Doctor Who

[Luke]

It doesn't take a great deal of effort to make her look good to be fair. She looks like a younger, less skeletal Keira Knightly.

Well, I've not really seen her in anything since Eastenders, and back in those days a good eyebrow plucking was just the first of her needs.

[SteveH]

Yeah, a damn good plucking has done her no end of good.

[pretentious_helvetica]

Also - respect is clearly due for a program that can make Daniela Denby-Ashe look hot!

Aha, now I recognise her. I couldn't quite place it...

She used to shill herself for Skips crisps.

[Reidles]

It doesn't take a great deal of effort to make her look good to be fair. She looks like a younger, less skeletal Keira Knightly.

This is an accurate discription. She'd be a lot more fun too.

[womblingfree]

They seem to be pitching Torchwood a bit wrong.

You can be an adult oriented programme without saying fuck all the time and being gross with bad special effects.

It's a larf but I'd be happier if the kids could be allowed up to watch it as a treat like I was with The Professionals. As it stands I wouldn't let em. It's Tiswas and OTT all over again!

Silly really as the rude, nasty bits just seem too forced in a show that has silly Cybergirls being attacked by dodgy pterodactyls. I love seeing the gang go all American with guns though, they look about as competent with firearms as a gang of Smurfs.

[sweetdaddyg]

seems to me the first few eps they thought "Maybe we can do this so we can cut out the swearies and sex and put it on pre watershed BBC1 saturday 7pm when Who is off." then realised it wasnt going to happen that way and went "Fuck it, lets remake Wrong turn" and actually did a few outstanding eps. Long may it continue.

[Alex W.]

Liveposting this week:

1) Captain Jack opens the episode with the most stilted bit of dialogue yet.

2) Nope, hold on, this girl who's just appeared has beaten the record. I think a third of the characters in this show have had their biographies recited in that manner.

3) They've successfully captured how annoying "philosophically drunk" people are. Does she die this episode? I hope so.

4) "They're people's thoughts." HOLY SHIT I HAD NOT REALISED

5) Okay, the thoughts thing works for humour.

6) Apparently Ianto Jones' internal monologue is a goth poet.

7) I think this bit was lifted from Emmanuelle In Space 3.

Only Emmanuelle in Space 3 didn't insist of dramatic WHOOSHPANS for no apparent reason.

9) I think this next bit is going to be like Unbreakable. Let's see....

10) Yep.

11) Hey, that kid's playing Konami Classics Collection Vol. 2's version of Parodius.

12) And Team Manic Depressive have entered a chummy phase. That means we're at the beginning of Act 2.

13) Owen's ridiculous skull-based gender identification fails, surprisingly.

14) This round-the table conversation's some pretty snapping writing.

15) Something dramatic at last! What was that moment about?

16) It's the return of the drama-draining voice filter! I love these things.

17) And... she's acting to three feet above the alien's head. And then a good five feet above the actual actress when she changes back.

Getting better, definitely. The first half of the episode was really, really shaky, and some of the effects are flaky, but it's getting better. The characters are still all much of a muchness.

[JPickford (retired mod)]

Worst post evar.

[Graham S]

I'm a bit late. I've just seen the fairy episode. The story material they had to work with was the best so far, but the execution was so awful in just about every area that I think that's it for me. Barrowman's acting is so stagey, intended to reach the back seats in the upper balcony, that I'm annoyed I ever liked his character in Dr Who.

I'll look back through the thread to see if there's any good reason not to delete the remaining episodes from my hard drive.

[Sideshow]

I'm a bit late. I've just seen the fairy episode. The story material they had to work with was the best so far, but the execution was so awful in just about every area that I think that's it for me.

Its the best of the bunch so far. Next weeks does look promising.

Barrowman's acting is so stagey, intended to reach the back seats in the upper balcony, that I'm annoyed I ever liked his character in Dr Who.

There's always a problem when a supporting character becomes the lead. Its very difficult to pull off. On Barrowman's acting, how many musicals has he been in? In fairness though, I don't think he's had a whole lot to work with, and the best ep so far has centred around him.

[cassidy]

I'm a bit late. I've just seen the fairy episode. The story material they had to work with was the best so far, but the execution was so awful in just about every area that I think that's it for me. Barrowman's acting is so stagey, intended to reach the back seats in the upper balcony, that I'm annoyed I ever liked his character in Dr Who.

I'll look back through the thread to see if there's any good reason not to delete the remaining episodes from my hard drive.

The next 2 since then have been better than the fairy episode IMO.

Dont give up yet Graham.

This weeks looks pretty damn good as well

They Keep Killing ***** its called. removed the name as the episode title is a spoiler.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

They Keep Killing *****

Kenny, The Bastards!

