Torchwood: Season 1

I hate shows like Dr. Who, and any really British action, suspense or comedy film really. The only reason I got all the seasons of this TV Series is because the main character is gay! And, that's pretty unheard of either in Britain, and especially in Hollywood!However, the show really surprised me, the writing was tolerable to good, the direction was acceptable to good, but the acting and character development was surprisingly excellent, most of the time anyway. Although a few of the extra's were kind of bad.But, OMG, a gay main character! And, who didn't even try to hide it, just ingrained into the story!In any case, the story kept me entertained and watching. My final judgment is that this is truly a really really good TV Series!

Looked at in the whole of his work, Russell T. Davies used his run as executive producer of Doctor Who (2005-2008) to expand the universe surrounding the Time Lord. Using the Doctor Who anthology as a jumping off point, Davies was able to build the premise that brought Elizabeth Sladen back into the Family of Time as a more mature Sarah Jane Smith...and through the first two series of Doctor Who, built the foundation that led to Torchwood; using "The Unquiet Dead" , "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" and "Bad Wolf/Parting Of The Ways" from Series One; then "Tooth And Claw" and "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday" for establishing the hows and whys for the Institute. It's obvious that the BBC decided that that, in spinning off one of the characters from a reimaging of The Doctor, the one that HAD to be spun off was Jack Harkness. As portrayed by John Barrowman, Captain Jack was too handsome, too tragically heroic, too charismatic...and too adventurous (Both in his work and his off hours) to NOT have a storyline built around him. In many ways, Captain Jack is another vision of the Doctor; sort of an off-kilter reflection that one might see in a Hall of Mirrors. Jack is immortal but wishes for death, a leader who demands his team follow his leadership yet keeps secrets of his past (Their future) from them...Barrowman has matured Jack from his introduction...SOME. Certainly, he is a more severe and understanding human in Cardiff than he was during his time on the TARDIS...and this plays out over the 13 episodes. Barrowman's equal in this series is the brilliant Eve Myles as the police constable turned Torchwood police liaison Gwen Cooper. Cooper, a descendant of the housemaid Gwyneth from "The Unquiet Dead" (Something that was retconned in Series Four of Doctor Who), observes Torchwood reanimate a corpse in the series opener ("Everything Changes"), and begins a winding trail to--oddly enough--becoming somewhat of a "Companion" to Jack. Myles is an oddly attractive woman--once she gets out of the PC uniform and into regular clothing, she has a wonderful body with that odd gap between the front of her upper teeth--which somehow makes her more human and appealing. Gwen's adjustment to working at Torchwood--the sequence in "Ghost Machine" in which Jack teaches her how to user firearms--makes Gwen almost seem a natural for the unique mission of Torchwood. The rest of the Torchwood team--the medical specialist Owen Harper (Given an angry, arrogant edge by Burn Gorman--at least until "Out Of Time"), the computer/systems specialist Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori, played as a bit of a wallflower save "Greeks Bearing Gifts"; in which we find out she holds a torch for Owen) and the administrative specialist Ianto Jones (Gareth Lloyd-Davies, who never seems to have a hair out of place or his suit out of joint--well, except for "Cyberwoman" and "Countrycide") round out Torchwood Three. Torchwood is a series that delves into the seamier side of Doctor Who's world. The basic premise of the Torchwood Institute--a first line of defense on Earth against aliens (Aliens in this case defined as beings from other planets AND dimensions in time and space) allows for the issues that might inhabit any law-enforcement unit--relationships (How Gwen cannot tell her boyfriend, Rhys Williams, what she does...or as the season goes on, who she's sleeping with), the usage of what the team garners through the rift, and the potential for corruption from those items. This is the theme of the first episode, in which the usage of one of the items...and it's corruptive, corrosive nature...leads to the death of one member of the team...and opens up the spot that Gwen fills. From then on, the season veer wildly--aliens consuming bodies during sex, devices opening portals to the past, cannibals, fairies that aren't all sweet and nice, mind reading devices...oh yeah, and demons looking to consume all life. Overall, Torchwood is a wonderfully different take on the Whoniverse. It is at times sadder, a little more visceral, and definitely more intense. Barrowman and Myles give the series a heft and weight that couldn't be displayed in Doctor Who. But that weight and intensity is why Davies gave this series a run...and it works. Highly recommended.

