Torchwood, the new Doctor Who spin off [Archive]

satori

10-30-2006, 07:23 AM

Since I found out that there was a doctor who spin off named Torchwood (not the possible upcoming K9 spinoff) I have been doing my best to learn as much as I could about it. I managed to lay my hands on a copy of the first show and wow, is it great... I'm sitting watching it, trying to get every last bit of marrow out of it, when I discover at the very end of it that it's a co-production between the BBC and the CBC... meaning that it's partially Canadian... and being a Canuck I'm trying to figure out when I am not watching it at the same time... and why there's no news about it on the CBC web site... grrrr.... Still, it's a pretty interesting idea. I think it needs to work out it's pacing and figure out what it's meant to be, but it's going to be good, I can see that much.

proglodyte

10-30-2006, 11:08 AM

I have the first and second episodes but have yet to watch them. I really need to find the time to do so.

masherscf

10-30-2006, 11:34 AM

Have they actually begun broadcasting yet? It was slated to start broadcast sometime in the fall, but they had to reshoot some scenes in the pilot. I've been waiting to see this series since they first annouced it over a year ago. The BBC can be very closed-mouthed about broadcast dates.

Edit: n/m apparently there are torrents for the first 2 episodes available. Hmm, time for a little ol' copyright infrigement...

point5o

10-30-2006, 03:11 PM

Great 1st 2 episodes. Captain Jack is an awesome character. I hope they do some crossover episodes with Doctor Who :)

viscountradu

10-30-2006, 03:22 PM

episode 3 seems to be up too.

jdhore

10-30-2006, 03:32 PM

1st: episode 3 aired last night and it's up on the torrents
2nd: It really is an awesome show and i thought Captain Jack was the best character (other than the doctor) in the 2004-2006 Doctor Who seasons...i'm glad they brought him back, but i wish he was in more episodes of Doctor Who (as opposed to just 4)

point5o

10-30-2006, 03:32 PM

I forgot to mention...girl on girl in second episode :cool:

madripper1

10-31-2006, 08:22 PM

I just saw the first episode with hot man on man tongue action and I might watch it again.

masherscf

10-31-2006, 09:15 PM

I just saw the first episode with hot man on man tongue action and I might watch it again.

You spotlight an interesting double standard. The men kissing lasted about one second and was a joke, while the women kissing lasted several minutes and was part of the plot.

satori

11-01-2006, 06:25 AM

Have they actually begun broadcasting yet? It was slated to start broadcast sometime in the fall, but they had to reshoot some scenes in the pilot.

I wonder if the hand was one of those scenes. JDhore and I were talking about it on IRC and I'm pretty sure it's the doctor's hand that was cut off during the first ep of this season of Doctor Who. The thing I'm wondering is if they'll grow a new doctor out of it.

proglodyte

11-01-2006, 01:51 PM

I wonder if the hand was one of those scenes. JDhore and I were talking about it on IRC and I'm pretty sure it's the doctor's hand that was cut off during the first ep of this season of Doctor Who. The thing I'm wondering is if they'll grow a new doctor out of it.

Thats right, I couldn't quite remember where that hand could have come from. It must be the Doctor's hand. I just watched the 2nd episode last night and that would explain a lot about Jack's reaction to the alien infected chick grabbing the jar with the hand in it.

masherscf

11-01-2006, 02:46 PM

Thats right, I couldn't quite remember where that hand could have come from. It must be the Doctor's hand. I just watched the 2nd episode last night and that would explain a lot about Jack's reaction to the alien infected chick grabbing the jar with the hand in it.

I forgot all about that hand!

The scuttlebutt about the reshoots was bad lighting. That might have just been a story...

viscountradu

11-01-2006, 03:28 PM

anyone know what day this airs in the UK? it would be nice to know so i could look for new episodes the day after.

point5o

11-01-2006, 03:50 PM

anyone know what day this airs in the UK? it would be nice to know so i could look for new episodes the day after.

Sunday nights

satori

11-01-2006, 04:06 PM

Sunday nights

It's playing on BBC3, but Doctor Who plays on BBC1... any idea why they've both not on the same station?

masherscf

11-01-2006, 08:42 PM

anyone know what day this airs in the UK? it would be nice to know so i could look for new episodes the day after.

The day after! I bet you'll be able to get them Sunday evening on the east coast. They air Doctor Who Saturday at seven in the UK. I was watching a BT of it by 9:00 in New York.

madripper1

11-01-2006, 11:15 PM

I just saw all 3 and i like it but i am confused on what jack said about his life. i thought he was from the 51st century and a time traveler.

masherscf

11-02-2006, 12:03 AM

I just saw all 3 and i like it but i am confused on what jack said about his life. i thought he was from the 51st century and a time traveler.

