Torchwood

[Jeff of Earth-J]

SEASON ONE: EPISODE 1: “Everything Changes”

A brutal murder leads WPC Gwen Cooper to Torchwood, a journey that will change her life forever.

This is definitely Gwen Cooper’s episode, all the way. Essentially it’s the story of an ordinary police officer who accidently stumbles into the world of Torchwood, and by the end of the episode proves she has the right stuff to join the team. I watched this episode with an eye toward how well it stands on its own: quite nicely, I think. Although technically a spin-off of Doctor Who, I think of it as more of a “parallel” series, such as CBS’s various CSI shows. That is, they occupy the same universe and may occasionally cross over, but remain independent of each other.

That’s not to say the Doctor Who references aren’t there, merely that they’re not integral to the enjoyment of the show. For example, the Doctor’s hand (from “The Christmas Invasion”) is seen in the Torchwood headquarters, but it’s no more necessary to know the story behind it in order to follow the story at hand (no pun intended) than it is to know the history of a trophy seen in the background of the Batcave to enjoy a Batman story. The story differentiates four different versions of Torchwood, and unless I haven’t been paying close enough attention to Doctor Who (always a possibility), more than one of these versions have yet to be fully explained.

While still told from Gwen Cooper’s point of view, about midway through the first episode the spotlight of attention is thrown on Jack Harkness, a character with a mysterious two-year gap in his history which I look forward to seeing revealed. Gwen learns the secret of his longevity in this episode, but apparently his teammates remain unaware at this point. The next episode is titled “Day One,” which makes me glad “Everything Changes” isn’t listed as “episode zero.”

Perhaps I read too many comics books.

BIG FINISH AUDIOS:

ALIENS AMONG US - Part 1
   1.1 Changes Everything - p14
   1.2 Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy - p14
   1.3 Orr - p14
   1.3 Superiority Complex - p15

ALIENS AMONG US - Part 2
   2.1 Love Rat - p15
   2.2 A Kill to a View - p15
   2.3 Zero Hour - p15
   2.3 The Empty Hand - p15

ALIENS AMONG US - Part 3
   3.1 Poker Face - p15
   3.2 Tagged - p15
   3.3 Escape Room - p15
   3.3 Herald of the Dawn - p15

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Thanks!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Torchwood returns tonight! On Starz. Check your local listings.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Torchwood returns tonight! On Starz. Check your local listings.

My local listings say I don't get Starz.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Depending on how much they charge, we'll likely buy the episodes from iTunes.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

Doctor Hmmm? said:

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Torchwood returns tonight! On Starz. Check your local listings.

My local listings say I don't get Starz.

If you have Directv, the first episode is on the Audience network, channel 239.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I was very pleased and impressed with the first episode of the new series, "Miracle Day"! It took up the "dark" baton from "Children of Earth" and ran with it. It does a good job of reintroducing the two surviving characters from the previous series and transitioning Torchwood from being a clandestine British organization to an American one. I think it's a good jumping on point, but I would be very interested to hear the opinion of someone who watched but hadn't seen any other Torchwood. I think anyone who met Gwen for the first time in this series would be surprised to go back and see her first encounter with Torchwood in the first series, and compare it to the experience of the new girl in this episode. The problem to be solved this time is that no human being on Earth is capable of dying. The first episode doesn't resolve the problem, it only scratches the surface.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I liked it but I was dissapointed that Children of Earth was ignored.

I don't know what you mean by "ignored," Mark. The "457 doctrine" (or whatever it was called) was referred to several times throughout. Also, Jack and Gwen and Rheyes are still dealing with the ramifications of what happened in CoE. And they do mention that two years have passed since the original Torchwooh was disbanded.Besides, this is "Miracle Day," not "Children of Earth, Part 2." It's time to move on and deal with the current threat.

[Rich Lane]

Prediction: (SPOILIER)

 

 

 

I'm guessing the obnoxious but dedicated CIA agent that got skewered will end up dead at the end of the mini.  Jack and the Torchwood team will have to make a decision whether to allow death or not, and they'll know that to do so will mean the agent and Gwen's dad dying for real.

[Mike Williams]

Hey hey folks - we don't get this in the UK until Thursday night at 9 pm BST, and we get a slightly different version (less sex, more swearing) - so watch the spoilers peeps.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I'm sorry, Mike. I considered throwing a "spoiler" in toward the end of my first post, but as the problem is revealed so very early on in the episode, I didn't think it was warrented. I'll try to be more careful going forward. I heard there was a stink in the UK (and rightly so, I think) about episodes being shown in the US and elsewhere sooner than in the UK. Say, I thought this was the beginning of a new ongoing series, but it it actually going to be a mini-series, like "Children of Earth" was? I kind of got that feel when the plot was not even close to being resolved at the end of the first episode.

[Mike Williams]

It's a UK series, so 13 episodes.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

I heard ten.