linked to from John Barrowman’s web site there is talk of him being signed to appear in season three of Doctor Who, and we know that some day there will be a crossover with the Doctor appearing on Torchwood.

    I enjoy the show, it has a lot of promise, but let’s get on with the sci fi part and tone down the sexiness. It may just be me, but I suspect we don’t need "Footballer’s Wives in the Time Rift." :)

    -Joe

  4. If you like to see men kissing…
    … this is just the show to wathch!

    (I’m surprised they didn’t call it Hardwood ;-)

    • Re: If you like to see men kissing…

      … this is just the show to wathch!

      Perfect! ;-) I did break down and fire up a torrent client the other day and downloaded them. Watched the first one, with these comments:

      1. What is with that *really <unprintable> annoying* logo!? Sheesh! There were a number of times it obliterated the face of the person talking. The American ones are bad enough, but at least they don’t disrupt the show for the most part.

      2. Loved the line "well, if it makes it easier" ;-)

      3. Although Ep1 was a little slow, it was clearly all setup. It could have been a little less so, but as long as the rest start picking up the story, it should be ok. Very clearly a MIB ripoff though, or "Special Unit Cardiff" (I liked that show too)

      4. The same sex stuff isn’t really surprising given that Russell Davies is the one who did Queer As Folk and John Barrowman is openly gay. I’m pretty sure Davies is too. Even in Torchwood though, compare the same sex material count with the het material in any other show that has any sexuality at all, and you’ll see it’s relatively non-existant. It’s just unusual, so it stands out. It was also expected, given Capn Jack’s character intro in Dr Who…

      5. Where can I find some of that spray? ;-)

      • Re: If you like to see men kissing…

        5. Where can I find some of that spray? ;-)

        I’d go for some of that myself. :P

        -Joe

  5. not bad
    I’ve liked it so far (including "Cyberwoman", mostly). "The Ghost Machine" is probably the best so far, and I’m looking forward to next week’s (psychotic fairies ;)). I don’t have very many things on my must-watch-ASAP list at the moment, but it’s there. John Barrowman will be in, at the very least, the two-part finale for Who (confirmed) – himself has said "three or four". It’s been pretty strongly hinted that series 3’s double-banked ep will have him in it.

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