Torchwood reviews

After Doctor Who comes Torchwood. This is a new high octane slapstick drama series about five main characters (excluding Suzie) who protect humankind from the hordes of aliens and out of the ordinary phenomena that exist because of the rift opened during Doctor Who. Its style is a combination of influences including Doctor Who, Sapphire and Steel, This Life, CSI and Men In Black. Captain Jack heads the outfit with a team consisting of Ianto, Tosh, Gwen and Owen Harper. In a nutshell Torchwood is raunchy, mysterious, character driven and crazy. It is science fiction how it should be done and a programme that explores alien devices and situations whilst having meaning and impact to us in real life.

Everything Changes - This is the pilot story and introduces Gwen to the fold. She discovers a murder scene and sees a mysterious group of people using a strange gauntlet. She follows them to Cardiff Bay. After an encounter with a Weevil and pizza delivery her memory is wiped by Captain Jack. Then she discovers that Suzie has a knife and things lead to a climax where Suzie is found to be the killer because of shoots Captain Jack who comes from the dead. She then shoots herself. Thus Jack recruits Gwen as a replacement. This sets the tone of the series and has moments of humour between the action. 8 marks out of 10.

Day One - A meteorite lands and the team investigates. Gwen argues with Harper and throws a knife into the object releasing a gaseous lifeform. Unkown to them this creature enters a teenage girl, Carys, and turns her into a raving nymphomaniac who gets men to want sex with her and causes them to explode when they climax. She (it) is addicted to the sexual energy in a way similar to a Succubus (or chimera lifeform). Gwen takes resonsibility for this and after several men die the creature is finally trapped inside a sperm bank, freeing Carys. There are moments of humour and explicit sex scenes as well as further exploration of Gwen's character as she learns about her new role. Excellent. 10 out of 10.

Ghost Machine - A device that lets people see the past (and later the future) actions of people is discovered causing past events and a crime to resurface. Gwen and Owen see things and become emotionally involved. This story has great humour and sinks to the darkest depths exposing a pervert. The past cannot be changed but a future is seen as one of many possibilities (a popular theory of quantum events). Very good. 9 out of 10.

Cyberwoman - Ianto is holding a dark secret. He has his girlfriend hidden away in Torchwood but she is half Cyber. He smuggles in a Japanese Cyber-specialist who becomes her first victim. Then she uses Ianto's emotions against him and runs rampage in the base. She refers to human .2 rather than the cyber-race but is still intent on assimilating everyone. Jack releases a Pteradactyl and a pizza girl recieves a new brain (this being very Frankenstein). High tension and a distraught Ianto is seen collecting his things at the end. 9 out of 10.

Small Worlds - Exploring Jacks background and involving a little girl and some faeries who have the power of the elements. They are seen killing people by choking them through the mouth (red flowers pop out) if their 'Chosen One' is threatened. Jack gives in and lets them have the girl (and they put her face on the Cottinghill faeries picture) leaving her mother grieving for her and her husband (whom the faeries killed). 9.5 out of 10.

Countrycide - A cross between the Blair Witch Project and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. All of Torchwood are in the country and grisly corpses and body parts are found. I do not like this story mostly because of the anticlimax (some nutters killing and eating people) and the deliberate but very amateur look throughout the story (like Blair Witch). 4 out of 10.

Apart from the last story this is an excellent series. The production staff and writers are taking risks with the ideas and some stories come across better produced than others. Hopefully the rest of the series will be up to the high standards of the first 5 stories.