Category: Torchwood


Connections Unseen

Filed Under: Current Episodes, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
May 26, 2010

I’ve been thinking about connections, considering what might have caused certain events or points of focus.

Is it possible, for example, that one of the tears in reality, like that in Amy’s childhood bedroom, also caused the sun to go nova causing the grand exodus of Earth seen in “The Beast Below”?

Aside from the fact River Song seems to have spent a lot of time there, is the pull of the 51st century significant, given humanity harnessed the power of time travel during this period – seen in the despicable acts of the evil mad man Magnus Greel and the formation of the Time Agency, of which Jack Harkness was a member? I’m reasonably sure it isn’t connected, but Jack’s home in the Boeshane Peninsula suffered mass deaths from an unimaginable horror in this very century. A coincidence of continuity, but still…

Does the presence of Amy and Rory on the distant hilltop suggest more than just a passing interest in their earlier selves – and why is the Doctor somewhat blasé about it, considering the dangers? The events of Father’s Day resulted in his death and came about because Rose tampered with causality – is his memory so short?

Or, perhaps, memory has become a problem for everyone – with Amy forgetting the Daleks (and, for that matter, Van Statten not being aware of them either in 2012 as he struggled to engage with his silent Metaltron – in “Dalek”, despite the mass invasions of “Army of Ghosts”/”Doomsday” and “The Stolen Earth”/”Journey’s End” a few years earlier) and a strong reliance in recent episodes on perception filters keeping what is openly there out of sight and out of mind. Can we trust anything we’re seeing, given the Doctor’s own subconscious dark side can work against him with such murderous intent?

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Make The End Sing

Filed Under: Adventure Seeds, David Tennant, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
March 12, 2010

‘Tooth and Claw’ provides an excellent story, packed full of excitement, energy and classic elements aplenty. Heroism and deceit, violence and innovation, fear and elation. We know that Queen Victoria can’t die, mustn’t die, and yet we see the peril she faces and the people who give up their lives in her name.

However, the incredible episode really shines in the conclusion. If you want to have a model for your adventures, look here for how to handle your ending. Yes, you want resolution, the chance to set the world right again and put an end to the plans of the villain – and yet… There should be more. The ending of an adventure should provide threads to continue on beyond the bounds of the current story.

In ‘Tooth and Claw’, we have the obvious introduction of the Torchwood Institute and the implications of a British Empire aware of aliens threat. Also, Queen Victoria suffers an injury at the hands of the Lupine Wavelength Haemavariform, leading to the possibility that down through time the cells of the werewolf might surface again within the Royal bloodline. Further, what repercussions might Victoria’s banishing of the Doctor have. While we know that Torchwood will later seek him out, what impact might it have on later adventures – as any time spent in Victorian England after 1879 might attract the attention of people aware of Victoria’s edict.

Less obvious perhaps, but we also have the thread that Prince Albert and Sir Robert’s father clearly had their own understanding and theories about the werewolf. Given Prince Albert’s meticulous preparation of the Koh-i-Noor diamond it would not be too much of a stretch to suggest something like an occult gentlemen’s club might exist, patronised by the Prince. Similar to the London-based Ghost Club, of which Charles Darwin was a member, such an organisation might seek to gather knowledge about matters of the Unknown and look to arm itself against it.

It’s a great episode – and by following it’s example you can create adventures that provide a great gateway to future encounters.

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Children of Earth

Filed Under: Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
July 12, 2009

Well, I just sat and watched the whole of Children of Earth in a single marathon sitting. Feel the need to sum up my thoughts without being too detailed or complete.

In truth, it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t quite work in the end. You know the scenario that we’ve seen so many times before in this and other series – how do you deliver the finale that matches all the build-up? Well, when you destroy the Hub in the first episode, how do you keep ramping up the action?

Characterisation was good. Frobisher troubled, the new PM self-serving and spineless. Pushy Americans and spunky young women PAs… Check! Keeping the 456 out of sight ensured we weren’t disappointed… And it had all the temper tantrums and attacks of projectile nausea you expect from a TV drug addict extraterrestial.

Is Captain Jack becoming too tortured now? Perhaps. You have to wonder why we never heard about the Torchwood extended families before now… That sort of thing is so Russel T, after all. Wouldn’t that have been an ideal target for Jack’s enemies in the past – like Captain John?

