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llywelaSpent most of the double-bill first episodes jumping up and down squeeing, "That's my city! I've been there, I've stood on that spot, I walk down that road every day, I remember when that was a damp, mildewed disused dock, I saw them filming by there...!"
As for what I actually thought of the show...
I enjoyed it. Such a relief. It was a strong, promising start to a brand new show.
The narrative structure of the show is highly reminiscent of Rose, introducing us to the Doctor through the eyes of the eponymous Rose. In Torchwood, the narrative is also given to us through the eyes of an outsider stumbling upon a strange new world, in this case police officer Gwen Cooper. And it works because Gwen is a sympathetic character viewers can relate to. She's good at her job, plucky and inquisitive, and stubborn enough not to give up when a mystery proves tricky to untangle. She's got a nice, normal life, with a nice, normal flat and a nice, normal boyfriend. And then along comes Captain Jack and Torchwood and she's plunged into a strange new world. Starting her incredible new job, she stumbles her way through it much as any real person would - nervous and unsure of herself, fumbling with unfamiliar situations and procedures, making mistakes, antagonising co-workers... It works. It really does.
Watching, I remembered all the reasons why I loved Captain Jack when he was on Doctor Who. Here, as the head of Torchwood 3, he's more of a mystery than ever - to himself, as well as us and his colleagues. When the Doctor and Rose met him, he told them he was looking for answers, because two years of his life had been taken from him by the Time Agents - all memory of those two years completely wiped out. And now here he is in the Cardiff of today, presumably still with that two year hole in his memory, but also a new mystery about himself that he has no answers to - what happened to him on the Gamestation, Satellite Five. He knows that he died there that day; what he doesn't know is how he was brought back to life, or why that has had the effect it has.
Because, as a weird kind of side effect of Tardis!Rose's resurrection of him, Jack now cannot die, and he has no idea what that means. He's living in hope of one day finding the Doctor again, believing that only he can provide him with the answer.
...which kind of explains what Jack is doing working for Torchwood, an organisation that supposedly considers the Doctor an enemy. Just how he got to 21st century Cardiff from the abandoned Gamestation in whatever year it was is another matter entirely. Maybe if we keep watching we'll find out.
Oh, and he keeps a severed hand in a jar that's valuable to no one but him. That's the Doctor's severed hand from the Christmas Special!
So. Not perfect, by any means, and there were a number of things I had issues with. But I enjoyed watching it, which is a good start.
Lots more I could say, but that's enough to be going on with.
As for what I actually thought of the show...
I enjoyed it. Such a relief. It was a strong, promising start to a brand new show.
The narrative structure of the show is highly reminiscent of Rose, introducing us to the Doctor through the eyes of the eponymous Rose. In Torchwood, the narrative is also given to us through the eyes of an outsider stumbling upon a strange new world, in this case police officer Gwen Cooper. And it works because Gwen is a sympathetic character viewers can relate to. She's good at her job, plucky and inquisitive, and stubborn enough not to give up when a mystery proves tricky to untangle. She's got a nice, normal life, with a nice, normal flat and a nice, normal boyfriend. And then along comes Captain Jack and Torchwood and she's plunged into a strange new world. Starting her incredible new job, she stumbles her way through it much as any real person would - nervous and unsure of herself, fumbling with unfamiliar situations and procedures, making mistakes, antagonising co-workers... It works. It really does.
Watching, I remembered all the reasons why I loved Captain Jack when he was on Doctor Who. Here, as the head of Torchwood 3, he's more of a mystery than ever - to himself, as well as us and his colleagues. When the Doctor and Rose met him, he told them he was looking for answers, because two years of his life had been taken from him by the Time Agents - all memory of those two years completely wiped out. And now here he is in the Cardiff of today, presumably still with that two year hole in his memory, but also a new mystery about himself that he has no answers to - what happened to him on the Gamestation, Satellite Five. He knows that he died there that day; what he doesn't know is how he was brought back to life, or why that has had the effect it has.
