Torchwood

[emmelinemay]

Ok, I have now watched the first three episodes of Torchwood.


I thought the 1st one was a bit all over the place, and a bit awkward, with slightly ropey acting. I figured, it's the first one, it's got a difficult job to do introducing all of this. I'll give it a chance.

Although part of me was saying 'how come Torchwood is such a chickenshit outfit what with being a MIB style 'outside the government' operation? even the x-files department was run better than this and the government didn't want them.

But i ignored that voice, thinking, it's bound to get better.

The second one was a bit better. The acting is still ropey as all hell, and the main female lead starts to piss me off.

This chickenshit outfit goes 'hey, there's this really clumsy and slightly stupid bint, but she's cute and might shag birds. let's give her a job, rather than modify her memory. She'd fit right in here as she's really irritiating and can't act.

But still, i hang on to faith. It's got Captain Jack in it. It's GOT to get good.

Despite the fact that part of me is saying it's like the tomorrow people, with slightly better production values and swearing.

We watched part three last night. It was a test of endurance to get through it. It had me shouting at it. I repeatedly asked Ben to make it Go Away and he refused, forcing me to watch the whole thing so i would truly understand that my faith in it was utterly misplaced. To understand the torture i'd put him through by insisting he watch the first two while maintaing that 'its BOUND' to get better eventually.

There was even a fucking gun learning montage A MONTAGE for fucksake. With pumping inspirational eye-of-the-tiger style music, bits where they share a joke, and where she ends up an expert of shooting after 2 minutes of some really obvious LOOK!!! LOOOK!!!! THEY FANCY EACH OTHER AND SHE'S GOT A BOYFRIEND!!! OOOOOOOOOH!!!! camera angles.

Edit - and another thing. How come an 'above the government department' who own the WHOLE TOP FLOORS OF CANARY WHARF in Dr Who end up in some basement in Cardiff?

And this is meant to be the same team that blew up the Sycorax₁ ship in the xmas special with a giant LASER_TM? The team we see on Torchwood the TV show would have difficulty throwing ROCKS at a space ship.




_{1 and yes, it pisses me off that they named an alien species after Caliban's mother in the Tempest. WHY????}


I'm sorry, Torchwood.

I REALLY wanted to like you. I did. Perhaps it's not you, it's me. I just have higher expectations. I don't think we can stay friends, you've just dissapointed me one too many times. I'm sure you and your fans will be very happy together, alas, for you and me, it just wasn't meant to be.

Comments

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

Torchwood is OK-ish, but nothing special. The gun fetishisation was utter bollocks.

But dude! What's wrong with The Tomorrow People?

-x-

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

nothing. It was very good. It was also intended for 11 year olds.

All those 11 year olds are now nearly 30, and i'd like to think a little more discerning in their choice of viewing matter...but judging by a google after we watched episode 3 last night, i am sadly mistaken.

I really thought that last episode was one of the most mind-numbing DREADFUL things i have endured on the TV for some time now. And i REALLY TRIED to like it.

[yaruar.livejournal.com]

I'm still quite liking it, although there is something jarring abuot everything RTD does, especially stuff he writes (he wrote all of the worst Dr Who episodes in series 2)

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

How come a 'above the government department' who own the WHOLE TOP FLOORS OF CANARY WHARF in Dr Who end up in some basement in cardiff?

And this is meant to be the same team that blew up tha Sycorax ship in the xmas special with a giant LASER? The team we see on Torchwood the TV show would have difficult throwing ROCKS at a space ship.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

and i really enjoyed Dr Who. Granted, i haven't seen all of series two. And series one had some very silly episodes, like the big brother/weakest link one; but it had this overall quirky snes of humour that meant it got away with it in the main.

Torchwood seems to be tryin gto be (as someone says in the first episode) CSI Cardiff, but with aliens.

I really REALLY tried to like it, as i like the character of Captain Jack veru much, and am keen on fantasy/sci fi shows usually.

