Cool News
Sarah Jane & Captain Jack!! WHO Spinoffs Appraised!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
Seems the late holiday season brought British airings of the “Torchwood” season finale and the “Sarah Jane Adventures” pilot. Both, we gather, are spinoffs of the BBC’s “Doctor Who.”
“Corwin” explains the big news with “Torchwood.” Beware spoilers:
Hi Herc,
Sorry if your mailbox is already full with this info:
The Torchwood finale ends with Captain Jack (unseen, but very obviously) back in the Tardis!!! Or at the very least *a* Tardis.
Throughout the series, one of the little mysteries thrown in is why Captain Jack is so attached to a disembodied hand he keeps [alive?] in a sort of stasis jar.
I won't spoil the episode itself but right at the end Gwen, second lead in the series, asks Jack what he would be tempted by. He says "the right kind of Doctor".
A few moments laters he walks past the aforementioned jar and it starts getting all glowy. He looks at it like he can't really believe what he thinks it means.
Then papers and things start getting blown about and he hears this noise. And gets a great big grin on his face ... because it's the absolutely unmistakeable sound of a materialising Tardis!
Seconds later the rest of the team wander into the room and he's gone.
At which point I had a big "Duh!" moment when I remembered who lost a hand, and then regrew it, exactly a year ago in "The Xmas Invasion"!
Don't know how this will pan out - whether he'll be in the forthcoming Who series or if this will be a side story - but there's no way this could be a clever misdirect. The sound effects were full-on genuine Tardis.
Happy New Year.
“LoneGunMan” offers this on the “Sarah Jane” pilot:
Hi Herc and Harry,
The BBC have just screened their 60min special for the new Doctor Who spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures", and I have to say I'm kinda surprised... here's a review!
What's it called?
"Invasion of the Bane"
What's the basic run-down?
Sure, it's a pilot for a series so it has to punch a few buttons. We take the outsider's POV, following Maria Jackson, a 13-year old who has moved into a house with her recently divorced father, conveniently opposite Sarah Jane Smith on Bannerman Road. It doesn't take long before Maria has glimpsed Sarah Jane talking with aliens in her garden
and getting dragged into an alien plot to take over the world. We're given a brief recount of Sarah Jane's adventures with The Doctor, how there are government agencies who know about aliens on Earth (referring
to UNIT from her earlier days, or possibly a nod to Torchwood).
So, with a 13-year old lead, this is for kids?
Yes, Russell T Davies, the man behind the new rebirth of Doctor Who, has the "adult" audience tied up with Torchwood at the moment, so the only other way to go for his complete domination of British TV is to get the kids. Admittedly, the idea of a series for kids worried me, especially knowing what "made for kids" drama can be like on British
TV, but this was a revelation. The acting was great, especially from Yasmin Paige playing Maria. Her friend Kelsey may have been the token "I'm going to talk like a kid", but her dialogue wasn't over the top. In fact, Samantha Bond, playing the evil Mrs Wormwood, makes a great
comment about not understanding what Kelsey's saying.
There are the obligatory evil aliens then?
Evil aliens, and friendly ones too. The race of aliens last seen in Torchwood's "Greeks bearing Gifts" are represented again, with some nice CGI, and the evil nasties in the shape of the Bane (and the huge Bane Mother) are straight out of H.P. Lovecraft, again, some nice CGI here as one breaks into Sarah Jane's house! It's nice to see that not all aliens are bad for a change, something that seems to be portrayed in Torchwood all too much at the moment.
Any other Whovian references in there?
Sure The Doctor is name checked, and K-9 makes a cameo appearance (possibly the worst part of the show). He won't be appearing in the full blown series as he's got his "non-BBC" spin off that looks a little worrying. K-9 was always cool, it's a shame they just couldn't keep him in Sarah Jane's series as he was, rather than make an excuse
for his exit to let him go his own way. Sarah Jane's attic seems to be filled with alien artifacts, a nice pic of the Brigadier and some Daleks, and (as the website explains) Sarah Jane has some cool tech given to her by The Doctor in his latest visit (School Reunion), including her equivalent to the sonic screwdriver.
