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Post by Fassbender Fan on Apr 30, 2006 14:55:28 GMT
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Post by matt on Apr 30, 2006 16:42:33 GMT
I like that Mikey kind of bumbles around in the Doctor's world but they don't want to make him too much the comic relief because that will get boring. He must be reasonably smart if he's busy hacking government systems and sussing out potential threats to earth. I do think that Billie is spot on with Rose it's just that I think we've seen pretty much all Rose has to offer now (I'm more than willing to be proved wrong.) We've seen her do terrified, we've seen her do heroic, we've seen her do lovestruck and we've seen her do heartbroken. I'm getting fed up with the whole puppy dog eyes 'I'm soooo in to you' routine now though. I think with Mikey and Rose; the usual stereotypes are all switced around. Say in traditional horror movies and tv shows; you get Mikey and Rose walking down a dark alley monster pops out; stereotype deems that Rose runs while the big token black guy stands and is brave. However, in Dr. Who - it's Mikey who'd end up screaming and running away.
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Post by DreamDangerously on Apr 30, 2006 17:09:47 GMT
oh yeah, I totally get that, I just don't think it's a joke that holds up to being repeated too many times.
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Post by Fassbender Fan on Apr 30, 2006 19:43:18 GMT
I know what you mean it's starting to get tired but I'm hoping they have more sense than *cough* season two of Hex *cough* and will keep the plots interesting enough and move on rather than go down a path of annoying Rose each week
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Post by fenris on May 1, 2006 10:10:16 GMT
I hope they're not going to name drop it every bloody week though. That would get very annoying very quickly. On a business level, I can understand why Torchwood keeps getting plugged in Doctor Who. When the Torchwood series reaches the screen either later this year or early next year, the BBC want it to succeed, and as Who is mega-popular right now it makes sense to use it to promote the new show. I do agree however that they should cut back on the references now. Ultimately, when Torchwood arrives, it's got to stand on it's own two feet and be it's own show, and constantly falling back on Who references would be a weakness. In fact, I even think putting Captain Jack in Torchwood is a mistake. He's a great character, and it's easy to see why he's so popular, but based on what I've heard about Torchwood he doesn't really seem right for the show. I think it's just another example of over-emphasing the Who connection. If the BBC think Captain Jack deserves his own series, fine - give a Flash Gordon-style space opera to star in, instead of just shoving him into a Who spin-off in which he may not belong, just to boost ratings.
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Post by DreamDangerously on May 1, 2006 11:54:48 GMT
I agree actually, I'd much rather have Captain Jack flitting in and out of Doctor Who occasionally rather than being part of the Torchwood alien crime fighting team.
I can completely understand why the BBC are plugging Torchwood, and subtle references are nice but it's a little bit like being beaten over the head with it at the moment. Especially Queen Victoria's speech last week, which was more or less "I will take this place called Torchwood and make it the Torchwood Institution which is in Torchwood and will be named Torchwood and this is Torchwood by the way."
lol
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Post by fenris on Oct 7, 2006 21:35:30 GMT
BBC1 has been subtly flashing the Torchwood symbol inbetween it's programmes and promos for about a week now, and today (just before the premiere episode of Robin Hood) I saw a trailer for the show for the first time.
It looks... very promising, actually. Like a sci-fi version of Spooks. And considering how popular Spooks currently is, that's probably a good way of marketing it.
I'm really looking forward to Torchwood now. With Hex gone, I need another British genre show to obsess over. I just hope the writers and producers haven't fumbled the ball. I'd hate for them to screw this up.
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Post by fenris on Oct 11, 2006 19:22:34 GMT
I saw a lovely big advertisement for Torchwood on the side of a bus today, with a gun-toting Captain Jack striking a Dirty Harry-type pose. It's been confirmed that the series starts on BBC3 on 22/10/06. Here's a list of what is rumoured to be the titles of the show's thirteen episodes, and the order in which they're going to be screened (all subject to change); 1. 'Everything Changes' by Russell T. Davies. 2. 'Day One' by Chris Chibnall. 3. 'The Ghost Machine' by Helen Raynor. 4. 'The Trouble with Lisa' by Chris Chibnall. 5. 'Small Worlds' by P.J. Hammond (attention Perie fans - this is apparently about evil psycho faeries). 6. 'Countrycide' by Chris Chibnall. 7. 'Out of Time' by Cath Tregenna. 8. 'Greeks Bearing Gifts' by Toby Whithouse. 9. No information. 10. 'Virus' by Andrew Rattenbury. 11. No information. 12. 'Combat' by Noel Clarke (actor/writer Clarke previously played Mickey in Doctor Who). 13. 'End of Days' by Chris Chibnall (now there's a title to warm a Hexan's heart). Please, please, please let this show not suck.
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Post by fenris on Oct 14, 2006 15:37:34 GMT
More information: BBC3 will be screening two episodes on 22/10/06, and a single episode every subsequent Sunday. And for those without satellite or cable, BBC2 will be showing repeats of every episode on the Wednesday following it's initial screening on BBC3.
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Darkqueengalore
Hexen
MAGIC PIXIE
We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like.