[Bad Ambassador]

Hooray for BBC1's Christmas trailer just now, which featured a whole heap of clips from 'The Runaway Bride'. Looking good!

[Hello Goaty ♥]

what was this nonsense in tonights episode?

its getting poor.

[cassidy]

what was this nonsense in tonights episode?

its getting poor.

Well your the polar opposite of me then, as it just keeps getting better IMO

A pretty decent script and some good performances tonight.

Did we see the start o fthe Torchwood arc tonight though. Something in the dark coming for Jack.

[Garwoofoo]

Best one by miles and miles tonight. Loved every minute of it.

Didn't get the stopwatch reference with Jack and Ianto at the end though. Were they just being smutty or was there some significance to that?

[Sideshow]

So many plot holes and giant leaps made in that episode, I'd happily live without seeing this show ever again. It's ridiculous.

I did miss the first few minutes of the show but there is no way that the following can be explained, Torchwood is under lockdown so that no signal can leave the building but still there is a way to get a phone signal! The police getting a copy of the poetry book in 20 seconds. The leap that the code was that books number, they caught up with Gwen in about three minutes, when Owen says Gwen's got minutes to live its nighttime, they catch up with her its daytime.

There's great big gaping plot holes all over the place, it's unwatchable. Still, next weeks looks good.

[DanClassic]

Yeah, I assumed that the stopwatch is a reference to gay sex. Mainly because I assume anything I don't understand is a reference to gay sex, which has led to some hilarious misunderstandings in the past.

[cassidy]

So many plot holes and giant leaps made in that episode, I'd happily live without seeing this show ever again. It's ridiculous.

I did miss the first few minutes of the show but there is no way that the following can be explained, Torchwood is under lockdown so that no signal can leave the building but still there is a way to get a phone signal! The police getting a copy of the poetry book in 20 seconds. The leap that the code was that books number, they caught up with Gwen in about three minutes, when Owen says Gwen's got minutes to live its nighttime, they catch up with her its daytime.

There's great big gaping plot holes all over the place, it's unwatchable. Still, next weeks looks good.

Ianto's a genius man

Anyway I think he's upto summat and I dont mean Jack's arse

[Headache]

I bet they've got two tiny alien hovercraft they like to race around the building when everyone else has left!

Again mixed reaction to this episode for me, good but shit too. Turning my brain off I was able to enjoy it and get caught up in the tension, but like Sideshow said, there are some things that just grate with me. Torchwood seems to act less and less like a secret organisation every week. The last few episodes have been the same for me, I've enjoyed them but something about the setup or execution just doesn't sit right.

This time it was the super-special Torchwood telling a bunch of cops they've locked themselves in their base. I dunno about Jack, but I'd have thought the first call would be to one of the other sodding Torchwood offices! (Surely by now they must have set a new one up in London.) Or hell, even Gwen's partner, "Hey honey, could you do me a quick favour and grab a copy of this book of poetry for me?"

The Welsh countryside ep it was the simple fact that the police hadn't been there first. What the hell? Loads of people go missing in the area every 10 years and NO ONE thinks to look into that until Torchy come along looking for aliens? Gah! Plus why the hell did Jack shoot all those bastards in the legs, he must have known who they were from questioning that other guy and he's never flinched from putting a bullet in someone's chest or head before or since. If someone deserves to die, Jack kills 'em, simple as.

[FishyFish]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds40287.html

Barrowman: No 'Who' crossover for 'Torchwood'

Sunday, December 3 2006, 15:01 GMT

By Neil Wilkes, Editor

John Barrowman has claimed that there will never be a crossover episode between Torchwood and parent show Doctor Who.

The actor, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in both series, considers Torchwood to be too adult to warrant such a possibility.

"You will never see, you will never have Who crossing over into Torchwood," Barrowman told SyFy Portal. "Doctor Who is for children, is a base for family viewing and children. Torchwood is not. I dunno yet but, the Doctor will never come into Torchwood."

Captain Jack will be returning to Doctor Who, however, appearing in three episodes at the end of the upcoming third series. "Jack has a different persona in Doctor Who as he does in Torchwood, if that makes any sense," he added. "He’s darker because of his circumstances and he’ll change again when [he] comes in, or he might be darker when he comes back in Doctor Who."

Not really surprising, although I think it could be pretty interesting to see a gritty, adult*, Who story, even if just the once.

* not just swears and titties.

[sweetdaddyg]

So many plot holes and giant leaps made in that episode, I'd happily live without seeing this show ever again. It's ridiculous.

