Torchwood episode 3

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I'm liking this show, although Indon't think it has the sheer charisma of Doctor Who.

One thing that keeps bugging me, though... Torchwood, the organisation. It's all secret and "above the government, above the police, above the UN". In Doctor Who, Torchwood (Torchwood 1, as we now discover) was a large organisation located in Canary Wharf.

An organisation that, despite all the professionalism and funding, seemed to have failed to see the real threat, brought down massive destruction on Earth and was destroyed by the Cybermen and Dalek.
The "new approach" might be both from necessity (personnel and funding lost) and by design.

So far, the things in Cardiff didn't have any potential world-shaking consequences, so the size, equipment and training of the crew might be sufficient.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

An organisation that, despite all the professionalism and funding, seemed to have failed to see the real threat, brought down massive destruction on Earth and was destroyed by the Cybermen and Dalek.
The "new approach" might be both from necessity (personnel and funding lost) and by design.

Jack talks in episode one about some of the other Torchwood facilities- he mentioned the big London office one, and he mentions another one that got lost completely.

The impression I got from his (admittedly brief) dialogue is that they are not only "separate from the Government, outside police jurisdiction and beyond the United Nations," but perhaps even from one another, at least to a degree. "At Torchwood they answer to no one but themselves. They make their own rules."

I'm thinking that Torchwood operates like a series of semi-independent cells, free to run their operations the way they want, but with a common goal. That way, if any one cell is taken out (like London, or the lost one), Torchwood can still operate to fulfill its end goals.

(Found this on Wikipedia-

... Jack reveals that the Torchwood Tower... was Torchwood One... Torchwood Two is run by a "very strange man" in Glasgow, Scotland, the Hub in Cardiff is Torchwood Three and Torchwood Four is inexplicably lost.

So, yeah- I'm going with the compartmentalized cell concept for Torchwood. If only because it helps me to rationalize it as being different from U.N.I.T.

 

[Fast Learner]

Obviously Russel T. Davies and the rest of the writing team got the message, and realized that being mature doesn't just mean having a bunch of sex scenes and naughty words strung together for an hour.

Erm, no, I seriously doubt that. You can be sure that the episodes are filmed long before they air. Even if they weren't (which they are), you couldn't possibly rewrite a script for a show like this and then film the whole thing in a week. Too many locations and sets, vehicle stuff, and in most episodes, special effects.

Adult themes include sex. I'm sure Davies et al had planned from the start to include episodes like this one and the last one.

 

[MonsterMash]

Enjoyed this more than the first couple of episodes as it started to explore themes and the cast much more in depth than the pilots.

 

[horacethegrey]

Adult themes include sex. I'm sure Davies et al had planned from the start to include episodes like this one and the last one.

Perhaps. But like I said before, it's quite possible to have adult programming without having various bits of gratuitous shagging going on every other minute. But if you're still gonna include it, make an effort not to let it overrun the program and try to strike a balance with the other elements. Farscape did this very well, as does the new Battlestar Galactica. Let's hope the future episodes of Torchwood have found this right balance as well.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Yes, I liked his cheekiness on DW. I wonder if they'll eventually give some back story to explain why he's so much darker in Torchwood.

Count me in as missing the old Jack, too. There are hints of him now and then (mainly when he interacts with Gwen), which makes the difference all the more jarring. I really hope they let him lighten up again, and soon. The appeal of the character was that he was upbeat and unflappable; if I wanted to watch Angel, I'd buy the dvds.

In other news- the only thing that bugged me about this episode was the lack of any subtlety in the shooting range scene. I think they could have very easily played that scene more straight and still made it sexy, without being blatant. That just really pulled me out of things as a viewer.

 

[Mark Hope]

Count me in as missing the old Jack, too. There are hints of him now and then (mainly when he interacts with Gwen), which makes the difference all the more jarring. I really hope they let him lighten up again, and soon. The appeal of the character was that he was upbeat and unflappable; if I wanted to watch Angel, I'd buy the dvds.

In other news- the only thing that bugged me about this episode was the lack of any subtlety in the shooting range scene. I think they could have very easily played that scene more straight and still made it sexy, without being blatant. That just really pulled me out of things as a viewer.

I thought that the shooting scene was a bit of light-hearted fun - flirting with the viewer as well as between the characters. I especially enjoyed seeing Gwen do the Lara Croft "two guns in the air" salute after emptying her clips. A nice little geek easter egg .

 

[MonsterMash]

And for Blake's 7 fans like me, it was a bit sad to see my hero grown old and fat.

That's funny I don't remember seeing Paul Darrow in it.


Actually Gareth Hunt has definitely aged since the '70s.

MM, big fan of Blake's 7 from the first broadcast.