My TV Musings

I finally got around to watching the premiere episode of Torchwood, a spin-off of the long-running, beloved series Doctor Who. While Doctor Who is definitely a character-driven show, the special effects have improved immensely on that show over the years. I had been warned that one cannot expect the same high production value of the aliens on Torchwood, but there was no evidence of that in this episode.

We meet Gwen Cooper as someone who knows nothing of Torchwood so we feel on the same level as she, and even a little superior if we’ve seen Doctor Who, on which Torchwood had several opportunities to be introduced to us. So we get to learn just what Torchwood is about through her eyes.

To compare Torchwood to Doctor Who is probably not fair because Captain Jack Harkness, the leader on Torchwood, and the Doctor have completely different purposes in life. Jack and his team are tasked, though we don’t know exactly by whom, to capture evil alien beings and their technology, and to put the technology to use for good. The Doctor, by contrast, is not tasked by anyone, but follows his own quirky whims, saving the universe as he goes. He is free to follow his own path if he has one. So, instead of comparing these men, I’ll just say that they are fascinating to watch and I highly recommend Torchwood to those who love scifi as I do.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Doctor Who, SciFi, Torchwood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.