Bad Jack.

I wasn’t quite sure whether Day Five was going to deliver, or whether it could possibly live up to the tour de force of Day’s One to Four. Well, one thing’s for sure, we didn’t get a happy ending. It was bleak and uncompromising in a way I don’t think anyone in fandom is used to and, as a result, I imagine that there will be quite a bit of controversy surrounding it. Some of the nonsense that I’ve read about fan reaction to Day Four’s shock death might pale in to insignificance relative to the shock of Captain Jack

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 456, Captain-Jack, Day Five, Gwen-Cooper, Stephen, Torchwood

“On The Fourth Day The Government Will Conspire”… and didn’t they just?!

A few days ago, the biggest Doctor Who community on the internet, The Doctor Who Forum (formerly Outpost Gallifrey), was closed down to be replaced in spirit and substance by Gallifrey Base: a place for the discerning fan to partake in a diverse and vibrant discussion… and to throw insults at the trolls. I always used to read, with general amusement, the opinions of a vocal minority of “fans” and quite a few critics whose viewpoints I respect, about a genuine disappointment with Torchwood. Marketed, consciously or otherwise, as an adult version of its anagrammed parent show, Torchwood’s first two series were/are seen by these significant few as

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 456, bbc hd, BBC1, Captain-Jack, Children of Earth, Day 4, Day Four, Gwen-Cooper, Ianto-Jones, Review, Torchwood

Day Three, in which [Spoilers Follow]

Okay, I was thoroughly enjoying the first two episodes of Torchwood: Children of Earth, all the while hoping that the pay-off would live up to the promise of the set-up. After seeing Day Three I don’t think I’m going to be disappointed. Questions were answered and new ones were asked. Jack’s daughter, Alice, turned out to have inherited some of the old man’s skills. Frobisher got screwed by the PM. Lois managed to infiltrate the highest levels of the conspiracy without anyone so much as blinking. And Jack turned bad… sort of. James Moran and Russell T Davies managed to create a quite magnificent piece of drama tonight and I am so chuffed that we have two more evenings to enjoy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 456, Captain-Jack, Children of Earth, Gwen-Cooper, Ianto-Jones, Torchwood, We Are Coming

Day Two – In the big Torchwood House

After I watched Day One, I mentioned that the trailer-fest and general press previews had provided enough to let me know, more or less, what was going to happen until the end of the episode. However, in the countdown to Day Two, I had somewhat less of an idea. The “Next Time” snippet had given us enough information to let us know that Jack’s bloodied corpse would make an appearance but there were some lovely gruesome scenes as his body regenerated nonetheless. The plot developed

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Captain-Jack, Day Two, Gwen, Hub, Ianto, Torchwood

Torchwood: Day One – What’s Occuring?

Well, that was a rather special episode of Torchwood, in fact I’d go as far as to say faultless. I got the feeling that I knew most of what was going to happen from the trailers and press releases (kids stopping, the “We. Are. Coming” chant, the mysterious alien threat, government reaction and Torchwood being hunted down) but, despite the prior knowledge, it didn’t prevent the last 10 minutes from making my heart race. Dr Rupesh’s shooting of Jack was a jaw-dropper given I thought he was genuinely being introduced as an Owen replacement and the bomb in Jack’s stomach was something I didn’t see coming at all. The five-hour story format rather than self contained 45-minute chunks seem to have

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bbc hd, BBC1, Captain-Jack, Children of Earth, Day One, Gwen, Ianto, Torchwood, We Are Coming

Up until now, throughout its first two years, Torchwood has met with a generaly positive response from the viewers, gaining enough momentum to make the move from BBC3 to BBC2 after a successfull first series and shortly to make another upgrade to BBC1. It seems to be especially successfull in the international markets like America and Australia who even seem to be a lot more upbeat about it than they are about the better known parent show. However, a vocal few from the fan communities

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: BBC, Captain-Jack, Children of Earth, Cyberwoman, Eve-Myles, Jon Barrowman, Rob Lowe, Torchwood