Total Number of Ratings: 6
Why You Should Be Watching Torchwood
First Published: Monday, April 20, 2009 9:40 PM
Last Saved: Thursday, May 7, 2009 6:33 PM
There are a lot of TV shows that I "love". I love Grey's Anatomy. I love Chuck. Despite all the bad press, I still love Heroes. But my favorite TV show, the one I can't help recommending to people, is Torchwood.
This British sci-fi series is about a top secret agency created by the Queen to fight extra-terrestrials and scavenge alien technology for Earth's own use... or as the opening narration says, "Torchwood: Outside the government. Beyond the police. Tracking alien life on Earth and arming the human race against the future."
Cool premise. But I'm sure that alone is not going to get someone to watch the show. Torchwood's greatest strength is its strongly developed characters and it's fantastic ensemble of actors. At first look, the team isn't anything really different or exceptional: Toshiko is the shy tech wiz who quietly pines for Owen, the over-confident team medic and "office flirt". There's the rookie, former police constable Gwen Cooper, and the team's errand boy, Ianto. And finally, scoundrel-turned-hero team leader, Captain Jack Harkness.
But these characters grow, they evolve. Enough so that the alien-of-the-week format doesn't get old. Because each case really affects the characters. You watch Gwen adapt, quite well, to this new world she's been brought into and, as the series develops, she becomes the strongest member of the team. She struggles to balance her work life and her personal life, and brings some much needed humanity to the rest of the team. Ianto starts out as just a body in the background, but goes from fetching coffee to fighting alongside the rest of the team as a snarky, kiss-ass agent. And Jack's very dark and hidden past creeps up to bite him in the ass every now and again (by the way, Jack can't die... ever).
And if that's not enough for you, there's a lot of snogging! People are hooking up left, right, and center, yet it never seems gratuitous. It always fits with the characters and plot lines.
Anyway, the bottom line is it's an amazing show. It really does have something for everyone: action, drama, adventure, comedy, you name it. I can't recommend it enough, so watch it already...and I promise you'll get hooked!
Series 1 and 2 are available on DVD. Series 3 started airing in the UK on April 18.
Have you heard that they're working up a new series? I can't wait to see where it goes, given what happened in series 3.
seconding the recommendation. i caught this show when it aired on our HDnet channel last year, and really enjoyed it. it's set in the Dr. Who 'verse, which i don't follow (yet), so i got the feeling fairly frequently there was a joke or a storyline that i wasn't quite in the loop on. i think some if might just be that British TV can be more subtle than American sometimes. ;)
if you liked the best parts of Joss Whedon's "Angel" series, then you'll feel right at home in "Torchwood".
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I've been meaning to watch this, since I got into docter who. But never get around to seeing it. I might go out. On a limb and buy the first season on DVD.