Torchwood Series 1 Starring John Barrowman
Doctor Who Spin-Off that Follows a Torchwood Institute in Cardiff
Oct 5, 2009
Set in the Whoniverse (the Doctor Who Universe) Torchwood follows new recruit Gwen Cooper as she learns that Cardiff is on a rift in time and space. Strange creatures exist in the sewers beneath the city and alien life forms regularly find their way to Earth.
Torchwood is a Doctor Who spin-off in which Captain Jack leads a group of ordinary men and women that defend Cardiff from aliens. The series was shown after the watershed and features elements of sex and violence. It also deals with more adult issues than Doctor Who.
Establishing a Spin-Off World
Torchwood is seen mainly from the perspective of Gwen Cooper (Eva Myles) who happens to witness Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) trapping a Weevil. She later discovers what the Torchwood Institute is and what it is they do. She joins the institute which is made up of Owen Harper (Burn Gorman), Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) and Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd). It is through her that the audience also learns more about Torchwood.
In the first series Gwen has to contend with a sex-addicted alien, pressure from her boyfriend (who doesn’t know what she is now doing for a living), a host of dangerous life forms and the knowledge that she cannot talk about her work with anyone.
A More Adult Whoniverse
Doctor Who is a television show that appeals to young and old audiences. It is limited because it is intended to be viewed by children; therefore it cannot include swearing, sex, or graphic violence. Torchwood is able to deal with such things. One of the stories includes a sex-addicted alien, whilst another deals with disillusioned men entering a ring with a dangerous animal to fight for their lives. There are also numerous swear words which are scattered throughout the episodes along with several violent scenes.
Series 1 sees former Doctor Who companion Captain Jack Harkness in Cardiff. He was last seen in 200,100 being killed by a Dalek and resurrected by Rose. Since then he has been searching for the Doctor, and hopes that sooner or later the Time Lord will return to the Cardiff rift to refuel the TARDIS. Regrettably Jack has lost a lot of the charm and humour that he once had during his time with the Doctor. He is as much in the dark about what has happened to him since the events of the Doctor Who episode The Parting of the Ways as the audience is.
Knowledge of the Whoniverse is useful but not essential as only Jack and Ianto mention events that have taken place during episodes of Doctor Who.
There are a number of teething troubles with Torchwood. Owen is shown in the first episode to use a spray to get a woman (and her boyfriend) to have sex with him, however, as the series progresses he seems to be an ice-cold womaniser. If he is able to get any woman he wants into bed then why does he uses the spray in the first episode? Owen is also generally unpleasant to those around him and starts an affair with Gwen only to unceremoniously ditch her later on.
Ianto Jones is a background character that is severely underused, and Jack spends most of the series brooding.
Toshiko (Tosh) is a highlight as the shy computer expert that secretly carries a torch for Owen. It is not often that an audience sees a woman pinning for a guy that barely knows that she is alive; normally it is the other way around.
All in all Torchwood Series 1 seems to be trying to establish itself away from Doctor Who by dealing with more adults themes. However, the scale of the finale might make the audience wonder why the Doctor left things alone and didn’t appear to save the day.
6/10
Doctor Who spin-off that tries to do a little too much
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