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I have been watching it lately, and it is absolutely brilliant. If you didn't know it is a spin off of Doctor Who, (Torchwood is an anagram). In an odd sense it is more believable than Dr Who as most of the characters are not immortal or integral to the plot (such as the assistant).
Torchwood is a secret organisation that investigates alien activity ad was set up by Queen Victoria.
I find the plots more exciting and more interesting than Dr Who as people are more likely to die than people in a family programme.
It really is Doctor Who extreme, but in a pretty good way. The plots tend to deal with stuff in a far more adult (in the serious sense of the word) way, and losing the shackles of being a "family" show seems to have really allowed the writers to take things further than they could with Doctor Who. The over-use of Cardiff though does grate a little (yes guys we know it's a BBC Wales Production, stop reminding us) but that's probably just a side effect of me being an Englishman that lived in Wales for around 15 years.
I've been watching it too, though I'm now two episodes behind. I like the show, though not as much as Doctor Who. I just like the humour of Doctor Who more. And so far, I've got to say I liked Captain Jack more in Doctor Who then Torchwood, for the same reason.
The adverts tease with promises of a "grown up" Doctor Who but it seems like a childrens' programme. "Oh my, we're approaching sex in Doctor Who. Keep watching for five more minutes and one of the characters will make a swear." The show sports characters possessing the most unbelievable behaviour patterns and males that cry at the drop of a hat. EMOTION ON DEMAND, courtesy of the Russell T Davies School of Writing. Oh, and how'sabout that startling lack of rational thought for a sci-fi series set in a government agency with a scientist in every corner in lieu of a potted plant? Why doesn't Cyberwoman grab a Fancy Gun™ and blow the everloving fuck out of every cunt who stands in her way? Oh yes, sorry. The munitions cupboard can't be accessed. Great contingency plan.
Oh sh--DEUS EX MACHINA!
Being aware that I'm in the minority, as ever, I'll stop the whining right there. However, Torchwood has made me curious as to whether Russell T Davies has... daddy issues. Men are bastards: They're all paedophiles and all stepdads are child-beaters. If memory serves, all the fathers in Queer as Folk were utter cunts, too. I know that he's stated in interviews that he thinks of himself as a "big child".
I really like what we've seen so far and the episodes seem to be getting better as we go on.
I think in the latest episode [spoiler:be4b9de1a1]they shouldn't have actually shown the faries in full. I think they were rather cheezy, I much prefered the brief glimpses we got of them atmosphere wise. [/spoiler:be4b9de1a1]
It's pretty crappy. There are some good ideas, but the dialogue is terrible. We know what the characters are feeling, because they announce it all the time, and then repeat it later for added effect.
It has potential, but it's pretty hamfisted at the moment.
Overlard on
0
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited November 2006
Torchwood has been awful so far. Last night's episode was looking up but they just ballsed it up again and again when it was essentially a cookie-cutter "Teenage horror film with monsters/serial killers". It takes skill to take such a great idea and just get every single episode wrong in some major way.
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
I hope I don't sound whingy but I think it's pretty bad. this is coming from someone who absolutely loved series one of Doctor Who. i thought it was the best thing on television and major step forward for us Brits. But after my huge dissapointment in series two and Torchwood I fear that perhaps whatever it was that they were running on in the first year has dried up.
I tried to like it, but I just couldn't. The show has an interesting concept, and it has a chance for greatness, but unfortunatly it fails. The characters are lame and predictable, and the show fails because it is trying to be serious and comical. Look at the sex parasite episode, its absolutly horrible. Its not like the subject can't be done right, Outer Limits and X-Files both had good episodes with this scenario. This episode comes out as LOL SEX PARASITES!!!
Also, the main actor needs to fix that gap between her front teeth, its fricking ridicolous looking.
I loved the Cybermen in Doctor Who. They were scary, they were unstoppable. They were awesome.
The Cyberwoman episode left me thoroughly disappointed. The Cyberwoman was nothing like the Cyberman, and that crying guy who loved her was just annoying and pointless.
