Torchwood Episode 1

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I know, the english they speak is such a foreign language.....

Oh, just stop complaining - imagine how hard it is for us non-native english speakers to understand the different variations of English. I watch american-english TV and movies a few years now, and I finally believed I'd had a good grasp of english, even if actors mumbled their lines or the background noise/music was unsual loud. And then I started to watch Doctor Who and thought I was stupid and incompetent and deaf. (The first might have always been true, and the second might have come true because I tried to compensate by turning the volume louder... )

 

[sckeener]

Oh, just stop complaining - imagine how hard it is for us non-native english speakers to understand the different variations of English. I watch american-english TV and movies a few years now, and I finally believed I'd had a good grasp of english, even if actors mumbled their lines or the background noise/music was unsual loud. And then I started to watch Doctor Who and thought I was stupid and incompetent and deaf. (The first might have always been true, and the second might have come true because I tried to compensate by turning the volume louder... )

One thing I find quite annoying about BBC shows that I watch is I can't seem to get them with subtitles! It doesn't seem to matter if I am watching it on PBS, BBCA, or from USENET.

 

[Aurora]

One thing I find quite annoying about BBC shows that I watch is I can't seem to get them with subtitles! It doesn't seem to matter if I am watching it on PBS, BBCA, or from USENET.

I tend to do fine with most english-speaking accents...except for Welsh. Oy, they are thick. I tend to stare at the tv- completely dumbfounded catching like every third word. I swear when I went to Europe, I often had a better time in Italy understanding people speaking Italian, then I did in parts of the UK listening to people speaking English. LOL. (And yes, English is my first language and no I don't know Italian, but I know Spanish and the languages are very close.)

I am so jealous that we dont have Torchwood here yet. I want to see it!

 

[Mark Hope]

An old Norwegian friend of mine studied English at school in Norway and did very well in class, apparently. He used to read the Sherlock Holmes stories in English as a way of improving his command of the language (of course, this lent his English a certain Victorian flavour).

And then he came to Manchester in northwest England to study computer science.

Poor guy. For those unfamiliar with the Mancunian accent, here are some relatively tame examples:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/group/gmr-salford.shtml

Needles to say, poor Sven found his quaint, Holmesian turns of phrase did him no good whatsoever, nor could he understand anything that the locals were saying to him. Eventually he settled in and developed a way of speaking that was a highly bizarre mix of Nordic-influenced Victorian Madchester. But not before he went through a bout of extreme homesickness and depression first. Manchester, so much to answer for...

I don't find the Welsh accents on Torchwood a problem at all. But then I'm from the northeast of England, with Scots and Irish relatives througout my family. Living in Cambridgeshire, anything with a vague dialect to it is a welcome change ...

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Hopefully Sci-Fi picks it up here in the States. The Welsh will be fine for me. I can understand almost all English dialects including Indian and Carribean and others that sometimes even get subtitled in the US, and I have no problem with Welsh at all. Of course the only one dialect I have problems with is Scottish, so Scotland of course is where I decided to spend a year living when I was in the UK, go figure.

 

[sckeener]

I tend to do fine with most english-speaking accents...except for Welsh. Oy, they are thick. I tend to stare at the tv- completely dumbfounded catching like every third word. I swear when I went to Europe, I often had a better time in Italy understanding people speaking Italian, then I did in parts of the UK listening to people speaking English. LOL. (And yes, English is my first language and no I don't know Italian, but I know Spanish and the languages are very close.)

I am so jealous that we dont have Torchwood here yet. I want to see it!

My problem is I am half-deaf from a car accident at 17. Surround sound stuff is just silly for me...and I love subtitles.

I just can't wait for the 1st season of Torchwood to be over with. I don't plan on watching any of the episodes until they are all out...which I believe the 13th episode airs in Januaray of 2007. I've got enough shows for the moment without waiting weekly for Torchwood.

 

[JEL]

Hopefully Sci-Fi picks it up here in the States. The Welsh will be fine for me. I can understand almost all English dialects including Indian and Carribean and others that sometimes even get subtitled in the US, and I have no problem with Welsh at all. Of course the only one dialect I have problems with is Scottish, so Scotland of course is where I decided to spend a year living when I was in the UK, go figure.

I don't watch Sci Fi Channel. What sort of content standards to they have? This show would definitely not fly on broadcast television.

I'm with everyone saying the first episode was awesome, and the second was much less so.

Anyone pick up the not quite cameo of the Doctor?

 

[Morrus]

Anyone pick up the not quite cameo of the Doctor?

Cameo? I caught references, but nothing approaching a cameo.

Captain Jack's lines [paraphrased to the best of my memory] -- "I was revived. One day I'll find a Doctor and ask him to explain it to me.", "What, you don't remember the giant spaceship over London? Or Cybermen in every home?", and references to Torchwood 1 being destroyed.

Was there anything else?

 

[Falkus]

The severed hand that the Doctor lost during The Christmas Invasion.

 

[Morrus]

The severed hand that the Doctor lost during The Christmas Invasion.

OK.. I missed that entirely! I saw the hand, but I didn't put two and two together. I remember Jack saying it had sentimental value to him or something. Was anything else said to indicate that was the Doctor's hand?