fri 11/10/2024

Torchwood, BBC One | reviews, news & interviews

Torchwood, BBC One

Torchwood, BBC One

Captain Jack returns to find out why everyone on earth is suddenly immortal

A matter of life and no death: Captain Jack (John Barrowman), reunited with Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles)

The return of Russell T Davies’s second most famous creation arrives coated with a transatlantic sheen, courtesy of an injection of co-production money from the USA’s Starz cable network (home of Spartacus and Camelot). Happily, this has not obliterated the homegrown roots of the Doctor Who spin-off, since this opener cut fearlessly between portentous action scenes at CIA headquarters and a judicial execution in Kentucky to Cardiff city centre and expanses of rugged Welsh coastline, where Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) was trying to live an anonymous post-Torchwood existence with her husband and baby.

The return of Russell T Davies’s second most famous creation arrives coated with a transatlantic sheen, courtesy of an injection of co-production money from the USA’s Starz cable network (home of Spartacus and Camelot). Happily, this has not obliterated the homegrown roots of the Doctor Who spin-off, since this opener cut fearlessly between portentous action scenes at CIA headquarters and a judicial execution in Kentucky to Cardiff city centre and expanses of rugged Welsh coastline, where Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) was trying to live an anonymous post-Torchwood existence with her husband and baby.

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I have to say I thought this was awful. Awful american rock guitar music (what IS IT with americans and bad rock guitar everywhere???), stupid comments regarding toll bridges and typical american hyperbole non-drama regarding 'get me a dam gun on the aeroplane', oh please. Then the guy receives the co-ordinates to the cottage just when it is visible from his car. Right, so he's made it all the way across Wales with no directions, to exactly the right place, but only then does he get the directions. Oh, and he receives them as latitude and longitude. Who, I ask you, Who, takes directions when driving, in latitude and longitude? (or at any other time for that matter). WTF? Then he shoots a helicopter with a machine gun from point blank range and... oh, he seems to miss ? because nothing appears to happen. FFS. Oh, not to forget the female nurse/doctor character...in high heels! ha! ha! Like a Dr on a ward is going to be wearing heels!! We all laughed greatly at that one. How can anybody take tripe like this seriously? Sadly missing Ianto Jones, missing the tightness of a weekly story script, spoilt by having been transformed into the usual crap low quality american drama which passes for tv in the states. What on earth has happened to a quality, interesting, unusual and well scripted series? RIP Torchwood, because this REALLY isn't it.

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