What's good?
The acting, the CGI, the dialog, all pretty cool. The story's based on one of Gareth Roberts' old Who books, which is suitably good, and all in all it was a well produced pilot to what could be a good series. Surprising to see it wasn't based in Wales!
What's Bad?
Not much really. Sure there are drink wielding zombified people walking the UK, which is quickly dismissed as a chemical reaction, but we're getting used to national crises being brushed off by the media after the events of the last few episodes of Who.
The series is due sometime in 2007, but nothing's been set. I get the feeling they're waiting to see how well this goes down before progressing. I'm hardly the correct demographic for this, but I think this could be just what the Doctor ordered!
Rating: 4/5
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Sorry if your mailbox is already full with this info:
The Torchwood finale ends with Captain Jack (unseen, but very obviously) back in the Tardis!!! Or at the very least *a* Tardis.
Throughout the series, one of the little mysteries thrown in is why Captain Jack is so attached to a disembodied hand he keeps [alive?] in a sort of stasis jar.
I won't spoil the episode itself but right at the end Gwen, second lead in the series, asks Jack what he would be tempted by. He says "the right kind of Doctor".
A few moments laters he walks past the aforementioned jar and it starts getting all glowy. He looks at it like he can't really believe what he thinks it means.
Then papers and things start getting blown about and he hears this noise. And gets a great big grin on his face ... because it's the absolutely unmistakeable sound of a materialising Tardis!
Seconds later the rest of the team wander into the room and he's gone.
At which point I had a big "Duh!" moment when I remembered who lost a hand, and then regrew it, exactly a year ago in "The Xmas Invasion"!
Don't know how this will pan out - whether he'll be in the forthcoming Who series or if this will be a side story - but there's no way this could be a clever misdirect. The sound effects were full-on genuine Tardis.
Happy New Year.
The BBC have just screened their 60min special for the new Doctor Who spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures", and I have to say I'm kinda surprised... here's a review!
What's it called?
"Invasion of the Bane"
What's the basic run-down?
Sure, it's a pilot for a series so it has to punch a few buttons. We take the outsider's POV, following Maria Jackson, a 13-year old who has moved into a house with her recently divorced father, conveniently opposite Sarah Jane Smith on Bannerman Road. It doesn't take long before Maria has glimpsed Sarah Jane talking with aliens in her garden
and getting dragged into an alien plot to take over the world. We're given a brief recount of Sarah Jane's adventures with The Doctor, how there are government agencies who know about aliens on Earth (referring
to UNIT from her earlier days, or possibly a nod to Torchwood).
So, with a 13-year old lead, this is for kids?
Yes, Russell T Davies, the man behind the new rebirth of Doctor Who, has the "adult" audience tied up with Torchwood at the moment, so the only other way to go for his complete domination of British TV is to get the kids. Admittedly, the idea of a series for kids worried me, especially knowing what "made for kids" drama can be like on British
TV, but this was a revelation. The acting was great, especially from Yasmin Paige playing Maria. Her friend Kelsey may have been the token "I'm going to talk like a kid", but her dialogue wasn't over the top. In fact, Samantha Bond, playing the evil Mrs Wormwood, makes a great
comment about not understanding what Kelsey's saying.
There are the obligatory evil aliens then?
Evil aliens, and friendly ones too. The race of aliens last seen in Torchwood's "Greeks bearing Gifts" are represented again, with some nice CGI, and the evil nasties in the shape of the Bane (and the huge Bane Mother) are straight out of H.P. Lovecraft, again, some nice CGI here as one breaks into Sarah Jane's house! It's nice to see that not all aliens are bad for a change, something that seems to be portrayed in Torchwood all too much at the moment.
Any other Whovian references in there?
