Torchwood: Miracle Day Doesn’t Suck
Torchwood has been rightly thought of as the deformed brother of Doctor Who, the one your parents locked in the attic five years ago and never speak of. Strangely, the latest series, Miracle Day, is not only a darkly intense thriller full of extreme violence, sex, America, gallows humour and moral grey areas, it’s also actually quite good.
John Barrowman is back, still camp but in a grim sort of way, trying to solve the problem of eternal life, which has been bestowed upon the entire population of Earth. While some see this miracle day as a blessing, other, less stupid, individuals understand how dire things are about to become, as disease spreads unchecked, hospitals overflow and bureaucrats redefine what is technically ‘alive’ and who can be classified as ‘dead’. There’s still plenty of cheese for those of you who like the Doctor Who connection, but Miracle Day is a surprisingly intelligent thriller, and a welcome departure from what one might expect from a science fiction television show largely set in Wales.
Torchwood: Miracle Day stars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer and Bill Pullman. It is available to watch now on BBC iplayer.
September 8, 2011 at 9:21 pm
With a wonderful scenario for an alien invasion this series could have been very good; however it’s rubbish, being obsessed with racial profiling, homosexual sex and neurotic women.
September 26, 2011 at 2:36 am
Amen
October 3, 2011 at 11:38 am
I’m with you, sunk to a vehicle for Barrowman’s
self gratification, I wanted to watch a follow on to
a reasonable sci fi series not homosexial drivel.
September 9, 2011 at 2:13 pm
What Lee says is all true but I’ve still enjoyed the whole thing! Had it been cut down to 5 or 6 episodes I feel it would have been leaner and meaner!
September 9, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Kev has it right. It is way, way too long and self-indulgent. 10 episodes leaves an awful lot of room to allow time for suspension of disbelief to fail.
September 9, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Having watched the penultimate episode, it seems to me that they’ve finally re-found the plot! I was actually interested! Perhaps if the writers stick to writing science fiction and ditch interweaving political agendas, the programme will remain enjoyable.
September 14, 2011 at 10:50 pm
Your definition of sci fi is extremely narrow. ‘Brave New World’ was scifi too, ie futuristic, but with no aliens, little science, yet intensely political. Ever read any Iris Murdoch – also futuristic and political?
If a cataclysmic event caused your country to slide into a near Nazi dictatorship, as in Miracle Day, how could it not have political consquences – basic freedoms and rights are enshrined in government and law? It may be political but it is real. To ignore these aspects would make Torchwood extremely 2-dimensional and unrealistic.
September 26, 2011 at 2:34 am
It is not suppose to be realistic. It is suppose to be Sci-Fi. It is about protecting the planet from Aliens. Thats the Torchwood I expected. One different episode at a time. Maybe a couple of 2 parters. Not this crap. If it is like this again I won’t stick around. TGFDW
September 27, 2011 at 8:09 pm
I agree that Brave New World was futuristic with no aliens, little science, yet intensely political… but in that book, we *began* with that crazy world.
Torchwood wanted to be taken seriously as political drama and social commentary and it is set in our (+ aliens) world. It expected us to suspend disbelief about:
* how quickly the medical system would descend into chaos in the first world (which has such relatively low birth and death rates that, um, no),
* how little medical personnel care about their patients (there are problems with the medical system, true, but in my experience both inside and outside the system, most doctors and nurses are not that callous)
* the idea that true “category 1″ people were “alive” – without letting us know whether they could actually feel pain or had any cognitive capacity – while belittling the doctor who felt that “category 1″ fetuses were.
* how quickly people tolerated a Nazi-like regime including the ovens when – even without the prior horror of the holocaust as a deterrent – Hitler had to work 15-20 years to sell his views before he became leader
You are correct that it was political – beat me over the head with its politics, in fact – but I disagree that it was real.
I also disagree that it wasn’t two-dimensional, given, for example, its racial and sexual stereotyping.
I agree with the comments that said the series was too long and too self-indulgent.
September 9, 2011 at 10:16 pm
A good job everyon is immortal,,,I`m losing the will to live with this one.
September 10, 2011 at 11:57 am
this series blew bigtime i was bored stiff
September 10, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Let me see…Captain Jack Harkness, the immortal rogue , a bi-sexual super hero of Doctor Who fame. The only fixed point in the multiverse. What the Doctor called an impossible thing, created only because the eternal time vortex was poured into him through Rose Tyler. The inimitable Jack Harkness who is destined to become The Face Of Bo himself , is now nothing more than half of a particularly shoddy version of the Wondertwins? Torchwood Miracle Day does suck. I have been a Doctor Who fan for 40 years. A Torchwood fan from the very beginning as well as a Sarah Jane fan. And I will never watch T.W. again. Doctor Who can exist without T.W. but T.W. can’t and shouldn’t exist without Doctor Who and the one thing the Doctor or the sentient TARDIS would never allow to happen is the formation of another fixed point in time capable of disrupting the universe. How high were you when you wrote this episode?
