Torchwood is a spin off from Doctor Who. The marketing strategy is pretty clear: the BBC created one spin off for younger viewers (the Sarah Jane Chronicles) and this one for more adult viewers. Torchwood has much more sex and plenty of gore. Characters from Doctor Who move back and forth between the two series, with the lead being Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). He leads a secret unit (Torchwood) set up by Queen Victoria to save the world from aliens. The first two seasons are enjoyable, and occasionally very good, but the third season — Children of Earth — is something special. It is a five-part miniseries, shown on five consecutive nights, dealing with a single alien threat. It is some of the best British drama I have seen in a while. If you get BBC America, look for it starting July 20th.
Saw a relatively creepy trailer for this before Bruno. I’m in! Do I need to know anything about “Doctor Who” or early “Torchwood” seasons to follow the miniseries?
Seriously? Since when does BBC America advertise at the multiplex? Are you sure it wasn’t a trailer for District 9 (which looks interesting)?
In any case, you don’t need to know anything about Doctor Who to enjoy the miniseries (there are a couple of opaque references). As for Torchwood, even there you can follow it without much background. All you need to know is:
1) Captain Jack Harkness is immortal (courtesy of a Doctor Who episode three years back). And that means really immortal. Even when his head and shoulder are all that survive an explosion, he recovers. It’s pretty gross.
2) The Torchwood Institute was set up more than a hundred years ago to save the earth from aliens. Jack Harkness is the latest head of the Torchwood unit in Cardiff (Wales). But he has been around for 150 years (what with being immortal and all), and traveled in time, so his experience of aliens goes well beyond Torchwood. Note: BBC Cardiff produces Doctor Who and Torchwood, hence all the Welsh locales and accents.
3) Jack Harkness is bisexual, with a preference for men. He is involved with Ianto Jones, one of the Torchwood people, though he also had an affair with Gwen Cooper, another Torchwood principal. This makes it sound more like General Hospital than it really is.
4) At the end of season 2 (this miniseries constitutes series 3), two of the five members of Torchwood were killed, so there is already a sense of foreboding hanging over the team as the miniseries begins.
5) TV always depicts Britain as ruled by civil servants. This is crucial to enjoying the miniseries.
Well, it wasn’t a “proper” trailer but one of those pre-trailers ads that are bound up in a twenty minute loop of entertainment news, etc. Regal used to call it “The Twenty.” I’m not sure what AMC calls it. I call it killing time so I can guarantee myself a decent seat. Anyway, creepy kids who may or may not be aliens are involved in malevolent doings only Simon Pegg could appreciate. I’m pretty sure that’s what I remember. Thanks for the mini-primer. I’ll tune in for sure.
I’m watching . . . it’s a bit daffy, but I’m holding steady. I have not, however, been keeping up a daily viewing schedule (thank you DVR). But come on Chris! You and your brood haven’t seen the new Potter and are not willing to chime in on the craptacular excesses of Watchmen? I know you’ve been there (unless, of course, you’re in some remote land doing research.
Honestly, I have not seen Watchmen (and I’m not anxious after your review), and I’m going to see Potter with the brood today (I was attending a conference in an exotic locale, not to be mentioned for fear of upsetting Gio, when it opened).
What amazes me is that no one has seen Public Enemies.
I’m spending my time watching season 2 of Mad Men on DVD.
What is left of the summer to look forward to? District 9 and Inglorious Basterds.
Oh–I saw Public Enemies. Shit, didn’t I post something? It wasn’t bad, wasn’t great. I was most interested in the use of digital film, its pros/cons.
Mad Men! Great show. I have this Torchwood thing on order from our library.
As to the rest of the summer, I’d add: The Hurt Locker (already here, and Jeff & I plan to see it), Funny People (maybe), Park Chan-Wook’s Thirst.
I also saw Public Enemies but didn’t think there was much to say about it. The most remarkable thing was a gunfight at a cabin, which demonstrated Mann’s fluidity and worked as a sort of homage to the brilliant extended fight in Bonnie and Clyde , though the overall film lacks depth and turns into an increasingly conventional love story.
