AUTHORS NOTE: This review contains SPOILERS.
Also, whilst I do try and give my first impressions of a show the day after it premiers in the UK, I deliberately waited a couple of days before doing this review as I was so pissed off that I decided to wait a couple of days because I wanted to make sure this review was more constructive and less like a rant. Let’s hope I tried.
Anyway, here is my first impressions of...
Torchwood was created as a spin off series to the latest Doctor Who series. It was first mentioned in the second series (that is the first series to include David Tenant), started by Queen Victoria to help counter alien threats. It was the recurring theme of the series and Doctor Who would eventually meet up with Torchwood at the end of the series – which would systematically be destroyed in a battle with the Cybermen and the Daleks (a battle that no doubt made all the fanboys and girls wet themselves). It would then go onto to be it’s own standalone series, with Captain Jack Harkness (a loveable time travelling rogue also introduced in the new series – now immortal due to events at the end of first series), set in the Cardiff base of Torchwood.
To be honest, Torchwood was very hit and miss at the start. The first series, to be honest, had more bad episodes than good as it couldn’t really make up its mind whether it wanted to be a really dark drama, or a teen romance. Also many of the characters, I thought, were quite unlikeable – even Jack Harkness himself was a bit of a prick! However, even the bad episodes had some entertaining value to them. By the second series the episodes became tighter and the characters a lot more likeable; and it had a real cool feel to it that made it stand out amongst most series. As for the third (mini) series... all I can say is DAMN! I have never seen a series that was so bleak and dark, but so well written. It pretty much ended with Torchwood being destroyed and all but a few of the main characters being killed off.
So anyway, after a brief hiatus, Torchwood is back. Cause for excitement? Well, the first thing we’ve noticed is that this series of Torchwood is produced by Starz entertainment, who gave us Spartacus Blood and Sand and Camelot (and I think you guys know from my previous reviews what I thought of that show). Also, they seemed to have moved the location from Wales to America. Ok, alarm bells starting to ring here. But, we have Russell T Davies involved with the project, who originally created the series. And if he can transpose series like Queer as Folk over to the USA than maybe this may not be so bad. Ok, I’ll give this show a chance.
Set a few months after the events of Torchwood series 3, Torchwood survivor Gwen Cooper (one of my favourite characters) and her husband Reese are living in hiding out in Wales, with their baby daughter Anwen. Reese trying to get Gwen to move on so that they can live their family life, but Gwen has trouble adapting to her new life. Captain Jack, though, is missing.
In America, Oswald Dane, a paedophile rapist (played, surprisingly, by Hollywood heartthrob Bill Pullman), is about to be executed for – well, being a paedophile rapist. The execution happens and... he doesn’t die. But that’s just the start. Around the world, no one dies. People are shot, stabbed, poisoned, etc. But no one dies. Everyone has become immortal! How has this happened? No one knows. So this is a good thing, right? Well, not really. If no one dies, then they work out that the world will be overpopulated in just a matter of months, potentially throwing the world into chaos.
Meanwhile, the CIA are investigating files into the mysterious Torchwood, which has seemed to have been erased from all computer systems. During this, Captain Jack returns. The CIA eventually are able to bring Gwen and Reese over to USA, and so begins the new series of Torchwood, Miracle Day.
And, that’s about it. Seriously, that’s all that happens in this episode. It’s just people talking about Torchwood and Miracle Day and that’s it. It’s one of the slowest opening episodes I’ve seen in a while. I know they have to establish the problem for the series, but if you remember back to the first episode of Doctor Who in 2005, that was full of action and thrust you right into the problem. It meant that they could work in the backstory of the character, but still have enough action to be entertaining. Here, it’s just exposition, exposition, exposition. It makes the episode very slow and honestly, I found myself getting bored halfway through.
Now, we move onto another problem I have, the overall style of the show. Clearly, this series was remade for the American audience and as such they’ve changed a lot of the aspects to make it look American. Now, I have no problem with that, however, here’s my point – Torchwood was already popular in the states (well, it had a fan following), why would you need to change it? Honestly, this episode feels more like an establishing episode for a completely new series rather than a continuation. Also, in the process, I think Torchwood has lot of lot of the things that made it a stand out show before. For all its faults, Torchwood had its own distinct style to it, it was dark, humourous, sexy, cool and entertaining. Also, it dealt with some very adult themes and moral issues that most other sci-fi shows don’t really go into. All this added together to make Torchwood unique and stand out above most “cookie-cutter” sci-fi shows. But now, it feels more like a generic science fiction show.
But I think the biggest complaint I have about the show is the overall theme of the series. The concept of no one on Earth being able to die is a great idea – for one episode, two at the most. But a whole series? I honestly think this was a big mistake and I can see this plot getting old very quickly – with maybe a few plot holes starting to open.
One final thing I have to mention, and this is more a nitpick but I’ll say it anyway – WHEN DID GWEN COOPER BECOME FRIGGIN’ RAMBO??? Like I said, she was one of my favourite characters in Torchwood and possibly one of the strongest female leads in TV. But, I’m sorry, when you see her shooting down a helicopter with a handgun, and then a bazooka – that totally takes away from the believability of her character. Yes, I know she’s a cop and she has knowledge in firearms – but she ain’t Segal! Clearly this was added in to appeal to the fans of Alias and Nikita – great shows in their own right, but this really doesn’t fit in with this show.
However, there is one good thing that I will say about this show. Bill Pullman is excellent as Oswald Dane. It’s a completely different part to the usual “hunky man” roles that he’s used to playing and he plays it with such chilling conviction, playing a sneaky, creepy man that knows how to manipulate the system. It’s always hard to play characters that are so evil and unlikeable and still make them interesting – but Pullman does it justice. Hopefully it will carry on like that.
SUMMARY:
For all the build up, I was ultimately left dry and disappointed. Making the show for the American audience was a move that was unnecessary as it was already familiar with American audiences in the first place. This has caused Torchwood to lose a lot of its coolness and made it more like a standard, by the numbers sci-fi series. I’m not saying it’s terrible, it’s not as good as it could be. And with Russell T Davies on the creative team, you wonder how it could have turned out this way. I'm guessing that he doesn't have as much creative control as I really doubt that such a talented writer could create something this generic.
Some diehard fans of Torchwood may get some enjoyment out of it, as will newcomers who have never seen it before. But for me, the story just doesn’t feel like it could last a whole series (and based on some later episode teasers, it doesn’t fill me with hope) and I fear this will just turn into a series that has a lot of explosions and no substance. To miss-quote a famous phrase, ‘it’s Torchwood Jim, but not as we know it.’
Agree? Disagree? Did I miss anything out? Let me know by leaving me a comment or sending me a mail.
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