Originally, Torchwood was the code word for the newest incarnation of the British television series Doctor Who.  It’s actually an anagram of the show’s name.  It became incorporated into the Doctor Who show itself and as it evolved on the periphery, it became quite an interesting concept.  In response to perceived alien threats, Torchwood was an agency created to operate in secret and outside of the rest of law enforcement.

The series Torchwood picked up at the start of the 21st century.  The opening monologue hints that this is the time when everything changed for some reason.  The first season introduced the cast and gave us some background.  The second season builds on that, as well as shattering some of the preconceived notions many of us have about the “rules” of a television series.

The second season opens with Captain Jack Harkness (portrayed by John Barrowman), the “leader” of the Cardiff branch of Torchwood, having disappeared and the rest of his crew in pursuit if a reptilian alien known as "Blowfish" driving a sports car.  This seems to indicate the season isn't going to be quite the dark, dramatic series it was during the first season, but incorporate a bit more humor into the stories.

Gwen and Rhys (Eve Myles and Kai Owen) are engaged, just about the time it seems that Jack might declare "undying love" for her, although he's quite obviously in great lust for someone else.  You see, just in case you were thinking that Torchwood might be a good show for your children, think again.  This is sexy, dark, and dangerous and doesn’t mind showing the audience that at any turn.  There’s plenty of intimated and simulated sex, both of the heterosexual and homosexual variety.  Boundaries are broken here, and it seems like through the two seasons every character has seen some same-sex action, although by far Jack is the biggest slut of the lot.

By the second episode, Torchwood seem to be getting back to the dark drama, and I‘d say the second season did a much better job of not taking itself too seriously while at the same time having some heavy-impact episodes.  Torchwood isn't afraid to break the rules of science fiction as sleeper aliens disguised as humans among our population are activated and result in the death of humans around them, including a baby in a carriage who was under the care of one of those sleeper aliens.

The third episode shows an incarnation of Torchwood from a different time period.  Fans of both this show and Doctor Who know that Torchwood was created by Queen Victoria, but what was the organization like between the time it was created and when we first caught up with it in Doctor Who?  To The Last Man provides some great insight.

In the episode Reset, Martha Jones (portrayed by Freema Agyeman) joins Torchwood for a period of time.  She's attached to UNIT now (a reference tried and true Doctor Who fans will know better than you Johnny come latelies).  The story has deep impact for Owen (portrayed by Burn Gorman), and it would almost seem that she was going to be his replacement.  She does stick around longer and the situation with Owen is resolved in a most interesting manner through the end of the season.

One of the funniest episodes of the season, though has to be Gwen and Rhys’ wedding story in Something Borrowed.  A Torchwood wedding can never go easy, and the twists and turns here are quite a bit of fun, especially for those of us who laugh at the bridezillas out there.

Each episode stands on its own quite well and manages to bring in some sexy humor.  Ianto seems to fall into the role of Jack’s boy toy.  The background of each character is explored as well as how they came to be a part of Torchwood in Fragments.  You’d think that since we just learned more about all of these characters as the season winds down,. They’d be pretty safe going into the next season.  In the final episode of the season, Exit Wounds, everything changes.

I didn’t know how my teens who are huge Doctor Who fans would respond to Torchwood, but they like it as well.  I have no issues with the adult themes presented here, and my daughter informed me they covered most of the topics in their health class anyway.  Other parents who are a bit more Conservative will likely not want their children viewing Torchwood.

The actors really have settled into the roles nicely.  John Barrowman was always terrific as Captain Jack, right from his appearances in Doctor Who.  He really seems to enjoy what he’s doing and brings sincerity and believability to any situation, even when he’s acting opposite an alien I knew was brought in later via CGI.  Eve Myles really is the second focal point.  She’s the conscience of the show in many ways and challenges the “rules”.  Sometimes she’s successful as when she keeps Rhys with a knowledge of what she does.  Sometimes she isn’t, as in the episode Adrift.

Owen has been a hard character to read.  At times he seems like a stud with no conscience, and at others it would seem there’s more there.  His backstory is interesting and I give judos to Burn Gorman who really made all these facets believable.  Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto has something of a difficult role as he seems to be the catch-all character when they need something done.  Naoko Mori as Tosh rounds out the cast and even as she’s a technical wizard, she’s got such a poor self-image that her lack of self-esteem builds into her drive at Torchwood.  All of the characters have so many dimensions to them that they seem to be real human beings, rather than just “the hero” or “the tech wizard”.  The cast is absolutely superb.

The production values are fantastic.  The effects and use of CGI are nearly seemless.  The soundtrack really serves the series well, setting the tone for many of the episodes and evoking emotion when needed.  The DVD release is great with extras on the disc about the series including deleted scenes, outtakes, and two featurettes about the series. The season is so short that I felt it could have fit on four discs easy, but they stretched it out to five and the final just has one special feature on  that is a collection of featurettes that correspond to each episode.

Torchwood is for science fiction fans who are capable of handling the adult and progressive themes it presents.  I love it, my family loves it, and almost everyone I know who’s watched it loves it.  The stories are excellent and the acting is some of the best I’ve come across in science fiction.  It really boosts my feeling that Russell T. Davies who was responsible for this series and the four seasons of Doctor Who is a genius.  He has writing credit on all of the episodes, and managed to exert enough creative control to keep the show from losing something along the way.


EPISODE LIST:

Disc One

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang
Sleeper
To The Last Man

Disc Two

Meat
Adam
Reset
Dead Man Walking

Disc Three

A Day in the Death
Something Borrowed
From Out of the Rain

Disc Four

Adrift
Fragments
Exit Wounds

Special Features:

• Lifes and Deaths of Captain Jack
• Outtakes
• Deleted Scenes

Disc Five (Special Features)

Torchwood Declassified : The Complete Series



© 2009 Patti Aliventi

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD