Torchwood: Are we looking forward to it or not?

[Cthulouis]

It suddenly occured to me earlier that the severed hand in the bottle was the doctors hand from the Christmas special that fell over the side of the ship, which is a nice touch (especially since they didn't labour that point)

Aside from that, the jury is still out. I agree with most points rasied against it, but despite this still think its worth giving it a chance.

[wrighty47]

Personally I thought Sunday was a great tv night.

Royal Family was superb, tho of course the "death" was obvious from the start, although that didn't spoil the impact of the show. Like PVS said, comebacks very rarely work, but this was just everything it should be. A genuine classic show!

Torchwood, I thought was very good this week. Had a "Life on Mars" feel to it (probably down to the subject matter), did anyone notice who wrote this episode? I'll tell you one thing I noticed tho. I don't remember one bit of swearing in the episode, proving that adult shows don't have to have bad language to get across, and also dispelling some of my reservations of the first two episodes. Now very much looking forward to next weeks!

Alan!

[Bad Andy]

Last night was the first one I had seen. And probably the last. It's rubbish.

Whoever did the casting needs to be shot. For these types of shows it really helps to get a really good looking woman to draw people in. The lead is no oil painting.

To compound that - She can't friggin' act.

Why is there sexual tension between Cpt Jack and Welshie bird anyway? Was this explained in the first two episodes?

It felt like a Sci-fi episode of Hustle without any of the charm or the humour.


Am I being overly harsh? I realise I have come in on the third episode.

[wrighty47]

I think Eve Myles is "well fit" and a superb actress, so obviously I ain't gonna agree with you at all. I thought much of the casting was spot on, especially Barrowman & Myles, and most of the support cast was much better this time round.

The sexual tension is a developing thread in the show.

Never seen Hustle so can't comment, but given the subject matter of last night's Torchwood, I for one wasn't expecting a comedy, but I did see loads of charm, especially in the scenes where Gwen relives some of her fondest memories with her boyfriend.

Answering my own question on writer, it was Helen Raynor.

And anyone else spot that the main baddie was played by Gareth (Blakes 7) Thomas?

Alan!

[Bad Andy]

Gwen relives some of her fondest memories with her boyfriend

I'd become bored and distracted by that point, so it might have had some charm in it that I'd missed.

I think Eve Myles is "well fit" and a superb actress

Are we talking about the same person?

[wrighty47]

Well I know I am. Guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

If you were bored by then, guess Torchwood isn't the show for you.

Alan!

[paulvonscott]

"And anyone else spot that the main baddie was played by Gareth (Blakes 7) Thomas?"

I was busy drunklypainting a model Avro 504K biplane (just in case watching Torchwood wasn't geeky enough) so it took a while to twig, but yeah good to see him.  Last time I saw him was on the last episode of series one of Randall and Hopkirk, which was my favourite episode of that show.

Torchwood really is a load of crap, but it's crap enough to be entertaining in a sort of swearing at the telly sort of a way.

Episode was by Helen (checks website) Rayner.  In many ways, a more compelling drama was possible and the Torchwood shite just got in the way.  X-Files meets Buffy is my revised opinion.

Boyfriend is still doomed.  Gwen will end up with no social life just like the rest.

For an adult spin off of Dr Who (still one of the worst ideas ever) all the use of sex, guns and swearing seems somehow more irrepsonisbile as it is still a kids show, aimed at kids.

[paulvonscott]

"And anyone else spot that the main baddie was played by Gareth (Blakes 7) Thomas?"

I was busy drunklypainting a model Avro 504K biplane (just in case watching Torchwood wasn't geeky enough) so it took a while to twig, but yeah good to see him.  Last time I saw him was on the last episode of series one of Randall and Hopkirk, which was my favourite episode of that show.

Torchwood really is a load of crap, but it's crap enough to be entertaining in a sort of swearing at the telly sort of a way.

Episode was by Helen (checks website) Rayner.  In many ways, a more compelling drama was possible and the Torchwood shite just got in the way.  X-Files meets Buffy is my revised opinion.