“Mad Men” season two is excellent; better even than the first.
Yeah, Public Enemies, the girl (pretty as she is) stops the film in its tracks every time she enters the frame. I can’t for life of me figure out why she was even in the film. I did like some of the stuff on loyalty and honor among men and the way advances in technology (here represented by the rise of the FBI and organized crime) were erasing such “old fashioned” fealties. Of course, the irony is that Mann’s use of digital technology produces an unintended layer of irony? Maybe? A 21st century rumination on nostalgia? There were some nice sequences, but it felt as if Arthur Penn covered this territory four decades ago. That being said, I was never bored.
Speaking of “Torchwood” – I’m pleased to note episodes two and three get better.
We come late to the game, but this just popped up on dvd at our library, and we watched the first episode–and damn! Very fun and sharp.
I recently tried to reboot my interest in Doctor Who, and watched a few episodes with Eccleston. They were fine, but they didn’t have the hooks ye olde Doctor had, and I’m not sure I ever would have given this a look without your rec, Chris. Thanks. Are the other seasons this strong?
Mind you, it’s odd seeing Peter Capaldi as (so far) a fairly meek civil servant, as last night Jeff and I saw him bellowing about lubricated horse cocks as Malcolm Tucker in the (to me) quite funny In The Loop. More on that later.
Torchwood is always uneven. Even in this mini-series episode 3 lags a little, while 4 and 5 are great. But the earlier two seasons are even more hit and miss because there is no overarching storyline, so it depends on the episode. I like season 2 a lot, particularly the second half. It ends very strongly. You get much more background on Jack, there is some continuity between episodes, and a couple of his team come right to the forefront.
I found the Eccleston series of Doctor Who good, but not great. If you have time on your hands, I do strongly recommend seasons 2 and 3 of the new sequence. Season two has the new doctor, played by David Tennant, and Rose remains as companion. Several strong episodes (including the one that creates Captain Jack’s immortality), and the two part ending is just superb: Daleks, Cybermen, and some heartbreaking scenes involving Rose and the Doctor.
Season three is the strongest so far. David Tennant remains as Doctor and Martha Jones appears as the companion. It is chock full of wonderful episodes including ‘Blink’, ‘Family of Blood’ and a three part ending with John Sims as The Master. Fucking great. I own all these series, and I’m happy to share.
Season four was not so good, and Catherine Tate joins the cast as the new companion. However this Red Nose day sketch involving David Tennant and Catherine Tate is hysterical: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A
Speaking of Eccleston, I’ll post my review of G.I. Joe later today. The kids have refused to see it, so I’m going to tell them we are watching The Hangover and then hang on tight to the popcorn when the movie starts.
Liar! You never posted on it, did you?
It sucks. Or, wait: that’s imprecise. It’s too boring to suck. Lots of stuff blows up, but it’s all so cheaply cgi-ed that it verges on the cartoonish, and I found the action sequences loud and rubbery and vague. Combustible, but no heat. Further, no one (except maybe Eccleston) ever vamps and struts like they’re in a cartoon.
I did watch a great movie the night before (Ballast), and need to post on it and on Il Divo, which I liked quite a bit, too.
But instead I watched Joe.
I’m a double liar ‘cos I never even saw the movie. My kids point-blank refused. We are going to do a family trip to see lots of stuff blow up in ‘2012’ this weekend, so maybe I’ll rent Joe for comparison.
just watched the first two episodes of torchwood courtesy netflix’s instant play. i enjoyed them a lot and look forward to working through the series slowly. so far, it’s a less portentous, low-budget x-files–all monster of the week, no ridiculous conspiracy; all tongue in cheek, no mythology. on the other hand, it doesn’t have mulder/scully or the cigarette smoking man. but it’s good fun, even if i keep thinking how much better it would be with nathan fillion as jack harkness
episode 3: the acting is comically bad. does this aspect of the show improve?