torchwood

Torchwood is the BBC's latest sci-fi offering aimed squarely at adults. A Doctor Who spin-off from the pen of Russell T Davies who also brought the new series of Doctor Who back to life. This sees Captain Jack Harkness, a character from an earlier DW episode, as hero. Set in Cardiff, Wales, this is Torchwood 3.... the other Torchwoods being in London and Scotland.

Ok so my first impressions of this show (have only seen the first two so far) are that it is great! It is smartly written, tongue firmly in cheek. Yet very adult. The second episode dealt with an alien who literally screws her victims to death and breathes in the sexual energy. Some parts are cheesy.... "This is Toshiko she's a computer genius" pointing to the Asian girl (can anyone say stereotype). But sweeping shots (making full use of the new set) and shots of the Torchwood staff hard at work (cheesy) are then matched by everyone laughing at pretending to be so serious having put on a show for the new girl. The characters are great: all seem totally flawed in some way or another and there seems to be a definite character arc as we are slowly learning a bit more about each of them. Oh and a series story arc too reminiscant of Buffy. The similarities to Buffy do not end there as Cardiff, it seems, sits on a riff of time and space where the universe's flotsam and jetsum seem to end up (Hellmouth?).

This is new and inventive and great for adults who found the new Doctor Who a bit lame. But I'm sorry no amount of flybys over Cardiff central (as best seen in CSI!) can make this city look 'cool'. Good stuff none-the-less.