Torchwood is without doubt one of the worst tv show i've seen all year, i dunno why but it strikes me that the beeb has just hired a bunch of college graduates that are trying to make some edgey cool tv show. The direction is awful as is the dialogue and what the hell is it with the weird digital filming they do (i think its digital anyway) what ever it is it makes everything look... i dunno wrong.
Maybe someone else has an idea of what i'm talking about.
Ah well at least it aint as bad as the new Robin Hood series.
EDIT: realised i contradicted myself there. fixed.
I think that at times Doctor Who can be kind of hamfisted as well, though. As much as I loved Christopher Eccleston's doctor, I think that David Tennant is pulling it off much better. Nothing in Doctor Who ever really comes off as scary to me, often because the effects are so cheesy. For instance, The Impossible Planet could have been such a fucking awesome episode, and it wasn't. It wasn't bad, it was just kind of lacking. Is there a Doctor Who thread still open somewhere? I'm going to go post in it.
I express dissapointment at Torchwood and I haven't seen a single episode yet.
I think that at times Doctor Who can be kind of hamfisted as well, though. As much as I loved Christopher Eccleston's doctor, I think that David Tennant is pulling it off much better. Nothing in Doctor Who ever really comes off as scary to me, often because the effects are so cheesy. For instance, The Impossible Planet could have been such a fucking awesome episode, and it wasn't. It wasn't bad, it was just kind of lacking. Is there a Doctor Who thread still open somewhere? I'm going to go post in it.
I express dissapointment at Torchwood and I haven't seen a single episode yet.
I too prefer David Tennant as the Doctor rather than Christopher Eccleston.
The thing about The Impossible Planet, and Doctor Who in general, is that it doesn't aim to be horror-movie scary. It aims to be entertaining, and when it has to do something scary, it does entertaining-scary. The Impossible Planet was entertaining.
That said, it did fall in the old stereotype of ancient-civilisation-imprisons-horrible-evil-when-they-could-just-kill-it. Why did they let that thing chained up on a planet with a sofisticated system to keep it from falling into a black hole unless it escaped? Why not just let it fall in the black hole and be done with it?
If I ever defeat and imprison an ancient and powerful evil, you can be sure I won't leave it lieing around. I'll destroy it.
BobCescaIs a girlBirmingham, UKRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I have a feeling I'll be watching it on iplayer late tonight or tomorrow morning...have a horrible feeling I agreed to go out tonight (either cinema or theatre, I forget).
Really, the whole thing was dreadful last time, I doubt it'll get any better.
Basically, it's not "an adult Doctor Who." First, it's an ensemble cast in a fixed location and Doctor Who is about two people going places other than Wales. It happens to be vaguely associated with Doctor Who, that's all.
Second, it's not adult. Adult shows deal with adult issues. Examples? Battlestar Galactica, obviously. Hell, Firefly too. Even the various Star Treks were more adult that Torchwood, dealing with racism and real life issues. Torchwood's version of "adult" is basically everyone's bisexual, all the main cast hit on each other constantly, they have lots of sex, swear a lot, and people die kind of graphically.
On top of that, the stories are boring, the characters are boring and stupid, the dialogue is boring and rubbish. I can't see how anyone can like it.
I want to watch it because I want to see if it joins up with Doctor Who last year and I want to see what James Marsters is up to. I don't want to watch it because I found the first series enormously underwhelming.
MikeRyu on
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I thought I saw James Marsters in the trailer. I had hoped he wouldn't lower himself to being in guff like this.
Still, my TV keeps losing my damn digital channels so I couldn't watch this even if I did hate myself.
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
Well.... On the bright side, it was the best sci-fi show on BBC2 on Wednesday this night.
Seemed like more of the same really. The whole 'adult' thing still feels forced and overdone. The characters 2D and the plot poorly paced and delivered.