He is, but he hasn't really told anyone.

Of course, I had no idea that Rose made him immortal. We have no idea how much time has passed for him since that incident. The character seems a lot more brooding than before.

djhyjak

11-02-2006, 03:00 AM

Im diggin this show, it's very sexually charged everybody except the Asian chic seems to be horny.

satori

11-02-2006, 05:17 AM

Not sure if anyone here watched the mini series called Bleakhouse with Gillian Anderson. Burn Gorman, who plays Owen Harper in torchwood was in it. He was really great in Bleakhouse, but if anything I think he's the only weak link in the cast. Even saying that I think he's pretty good.

masherscf

11-02-2006, 12:06 PM

Im diggin this show, it's very sexually charged everybody except the Asian chic seems to be horny.

It's Russell P. Davies and his "Queer as Folk" lineage. I think he likes to spice thing up a bit. That wasn't really possible with Doctor Who because it's aimed a younger people.

I think Capitan Jack (Harkness not Sparrow) was conceived as a more sexually expressive, less burdened version of The Doctor. As young and cool as Chris Eccleston, David Tennant or Peter Davidson are, you can never forget the cranky old coot William Hartnell that lies beneath. Captain Jack has much less baggage.

satori

11-02-2006, 02:04 PM

It's Russell P. Davies and his "Queer as Folk" lineage. I think he likes to spice thing up a bit. That wasn't really possible with Doctor Who because it's aimed a younger people.

I think Capitan Jack (Harkness not Sparrow) was conceived as a more sexually expressive, less burdened version of The Doctor. As young and cool as Chris Eccleston, David Tennant or Peter Davidson are, you can never forget the cranky old coot William Hartnell that lies beneath. Captain Jack has much less baggage.

Good point, on the Doctor vs. Captain jack on baggage, but I think that really is the case with the last season of Doctor who since the Doctor had become the last of the timelords. Captain Jack was fairly footloose and fancy free. Whatever happened with Captain Jack between the last dr. who season and Torchwood has really put an edge on his character. Sure he's smiling, but he got all heavy quite a few times... he seemed burdened by his imortality rather than revelling in it. There's back story that I think is only going to come out slowly.

EDIT: oh... something else I wanted to say about doctor who and Torchwood... I'm so happy that Aliens are finally alien again. I am so sick of all these shows like star trek and Star Gate where all the aliens look strangely human for the most part unless they're completely exotic, in which case they'll have funny ridges on their foreheads.

masherscf

11-02-2006, 02:30 PM

There's back story that I think is only going to come out slowly.

EDIT: oh... something else I wanted to say about doctor who and Torchwood... I'm so happy that Aliens are finally alien again.

You should watch some of the Jon Pertwee Doctor Whos. During many of those years The Doctor was confined to earth. He hardly ever used the Tardis and most of the Aliens were strictly humanoid. He even drove around in an antique car named Bessie. It was all budgetary, of course.

The baggage that the Doctor character has is literary decades of character development and precedent. Indeed, the time-lord regeneration that was originally just a plot device to allow them to replace William Hartnell with Patrick Troughton has been the life's blood of the series. It has allowed them to reinvent the character, keeping the entire show from being stale. Of course, every time-lord has only 12 regenerations. We don't count Peter Cushing.

maharajamackdaddy

11-02-2006, 03:12 PM

it's a co-production between the BBC and the CBC... meaning that it's partially Canadian... and being a Canuck I'm trying to figure out when I am not watching it at the same time... and why there's no news about it on the CBC web site...

Its because its the CBC they are pretty slow to update their site. Simple as that.

masherscf

11-02-2006, 04:10 PM

Its because its the CBC they are pretty slow to update their site. Simple as that.

I was watching this site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/index_nonflash.shtml) as recently as last week and there was no word. I assume they promoted it on the BBC channel that it was eventually broadcast on. However, they've been very closed mouthed about the actual broadcast dates of both Torchwood and Doctor Who.

madripper1

11-09-2006, 02:38 AM

just saw episode 4 and I really like the show and can't wait to see it each week.

masherscf

11-09-2006, 02:58 AM

just saw episode 4 and I really like the show and can't wait to see it each week.

It's sitting on my TiVo, I haven't had time to watch it.

