Thoughts on Torchwood

How frickin good was Torchwood?

I know, I’m somewhat behind on stuff lately, it’s because I took a holiday, so I’m catching up with things, but I’m almost up to speed now!

So me and my beautiful fiancee have a thing about Torchwood. See, I love it because it’s good sci-fi and a spin off of Doctor Who. She loves it because it’s got John Barrowman in it. Also, I’ve been gradually nerding her up over the last three+ years! (don’t tell her! She mustn’t know until it’s too late and she’s one of us!) We also have a thing about Cardiff, we had a good weekend there once and tend to visit for a few days every year now and always love it. And I proposed to her at the water tower over the hub. So naturally we were quite excited by the prospect of a week long Torchwood-fest, however, due to the late announcement of it’s airdates, we’d already got stuff going on that week. So we watched the whole lot in a 5 hour sitting on the Saturday, thanks to the magic of iplayer.

Starts off well, some really nice character moments, and the really creepy incidences of motionless children. I liked Ianto’s little obsession with the term ‘couple’.

What? Jack’s got a daughter? And a grandchild? Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

What have they done to Jack? Oh my god, I bet they put a bomb in him!
They did put a bomb in him! Shit!

Man, they blew up the spot where I proposed! Ooh, Gwen’s got two guns! This is kickass!

So it went on like this for a few more hours. Particular excitement from my lady love when Barrowman’s bum was revealed for the world to see. We were both happy to see Rhys play a significant part in the proceedings, we worry about Rhys, bless him, he seems like the most likely character to be deemed expendable.

Wow, we misjudged that one huh?

Poor Ianto, his dry sarcasm was a wonderful feature in the hub. Plus the additional layers to the character that had come up with his family being introduced and his relationship with Jack. So didn’t expect to see him killed. Especially as that bit had been building up as Torchwood’s triumphant return to the situation, they swaggered in there completely confident. It was cleverly done, the battle seemed to be to get the government to stop their bungling and let Torchwood handle it. Once they’d won that battle, no-one seemed to give any thought to the problem of the 456, as if going in there and announcing that Torchwood was calling off the deal would have the 456 going ‘Shit, we hoped you’d not say that, oh well, we’ll be off then!’.

So the way they casually wiped out a whole building of people with a main character was brilliant! In the way that suddenly you’re reminded how big a threat these guys are, in case you were too caught up in the government’s attempts to stop Torchwood.

The ultimate solution was a little bit understated, but then I guess a big showy special effects bonanza would have completely detracted from the big issue of Jack sacrificing his own grandson to save everyone else’s children.

Pretty big decision. Fiancee wouldn’t believe it for a long time, she was insistant that there was a trick, that Jack had found a way around it.

But that shows up the way that Torchwood differs from Doctor Who. You know the Doctor would have found a way. Granted, the Doctor has had to make tough decisions before, in the vein of making a sacrifice for the ‘greater good’. Pompeii as an example. But I can’t see him killing a child. Of course, I may be wrong, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any episodes where that happens!

But then, it’s a different kind of show, and I don’t think I’d enjoy Doctor Who if it took that sort of a direction. Being a kid-friendly show, Doctor Who always has this sense of wonder and awe, and a feeling that, with the Doctor around, things will turn out pretty much right in the end.

A grim, gritty, darker Doctor Who, in Torchwood style? I’d miss that optimistic and happier feeling. And it’s another great thing about Torchwood, if you’re old, like me, then you can have a grim and gritty ‘adult’ sci-fi in the Whoniverse, without significantly adjusting the feel of the main show.

And that ending. Well, that’s left a bit open isn’t it? I guess it’s a sufficient ending if there is no more Torchwood, but there’s enough left in place to start a new one. Hopefully with Mickey and Martha! Though then there’s reports that Russell T Davies is off to America and won’t touch UK TV again, but then tabloids love to print all sorts of stories about Doctor Who and the BBC with little factual substance. So I just wait and see.