September 20, 2011 at 12:33 am
I am only an occasional viewer of both Torchwood and Dr Who, but I agree with this comment. Captain Jack is an impossibility created through the sci-fi equivalent of an industrial accident; the channelling of the eternal time vortex through him by Rose Tyler. This event created his immortality; to create another immortal through the device of a blood transfusion (now that WAS science fiction) was a nonsense. In my opinion it did nothing to enhance the story – in fact it detracts from the whole premise of Torchwood; a secret organisation run by an immortal time traveller (even the Doctor has to regenerate).
The series was at least 3 episodes too long. Action dragged in the early part of the series where storylines were not so much to set up the characters but to create controversy where none was required. Homosexuality is not nor should it be a central tenet of Torchwood, to centre one entire episode on this is a vanity project by the writer. The final insult was to make Torchwood, previously an independent and primarily unknown organisation into an arm of the FBI.
There were touches of the original Torchwood, the story is centred on strong characters and action-adventure. What makes Torchwood (and Doctor Who) work is that Arthurian legend which underpins it.
September 10, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Miracle Day was of a different standard to the first 2 series-too many concepts were funneled into one storyline ,the overall charactor developement was poor and the dialogue never reached the the excellance of the original.The genre mix never really found a comfortable place and thepacing ws slow.CJ for the most part has been sidelined and worse his story is becoming repetitive.It borrowed dialogue and scenarios from Who and the original series which were executed much better in the original.But worse the charactors failed to engage me wih any emotional depth or intellectually and any social commentary was over simplified.Defintely the worst of the 3 series
September 10, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Bring back the real aliens !!! Bring back the torchwood depo and bring back real life !!!
September 10, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Thank God it’s over. Lets all hope it stays like that, because I’m sick and tired of apologizing for being a Torchwood fan. This season was an insult to anyone able to use google, plot holes so big one could let the whole muff of doom rift thing vanish in them and there would still be room for a continent or two…
RIP Torchwood and please do me a favor and stay dead.
September 11, 2011 at 1:12 am
I loved every episode of this series and thought the highpoints were up there with the best of Children of Earth.
Long live Jack and Gwen (and Rhys and Andy).
September 16, 2011 at 9:35 am
Agreed, excellent series, different from the previous three but just as good!
September 26, 2011 at 2:47 am
You guys must have been smoking a lot of weed when you watch this if think it was good.
September 11, 2011 at 7:07 am
I don’t know how anyone can say that Torchwood deserves to die. I’m new to the whole thing being a Yank and all but I loved every minute of it. From the first season to Miracle Day it’s been a great ride and I hope for more. I may be ignorant to the nuances of being a fan of Torchwood and the Doctor but I have to say it’s the best sci-fi I’ve seen in years (Better than the trash coming out of hollywood lately) so I’m psyched for a fifth season no matter where it’s broadcast.
September 11, 2011 at 10:16 am
For those of us so delicate that we can’t bear the thought of gay sex scenes on television, now you know how gays feel having to watch all the straight sex scenes we’re expected to tolerate.
Russell T Davies is to be applauded for bringing to television a show where sexuality is presented in a forthright way with no boundaries.
As for the plot lines and concept of this show, it’s up there with the best of TV produced by the BBC – the whole thing is nothing short of superb. Although I was dubious about the American collaboration on this, my fears were completely unfounded. An excellent job from all involved.
Finally, for the gay male audience, there couldn’t be a better outcome either than the immortalisation of Mekhi Phifer’s character Rex ;)
Let’s just hope this isn’t the last we see of Torchwood, which may have been birthed from Doctor Who, but which has now reached adulthood, and is an entity in its own right.
September 11, 2011 at 6:33 pm
political agendas!
September 12, 2011 at 5:14 am
By “political agendas” I assume this is a reference to the portrayal of sexuality in Torchwood.
Any expression of disapproval of homosexuality on TV is in my opinion a political agenda in itself. If gays exist in the real world (and believe me we do, however uncomfortable that might make some people feel) why should SF writers be expected to pretend we don’t?