But i though that third eposide was dire beyond all belief. And the acting is really, REALLY ropey.

[robtrooper.livejournal.com]

Those 11 year olds are nearly fourty actually.
I saw the second ep of torchwood and thought it might have potential even though the lead girl was a bit thick and the basement hq is something from the crystal maze.
I think maybe they are trying too hard even though as you say Capitan Jack is good. Shame the other actors dont have what he has.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

the lead girl was a bit thick and the basement hq is something from the crystal maze.

spot on!! I just can't see why they'd hire someone so obviosuly unsuited to the job!

I thought it had potential too, but i can't bear to sit through any more in order to find out!!

[haloj.livejournal.com]

I'm having to agree with you there. It really is pretty damn weak. So far I have recorded every episode to watch when I have chance rather than staying in and watching it as I did with Dr Who. For me I'm going to give it one more go but I have a feeling the 4th episode with the "cyberman" theme is going to be a rather large nail in an already closed coffin.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I don't think i can bear to sit through another one.

[darkapotheosis.livejournal.com]

meh I think it's reasonably watchcable shite, no worse than the recent Dr Who series.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I liked Dr Who, it had decent acting and likeable characters and a sense of humor.

Tourchwood i found almost unwatchable. The characters are dull and unlikeable, you don't care if they live or die, they are UNBELIEVABLY stupid and dear god but the acting is bad.

And they try to develop this sense of menance, which just comes across as boredom.

Add to this the fact that it just doesn't tally with what 'Torchwood' is meant to be in the Dr Who series.

Maybe it will get better when (if) they develop some sort fo story arc other than 'ooooh, captain jack fancies her and she's got a BOYFRIEND who doesn't know what she DOES'.

That's just so lame, and derivative.

[darkapotheosis.livejournal.com]

actually that's about how I see it difference is I saw Dr Who's last series as being at the same level of dumb. ;)

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

i actually preffered the 2nd series - but then i LOVE David Tennant, and found the relationship bewteen him and Rose much easier to beleive. But like i said, i haven't seen the whole second series, only the first 4 or 5.

[darkapotheosis.livejournal.com]

Actually I found it completely different, I disliked the relationship between tennant and rose found it false and the acting from Tennant a little sloppy. He has grown on my as Dr Who with some good lines but the biggest problem I had with this series was how hashed and dull I found it like they had no decent ideas.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I think i may be biased, i LOVE David Tennant :)

did you ever see this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Coming_%28TV_serial%29

B downloaded it a while back' it's s pre Dr Who Russel T Davies and Chrispoher Eccleston thing. It's not brilliant, but you can really see the seeds of Dr Who in there.

[gaius-octavian.livejournal.com]

It's pretty bad, but no worse than the new Doctor Who¹.

¹Because the BBC's current scriptwriters are bereft of creativity² and kids these days will never have heard of The Tempest
² I cite Robin Hoodie as evidence.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I liked Dr Who. I would have assumed anyone that didn't like Dr Who wouldn't like Torchwood, and if you liked Dr Who, you'd stand a good chance of being entertained by this.

I was actually suprised by HOW MUCH i hated it.

[miss-soap.livejournal.com]

how come Torchwood is such a chickenshit outfit what with being a MIB style 'outside the government' operation?

Because this is Torchwood Cariff, a teeny little offshoot of the main event. Similarly to their having basement offices - Cardiff doesn't have a Canary Wharf, and Captain Jack's supposed to be a bit of an idiosyncratic rule-breaker, so maybe he doesn't want to toe the corporate line?

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

So what they are saying is, the part of the UK with a HUGE interdimensional rift running right through it, is the part of the UK that gets the chickenshit rule breaking underfunded department?

[pygar.livejournal.com]

aha, well maybe torchwood has captain jack as the front man projecting the public persona of a chickenshit rule breaking department, so not to arrouse too much international interest from similar organisations who might consider a slick well organised governement department as a threat to national security.

maybe its so secret even the dumbass captain jack is unaware of the full extent of the conspiracy he is being asked to front. and in actual fact there is some level headed M type person pulling the strings from afar giving jack just enough information to bungle his way through, while all the time this M character has his/her finger on the button of a thousand nukes!

maybe.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

heheheheh :) Maybe!!! I like the way you think!

