Everything’s coming up Torchwood lately.
First there were a plethora of Torchwood guests at Gally. (By the way, I offer my condolences to all of you who suffered the same abject terror as I on Monday when their registration vendor choked mightily under the onslaught of desperate nerds trying to get 2016 tickets. I hope you are all able to get the tickets you intended.) Then I decided to start re-watching the show (well, the first three series anyway—”Miracle Day” is total retcon-bait in my book). And just this week, Big Finish has announced the return of Torchwood with all new stories on audio.
Torchwood is an odd beast. It took a while to find its stride, trying a bit too hard in those early episodes to establish itself as a post-watershed show distinct from its parent, with as much sex (both different- and same-gender) thrown in as it could manage. Eventually, though, it explored some interesting themes about memory, loyalty, and all kinds of love (romantic, familial, and friendly).
Of course, it’s still probably most famous for the sex. How can it help but be so, when its star—both the actor and the character he plays—is so synonymous with playful sexuality? John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness is the heart and soul of the Torchwood team. The rest of the crew might (and does) change at the drop of a hat, but there’s no Torchwood with out Jack.
That’s part of why it was so much fun to see him on stage at Gally; it gave me a sense of where actor and character met or diverged. Both seemed to have a strong sense of leadership, but they definitely approached their teams differently (mostly because things are always life or death for Jack, while John can just be a licentious goof). Hearing everyone’s stories about being on set made me nostalgic for the show, too.
So when I came home and finally began to watch them again, I had more fun with it. I will admit that it’s been a long time since I’d seen any of the earlier episodes (and I’m almost certain I’ve only seen “Children of Earth” once—it was hella good, but pretty traumatic), but I’d remembered many of them as stinkers, particularly in the first series. Even the painful ones, though, were less awful than I’d remembered, and I got invested in the characters again.
I’m only partway through Series Two at the moment, but the end of the original team is in sight, and I’m already dreading it. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I was so delighted to read the news from Big Finish. Although they haven’t announced any of the cast besides Barrowman, their press release says the new adventures “will each focus on different members of the Torchwood team, exploring the impact that a mysterious event has on them.”
The ad copy has worked perfectly; it’s got me curious as all get-out about where in the timeline they’ve placed these stories, and which team members we’ll get to revisit. It’s also got me champing at the bit for the first installment, due out in September. A year ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be this psyched. As it turns out, though, I really do like Torchwood.
Accents
I enjoyed Torchwood too. I thought many of the episodes were very good and it was interesting seeing what choices the characters would make. Many of them made different choices than I would. But it was generally thought provoking.
I did occasionally have problems with the accents. Between the heavy welch accents and the fact that everybody talked a mile a minute I used to have to stop and rewind to listen to the dialogue again to be sure what they said. I can see why they toned the accents down a little in Miracle Day.
Miracle Day was also interesting. It had many faults. It was deeply padded in many places. Several of the characters acted stupidly and the eventual denoument made absolutely no sense whatsoever. But again, it was a though provoking What If scenario.
Captions?
Sometimes when I have trouble parsing accents, I use the closed captioning until I can get an ear for it. Have you tried that? Does it work for you?
They did have some interesting what-if’s in Miracle Day, but overall I thought it was a waste of narrative space. 🙁 I’m really looking forward to seeing what Big Finish can do with Torchwood; should be quite a ride! 🙂
Subtitles
I hate subtitles. I find I have difficulty reading them and following the action on the screen at the same time. And they are SO destracting! Even if, for some reason, the subtitles are on when the show is in perfectly understandable English I find I’m STILL reading the subtitles instead of watching the action. Aarrgghh!
Understandable
Ha ha! Yeah, I can understand that reaction. 🙂 Frustrating now matter how you view it, then. That’s a shame. :
Variety and (In)Consistency
IMHO Series 1 struggled with trying to find an identity. Early episodes with gratuitous sex and swearing sounded to me like a child trying to sound adult by using adult language and themes but in a way that was difficult to take seriously.
Series 2 was a vast improvement as the whole team’s confidence grew and there was a greater consistency across the season.
Children of Earth was fantastic and really benefited in the UK from being scheduled on 5 consecutive nights. I remember on RADW the reaction was fairly positive although there was some reaction (SPOILER AHEAD) to Jack sacrificing his grandson
Miracle Day had some great ideas but dragged terribly and I am happy to forget it was ever made. Being born in Wales I naturally cheered when Gwen walloped the American who called her English, but I think 10 episodes was way too long (NB I initially mistyped that as “0 episodes”!).
I also had an issue liking the Rex character, too arrogant for my liking.
I would like to see more Torchwood but they may have to start making them soon otherwise John Barrowman will have to be digitally made to look younger 🙂
Spot on
Your summary here exactly echoes my reactions (though I wasn’t born in Wales—ha!). Does that mean there’s about to be some sort of space-time crisis? Two fans have agreed about the overarching quality of four whole series! O.o