In a modern society where all citizens have a right to freedom of expression and representation, I’ll only be happy with the suppression of gay sex scenes if ALL sex scenes are cut from TV and movies, irrespective of gender orientation.
At the end of the day, if you don’t like what you’re seeing, your TV has an “off” switch. That’s what I did with “Sex In The City”, and you can do it too.
September 15, 2011 at 11:46 pm
I would have been so much happier if Jack’s lover had been HOTTER! (Hell, I would have settled for just attractive!) I personally can’t stand this series (I miss the old crew!). But if you are going to show the hottie Captain, you need to not put him with what looks like a filthy, homeless person! At least Ianto had depth…not this Colasanto (sp?) dude!
September 27, 2011 at 8:22 pm
I applaud them putting the gay sex scenes on television.
I do not applaud the anti-GLBT aspects, such as Rex’s comments, especially the one about Jack making everyone gay, Haters don’t need more reinforcement of their ridiculous idea that gay people want to “convert” folks to their “lifestyle”.
I did not like the “gag” in episode 2 with the flight attendant. If he wasn’t gay, why was it funny to see others insist that he was? If he was gay, why is it funny that he thinks it such a horrible thing that he denies it to himself and/or others? Why is it funny that he’s “proven gay” by admitting to a single gay encounter? That last, to me, harkens back to the “single drop of blood” racial laws. Yuck.
I wish Russell T Davies had some boundaries: I wish he’d skip the anti-GLBT stuff.
September 12, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Couldn’t be bothered with “sex in the city” either!
September 12, 2011 at 6:03 pm
I’m sure Mary Whitehouse would turn in her grave if she could see Miracle Day. I’m amazed that in the 21st Century there are still people who share her outdated views!
September 12, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Such vituperative from longtime fans (of which I am one) – tsk, tsk. Isn’t Russel T. allowed to mix things up a bit, try something new? And not every storyline has to be explicitly alien (Who fans, do recall that there are more than one or two episodes of that programme with power-hungry humans as the bad guys). I fear this represents an underlying fear of an American takeover of TW, but really, it’s more likely the beginning of a Welsh takeover of America…
Great last episode, by the way.
Go Jack, Go Gwen… Go Rex!
September 26, 2011 at 2:54 am
Remember what Torchwood is? Protecting the planet from ALIENS.
September 28, 2011 at 12:44 am
Sure he’s allowed to “mix things up a bit, try something new.” According to the press releases, Torchwood has done that every season, which is true if you include changes of broadcasters. I’ve watched it every season, just like you apparently have.
In the same way he’s allowed to do whatever he wants, though, shouldn’t we be allowed to say so if we think the show has problems?
September 13, 2011 at 7:21 am
Unlike most commits, it doesn’t suck! there is a good storryline witch could be dept out on some places. The way it ended felt a bit of a wrap up, but it left us olso wondering if the wil be an next season. I HOPE SO!. Carry on.
September 13, 2011 at 7:57 am
I like still T.W., but it has all been ripped apart to much, all the known and loved characters died, the HUB destroyed, wich made almost 40% of the fun watching them make their little plans in that fantastic underground headquarter – I miss Cardiff – already fed up with the US noe being the main center of action – make it mix between the “old” and the new please. The show is morphing from Torchwood to 24 very quickly :-( DonÄt wanna see that happen!!!
September 15, 2011 at 10:39 am
i just checked on pirate bay, (tonight’s episode has been on there for days) when i checked today’s new torrents there’s an episode 11 of this series on there, ? is the series set to continue with another adventure or is it fake ?
as for the comments , i prefer the show when it was set in Cardiff , and just to point out there has always been an element of tw that points to the ruling elite pulling the strings while we carry on ignorant to their ambitions ! im glad someones taking notice of how things are going even if they have to wrap their observations up in sci fi
September 15, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I know we have had to simplify the plot and slow it down for the cousins but seriously 10 episodes for what should have been 2 or 3 with sub-stories running over the top. Can we get back to Welsh based writing and production instead of gallivanting all over the place both physically and conceptually?
September 15, 2011 at 4:23 pm
This has been very disapointing, over long and drawn out, and what used to be family viewing has become nasty and unappealing. More than 7 minutes of unecessary gay sex, I would equally object to gratuitous straight sex. The American collaboration has not worked. Altogether unpleasant and not enjoyable . The penultimate episode started to get back on track, but too little too late. Hope you don’t bother with another series. I think everyone is now sick of John Barrowman too.
September 15, 2011 at 8:38 pm
The ghost’s of Lost , Heroes and similar SciFi American shows has covered the whole series.