[cookwitch.livejournal.com]

Probably. Seeing as the huge corporation was too powerful for its own good and let in the cybermen...

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I guess uber-sekrit ultra-powerful government departments are just like every other public sector organisation. Underfunded and woefully badly run :)


(i saw this working for a huge charity, where our central finance department 'lost' some cheques in someone's drawer.)

[cookwitch.livejournal.com]

Maybe after the fiasco of the Ultra Powerful one, they had no funds and no staff left and so Torchwood 3 has been left all on its little lonesome to carry on the fight. Such as it is. In Cardiff. *blink*

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

Even though that it's SO IMPORTANT that it all carries on as the 21st century is 'when it all changes'.

Maybe it all changes becaue torchwood is so rubbish and keeps fecking things up?

Oh, what a clever twist that would be. And totally unexpected.

[cookwitch.livejournal.com]

*grin* And you know what? Even after all that, I still like it. Sorry about that. :)

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I tried, i really really did.

I really WANTED to like it too.

But it made me want to kick things.

[cookwitch.livejournal.com]

Frankly it could feature RTD in a tutu and flippers, and I'd still watch it for Jack. Mind you, R Twee D really should leave the writing to, oh, people with TALENT.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

hehe :)

Did you see the thing i linked to on my reply to darkapotheosis further up? The Second Coming? You might be quite interested in that!

[greeba.livejournal.com]

I agree that the tone is all over the place. I want dark, not kitsch.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

good point. It can't make up its mind wether to be camp and silly or dark and ooky. X-files managed to get the balance right, i think (but then i only liked the first two series and gave up when it became all hysterical CONSPIRACY!!! CONPIRACY!!! ness)

[cx650.livejournal.com]

I wanted to like it too, but after watching the first two I didn't bother with number three.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

good choice. The third one was just laughably awful.

[kirstenlj.livejournal.com]

I didn't see 1 & 2, but I did see 3. I was a bit underwhelmed, but ye gods that woman was annoying. And the gun thing was pretty bad. I'll watch on Sunday probably, but not too fussed if I miss it either.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

One of the reasons i never got into buffy was that i didn't like Buffy's personality very much. However, the series as a whole was very well written and acted, with a great sense of humor and the right balance of dark/camp.

In Torchwood, the main charachter is not terribly likeable either; but nothing saves it. Poor acting, dodgy dialouge, confused tone and terrible set-peices.

[angel-emma.livejournal.com]

I couldn't care less about the acting. It has hot men in it.

No seriously I do like it. I don't think I am as fussy as you when it comes to my fantasy/sci-fi. I agree that it's been a bit all over the place but it's early days. The first season of Buffy was very ropey and it got better and better as time went on. It is supposed to be a spin off and have nothing to do with DW, therefore you can't compare them really. Though people are all over the place. The torch_wood community on LJ is mental though! They are obsessed already and there have only been 3 episodes!

Anyway just remember it has HOT MEN in it. lol.

[damien-mocata.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I think Torchwood exists only for Russell to use lines he cant use in Doctor Who because it's considered a family program.

I wont go out of my way to watch it after the first three episodes. It's starting to remind me of "Love and Monsters", or possibly the worst Dr Who story ever.

[cutietrol.livejournal.com]

Has it actually been explained yet how Captain Jack came to be back there? Last I recall he was on a space station a number of centuries in the future.

But yes, RTD is not my favourite writer. 2nd episode - "Look, we're *all* bisexual, how cool are we". Yeah, great Mary Sue...

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

I have to admit thaat I really kind of loved #1 and #2, but #3 was patchy and ropey and didn't entirely make sense and the gun montage was - I have no idea what that was..... #4 needs to up it's game, please.