Sure The Doctor is name checked, and K-9 makes a cameo appearance (possibly the worst part of the show). He won't be appearing in the full blown series as he's got his "non-BBC" spin off that looks a little worrying. K-9 was always cool, it's a shame they just couldn't keep him in Sarah Jane's series as he was, rather than make an excuse
for his exit to let him go his own way. Sarah Jane's attic seems to be filled with alien artifacts, a nice pic of the Brigadier and some Daleks, and (as the website explains) Sarah Jane has some cool tech given to her by The Doctor in his latest visit (School Reunion), including her equivalent to the sonic screwdriver.
What's good?
The acting, the CGI, the dialog, all pretty cool. The story's based on one of Gareth Roberts' old Who books, which is suitably good, and all in all it was a well produced pilot to what could be a good series. Surprising to see it wasn't based in Wales!
What's Bad?
Not much really. Sure there are drink wielding zombified people walking the UK, which is quickly dismissed as a chemical reaction, but we're getting used to national crises being brushed off by the media after the events of the last few episodes of Who.
The series is due sometime in 2007, but nothing's been set. I get the feeling they're waiting to see how well this goes down before progressing. I'm hardly the correct demographic for this, but I think this could be just what the Doctor ordered!
Rating: 4/5
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Hmmm intersting
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Dunno what the ratings for Torchwood are, but given that many people are expressing dislike towards that show, wouldn't say that expression is as fitting....
Only thing that i find odd is that i was under the impression that the K-9 spinoff would be the kid-targetted one, rather than this. So there's WHO for the General Audience, Torchwood for adults, and BOTH SJ Adventures and K-9 spinoffs are being made for kids?
They sure are trying to reach every demographic with the WHO-verse, thats for sure... -
... followed by The Katarina Chronicles. It's a given.
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I forgot. Anyway, I bet they're waiting with that other show because they don't want to just order a full season and be stuck with a horrible piece of shit like Torchwood.
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Just sayin'...
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The Doctor got his hand chopped off by the aliens in a duel for the Earth and it grew back with him explaining that sice he was still in a period of regenerating he could grow a new hand.
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Corwin - It took you this long to figure out why Captain Jack kept waving a spare hand around while saying "I NEED THE RIGHT KIND OF DOCTOR, WINK" and winking at the camera?
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Insider rumours suggest that Sarah Jane was to have a love interest called Luke in the show, but CBBC bosses found the paedophilia story arc too lightweight for the 4pm timeslot.
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At least when they were putting names forward, they suggested Harry or Alistair, giving links to the names from the past Doctor Who episodes.
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You hit it right on the nose. It's dog shit alright and Sarah Jane's show is even worse. At least there's lezzing off in Torchwood.
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Torchwood has been re-commissioned, apparently.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6172167.stm
Last night's double bill really highlighted the best and worst of the show.
At worst, it was like watching edited highlights, with all the interesting bits of characterisation and plot development removed - the time travelling old man was seriously wasted; the epic/heavily emotional scenes (Gwen's boyfriend's death/Jack's "ultimate" sacrifice)were badly set up and ended up leaden and confusing; every character seems to be a one-dimensional fool with goldfish memory (how many times can the same people be tricked into betraying their colleagues/principles or misusing alien technology); and any sympathy we may have had for the team (maybe except Gwen) is now completely gone. We saw in Dr Who that Jack can be fun and charming and charismatic. He has pretty much no-one to bounce off at Torchwood HQ, and so comes over as alternately smug, prissy, dull and insensitive.