Boyfriend is still doomed.  Gwen will end up with no social life just like the rest.

For an adult spin off of Dr Who (still one of the worst ideas ever) all the use of sex, guns and swearing seems somehow more irrepsonisbile as it is still a kids show, aimed at kids.

[wrighty47]

"I was busy drunklypainting a model Avro 504K biplane"


Ah, so that's why you never like anything. You don't actually sit and watch them. Just look up occassionally and decide if you like what you see or not!  ;)

"just in case watching Torchwood wasn't geeky enough"

Is Doctor Who and Torchwood considered Geeky now? Aren't they both pretty mainstream? I know lots of non-sci-fi people that watch both shows.

"Torchwood really is a load of crap, but it's crap enough to be entertaining in a sort of swearing at the telly sort of a way"


You might change your mind if you actually sit and watch an episode!  ;p

Nope... gotta disagree. It's not the greatest thing ever, but I do think Torchwood is about the best show on tv at the moment (Royal Family specials and classic Avengers episodes notwithstanding). Still room for improvment but it is heading in the right direction at the moment.

"Boyfriend is still doomed. Gwen will end up with no social life just like the rest."

Oh... definitly. He could be wearing a red Star Trek shirt!

"For an adult spin off of Dr Who (still one of the worst ideas ever) all the use of sex, guns and swearing seems somehow more irrepsonisbile as it is still a kids show, aimed at kids"

Sort of agree here, although there were guns in Doctor Who (all those UNIT soldiers) and this week's was better for that fact there wasn't any swearing or sex (tho there was sexuality).

You can tell me to fuck off again now!  :)

Alan!

[paulvonscott]

Sorry Alan, I just have different views to you on this stuff. I expect something a lot better.

[DavidXBrunt]

Fuck off.

I really enjoyed that episode, and am enjoying the series.

Helen Raynor, in case people are wondering, was formerly a scripteditor on New Who.

[LARF]

â?¢ Gwen is foxy in a Scully type way

â?¢ The stories are pretty lame and there's more holes than a sieve which are plugged by really lame techno babble or passed off with some shallow jibe.

â?¢ But I like it and last nights episode was the best of the three so far.

â?¢ Not as good as the Royale family which had me in buckets

â?¢ At least it's not Robin Hood - which is crap.

[wrighty47]

Y'know Larf. I think you've put my thougts on Torchwood into words perfectly. The series can improve, I for one have never said it couldn't, but it is far from awful.

Alan!

[wrighty47]

Heh, I was just pulling your leg Paul(you'll get my sense of humour one day). You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, which is as valied as mine. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for others. As i've said before, Torchwood isn't perfect, but I do honestly believe it's the best British show currently on tv (and as I hate most U.S. stuff that's a big recommendation).

It's fastly paced, exciting, doesn't take itself too seriously, has humour, without mocking it's audience,and has charm and emotion. The show looks good and feels good, and the lead characters are engaging, at least for me. It is sci-fi drama for the mainstream(not series sci-fi, which wouldn't be watched by joe public), so unbelievable elements and situations are a given, and if they have to go down the old technobabble escape route oncee in a while, then fine by me. As I said, not perfect but it's far from crap.

IMHO obviously!  ;)

Alan!

[Leigh S]

Serious sci-fi and unbelievable elements arent  the only two (mutually exclusive) options available though.

You can have broad appeal and still have plots that are resolved satisfactorily,  and I think this is my main gripe with both this and Doctor Who.  

And its not so much the fact it happens week in week out, it's the fact that the production team seem wedded to the same belief as you express there, Wrighty - that to be popular you have to remove the brain of a series, and that Average Joe Cit doesnt care if the story falls apart on closer examination, so long as we've made the effort to tug his heartstrings.

Now you can tug my heartstrings all you like (see The Royle Family last night as a fine example), but thats your sole goal when you set out, and to achieve it, you'll sacrifice believability, then you won't wow this particular viewer.

If the storyline is paper thin, and/or a poor second to pushing emotional buttons then for my money, it's likely to be too manipulative and shallow in the end product.