Posts: 452
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Post by Darkqueengalore on Oct 18, 2006 15:46:08 GMT
I am so looking foreard to this...i wasn't really a dan of DW..saw a few eps. I like captain jack..and this show looks more "adult" and more dangerous and fun...which is all the more better . Very bloody too...i saw a trailer the other day eeeek
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Post by kittygobonkers on Oct 20, 2006 17:52:16 GMT
Hmmmm...... i have no idea what this Torchwood is about or who the hell Captain Jack is but i'm damn well gonna watch it and find out ;D
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Post by fenris on Oct 23, 2006 18:42:53 GMT
Episode #1: 'Everything Changes.' (Spoiler Warning)
First episodes are always difficult as the writers have to introduce the characters and establish the show's premise. Yes, 'Everything Changes' is similar in some ways to New Who's 'Rose', but the reason why the device of using an outsider to act as the eyes of the audience is used so often is because it works so well (for example, look at the first X-Men movie, in which the newcomer role is split between Rogue and Wolverine), so I'm not going to give Russell T. Davies a hard time for utilising it again.
Understandaby the episode concentrates on Gwen and Jack, with the other team-members being little more than cyphers, but hopefully they'll be fleshed out over the coming weeks. It was interesting seeing John Barrowman portray a slightly subdued Captain Harkness. When he was on board the TARDIS, Jack could openly be himself - a pansexual Time Agent from the 51st century. But now that he's (presumably) stranded in 21st century Cardiff and operating convertly, he's having to be more subtle and is downplaying his natural charisma in order to blend in.
I've been on other message boards about Torchwood and have been surprised to see people commenting at length about the amount of bad language on the show. I have to confess I didn't notice any swearing at all (not quite sure what that says about me). What I did enjoy was some the quiet, more natural moments: Gwen and the hospital porter's reaction when they came across the Weevil was just wonderful. They acted the same way anyone of us would do in such a situation, by assuming that the strange creature in front of them was a person wearing a mask and costume for some bizarre reason, instead of freaking out that it was a monster (Incidently, if the Weevils are mindless scavangers who live in the sewers, feeding on waste, then how and why was that particular individual wearing a nice clean leather suit?). I also liked the scene in which Suzie - realising that she'd burnt her bridges where Torchwood was concerned - broke down, whimpering about how nothing else she'd do in her life would come close to this job, and why did Earth just get the alien junk and s**t? It rang true.
My verdict: a solid start. Respectable but unremarkable.
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Post by matt on Oct 23, 2006 19:06:33 GMT
I liked it. Except for Eve Myles - who didn't seem to act...she just stood there and said lines.
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Post by orokiah on Oct 23, 2006 20:04:05 GMT
Liked it. Not nearly as spectacular as it (or rather the Beeb's working-overtime PR department) thinks it is, but it was good. Especially the first episode - I thought it worked really well as a scene-setter. I've been on other message boards about Torchwood and have been surprised to see people commenting at length about the amount of bad language on the show. I have to confess I didn't notice any swearing at all (not quite sure what that says about me). Tell me about it - totally passed me by too. I suppose my corruption-by-TV is now officially complete.
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Post by fenris on Oct 23, 2006 20:05:42 GMT
Episode #2: 'Day One.' (Spoiler Warning)
Previous British genre shows, such as Ultraviolet and even Sea Of Souls, had the confidence to target a sophisticated adult audience. But being a spin-off from a highly acclaimed family show, Torchwood seems to have an inner reluctance to do the same. Based on the evidence so far, this series is apparently intending to include older teenagers as part of it's target audience.
'Day One' is a self-conscious attempt to prove that Torchwood is more 'adult' and 'daring' than it's parent show. Unfortunately, it's very similar to a decade-old Outer Limits episode called 'Caught in the Act', in which a pre-Charmed Alyssa Milano stripped off with wild abandon as a young girl possessed by a disembodied alien and transformed into a raving nympho. In fact 'Day One' sticks so closely to the premise of that story, it could be considered an unofficial remake (it's also reminiscent of an obscure British movie released in 2003 entitled Penetration Angst). Sci-Fi fans have very long memories - surely Russel T. Davies of all people should know that?
However, there were still plenty of quietly rewarding character moments - Gwen's awkward encounter with a uniformed ex-colleague, and Jack constantly reminding her to say 'we' instead of 'you'. And I loved the scene where Jack pops to the toilet and the other team-members start pumping Gwen for information about him ("We know he's gay" comments one, whereupon Gwen squawks "No he's not!"). A particularly telling sequence at the conclusion of the episode, after Gwen has stressed to her team-mates the importance of having a life outside of work, finds her having a meal with her boyfriend, struggling to hide her boredom. Now that she's chasing lethal aliens for a living, cozy nights at home are suddenly suffering in comparison.
Meanwhile, Owen continues to reveal himself to be quite an unpleasant individual. After the date rape subplot in the first episode, here we find him discovering Gwen frantically snogging a highly dangerous female prisoner, and instead of raising the alarm, he just sits and enjoys the show. I can't decide whether Owen is just supposed to a stereotypical 'blokeish' character, or if we're meant to regard him (as I do) as a bit of a scumbag. It's interesting that he's the team's medical officer, which would surely mean - at the very least - that he's a qualified doctor, but he was introduced to Gwen in the previous episode as just 'Owen Harper', not 'Dr. Owen Harper' or 'Dr. Harper.' I wonder if he was struck off and rendered unemployable, whereupon Torchwood approached him and he had no choice but to accept their offer?
My verdict on the episode: despite the unoriginal story, a slight improvement on the first.
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