How did it get on my TiVo? That's a long story....

satori

11-09-2006, 04:30 AM

masherscf

11-09-2006, 01:42 PM

madripper1

11-09-2006, 02:05 PM

That's so funny. The cybermen have been around since berfore the original Star Trek. If anything, the borg were ripped-off the cybermen.

i agree the doctor has been around longer than trek lets find other races star trek or star wars ripped off the doctor.

tokenuser

11-09-2006, 02:12 PM

it bugged me that I haven't watched the associated Cybermen episode that will be on CBC next week, but now I've seen the torchwood that comes on after. Bet you any moreny someone is going to make some crack about how Doctor Who is ripping off Star Trek and the borg.... Bet you, bet you... of course the Cyberment have been around for what... 40 years now?I do find it funny that they need to pull the "rip in the space/time contiuum" card from Star Trek to make it happen (how many ST:ToS, ST:TNG, and ST:DS9 episodes were driven by that??). The Cybermen were a great villain in the old Dr Who series, so it is great they found a way to bring them back.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first parallel Earth storyline that has happened on Dr Who. Sure, there have been alternate realities where the Doctor needed to go back in time to correct an event that was interferred with that changed history, but no parallel Earth plots.

I did love the update on the Cybermen though. I especially liked the thump, thump, thump sound they made as they walked :)

masherscf

11-09-2006, 02:17 PM

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first parallel Earth storyline that has happened on Dr Who.

Funny you should say that. They stated plainly in the newer Cybermen episode that the Doctor had never been to a parallel universe's Earth. However, my wife and I just rented the Jon Pertwee Episode "Inferno." Where the Doctors does just that. That episode aired in 1970 when Russell Davies was about seven. I'm not sure how he could have missed it.

I liked the new Cyberman as well. The way they trained the actors to march in unison was really menacing, much more than the orignal 1960's vinatge.

The whole first David Tennant series builds up to the most serious Doctor Who Geekasm you can imagine. But I won't spoil it for you.

masherscf

11-13-2006, 11:34 PM

Happiness
http://static.flickr.com/121/296856292_554de64c73_o.jpg

viscountradu

11-13-2006, 11:39 PM

Episode 5 was good. No aliens or alien technology, which was a nice change of pace. And we got some more background information on Jack's life. I am definitely liking the way this series is going.

viscountradu

11-20-2006, 07:59 PM

episode 6 is out.

(spoilers ahead)

another one with no aliens. this is becoming very much like the X-Files. i really like it.

but why Gwen and Owen? that just seems wrong. i wanted Gwen to end up with Jack.

masherscf

11-22-2006, 12:03 PM

Owen and Gwen was a little unexpected. That "When is the last time you came so hard...?" line never works for me...

satori

11-22-2006, 12:21 PM

Owen and Gwen was a little unexpected. That "When is the last time you came so hard...?" line never works for me...

Yeah, that whole sub plot bit really sucked for me. It was a really great episode if it weren't for that. It seriously creaped me out!

Spoiler!!!
What pissed me off was the entire bit where Gwen lowers her weapon. She had him dead to rights. Could of popped the cop no problem... it was obvious that they wouldn't let them live... wouldn't the obvious thing to do be to simply shoot the guy and hope you get him before he could get a shot off? It's the only other thing that really took me out of the story. If they had of just stayed with the story it may of been the best ep yet.

masherscf

11-22-2006, 01:02 PM

Spoiler!!!
What pissed me off was the entire bit where Gwen lowers her weapon. She had him dead to rights. Could of popped the cop no problem

Did you notice that Jack knee capped them all instead of shooting them to death. Apparently they frown on killing humans in Torchwood. I suspect that Gwen just didn't want to take a human life. I'm sure that Owen was touched by her concern. I thought the entire episode was wonderfully demented. I'm not sure that you could ever get something like that to fly on TV in the states. Maggot ridden corpses, dead body parts and cannibalism and such would never pass the standards and practices. The extreme dirty talk between Own and Gwen probably would not be okay for family hour.It seems that "Torchwood" is not for the kiddies. The show is a much darker cousin to "Doctor Who."

viscountradu

11-29-2006, 12:54 AM

Good news (I think). Captain Jack will return to Doctor Who: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=39029

masherscf

11-29-2006, 01:56 AM

Good news (I think). Captain Jack will return to Doctor Who: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=39029

Did you watch 7 yet. Pretty sad stuff...

djhyjak

11-29-2006, 04:20 AM

This show is out to bring the sexy back to scifi

satori

11-29-2006, 05:33 AM

Did you watch 7 yet. Pretty sad stuff...

