Arnold
CibbuanoTorchwood Series overview
January 17th 2007 11:47
Well, it looks like Torchwood might get to Australian television some time in the near future (hopefully before the next series of Doctor Who goes to air - which will most likely by June or July). A second series has been commissioned for Torchwood... I don't really know when this might go into production, it will probably be aired in the UK directly after the third series of Doctor Who finishes.
For anyone who hasn't been reading this blog, or is unaware what I'm even talking about, Torchwood is a new adult drama/science-fiction show that recently aired on BBC3 in England. It's a spinoff from the new series of Doctor Who, featuring a supporting character from that show (Captain Jack Harkness) as it's focal point, and drawing on the occasional aspect of the established Doctor Who universe for it's background. Being familiar with Doctor Who is NOT essential to watching and enjoying Torchwood.
At first I didn't really like Torchwood, but I think this was partially because I was watching it as a Doctor Who fan... it's very different to Doctor Who, it's aimed at a different audience and has a difference objective. The first few episodes seemed a little unsure of themselves, but by the second half of the series things we're really cooking.
Basically, the set up of Torchwood runs as thus... Captain Jack Harkness is the mysterious leader of Torchwood Base 3 in Cardiff, Wales. Torchwood is a top secret organisation set up by Queen Victoria in the 19th century... their initial purpose was to claim anything not originating from Earth as the property of the British Empire, and to defend Britain from alien invasion. Fast forward to the early 21st century... Torchwood 3 is a base run by a small team. It's primary job is to monitor the Rift, a fracturing of time over Cardiff that attracts all kinds of alien riff-raff. The Rift means that Cardiff has become a hotspot for alien artefacts, alien visitors (friendly and otherwise), and accidental travellers in time.
Characters
Gwen - Gwen is a former police officer and Torchwood's newest member.
Captain Jack Harkness - Captain Jack previously featured in the first series of Doctor Who. He is some kind of con-artist from the 50th century... not much is known of him, and this series makes a big deal of this fact.
Owen - Torchwood's resident Doctor. He's a bit of a bastard.
Tosh - The computery/brainy one. Tosh is kind of non-confrontational.
Ianto - For some reason, this guy is designated as the Torchwood secretary/cleaner. Because of this he is usually stuck in the base while the others go out and have fun and investigate stuff.
Suzie - Torchwood's second-in-command.
Here's the episode breakdown for the recent first series.
Everything Changes
Gwen is a police officer who witnesses the Torchwood team ressurect a dead body. Her curiosity leads her to chase up the elusive organisation... when she finds it, her life will never be the same again.
Day One
An alien entity (personified as a sexy purple mist) wreaks havoc in Cardiff. It finds a human host-body and proceeds to feed itself by bringing other people to orgasm and incinerating them at this point. Deadly shagging ensues.
Ghost Machine
The 'ghost machine' of the title is an alien device that can amplify residual energy left by strong emotions... meaning it can show a depiction of the past where powerfully-emotional things have happened. Using it, Owen witnesses a murder from the 1950s. Upon looking this murder up he finds that it is still unsolved.
Cyberwoman
A Torchwood employee, Lisa, was partially cybernised by the Cybermen in the Battle of Canary Wharf (events depicted in the last two episodes of the 2006 series of Doctor Who). She's been hanging out in the basement of Torchwood 3, and she decides to go apeshit.
Small Worlds
It turns out that Faeries are actually malignant life forms who live on Earth but exist in different dimensions to ourselves. They occasionally manifest on our plane to claim and take children they have marked as special.
Countrycide
Something is kidnapping and eating motorists out in the Welsh countryside.
Greeks Bearing Gifts
Tosh is given alien technology that allows her to read minds. It turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing.
They Keep Killing Suzie
Torchwood are implicated in some random murders.
Random Shoes
Eugene Jones is an aliens-obsessed man killed in a hit-and-run. Gwen investigates Eugene's death, watched on by Eugene.
Out of Time
Three passengers on a 1950s flight come through the Rift into modern-day Cardiff. There is no way to send them back, it's up to Torchwood to help them adjust to their new surroundings.
Combat
'Weevils' are highly-aggressive but primitive aliens that sometimes run amok in Cardiff. It's usually up to Torchwood to get them off the streets before they can kill anyone, but then someone else begins kidnapping the Weevils before Torchwood can get to them.
Captain Jack Harkness
Captain Jack and Tosh fall through the Rift into the 1940s and meet with a WWII Captain also named Jack Harkness.
End of Days
The Rift has gone nuts and all sorts of people from other places in time are falling through to the modern day. It begins to transpire that someone has manipulated Torchwood into causing this, and for very sinister reasons.
And that's it!
Looking forward to series 2.
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