The music of the show was nice; fairly contained and its low mechanical tones kept in with the mood of the show particularly well. The same can be said for the intro which is lovely and short. I must say though, that I am very bad with sound. I always end up getting so caught up in anything I’m watching the sound becomes insignificant so, sorry Mr. Composer. The acting is always a big priority. Not above the writing, of course, but either way, I must comment.
Torchwood is explicitly set in Cardiff and they aren’t making out it's London, which is great fun because all the actors are actually Welsh. I love Welsh accents. Scratch that, I love any of the UK’s accents! But yes I digress; unlike Afterlife (which I’ve been watching) which is made with actors from all around the UK, I find that occasionally the guest stars can be a bit stale. Torchwood seems to have gotten a hold of the cream of Wales in my opinion. So I’ve gotten that little rant out the way. The guest stars were good, but what about the main characters?
Captain Jack Harkness is one of the most fun characters to emerge from Doctor Who. He had everything, and then he was ‘kicked’ off in the first season, but then given his very own series. I must say from watching Torchwood, I miss the old Jack. It's understandable he is now far less trusting, and you can vaguely see the old Jack in there, but he doesn’t seem as fun.
What the show now needs, if you ask me, is an episode to delve into each character. By that I mean, each member of Torchwood, although it probably won’t be doing that any time soon. Gwen’s character seems fairly well-rounded, and Eve (from being host to the Gelth in episode three of Doctor Who 2005) seems to be doing a fairly good job as cop-come-Torchwood operative. The same can be said for Barrowman and the rest of the Torchwood gang.
Fun was definitely had. I was hoping for a few more laughs. I love when something in a show makes me laugh out loud. Doctor Who gave me that every now and again, but Torchwood didn’t have anything laugh out loud funny. Both ‘dark’ situations and humour fit very nicely into Angel, which is what I loved about the show. So I can only hope to see more humour in Torchwood. That's not to say there was none evident in these first episodes; there was and some rather funny situations, but nothing overbearingly funny.
Article comments
1 - TV and Film Guy
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2 - Madam Miaow
Shame Torchwood is still derivative, shrill and not as sexy as it thinks it is.
I know Joss was a genius at the the extreme character arc, turning evil villain Spike into the loveable hero of later Buffy and Angel, but last night's season finale of Torchwood ... Call that a character arc? More like a deus ex machina last minute lurch up itself. You could practically smell the rubber and hear the squeal of brakes as James Marster's Captain John did a 180 degree turn that had everything to do with script expediency and nothing to do with character development.
What a waste of the lovely James. Full review at mine.