Hopefully they will get some more cash (and time) to sort it out next series. -
Yep Torchwood is pretty messy television, but that makes it oddly watchable. Good things: it's got the Whoniverse to play with / lead actors John Barrowman and Eva Myles are fine / reasonable production values for UK television, and generally effective CG and practical effects / photography - they at least make Cardiff look sexy, which ain't easy / the central conceit (quasi-governmental organisation investigates alien activity) is also strong enough to hold together a series. Bad things: inconsistency of tone - episodes veer wildly from the thrilling to the clumsy, serious to joky / the whole "everyone's a bit gay in Torchwood" subplot, which is being handled in a gratuitous and lumbering manner, completely knackering any laudable notions that RTD and the production team might have about equality and diversity and the odd bit of bareass lezbo flesh / too many episodes revolving around a different idiot team member abusing the technology they're supposed to be protecting us from, for their own selfish reasons / a feeling of the whole thing being a bit rushed (a fault shared with Who) - there are repeated attempts to tell movie-length plots in 45 minutes, which is just bad writing/script-editing. Bits I liked from the season finale: the creepy old time-travelling man / Abbadon / the nods to the next season of Who (posters asking people to VOTE SAXON) - "Mr Saxon" being the series nemesis for Who in 2007, and, in all probability, The Master / the Tardis popping up (Barrowman/Harkness guest in the last three episodes of the 2007 Who series. In short, it's OK, but messy, throws up the odd interesting idea or line, but has deep flaws, though the tendency has been for the series to improve as its gone on. Ratings are excellent, so series 2 will be a sure thing. Question is, have RTD, Chris Chibnall and the production gang learned anything from series 1?
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Captain Jack is in a three episode story arc at the end of the new upcoming season of Doctor Who. FYI.
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I live there and even i had to laugh at that ...
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Kairdiff, Kairdiff Uber Alles. And now for my daily lunch of a Brains Dark and Clarke's Pie (tm).
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The last WHO episode I saw that just aired two weeks ago has a girl in a wedding dress standing on the Tardis and Billie Piper's character stuck in the alternate universe. I didn't see anything about Captain Jack. Did that episode not make it here in the states? Or is it the next season. I'm only confused because you mentioned the Xmas episode from last year that played this past week.
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FLAMES ON THE TARDIS = NIPPLES ON THE SARAH JANE SUIT
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Christopher Eccleston stars as the Doctor for the "first" season, picking up Rose, Captain Jack and doing his thing. At the end of the series he "dies" and is replaced by David Tennant, Jack is also killed but revived and aparently left stranded in the future, which sorta leads into Torchwood. The regeneration doesn't go quite right for the Doctor, which leads into the first Christmas Special. After David's all fixed we fly straight into season "two". At the end of THAT, Rose is stranded on the alternate earth and the Doctor is left all alone. He gets a nice surprise when the bride appears in the TARDIS, leading into the second X-Mas special, AKA the Christmas Invasion. That's it so far
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And right at the end of Torchwood season one, the familiar noise of the TARDIS loops in and Captain Jack disappears. He's due to appear in the next season of Doctor Who which starts in the UK in the Spring.
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The Beeb has canned the planned Rose Tyler Doctor Who spin-off after series producer Russell T Davies "got cold feet" over the project.
Ms Tyler, played by Billie Piper, exited the Tardis earlier this year and has been replaced by Freema Agyeman for the next series.
The show - called Rose Tyler: Earth Defence - "was actually commissioned by the controller of BBC One and budgeted", Davies told Doctor Who Magazine. However, he eventually decided it was "a spin-off too far" and consigned it to the bin. Davies admitted the BBC "hadn't formally approached Billie, although we'd mentioned it to her".
Davies explained: "It was going to be fantastic. We'd have had a lovely budget and done brilliant things with it, maybe one Bank Holiday special a year." He also lamented that the decision to pull the plug had cost him "a fortune".
Meanwhile, the other Who spin-off, Torchwood, will indeed hit the small screen in the autumn. The 13-part series features John Barrowman as Captain Jack and "focuses on a squad of secret agents facing human and alien enemies".
