It finally dawned on me, as I watched Episode 6 ("Middle Men" – which, by the way, had (in my opinion) the best cliffhanger of the series to date, even if it wasn't all that suspenseful), that one of the things that's throwing me off about Torchwood: Miracle Day is the fact that it's been produced in the US. It's not the actual presentation of the material, or different "production values" or anything like that, though. It's the actors.

One things that has always made it easy for me to immerse myself in Who is the fact that I am being introduced to characters with faces I've never seen before. I only know these actors in their Who personas (with the exception of a cameo in City of Death by John Cleese and, actually, Five – who I couldn't help thinking of as "Tristan" for the first two stories I watched). That was true with the first three (BBC-produced) series of Torchwood, too. Now in Miracle Day, I'm seeing faces all over the place that I know elsewhere.

I hadn't realized how much of a difference that would make to me. It's jarring, though. It takes me out of the moment, and I start pulling back and thinking in terms of a production instead of getting pulled into the story. "Where have I seen this actor before?" I ask myself. "Oh yeah – it was [as a regular in a sitcom / in that soap opera I used to watch / in one of my favorite films from the '90s / whatever it may be]." Some of the magic seeps out in those moments, especially if I can't figure it out at first – that drives me to distraction.

I have to wonder – is this part of Who for Brits? Is that one reason I'm usually so "easy" when it comes to my enjoyment of post-Hiatus Who compared to those who constantly recognize guest artists in Torchwood's parent show? I'm really curious now, but I don't have any good way to research the question (or even an idea of how to do so without bias), other than the utterly subjective one of asking any of you out there who have an opinion to weigh in. So let's hear your thoughts.