I did miss the first few minutes of the show but there is no way that the following can be explained, Torchwood is under lockdown so that no signal can leave the building but still there is a way to get a phone signal! The police getting a copy of the poetry book in 20 seconds. The leap that the code was that books number, they caught up with Gwen in about three minutes, when Owen says Gwen's got minutes to live its nighttime, they catch up with her its daytime.

There's great big gaping plot holes all over the place, it's unwatchable. Still, next weeks looks good.

dont watch it then

[Eighthours]

A good episode, but the series as a whole has some problems.

Is Torchwood secret or not secret? One week we have Toshiko hugely surprised that Daniela Denby-Ashe could ever have heard of them, yet in other episodes it's made clear that they're an "Oh God, not you again" feature on the Cardiff landscape. Er... with an SUV that has "Torchwood" written on the side.

Then there's the whole general ineptness of the bunch. Captain Jack at times seems not much of a leader, as his gang of goons yet again go about the place doing pretty much what they want, fucking up repeatedly. Also, the chummy dialogue between them (usually at the beginning of an episode) is always horrible. I think the problem is that there's no "gravitas" to the team at the moment, which in the kind of super-secret high powered organisation they should be representing, is a bit strange.

But probably the biggest problem with the show is that Naoko Mori (Toshiko) simply can't act. She really can't. And the guy who plays Ianto can't either.

When you then get into the realm of dodgy camerawork, lighting and editing (thankfully it's getting slightly better to be fair, but I can't think of anyone looking less like he's firing a proper shotgun loads of times than Captain Jack firing a shotgun loads of times in that cannibals episode - it looked like a shootout in a school play), it's clear that the show's crew aren't quite "there" yet.

I still like it, of course!

[K]

It's rubbish. I was delighted by the idea of a Jack Harkness spin-off series, but Torchwood is blatantly not the vehicle for him. For me, it's the fact that Captain Jack in Doctor Who was this amazing, larger than life figure – a 25th century con artist, who's travelled to all the galaxy's most exotic places, shagged most of the galaxy's sexiest men and women, and generally had adventures too racy and numerous to go into. You got the sense that he was part of something much bigger than the tiny slice you saw.

Putting this character into 21st century Cardiff is just wrong – he's far too fantastic a figure for the environment. It's like sticking Han Solo into Eastenders. Obviously, a series following Jack's sexy futuristic adventures would be impractical for any number of reasons, but it doesn't change the fact that Torchwood seems wrong for the character/ It doesn't help that Torchwood itself is a completely rubbish organisation – it's got about four employees with no clearly defined jobs, who are all either inept or completely unprofessional.

Anyway, last night's episode was a complete pile of shit. The central idea of the plot was OK – if absurdly contrived – but the execution was woeful. The bit with the ISBN number was the absolute nadir of idiot plotting, but the programme's real problem is with the dialogue and characters. The former is banal and the latter are completely non-existent – they have whatever character traits and abilities the story requires them to for that week, and nothing else.

[Eighthours]

The bit with the ISBN number was the absolute nadir of idiot plotting

Yeah, you're right about that. It was more than a little bit dodgy! Actually, the whole premise of Susie having "planned" all this was a little weak. It would have worked a lot better as an opportunistic venture, with her thinking "on the fly".

[Sideshow]

dont watch it then

Still, next weeks looks good.

I'll keep watching, the promise is there, and I'm willing it to be great. It has the potential to be something really special, it's just not delivering. I live in hope.

[SteveH]

I'm still struggling with the fact it's now been made clear, that Toshiko, Gwen and Suzie all fancied, or have shagged wide-mouth boy. I mean jesus, how far fetched are they going to make this programme?

[Eighthours]

I'm still struggling with the fact it's now been made clear, that Toshiko, Gwen and Suzie all fancied, or have shagged wide-mouth boy. I mean jesus, how far fetched are they going to make this programme?

With him having such a wide mouth, it would make a lot more sense for Jack to be the one interested in him.

[Alex W.]

He probably kept the pheromone spray from the first episode or something.

What's the bisexuality scorecard, by the way? We're up to, what, two out of six? There's going to have to be an orgy or something if Davies wants to meet his target by the end of the series.

[Mogster]

I am enjoying the series, and I thought yesterdays episode was one of the best so far, despite its problems. However, I don't think I'd be bothering to stick with it were it not tied to the far superior Doctor Who. For a start, I'm not too happy about the somewhat subdued Captain Jack seeming little more than a supporting character half the time.

There's another problem with Jack's status in the show actually. One of the overarching themes of the series seems to centre around Jack's mystery, with the rest of the team often wondering exactly who he is. This would be fine, but we as an audience already know the answer, or at least half of it. It would be nice to see an explanation for his period of amnesia though.