And that's not all. The doctor's former robotic companion K9 has been resurrected for the kids' market and will appear in a 26-part series for children's TV channel Jetix Europe. K9 Adventures, a mix of live action and animation, is described by the channel's Michael Lekes as "an excellent space fantasy-adventure series that we are sure will be immensely popular". -
I have never been too impressed by Dr. Who though still I've watched almost every episode since the relaunch of the show starring Christopher Eccleston. I've never really taken to it because I just didn't feel he was a fear provoking character, he wasn't convincing as a terrifying force who villains should fear nor (bar once) has he seemed to be a strong, threatening hero, (except for that time he nearly killed Rose's Daleck buddy), and since Eccleston's departure I feel that Tennant's Who is an even less convincing hero. Basically, I just feel that they're too goofy but I'm sure that that's the approach he cast and crew intended to take. Last year's Christmas episode was actually impressive, Tennant showed promise and grit by duelling with those aliens, the SFX were good by any standards and it seemed until the end that a good change was in the air, then The Doctor has a hissy fit when the PM has the escaping vessel of evil tyrants destroyed, I realise that he's somewhat of a moral defender but this turned me off. Tennant's series then had it's ups and downs, it wasn't as good as Eccleston's but it was not bad either but I feel this year's Christmas ep showed a huge drop in quality, it was 60s Batman campy and although it was a bit of fun it was also very annoying and no where near as good as Christmas 2005's episode. As Sarah Jane Adventures, for a kid's show I guess it's good, it uses the Dr. Who formula only it's even more camp and over the top, there was a moment in particular where Sarah Jane, the girl and boy have a slow motion victory dance to cheesy music, I'm not going to judge it, if I were younger I would pobably love it. Torchwood is by far the best Who spin off, despite its lack of originality and occasional superfluous scene. It's gritty, it has protagonists who make mistakes and actually do the wrong thing and it's set in a world we very much know, an unglamourised one, a violent and dangerous world. I felt that this show was well scripted most of the time and the characterisation was of a very high standard, everybody got their time in the limelight. The sexuality of the how is intriguing though, and what is with Captain Jack and Yalto's relationship? There is a distinct air of homoeroticism in a number of the episodes, each character kisses a member of their own sex for one reason or another. I'm fine with this and I'm sure it's all apart of the writers' enlightened message about relationships but whether or not it's an actual benefit to the show I don't know. Interestingly Jack is considered the star of the show, it seemed to me that he played second fiddle to Gwen. Those are my two-cents anyway, I like these shows despite there flaws, but I'd take BSG over them any day.
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My opinion of all things Doctor Who couldn't be any more opposite of Croatoa's if I tried.I really really don't like Torchwood. It is insistently so grave and important that it really is hard to take. Battlestar Galactica is very serious, but Torchwood has serious emotional stories and then consistently has a five minute postcript to hit us over the head with This Is The Reason This Is So Serious!!!!! I don't need a scene with Tosh talking to Jack to know that it must be difficult to hear what people really think of you. I don't need a montage of scenes from earlier in the same episode to tell me that the people from the past had a hard time adjusting to 2006 (or 2007). I find it hamfisted and incredibly irritating.As far as Sarah Jane Adventures is concerned, I like it quite a bit more than I thought I would. Sure having Sarah Jane have all these gadgets was a bit unnecessary, but it was still fun. Even though they had a 5 minute postscript I didn't mind because it actually accomplished something: getting the kid a name and explaining (even if more than a little too easily) how Sarah Jane could get the adoption paperwork. The reason there is going to be a Sarah Jane spin-off AND a K9 one is that BBC doesn't own K9. The writer of the first episode K9 appeared in does just like Terry Nation owns the Daleks. So the owner of K9 is going for a cash-in. I think that by looking for grit and serious heroics, one is not really in the right mindset for Doctor Who. Remember that the first Doctor was a senior Citizen and the second one was a combination of the Beatles and Charlie Chaplin. Not exactly the most threatening or obviously heroic characters!
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Peter Cushing's Doctor was a crazy old hoot with quite the dark side which I think future Docs should embrace. I believe that a truly great Doctor should perhaps seem innocent and vulnerable and yet have an increadible power and ferociously dark streak, (Eccleston's portrayal was close to this) but that's just me and jccalhoun was probably correct in saying that if one is looking for heroics they are in the wrong mindset. Indeed, Torchwood can be a little lofty at times, patronising even, but I take that as a flaw and every show on television has one or another.
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Didnt like the rest of the cast except Capt Jack. The tech guy is one unpleasant caracter and is fugly to boot. Capt Jack was much better in How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria. Much more believable in that as a gay theatre impressario.