sad as in not good, or sad as in depressing? I'm trying to grab the torrent right now but I'm only at 18% after a full day of downloading... man my ISP sucks for shaping my damn packets

djhyjak

11-29-2006, 05:51 AM

Ep.7 is good and theres more girl on girl.

masherscf

11-29-2006, 11:16 AM

sad as in not good, or sad as in depressing? I'm trying to grab the torrent right now but I'm only at 18% after a full day of downloading... man my ISP sucks for shaping my damn packets

I don't want to spoil it. It was a fine episode. I rather like that the series is focusing on building an ensemble. I originally thought the series would focus mainly on Jack and Gwen. That was a mistake. They've taken a lot of time to develop the other three characters as well. In this episode Tosh takes center stage. The actress who places Tosh is really rather talanted and beautiful. Having her featured was a treat. However, Tosh is really rather miserable. Series creator Russell T. Davis is clearly taking a page from the Joss Wedon playbook. The page that says miserable characters make great TV.

Naoko Mori plays Toshiko Sato in BBC's Torchwood
http://ia.ec.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/53/13/48m.jpg

viscountradu

12-05-2006, 02:39 AM

Episode 8. Suzzie is back! Let's kill her again!

The final line about the glove was one of the coolest pieces of foreshadowing ever.

masherscf

12-05-2006, 02:48 AM

Episode 8. Suzzie is back! Let's kill her again!

The final line about the glove was one of the coolest pieces of foreshadowing ever.

It was a great episode. I don't know what those guys are doing with the Divx. It sure upscales nice to by HD TV.

bigbooger

12-05-2006, 03:20 AM

I enjoyed the last episode. Suzie was one beeoch that just won't disappear. I liked what they put on the death certificate "Death by Torchwood"..

If you're not watching Torchwood you're not a geek. :)

masherscf

12-05-2006, 01:08 PM

If you're not watching Torchwood you're not a geek. :)

Or you don't know how to set your port forwarding properly.

bigbooger

12-08-2006, 11:52 AM

Or you don't know how to set your port forwarding properly.

No sheat. God bless the torrent. :D

satori

12-08-2006, 06:58 PM

****possible spoiler info****

...soooo the gay overtones are getting a little much... I mean I get that Captain Jack is Bi, but holy crap... is there anyone in the cast that isn't sexually ambiguous in some way or other? I'd maybe buy it a little more if this stuff was slowly happening, but it's like all of them got hit with the gay stick on the last ep.

And this whole hell mouth thing "from below" stuff I swear as of the last episode this took a decided buffy turn. I know the concept was there from the start, but it seemed a little more so now because it's not simply a rip in space... now it's a full blown dark thingy coming to gobble everyone up.

masherscf

12-09-2006, 12:03 AM

And this whole hell mouth thing "from below" stuff I swear as of the last episode this took a decided buffy turn. I know the concept was there from the start, but it seemed a little more so now because it's not simply a rip in space... now it's a full blown dark thingy coming to gobble everyone up.

The creator has been making vague buffyesque references for awhile.

At Captain Jack is more that just bi-sexual. He is completely without sexual designation. basically if he thinks any person or alien is attractive, he wants to sleep with it. He transcends our gender based ideas of a persons sexuality.

It's an interesting counterpart to the Doctor Who character who for most of his incarnation has been almost completely non-sexual.

Captain Jack is truly the reinvented Doctor Who for twenty-first century adults.

satori

12-09-2006, 12:08 AM

The creator has been making vague buffyesque references for awhile.

I thought I said that, yes... It was just that line about something dark coming was a little much...

At Captain Jack is more that just bi-sexual. He is completely without sexual designation. basically if he thinks any person or alien is attractive, he wants to sleep with it. He transcends our gender based ideas of a persons sexuality.

It's an interesting counterpart to the Doctor Who character who for most of his incarnation has been almost completely non-sexual.

Captain Jack is truly the reinvented Doctor Who for twenty-first century adults.

In Doctor who, the Doctor labelled him bi-sexual so that's what I'm calling him. Regardless, it's bizarre that except for Neil they've all had their fingers in the cookie dough so to speak.

masherscf

12-09-2006, 12:56 AM

In Doctor who, the Doctor labelled him bi-sexual

I'll go back and watch those two episodes, but the doctor never reffered to him as "bi-sexual" but just that he would sleep with anything man, woman, or alien. We're just bantering about semantics.