It's annoying as the concept is workable (at the end of the day its a UK X-Files with a bigger team - given some of the paranormal you could generate in the UK it should be easy to execute) but it's hurting for someone to go in and just realize that people are (trying) to watch it for said sci-fi aspects. Not badly executed slash fiction (is it slash fiction when the writers of the show do it?).
And yes, maybe like the first series they'll get it out their systems and start shaping up in the last for episodes to something approaching 'worth watching' Seems a waste of tape to have to film the first half of the series though.
From what I've read of quotes from Russel T Davies and other people involved in the shows development, apparently Season One suffered because they were overly enthusiastic, didn't quite know what they were doing, and they were in a rush to get it done. RTD has said they've learnt from their mistakes and that Season 2 should be a lot better.
Y'know what? I'm willing to give him another shot. Remember that the first season of The Fast Show was shit. I'm sure people were saying "It won't get any better" when the second season started, but that's when the show really came into its own. The same can be said of Men Behaving Badly, and Blackadder, and Hustle. I'm just saying don't knock a show down simply because the first season was shit. Give it another chance, chaps.
I thought it was pretty good, save the first five minutes.
The Exposition Blowfish was dumb, but I suppose it's a necessary evil of a first episode.
although Gwen asking, calm as can be, "have you seen a blowfish driving a sports car" made me literally laugh out loud.
Just finished watching it. I enjoyed it, though it did seem like more of the same from last season. That said, I'm apparently the only one that enjoyed the majority of last season.
Question for the brits, because I'm honestly curious: how was Marster's accent?
Bionic Monkey on
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Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
What was with the person standing on their head and vomiting in the trailer at the end? O_o
Marster's accent sounded pretty much the same as when he played Spike to me.
It was OK. Marsters was great, but unfortunately made the rest of the cast look like they were drafted in from a daytime soap. Not a good sign when the thing that kept me watching is the guest star. And yeah, the exposition blowfish was cringe-inducing. And the car chase was pretty bad - the number of British TV directors who can direct decent action sequences can be counted on the fingers of one foot.
On the plus side, they aren't effing and blinding all over the place in that painfully forced way. And Marster's double entendres were pretty funny. But yeah, basically high-budget slashfic. Quite fun though.
There should be a drinking game based on the number of times someone snogs someone for no good reason other than blatant fan service. You'd be paralytic within half an hour.
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Thanks Im feeling better now.
The adverts tease with promises of a "grown up" Doctor Who but it seems like a childrens' programme. "Oh my, we're approaching sex in Doctor Who. Keep watching for five more minutes and one of the characters will make a swear." The show sports characters possessing the most unbelievable behaviour patterns and males that cry at the drop of a hat. EMOTION ON DEMAND, courtesy of the Russell T Davies School of Writing. Oh, and how'sabout that startling lack of rational thought for a sci-fi series set in a government agency with a scientist in every corner in lieu of a potted plant? Why doesn't Cyberwoman grab a Fancy Gun™ and blow the everloving fuck out of every cunt who stands in her way? Oh yes, sorry. The munitions cupboard can't be accessed. Great contingency plan.
Oh sh--DEUS EX MACHINA!
Being aware that I'm in the minority, as ever, I'll stop the whining right there. However, Torchwood has made me curious as to whether Russell T Davies has... daddy issues. Men are bastards: They're all paedophiles and all stepdads are child-beaters. If memory serves, all the fathers in Queer as Folk were utter cunts, too. I know that he's stated in interviews that he thinks of himself as a "big child".
I really like what we've seen so far and the episodes seem to be getting better as we go on.
I think in the latest episode [spoiler:be4b9de1a1]they shouldn't have actually shown the faries in full. I think they were rather cheezy, I much prefered the brief glimpses we got of them atmosphere wise. [/spoiler:be4b9de1a1]
It has potential, but it's pretty hamfisted at the moment.
Colour me dissapointed. :-(
Also, the main actor needs to fix that gap between her front teeth, its fricking ridicolous looking.
I loved the Cybermen in Doctor Who. They were scary, they were unstoppable. They were awesome.