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Really *really* lame. And so is Doctor Who, but I'll still watch them both tho', 'cos there's no other British sci-fi. It's the scripts! They're so bloody awful, like they've got some 11 year old kids to write them. Terrible, juvenile plotting and dialogue, I don't know why they can't see it. And anyone suggesting that DW is better than BSG is on some super-whizzy kind of crack.
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Of course, Apollo boxing Starbuck into a loving hug does beat "Love & Monsters." Just barely, though.
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Hahahahahahahahaha. Spyguy, always good for a laugh.
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The gloom-and-doomy BSG gets all the EW covers and love from the critics, but was kicked over to Sunday nights and is tanking in the ratings this season. Series 3 of DOCTOR WHO, meanwhile, was just picked up by Skiffy and there are plans for Series 4. Me, I like both shows for different reasons, but darker does not always mean better.
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No its not. Glad we got that cleared up. Its like saying creationism is equal to Darwinism, or Theocracy is equal to democracy. Theyre just not. And I'm from UK. Normally I would cheer our stuff, but as I said earlier, BSG is the seconf coming and I am a disciple!
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Torchwood plot holes and motivations are no worse than those in 24. How many times does CTU get compromised? How many times did Jack's family members get kidnapped in s1? How many times do personal problems invade the CTU per season, and sometimes per episode.
Jack kicked smack in less than 24 hours for fucks sake. Really.
Torchwood is murky and tangled. It is emotional and illustrates the stupidity of man. It is that nasty little place that both seperates us from the aliens and makes us the same as the monsters. It is all about being flawed, seriously flawed but still trying to do what is "right". -
What are the Battlestar ratings like in the UK?
Because comparing the US ratings for Battlestar and Who probably isn't fair. I would be willing to bet that the US ratings for Who aren't nearly as big as the US ratings for Battlestar. -
I agree, and the reason 24 is still good is because they have good writing. Actually last season was a clear example of how _not_ to do it. Logan was in a state of constant exposition, providing the 'twists' so that jack would run around some more. Torchwood sucks like that constantly.
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Just seen the 2 part finale with my girlfriend in my arms, and hearing the TARDIS sounds gave us both goosebumps. Can't wait for the new Who series in April.
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but it was bad, I mean cringe inducing bad, I mean embarrassed to be in the same room as a TV showing the show bad, I mean 18 year old trying to be cool with a camcorder bad, I mean, well you get the idea... Maybe it got better...
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kept reminding me of Dark Season, which I remember watching way back in the early nineties. It was only midway through that I remembered Dark Season was written by Russell T. Davies..
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The 12th episode, "Captain Jack Harkness", was very good and very much in the same vein as the 9th episode with a similar theme (and apt title) "Out Of Time".The way she mixed in the various threads was refreshing and far more skill full than what most other writers would have been capable of judging by their attempts at filling 45 mins of Jack action! So far she seems the only writer whose attempts at fleshing out the characters with love, even anger, actually seem to ring true and endear them to us. Jacks' final kiss, much like Owen's, was moving.The last episode was slightly disappointing. As others have mentioned it had a jumpy, "did I miss something?!" feel to scenes where you felt an extra line or two of dialogue would have fleshed out motives far better. The writer was unable to handle the multiple plot threads as deftly as Catherine Tregenna, and I think it was the very first time I could actually sense a shift in writing style from just watching! The end felt like it suffered from a lack of time and the method of defeating Abbaddon was contrived. However the moment the TARDIS sound came in I was so pleased; shame we had no glimpse of it.... how hard would it be for the BBC to internally license its own property for a cameo?!Overall ep 12 - 9/10. ep 13 - 7/10. Still an above episode but suffers when compared to a far superior ep 12.
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But I'd really like a series with Ace bopping around the universe as a time guardian. They just sort of left us clueless about what happened to Dorothy, dammit!
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He's not part of the Whoniverse at all. He's a stand-alone character in a stand alone film that really doesn't have anything to do with the series, and doesn't pay any attention to the characterizations of the Doctor in the series.
