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Torchwood
Episode 1: Everything Changes

When Torchwood arrives on the scene of a brutal murder, WPC Gwen Cooper’s burning curiosity is challenged. Their attitude, their approach and their
technology is at odds with everything she believes in. But investigating the investigators leads her to a dark, paranoid world she never imagined existed.

After the critically and commercially successful re-launch of Doctor Who two years ago, Russell T Davis can do no wrong. But he is a writer who made his name with more adult oriented fair like Queer as Folk, The Second Coming and Casanova. Torchwood sees him return to those roots.

Described as a British X-Files with sex and bad language thrown in for good measure, Torchwood is definitely not for family viewing like the good Doctor, but this is a good thing. Gone are the restrictions of a 7pm Saturday slot on BBC 1 as the creative team behind the Sci-Fi classic’s revival heads to the grittier, no holds barred digital channel BBC 3. That channel was the breeding ground for Little Britain, The Catherine Tate Show and the recent hit series Sinchronicity. Here they can explore the darker side of the Who universe and show the blood, guts and sex that comes from all over time and space.

The first episode ‘Everything Changes’ is very much like ‘Rose’, the first episode of the Doctor Who return. Here we see the story unfold through the eyes of Cardiff WPC (Woman Police Constable) Gwen Cooper, played by Welsh actress Eve Myles (who played Gwyneth is the Charles Dickens Doctor Who episode ‘The Unquiet Dead’).

Her curiosity gets the better of her when she and the rest of the local police are told to leave a crime scene and a black SUV arrives and the Torchwood team exit. Wanting to see what they are up to, Gwen goes to the roof of the building overlooking the scene and hears them talk about using the glove.

Then a man dressed in a 1940s army uniform steps out of the car and orders Suzie Costello (Indira Varma, last seen in HBO’s Rome) to bring the victim back to life. That man is Captain Jack Harkness (played again by Doctor Who favourite John Barrowman). From then on Gwen becomes obsessed in finding out what Torchwood is but this is going to expose her to things she could never have imagined.

After introducing the Torchwood Institute during the first season of the new run, most Doctor Who fans have wanted to know more. The series takes place after the events of the second season finale (which I won’t go into, as I know it hasn’t been shown in the US yet) and reveals a little about the agency and how it is structured. It also introduces the darker side of the Who Universe, things that you only heard about on the original series but with all the restrictions of the family timeslot removed, Russell T Davis and his creative team can really have some fun.

The first episode introduces you to the characters. As well as Gwen, Captain Jack and Suzie Costello we have chemical specialist Owen Harper, played by Burn Gorman, technology genius Toshiko Sato, played by Naoko Mori (returning as the character she played in the episode ‘Aliens of London’) and all-round specialist Ianto Jones, played by Gareth David-Lloyd. Each has a brief introduction but most of the main emphasis is on Captain Jack and Gwen, as you’d expect and it is their chemistry that will drive the show.

For a first episode, it does everything it needs to do. The show introduces the premise for the series, the characters and the dynamic that is going to push the show along. Older Doctor Who fans should rejoice at this exciting spin-off but this is definitely not a show for the younger fan. They should wait for The Sarah Jane Adventures, coming in 2007.

 

Jamie Kelwick

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