Torchwood is a spin-off of Doctor Who, a British series that has a fan following as fanatic as Star Trek's. It has been around since the sixties and after a long time off the air, it was recently revived to great success under the skillful guidance of Russell T. Davies, best known for creating Queer as Folk (the original UK version).
Doctor Who is about a time traveler from another world who jumps back and forth saving the universe, with blatant disregard for the butterfly effect and on a fairly low special effects budget. In the second season of the current revival, the Doctor ran into Queen Victoria, who set up an organisation to keep an eye out for this strange character. Scrabble players may note that Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who.
Torchwood quickly broadened its scope to secretly studying all sorts of freaky phenomena and alien encounters. There are various incarnations of the organisation in different parts of England (and - of course - in alternate realities), which are working "outside the government, beyond the police"k according to the opening credits. The Cardiff team stars in this series and they are lead by the literally immortal Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) who has his own past with the good Doctor. Then there are: Gwen (Eve Myles), a policewoman drafted into the organisation in the first episode, Toshiko (Naoko Mori), a tech wiz, Owen (Burn Gorman), a doctor, and Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd), the office administrator/concierge/handyman.
Torchwood is deserving of the "wood" in its title, both in the sexual meaning and with regard to the acting. When there is a choice between overacting and underplaying, the cast rarely goes for the latter. Worst offenders in this regard are unfortunately the two leads, Barrowman and Myles. I like Barrowman because the actor is an openly gay charmer, known for flashing his apparently impressive naughty bits on set. And there is an anecdote he tells with enthusiasm, about highkicking on stage towards the audience, while he had diarrhoea. Feel free to fill in the messy blanks. But as Captain Jack he often comes over as smarmy where he should be likeable. Eve Myles has a tough job, as her character has violent mood swings in between episodes and sometimes even within an episode. Gwen is supposed to be "the caring one" but regularly makes bad judgement calls and can be alarmingly irrational. Nevertheless, Gwen has at least four guys who really, really fancy her over the course of the first two seasons (26 episodes).
Article comments
1 - alley
Actually, it's not a problem to be a bisexual. I don't know why many ppl are surprised who is bisexual, etc. I know many bisexuals on the site BiLoves. They are very great.
2 - Julie
I think you really need to watch Doctor Who o understand the spin-off. Some of what you consider goofs are fully explained in the episodes that dealt with the original Torchwood (the head office which was destroyed).
3 - CrabbyLioness
I'm rather astounded at the notion that one must have a valid doctor's excuse in order to be bisexual.
4 - Steven van Lijnden
Maybe my phrasing was off, Crabby; I did not say that. But if the love of your life (as she was presented) - is hidden in the basement in half-Frankenstein mode, it seems unlikely Ianto would get into sex with Jack on the side. And the sudden attraction of Jack to Gwen also seems off, as there is no sexual chemistry between them.
Bisexuality here seems to service the plot and doesn't come organically from within the characters. That was the point I was trying to make.
Julie - I haven't caught up with Dr. Who yet, but it seems a bit strange to not give all the valid information within a series. Not all viewers will watch both. I am not sure which episode you mean.
5 - Cannonshop
Some of it does seem forced to me, as well... while Jack's polysexuality is quite explainable (especially with the introduction of another character, Capt. John Hart, who is a contemporary of Jack's from his original chronological frame) as an alternate cultural background, Yanto's 'switch' doesn't make much sense to me as a viewer.
On the other hand, in the second season, the tension between Tosh and Owen is rather nicely done, and actually makes a bit of sense.
At least, to me. I rather like that Gwen's loyal to her fiance' as well-it's nice to see a rather conventional relationship in a television series, and even her slips don't feel as forced, or have the same kind of artificial drama you see in, say, daytime television here in the U.S.
It's rather like a "Men in Black" style series, but without the hyperseriousness of "The X-Files" or the absolute goofiness of material on the other end of the spectrum.
IN MY OPINION, that is. Others may differ ("May" as in "Might", lest someone be offended...)