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Is that a 100 Bullets reference? Now THAT would make an amazing show.
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...but not every episode can be so groundbreaking!
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you know, i've watched this whole series on TV, mainly because there's nothing else on at the time it is shown, but partly because i have, for the most part, enjoyed the Dr Who revival.
My main issue with it, is the amount of superfluous and unnecessary sex scenes, both homo and hetereosexual.
People who go to great lengths to criticise BSG for it's strong sexual undertones should watch an episode of Torchwood and repent.
Torchwood is just plain bad, in my opinion. sure it has its good points and there have been a couple of episodes that were entertaining, but i usually end up getting frustrated with it.
There are no plot holes, there are great big plot chasms in this series and good God, I know Russel T. Davies bats for the other side, and is all for gay rights and what have you, but why is EVERYONE in the sodding programme gay?
Take Ianto for example, now he gets his Cyberwoman ex-girlfriend shot to pieces in front of his eyes by his colleagues, inc Jack, but he's also Jack's (for want of a better expression) FuckBuddy?
Eh? What? Huh? This guy claims this is an "adult" version of Dr Who, but his writing seems to suggest a thought process of "bollocks to it, i can't think of a good plot twist or a believable narrative, so i'll just stick a couple more minutes of shagging in and hope they won't notice."
It's just absolutely atrocious. You develop no sympathy for any of the characters at all during any of the 13 episodes. None of them. Not one. Quite how he manages this, amazes me. You could believe Rose was real. She was human, she was flawed as we all are, but she just had an air of believability around her. Not one of these characters has any depth, nor consistency to their characters.
Take Owen as a prime, and probably the worst, example. He's a gobshite, for want of a better word. An insufferable, weaselly bastard who basically shags anything with a pulse, despite him having a face akin to that of a startled cartoon frog with a mouth about 5 times too wide for his mouth. For 9 or 10 episodes, he's scripted as this callous, uncaring git, but then suddenly he falls in love with a woman from the past, who breaks his heart by flying off into the sunse....well okay, the gray welsh sky. Is this an attempt to show he does have a human side? If so, someone please inform Mr Davies that it didn't work. Good god it didn't work, it just made me hate the bugger even more!
I'm going to have to stop now, otherwise i'll end up writing an essay...oh arse, i already have... -
I mean really gay. Every character is gay except gwen and shes just a skank. Now I dont mind gay, and I hate skanks, however why is EVERY torchwood character gay or bi. Owen hooks up with a dude and "shags" him in the first ep. Yanto (although in love with his longtime girlfriend) just hooks up with Jack. The CATHLOIC JAPANESE woman with a thing for owen breaks every cultural and belief boundry at the drop of a hat and FALLS IN LOVE WITH A WOMAN in 3 days. And then Captian jack makes out with himself and cries. Doesn't that bother anyone else? I mean Im an egotistical fuck but I could not go back into the past and basically make out with myself. IknowIknow it wasn't actualy himself, but close enough. I mean really. Jack is bi. thats cool, but why are THREE of the other characters bi. Gay I get. Fine, you want Jack and the asian girl (cant rember her name) and Yato to be gay? fine, but 4 bi sexual characters all shagging each other and everyone else is to much. Captian jack should be bi or whatever, but Owen should be strait, and Yanto, he should be fucking nonsexual/asexual as hell because 1 hes the butler and that works for a butler charcter and 2 all his friends blew the shit out of the love of his life. That would emotionally and sexualy stunt a fucking pornstar. Next season get a better throughplot and let the crew be friends not origy mates and TONE DOWN ON THE SEX BY 50 PERCENT. Better show gaurenteed.
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It's a geek first, laydeez n gennelmen.
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Well, at least the episodes where Captain Troy was driving around Earth on his flying motorcycle.
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-- Starting with the whole Torchwood organization explanation. It's this huge secret organization with an alien death ray in the 2005 Christmas Special, but when it gets to the series we learn that various Torchwood bases have gone awol or been destroyed and there's no central organization? Yet everyone cowes to Torchwood when they turn up at the scene of a crime. Hmmm. And don't get me started on how an alien intelligence can take over an old Torchwood building (for no practical reason of plotting) in less than a year. Huh?