The conclusion. Well, it worked and didn’t come across as too forced, as some Who conclusions have in the recent past. However, all the sacrifice and torment came in the same few episodes as it was established. We didn’t know Jack’s family before, so areas as traumatized by the events of the final episode as we might have been if we’d met them earlier? I don’t know. I suspect not.

In short, worth watching and still better than some of the first season dross. Hope this isn’t the last we see of Torchwood…

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The Encroaching Darkness

Filed Under: Current Episodes, Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
June 24, 2008

While I won’t yet write-up my overall view of ‘Turn Left’ (because I still have a lot of catching up to do), I enjoyed the nod at continuity when the Doctor referred to the beetle as one of the Trickster’s lot. The Trickster was the excellent villain from the ‘Sarah Jane Adventures’ episode ‘Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?’ – and given the return of the Sonic Lipstick wielding journalist in the next two episodes, this made for a great touch.

In respect of the next two episodes, I can only imagine a hoard of fans will probably be truly spent for the Summer – exhausted with the exertion of almost two hours of copious fan-w**king. The Doctor, Donna, Martha, Rose, Captain Jack, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper, Sarah Jane, Luke, the Daleks and Dave… it beggars belief. On top of that, I could have sworn one of the Daleks in the trailer (the red one) looked like the style faced by the alternate first Doctor in the cinematic movies in which Bernard Cribbins played a part… another superlative fan pleaser if it’s true.

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Ill Fortune

Filed Under: Current Episodes, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
May 18, 2008

The new series of Doctor Who has been on for six weeks now. Torchwood ended a little before that. A lot to review – and nothing to show for it. Anyone would think I’d been ill or something.

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Reset: First Glance

Filed Under: Current Episodes, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
February 21, 2008

Martha makes her presence felt in the Torchwood Hub, assisting in a story, ‘Reset’, that’ll span at least three episodes. Why bring Martha in…? Well, aside from providing a welcome addition to the crew and an ideal way to draw interesting moments of interaction out from each of the other characters, she also provides an necessary story element. The arc needs a time traveller and a doctor who is neither Jack nor Owen. It couldn’t be Jack, because if the experiments performed on Martha had been performed on Jack instead, his invulnerability to death would have created a whole different ending. It couldn’t be Owen because, well… he’s going to be out of the equation and Torchwood needed someone to replace him. Voila! Martha saves the day!

Overall, an interesting episode – though I’m not sure about the medical research. The Pharm does some normal medical trials for cover and more dubious experiments on the side. However, why experiment with weird alien DNA when you genuinely have no clue what might happen? Why release these people back into the community? What did Doctor Copley imagine would come of the experimentation should one of the ‘swarms’ hatch another giant mayfly – especially if the birth might happen almost anywhere?

Bizarre objectives aside, the CGI giant mayfly looked convincing enough and the story had plenty of energy and drive. A good dose of James Bond-style espionage and gadgetry combined with character interaction meant by the end of the episode the team held together well and Owen’s sacrifice didn’t seem like an entirely throwaway plot device. Nice to see Torchwood using some more alien technology – like the camera lenses. Onionskin plotting – investigating one thing only to discover something more itself covering up something else – handled well… and I just know we have another Resurrection Glove coming (that’s the funny thing about gloves, isn’t it Ianto… they always come in pairs…).

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Timing Malfunction

Filed Under: 21st Century Doctor, Games and Merchandise, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
February 15, 2008

Damn. I seem to have missed my opportunity to join the playtest for the Doctor Who Role Playing game, by Cubicle 7. That’ll teach me for not trawling the Internet constantly looking for references to Who. It’s unfortunate because they only announced the game in December and the playtest has, therefore, only been running for a few weeks.

