Torchwood?

[moonshayde]

I am procrastinating so I watched a random episode of Dr Who. It was good. I wish I could afford (money and time) to watch this show. Like really watch it. Though, I still have some eps around here somewhere I haven't gotten to yet.

However, Torchwood is playing right after Dr Who on BBC America. So I just left it on. I've never been all that enthused about it. From what I gathered from the net, it seemed like one big porn fest. Porn is fine and all, but it's not what really draws me to a show.

But...

Um...is this like The UK's version of Supernatural? Because it surprised me how much of a XF/SPN vibe it has.

Therefore, you know the 20 minutes I saw of it before I forfeited cable over to my father I was hooked.

Hmmm.

I must ponder this.

Comments

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

Torchwood has issues, but it's fun. Want the avi of the pilot?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Oh, really? Hmm. I think I need to say yes to this.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

I'm uploading it in a zip file. It'll be a while.

[zats-clear.livejournal.com]

you must rent it and watch it from the beginning. srsly. crack. with canon slash.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Yeah. There is no way I'd buy a show that expense. I need to see if I can rent it once finances settle down :)

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

Good grief the DVDs are expensive. I definitely want to watch them too. I just haven't been able to get myself to spend that much money on them. I wonder if Netflix rents them? I also want to buy Farscape!

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Maybe Netflix does has them. I'm not sure. I don't have Netflix but I'd like to sign up for it eventually. There is no way I would pay for those DVDs. Way way too expensive.

Farscape is often on sale. If you keep on the look out, you might be able to get a bargain.

[nialla]

Not really Supernatural so much as X-Files since theoretically they're normally dealing with alien threats, though the eps on tonight were more Ssupernatural in origin, or at least they appear to be.

It's not a perfect show by any means, but it's got some interesting bits. And there's canon slash. And TPTB who've apparently listened to fan feedback for season two. ::gasp:: I didn't know that could happen. ;)

I watched it through ::ahem:: other means, but I also watched when BBCA began airing it too. Season two will begin airing in January, with the US only about a week behind the UK.

The first season is coming out on DVD in January too, but it's a short window between that release date and season two starting. The ones that aired tonight were #5 and 6 out of 13.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I realized after I posted I misspoke. The episode I was watching had more of a supernatural flaire, but the show is alien based right? So that would make it in the same vein as XF, with obvious big differences.

And when you say it's not a perfect show, what do you mean by that? Are the stories pretty weak? I'm just curious about everyone who has answered here has pretty much said the same thing.

It's not like I can afford to go out and buy it anyway, but from what I saw I was surprised that it was better than I imagined it to be.

(I still need to finish watching the Dr Who eps - I've been having a little bit of trouble getting into that show. Not sure why, but I think Rose puts me off a bit.)

[nialla]

Torchwood is a spinoff of Doctor Who, mainly because of the character of Captain Jack, who was introduced near the end of the first season of the new version of the series. It helps to know some of that back story, but it's not required, or at least so I've been told by those who watched TW and not DW.

Also introduced in that first season of DW is the idea of a "rift" in space and time right in the middle of Cardiff. So all kinds of alien "flotsam and jetsam" fall through, and Cardiff's Torchwood team investigate. But in some cases, they don't know going in whether or not it's an alien or alien technology at work, so it can also be more what we'd call supernatural, but I guess in a sense, it's still very "alien" to our human sensibilities.

The "not perfect" comment is due to how Torcwhood was produced in the first season. They were under a very short deadline, and it shows. There's a lot of uneveness with characters and plotlines (with a lot of plots kickstarted by characters doing something really stupid), but it gets better as it goes along. The upshot being TPTB aren't pissy bastards like the Stargate TPTB, and have actually taken constructive criticism. According to early reviews of the first episode of the second season, they've improved their work, but without completely ditching plots and characters that came before (another problem I have with Stargate's TPTB).

If you'd really like to see Torchwood, it can find a way to you in its' uncut UK glory if you'd like. ;)

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I have never seen Dr. Who, but I've never seen "porn" on Torchwood. There is some kissing and various relationships (many of which I dislike), but I love the show overall and I haven't yet seen anything that would make me hate the show. The last episode... I was so prepared to dislike it and some of it was corny or cheesy, and then I fell in love with the show all over again for it. I'm not sure that makes sense, but it reminds me of early seasons Stargate but without the team feel or the same attachment I had to the characters. I hope you end up liking it. :-) It's a fun show to watch.

I'm really looking forward to the next season starting. It's not my favorite show, but I do enjoy it a lot.

Do you have a way to get season 1? I think I have it all saved and could send you a copy if you need it--if lyraeinne can find the DVD that I made for her.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

It's just one of those things that I hear everythign through fandom filtered eyes and fandom loves porn so I made the connection that Torchwood was more like a sopa opera than a regular show. I could be wrong with that assessment though.

At this time I don't have a way to get the first season so I may take you up on that. I'll see if I can find another way to view it first, though.

[nialla]

I think the "porn" angle is because there's a lot of canon potential for it. You don't have to search subtext for het or slash relationships, they're writ in text, in large print. Sometimes with pictures. ;)

Captain Jack is referred to as "omnisexual" because he's from the future, where there's more than just the binary male and female humans to shag. He'll pretty much do anything if it's gorgeous enough. All of the other team members have had heterosexual and same sex relationships, before or during the series. There's something for everyone, and that diversity alone was enough to keep some fans watching. Some of it's romantic, some of it is "just sex" some of it... we're not really sure. Soapy in a way, but it's not the central theme of the show. I think it was partly due to the writers having the ability to write things of a more sexual nature, so they did, period.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

so I made the connection that Torchwood was more like a sopa opera than a regular show. I could be wrong with that assessment though.

No, there's some of that, but I found it to be more like standard sci fi, which I actually didn't like at first. hehe It grew on me, though.

At this time I don't have a way to get the first season so I may take you up on that. I'll see if I can find another way to view it first, though.

Just let me know. It's really no problem at all for me to do it.

[el1ie.livejournal.com]

Um...is this like The UK's version of Supernatural? Because it surprised me how much of a XF/SPN vibe it has.

I think it owes it's roots to Quatermass more than anything....yeah, I'm *that* old... heheh

It's an ok show, but annoys me a lot in places.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I have heard of Quatermass but I don't know what that is.

It's an ok show, but annoys me a lot in places.

Ack, everyone keeps saying that. What is so annoying?

[el1ie.livejournal.com]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/quatermass/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Quatermass

Explains it far better than I could - needless to say it was *the* TV event when I was a kid - sort of a grown up Dr Who (yeah, Dr Who was originally much more of a kid's show in concept)

Why does Torchwood annoy?...ooh, hard to say exactly, mostly it's the characters - I don't like a lot of them and that makes it harder to watch and be forgiving. Gwen annoys the life out of me. Some of the others are a bit too much like tossers for my liking but not evil enough to love to hate - just not very nice - or very professional - how they got these jobs is beyond me sometime! *G*

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's true about the characters on Torchwood, but I found I didn't end up hating any of them, even if at times I almost wanted to. *g* I think they probably bothered me less than what I've seen on other shows, because none of the characters totally grabbed me like Daniel Jackson, so I didn't care as much. I just watched the show with a more detached feeling, I guess.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Torchwood isn't entirely about the porn. Mostly it's about the potential. I love it, though, because it cracks me up and Jack is one of my favourite characters ever.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

It looks like it has a lot of potential from what I've seen. There's enough there to make me want to check it out more at the very least.