Dopey, dopey, dopey! -
Captain Jack(oh er) should've shot the lot of them(that was my "do it,kill them,yes" moment of the series),even he repeated my xmas post,bottled it,then forgave the people who shot him up 5+ times.I would've let them all go home, mindwiped them all,then travelled back in time with Dr Who and kicked all of their fathers in the balls hard to stop them all being conceived in the first place,then threw their Mums down the stairs(Doctored Torchwood altered documents would've showed they tripped on their flares)just to make sure,all in the intrest of world security of course.F'#K the timeline,these guys suck(not that there is anything wrong with that.2 men dancing,in Wales,in 1945,and no one got shot,thats science fiction lol.Too contrived,heavy handed political correctness,comedy forced swearing and crudeness weaked out this show,again tip of the iceberg,whats next Lee Evans and a weevil get get it on,or the butler and Captain Jack go shopping for draped curtains and get distressed by the fairy child from the 1st series.I liked the giant monster on the high street,that was very Pertwee era and the dancehall caretaker had potential,he was a creepy bad guy,but come on get these people some doomwatch,quatermass,stone tape etc stuff to riff off for UNIT'S sake...Sarah Janes kid's show was ok,fizzy drink Zombies are ok with me.Wasn't the alien that SJS was talking too the same species as the the one who gave Tosh(how ironic is that name)the mind reading device the other week or did they run out of cash.SJS in a new year special once a year is a good idea.Rinse out the franchise by all means but do it better.ITS MY MONEYYY(say it like D.Hopper in speed).............
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I totally agree with you. Ianto should be asexual and not Jack's bit of rough and why did the alien who seduced Tosh have to be female? A bit of queerness is fine in moderation (Jack's farewell kiss to his namesake worked a treat) but too much and it becomes gratutituous and boring.
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It sure is, and you're right. 100 30 minute long episodes, wouldn't it be fantastic?
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And there is was getting ready to be all huffy! Great line mate!
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Torchwood needs work. It lacks depth in so many ways. There's nothing unique in the bulk of its setting and characters. Lots of gimmicks, yes, including Jack himself. Ooh, he's sexually different! Who cares? By contrast, the writing of The Sarah Jane Adventures is extremely smart and the younger stars' acting well above par. Given a chance, Sladen's vibrance will make her an excellent Jessica Fletcher-style sleuth, making her age a non-issue.
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shows. RTD has been pretty good at supervising arcs in Who, but his episodes are usually horrible, especially his stand alone episodes. If they are really looking to have 3 or more uniquely targeted shows, different people should be helming them, preferably RTD can keep his precious Torchwood and someone like Moffat could come in and handle Who.
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Capt. Jack was described as pansexual right from his introduction on Dr. Who, so I find his motivations believable. But it strains the suspension of disbelief that EVERY single person he interacts with is also ready, willing and able to jump on the other team on a moment's notice. And....how many times is his crew going to betray him before he stops being so forgiving?! I don't think I could hug the guy who shot me between the eyes, then put another couple of bullets in me to be sure.
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it wasnt trying its hardest to be edgy all the time. it just ALWAYS goes too far and upsets the balence of the show. every single character is a corrupt twisted mess, and they never really develop the characters, they just have to modes, before their character focused episode where they do something stupid, and after it. NOBODY ever gets punished. its like they've been at those amnesia pills after every episode. this isnt serenity, they cant just forget stuff and move on, its supposed to be an organised agency, and they show would be better if that was represented slightly
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Okay, enjoy it while you can. Not much left. -
So Torchwood is gonna last four seasons? Shine on, you crazy diamond.
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Torchwood is awful. It is simply as crap as the tomorrow people-with fudgepacking.
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And at least the Tomorrow People had a kick arse them tune as opposed to a touch arse one.
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http://tinyurl.com/yyehtm
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