Anyway – despite a sense of mild disappointment, I intend to plough ahead with the concept of running a post-World War One Torchwood campaign using the Call of Cthulhu system – partially because of the wealth of material, partially because the game system revolves around that period anyway, and also because I happen to find the system very easier to use. I shall post updates on how this moves along…

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Adam: First Glance

Filed Under: Current Episodes, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
February 13, 2008

Neat from the outset, with subtle changes in the characters during the titles. Then we have Adam front and centre right away. Worked for me – though, as a power, seems like a whole kettle of fish to keep having to touch everyone and try to keep things straight in their memories. The panic to change Gwen was great, a rush job that left Rhys out of the equation. Slightly bemused by the apparent need to perform a Vulcan nerve pinch to attain contact on the first couple of occasions… It would have seemed more natural to touch Gwen on the arm, for example, rather than reaching for her shoulder – and therefore close to her face – which would surely make a suspicious individual flinch away. I imagine it came down to camera angle…

Ianto got to be cheeky again – Tosh: “You write about artefacts in your diary?”, Ianto: “Amongst other things…” (wink) – and then had Adam put him through some thoroughly harrowing false memories. The whole sequence of Ianto murdering women, with pig squeals instead of screams… utterly dark, utterly effective. Gareth David-Lloyd‘s acting sure has come on since ‘Cyberwoman’ when that sobbing really didn’t convince me at all… Wrapped up in his long black coat, I could almost picture him in a long term career as a murderer.

The whole episode held up well, with lots of potential for some very different acting. Tosh turning Owen down for a date, face furious with indignation at the very thought… yeah, why not! Owen reminded me of Adrian Mole or something with the whole geek persona in place.

It was only the amnesia stuff that let me down a bit, as the story trailed off into an over-extended conclusion in the board room. The final effort by Adam to survive, however, managed to rescue the story somewhat… though I freely admit to being confused why the alien artefact contained sand, presumably from Jack’s homeworld.

And speaking of Jack’s homeworld… the best bit – Captain Jack’s accent is how they all talked in the Boeshane Peninsula. Obviously. Well done on that little bit of continuity jiggery-pokery!

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Meat: First Glance

Filed Under: Current Episodes, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
February 11, 2008

I admit I might simply be a big softy with a bigger heart when it comes down to suffering. I could probably put it down to that quality in my character that made ‘Meat’ such an effective episode for me. Having spent the first three episodes in limbo, credited but no apparent, Rhys got his ample first outing for the season and did an effective job of stepping on toes and revealing the bad guys. The rest of the cast turned in fine performances, with Ianto continuing to shine with a couple of one liners and the CGI whale-alien doing a good job at roping in my sympathy and empathy.

A tale of just how callous humanity can be in pursuit of profit, ‘Meat’ showed Torchwood doing a very necessary task that, as Owen rightly highlighted, probably wouldn’t turn around the dark fate of Earth in the 21st Century. Like ‘Small Worlds‘ in the first season, Jack seemed resigned to taking the least pleasant but necessary path in the end, though Owen beat him to making the actual decision on the fate of the whale-alien. Poor thing.

Was there something ‘Countrycide’-like in the plotting? The team investigates, they get deep and end up captured, one of the team manages to crash into the midst of the proceedings and save the day… Maybe, or maybe not.

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To The Last Man: First Glance

Filed Under: Current Episodes, Torchwood by Paul — Leave a comment
February 4, 2008

There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end.

‘To The Last Man’ echoed the better episodes of the latter part of last season. The episode showed characters with character, a story with a purpose, and people feeling some genuine emotions. Yes, you have to skim over some of the deeper feelings and put some things into overdrive to fit into the limited episode length – but a good episode overall.

How Toshiko could fall in love so desperately and fully having met Tommy only three times before doesn’t sit well – yes, she’s a techno-geek who doesn’t get out much, but still. She fell for the alien last season because of some telepathic pushing… but here she seemed to have gone head-over-heels quite naturally.

The rift and the time loop don’t make sense of course… Torchwood in 1918 would have needed to take Tommy into their custody without reason to have established the loop in the first place… or did I miss something in the back story. I have tio admit that 1918 Torchwood got me excited and I’m tempted to use them in a roleplaying session or two. The premise seems to fit ‘Call of Cthulhu‘ perfectly – a game set in the 1920s concerned with ancient other dimensional monsters and the cults that seek to set them free. The retro-gadgets were great and the whole stiff upper lip attitude quite at odds with the team of the present day. Brilliant.

I’m liking this Season a lot better so far – by episode three last year I had started to lose the will to live…

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