Disks:From the seller "Videoreef" (in case it may show different for you) -These are from everything I can see Genuine and Authentic BBC productions and they are Region 1 disks (they work in the USA - they are hard to find).There was NO shipping damage to mine, they were WELL packed (Thanks!)The overall package is "mid grade" (not to the standards of the limited edition Star Wars on BR, but not as cheap as some of the really low budget TV show conversions either). The box is thin cardboard, easy to blemish, and the folder inside is not too bad - but will wear fast.The disks (6 of them) are held in plastic retainers in a "book binding" type arraignment (unsure of how well that will wear with any real use). The plastic trays use a type of molecular bonding material that require a sonic screw-driver to remove the disks; the sonic part does not work, you simply beat the plastic tab in the center until the disk falls out.Disks themselves are heavy (good quality) and have a well printed photo-op type shot on each one.Video Quality is top notch. video bitrate is 16K (could be hardware limited), I have good hardware (but not super high end) and I have not seen a single artifact on the shows. Audio is again top notch, not ATMOS (but it was not around then).Overall the media and show is well worth what I paid.The Show itself.The show is a spin-off, side show if you will; from Dr Who. It is REALLY geared for adults and is less child friendly than its roots. There is a lot of provocative (sexual) type scenes; traditional and non-traditional and some 'risky' visuals (though it is no where near dancing with 'how much can we get away with') . There are some very complicated relationships that transition throughout the series, IMHO it helps hold the show together. The basis is a "Alien Police Force" kind of thing, with a touch of "dangerous space trash" collection (the Cardiff Time-Rift). While (my favorite new Dr) never shows up, there is a thread of that story line kept well alive in the show.With all that; the show is not so complicated as to lose viewers between episodes as they can stand alone (in most cases), there will be a few details that will be lost but not so much that you can't understand each as a stand alone story. The Caveat with that is the last 2 seasons (only mentioned for posterity here) as they are multi-part movies.Overall the series is a perfect example of good British Science Fiction. They are able to keep on the non-offensive side of same sex relationships, open mindedness with the equality of men and women (not to leave out non-traditional definitions there either) - - Without - - trying to go so far as to push some agenda (to become offensive) and destructive of the story-line.Its sad that shows like this don't last long enough (IMHO).

There is some entertainment to be had here... but not much. Gwen has to be one of the most annoying characters of all time! She is a self-righteous control freak who makes Quincy and Dr. McCoy look like the very essence of calm and rational thought! In this series she causes far more problems than she helps to resolve and blames everybody else for their mistakes as though she is as pure as the driven snow!The writers rely on manipulating our emotions far too much, it has to be done well or it is simply a betrayal of the audience. It is occasionally done well here but as it is a pillar of every single episode, it wears pretty thin.Another major fault is the lazy, unimaginative ploy of killing people off and bringing them back to life. Do writers learn this cheap trick at university or where? It can be done once per series at the VERY MOST! More than that is extremely irritating and again leaves one wondering if they think all viewers are stupid and so easily satisfied that they will sit for hours watching a dog fetch a ball?I for one am not!The acting is pretty good and with some work this could have been a reasonable show, but without better writing and plots it will always be televised litter.

I had this boxed set sitting around for over a year until I got around to watching it, and I had pretty low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised. The show desperately wants to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which explains the mostly "it's magic" scenarios and the way everybody behaves like they're in senior high. (The Scoobies are actually a bit more professional than this bunch, in fact.) But despite that and the relentless Mary-Sueing of Captain Jack, there are some original and varied plots, snappy dialogue, and good performances, especially from Eve Myles and Burn Gorman. The only really awful bit is the last half of the finale episode, which abandons a suspenseful time travel storyline to tack on a danger from the Hellmouth - I mean Rift - that seems to have been cooked up to cover a cancelled segue into season 2. Intriguing plot seeds are abandoned and the resolution is a masterclass in how not to tell a great SF story. But luckily there was enough good stuff before that to justify taking a look at later Torchwood seasons.

if you ever watched doctor who loved it but wished it was a bit more darker,mature like other sci-fi shows such as the x files and buffy the vampire slayer e.g you now shows that are dark and not for kids then Torchwood's for you I would recommend it to all older fans of doctor who but even to any one who isn't who likes that sort of dark sci-fi show like the ones I listed above or in that sort of category.it's brilliant and I've found it better then doctor who,that's not a criticism of doctor who I absolutely love Dr who, definitely in top 3 of my Favourite TV shows, I just like Torchwood better so any show that can top doctor who is got to be a brilliant programme.

It the first adult Doctor Who spin off featuring Captain Jack and his team running around Cardiff dealing with the creatures and objects thrown out of the space time rift we saw during the Eccleston era of the main show. If that doesn't motivate you to check the series out I don't know what will just brace yourself if you're more used to it's parent show and the Sarah Jane Adventures it gives a bit of whiplash.

When I first saw this series on TV back in 2006, I was disappointed and swore I would never need a copy of it. However, I have now bought this and changed my mind. It was the initial episodes by a pre-Broadchurch Chris Chibnall that had coloured my perception of the series as a whole - the episode about a sex-starved alien and the one about a cyberwoman seemed like an undergraduate exercise in nudge-nudge SciFi writing. However, later stuff by Chris (especially in series 2) were much better. There are, in fact, a few very good episodes in Series 1 (including one by the reliable PJ Hammond) that really reward viewing.Torchwood, set up, to save us from aliens, by Queen Victoria (see Doctor Who Series 2 "Tooth and Claw"), mutates through its 4 seasons (and mutates further in other episodes of Doctor Who - you did know that "Torchwood" and "Doctor Who" are anagrams?) and reaches a peak in the 3rd season. Series 1 is the simpler, crowd pleasing start of it all. The extras are documentaries made at the time and are pretty forgettable.