The point is that if you called Jack "bi-sexual" he would laugh at your need to classify his sexuality at all. Jack is not gay, straight or bi... he's Jack...

satori

12-09-2006, 03:23 AM

I'll go back and watch those two episodes, but the doctor never reffered to him as "bi-sexual" but just that he would sleep with anything man, woman, or alien. We're just bantering about semantics.

The point is that if you called Jack "bi-sexual" he would laugh at your need to classify his sexuality at all. Jack is not gay, straight or bi... he's Jack...

as you say, semantics... my point is that everyone's sexuality has gone decidedly non straight all at once.

masherscf

12-09-2006, 04:56 PM

as you say, semantics... my point is that everyone's sexuality has gone decidedly non straight all at once.

This is very true. Jack's happy influence maybe.

viscountradu

12-11-2006, 03:37 AM

just finished watching episode 9. i really didn't need the sad musical number, but other than that it was a good episode.

satori

12-12-2006, 01:44 PM

just finished watching episode 9. i really didn't need the sad musical number, but other than that it was a good episode.

Yes, I just watched it, that little danny boy bit really took me out of the story. Still, this was the best ep yet in my opinion, I was actually quite sad at the end.

marty993

12-13-2006, 12:17 AM

I watched some of episode one and most of episode two. Can't say I'm into it very much. As with a lot of British TV dramas I find it's just a poor imitation of some better American show. Episode two especially seemed like a bad Species clone, and Species was pretty hokey to begin with.

The plots are all X Files-ish but the setting really kills it, for me anyway. I'm Welsh myself and I really have a hard time buying plots about alien invaders when everybody's running around talking in a Cardiff accent. It just makes everything seem very silly.

Do any Americans get that with certain X Files episodes or anything like that which are set in their home towns and that kinda thing?

masherscf

12-13-2006, 12:35 AM

I'm Welsh myself and I really have a hard time buying plots about alien invaders when everybody's running around talking in a Cardiff accent. It just makes everything seem very silly.

Have you watched Doctor Who? There's an interdimensional rift in the heart of Cardiff. That and film in Cardiff is way cheaper than London.

viscountradu

12-13-2006, 03:47 PM

Torchwood has been picked up for a second season: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=39208

masherscf

12-13-2006, 04:00 PM

Torchwood has been picked up for a second season: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=39208

This is ggod news. The BBC knows how to do a great scifi series.

marty993

12-13-2006, 11:54 PM

Have you watched Doctor Who? There's an interdimensional rift in the heart of Cardiff. That and film in Cardiff is way cheaper than London.

I watched a couple of episodes of Doctor Who and it was the cheapness that stopped me enjoying it. They went to the future, alien planets and all that and yet it always looked like they filmed in the BBC office building interior. I thought David Tennant was cool, very funny, but everybody around him would struggle for a place in Eastenders (bad, bad, bad and incredibly popular soap opera). I like some of the ideas but everything from the idea up is just bad.

masherscf

12-13-2006, 11:56 PM

I watched a couple of episodes of Doctor Who and it was the cheapness that stopped me enjoying it.

You should see the William Hartnell Dr Whos. They don'y even bother hiding the shadows of the actors on the lousy backdrops. Ah, good times...

satori

12-19-2006, 12:18 AM

I like some of the ideas but everything from the idea up is just bad.
Doctor Who seems to be for a younger crowd while Torchwood stories are decidedly more adult. It's pretty rare that any show is not derivative. I think you'll find that in fact Species is a rip off of a doctor who group of episodes from the John Pertwee era called the claws of Axos and later refined in a Tom Baker story about a regenerating group of cells, although I can't recall the name. If you don't like it, you don't like it.

masherscf

12-19-2006, 01:59 AM

If you don't like it, you don't like it.

I just don't see how a scifi fan could fail to love this show. It's not flashy like BSG or anything. But, it's very character driven and they're good characters. I nearly bawled during this last outing. The episode was both sweet and tragic at the same time.

satori

12-19-2006, 07:21 AM

I nearly bawled during this last outing. The episode was both sweet and tragic at the same time.

Well he only watched the first two eps. The first wasn't great, just a set up, and the second was a little slow to start. You're right about the last ep though, I can't see how anyone would not of liked it.

masherscf

12-19-2006, 12:30 PM

Well he only watched the first two eps. The first wasn't great, just a set up, and the second was a little slow to start. You're right about the last ep though, I can't see how anyone would not of liked it.

Is that all. Hell, one of the best Sci-fi series ever, "Star Trek: the Next Generation" took nearly two years to get really good. It's always been frustrating for me when people make judgments about shows without giving them full consideration.