Because, as a weird kind of side effect of Tardis!Rose's resurrection of him, Jack now cannot die, and he has no idea what that means. He's living in hope of one day finding the Doctor again, believing that only he can provide him with the answer.
...which kind of explains what Jack is doing working for Torchwood, an organisation that supposedly considers the Doctor an enemy. Just how he got to 21st century Cardiff from the abandoned Gamestation in whatever year it was is another matter entirely. Maybe if we keep watching we'll find out.
Oh, and he keeps a severed hand in a jar that's valuable to no one but him. That's the Doctor's severed hand from the Christmas Special!
So. Not perfect, by any means, and there were a number of things I had issues with. But I enjoyed watching it, which is a good start.
Lots more I could say, but that's enough to be going on with.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 02:04 pm (UTC)That was the only bit that was missing for me... It seems a bit convenient that he chose to come back to this space and time (or wound up here by chance.) D'oh! The hand thing must be in ep 2! :::shutseyes:::
I like how "grown up" it really is. I'm not into gore, but I really appreciate the edge of knowing that anyone can be killed at any time. And Jack seems kind of dark/disconnected in some way... Like he might not always react in a morally acceptable manner. Very interesting about the not being able to die thing... I guess I really didn't have any problems with the show - But then, I'm pretty easy. I would hope that Who!Jack shows up once in a while and that they don't make him *too* real. I really enjoyed the cartoonish, surreal character in Who. But you can't really make a whole character out of that, I suppose.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 02:30 pm (UTC)I wonder how it is going to develop. You can forgive a few ouchy moments in the first few episodes of a new series if the characters and plots get stronger (again, I haven't seen all of this). But it has a good look.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 07:20 pm (UTC)At the moment, I'm hypothesizing that Jack would have picked this particular period because of Rose - this is the time she comes from, therefore the time the Doctor is most likely to keep returning to. Although why Cardiff rather than London if that's his intention, I dunno... I like to rationalise things I see on TV, but can only take it so far *G*
no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 08:12 pm (UTC)Well, that actually makes a bit of sense (seeing as he has a *real* reason to find her and the Doctor - Not just some casual desire to run into them again.) Another fuzzy thought I had was that maybe he was assigned there - I have to watch his first Dr Who ep again because I can't properly remember the details but wasn't there some connection to Torchwood? I know it was the "Time Police" he worked for but somewhere I thought there was a reference/connection... I may be making that up. Cardiff makes total sense, because of the rip/rift/whatever. I mean, it's amazing they didn't run into a Torchwood unit there *before* - It being alien-central and all.
I have to say, for a Torchwood unit they sure are... Um... Unorganized? Unprofessional? Not particularly cohesive? I'm making this work in my own head by basically viewing this branch as the equivalent of a wild-west outpost. Not to mention, Torchwood London is in shambles so this unit is pretty much thrown together on Jack's initiative alone, as far as I can tell.
I got about half way through episode two at lunch and my opinion of the show is *rapidly* nosediving. Some of it's just nit-picky, but there are some really big things too (like that ass-hat Owen.) Suppose I'd better finish the episode before I go off on it though...
no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 08:34 pm (UTC)Torchwood Cardiff is definitely very small-scale. My rationale for this is that Torchwood London was the flagship and had all the resources, with the field bases being (as usual) very much the poor relations surviving on a fraction of the budget. That's how these things usually work in these parts. ;-) And with the destruction of Torchwood London, they've probably lost their central authority anyway and been left largely to their own devices now.
Or possibly I'm just reaching...*G*
Enjoyed Jack going into vast technical detail with Gwen about why the invisible lift works as it does, because of the Tardis (thought he doesn't name it) having been on that spot when the Rift was opening, and then blowing it back off as far-fetched and reverting to calling it an invisible lift. He's the only one who actually knows about all that. And he's playing his cards very close to his chest.
Like I said, it isn't perfect. I have issues with quite a few things. But it's enjoyable to watch, and interesting enough to keep me watching in hopes of learning more. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the season.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 08:54 pm (UTC)