The Cyberwoman episode left me thoroughly disappointed. The Cyberwoman was nothing like the Cyberman, and that crying guy who loved her was just annoying and pointless.
Well it's not like we'd be able to understand it. I don't know anyone who speaks Britishese. I hope they come out with some good fan-subs on this.
Maybe someone else has an idea of what i'm talking about.
Ah well at least it aint as bad as the new Robin Hood series.
EDIT: realised i contradicted myself there. fixed.
THE DALEKS ARE SUPERIOR!
Sorry, could not resist.
I express dissapointment at Torchwood and I haven't seen a single episode yet.
I too prefer David Tennant as the Doctor rather than Christopher Eccleston.
The thing about The Impossible Planet, and Doctor Who in general, is that it doesn't aim to be horror-movie scary. It aims to be entertaining, and when it has to do something scary, it does entertaining-scary. The Impossible Planet was entertaining.
That said, it did fall in the old stereotype of ancient-civilisation-imprisons-horrible-evil-when-they-could-just-kill-it. Why did they let that thing chained up on a planet with a sofisticated system to keep it from falling into a black hole unless it escaped? Why not just let it fall in the black hole and be done with it?
If I ever defeat and imprison an ancient and powerful evil, you can be sure I won't leave it lieing around. I'll destroy it.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Honestly, I can't wait. Also, really looking forward to seeing what James Marsters' character is like.
Also: .
James Marsters is bitchin.
But it will be amazing!
Really, the whole thing was dreadful last time, I doubt it'll get any better.
Basically, it's not "an adult Doctor Who." First, it's an ensemble cast in a fixed location and Doctor Who is about two people going places other than Wales. It happens to be vaguely associated with Doctor Who, that's all.
Second, it's not adult. Adult shows deal with adult issues. Examples? Battlestar Galactica, obviously. Hell, Firefly too. Even the various Star Treks were more adult that Torchwood, dealing with racism and real life issues. Torchwood's version of "adult" is basically everyone's bisexual, all the main cast hit on each other constantly, they have lots of sex, swear a lot, and people die kind of graphically.
On top of that, the stories are boring, the characters are boring and stupid, the dialogue is boring and rubbish. I can't see how anyone can like it.
Having said that, I probably will watch it
Still, my TV keeps losing my damn digital channels so I couldn't watch this even if I did hate myself.
I have hopes for this new season.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Seemed like more of the same really. The whole 'adult' thing still feels forced and overdone. The characters 2D and the plot poorly paced and delivered.
It's annoying as the concept is workable (at the end of the day its a UK X-Files with a bigger team - given some of the paranormal you could generate in the UK it should be easy to execute) but it's hurting for someone to go in and just realize that people are (trying) to watch it for said sci-fi aspects. Not badly executed slash fiction (is it slash fiction when the writers of the show do it?).
And yes, maybe like the first series they'll get it out their systems and start shaping up in the last for episodes to something approaching 'worth watching' Seems a waste of tape to have to film the first half of the series though.
My other sig sucks as well...
Y'know what? I'm willing to give him another shot. Remember that the first season of The Fast Show was shit. I'm sure people were saying "It won't get any better" when the second season started, but that's when the show really came into its own. The same can be said of Men Behaving Badly, and Blackadder, and Hustle. I'm just saying don't knock a show down simply because the first season was shit. Give it another chance, chaps.
I thought it was pretty good, save the first five minutes.
although Gwen asking, calm as can be, "have you seen a blowfish driving a sports car" made me literally laugh out loud.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Question for the brits, because I'm honestly curious: how was Marster's accent?
Marster's accent sounded pretty much the same as when he played Spike to me.
On the plus side, they aren't effing and blinding all over the place in that painfully forced way. And Marster's double entendres were pretty funny. But yeah, basically high-budget slashfic. Quite fun though.
There should be a drinking game based on the number of times someone snogs someone for no good reason other than blatant fan service. You'd be paralytic within half an hour.
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James Marsters was great, and at least he shows up later on too, so something to look forward to.
Something was just off with the show..
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