Its so drawn out ………………..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
September 17, 2011 at 1:13 am
Family viewing? Since when was it a family show. In the second episode of the first series there was alien that possess a girl so that it could have sex and feed off orgasms. She then slept with a stranger in a toilet, later on it shows the owner of the club masturbating to the cctv footage. She sleeps with her ex and then goes to a fertility clinic and sleeps with the men there.
Not what I call family friendly, then again it was all straight sex so perhaps you don’t mind that really.
Doctor Who is for the family, Sarah Jane for kids and Torchwood for adults, always has been.
September 15, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Miracle Day is really good, would of been better with the original gang Tosh, Owen and Ianto (if they didn’t die), cant wait to see if there will be another series.
September 15, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Worst fault – some good concepts drawn out into thin and unconvincing story line, like watered down soup. Instead of developing ideas developed conventional action. Some of script, especially monologues third-rate. No class.
Shame on Russell T who has produced brilliance – this was his worst ever work and he should take a holiday.
September 16, 2011 at 12:09 am
As a T.W. virgin I was deeply sceptical about giving it any attention at all but nevertheless became drawn in by the performances and the originality of the script.
I could certainly sense the Doctor Who influences (like: the cheesy military establishment sets and the posse of extras in military uniforms representing he nations armed forces, the Shanghai scenes shot in the back lot of some Welsh industrial estate with a few red banners hung over fencing etc.).
But i loved the operatic, sometimes outrageous fantasy of it all. I grew to enjoy John Barrowman’s cocky confidence and Eve Myles was just fabulous darling.
The whole thing in fact was a kind of high camp, thrills and spills, B movie spectacular with a few A listers like Bill Pullman thrown into the mix for the hell of it.
All I can say is thank you for the ride guys
September 16, 2011 at 1:39 am
Sick of JB?! No way. I love John. Bring on the Captain! I thoroughly enjoyed this series of TW. Yes, Dr Who is pure genius and there is nothing better than or even as good as that, so comparing the two is unfair. As for political agendas, gay sex, no aliens in a sci fi show, etc … I’m all for it. Mix it up, throw in things that don’t belong in the formula. I’m tired of TV that is formulaeic to the letter. It was definitely the best season of TW. The new “mini-series” format is better than the “monster of the week” style of the previous series, and it just needs a chance to find its way, as all new shows do.
September 16, 2011 at 10:41 am
Have been a Doctor Who fan all my life…..I’m in my 50′s, and Love the spin off Torchwood, have to say I was a little dubious about Torchwood going over ‘The Pond’ so to speak!
But I loved it!!! Let’s have more Please Russell!!!
September 16, 2011 at 11:42 am
I thought this whole series was a let down and the last episode was a complete flop. What were the writers thinking? There was so much to work with here and they let the fans down. It took ten episodes to tell what could have been done in about 3. They built us all up to seeing a huge vagina shaped whole in the earth??? was that it??? Out of all the Sci Fi things they could have come up with and it was this??? Children of earth was far superior and I had high hopes for this one but was very dubious after the some of the best characters were killed off in ‘Children of earth. I loved the character ‘Ester’ and hoped she would continue but alas they kill of the most likeable people again thinking its ‘High Drama’. Its unfortunate so many people were complaining also about Captain Jacks sex scenes?? So what! he’s gay! he has the right to a sex life too! Captain Jack and Gwen cooper are some of the best Characters we have on TV at the moment. They deserve better and so did Ester and Vera.
The biggest let down of all was the hint that this sad story may continue! Please give Captain Jack and Gwen better stories and more proper Sci Fi adventure. We all know for the ‘high drama’ some people have to be killed off but in order for Torchwood to be as good as it was when it first started you need a likeable team to keep this great series going. We were really missing Ianto,Tosh and Owen also! I don’t know if Rex is going to ‘fit in’. His character was very predictable. I am a huge fan of Torchwood and it pains me to make these criticisms but I care deeply about the direction these characters are being taken in. It doesn’t have to be about ‘Aliens’ running all over the show to make it good, just better Sci Fi scenarios. Look at what’s going on in the world today that so many of us are not aware of. There is so much that Captain Jack and Gwen could be dealing with. There were many great things about ‘Miracle day’ such as the Characters, Ester, Vera,(another great character killed off!) Rhys and even Oswald. I thought the character of ‘Oswald’ was going to have some major significance to the whole story but would his absence have made ‘Miracle day’ any worse of? Please bring Torchwood back from the brink!!
September 22, 2011 at 11:46 pm
i agree. $$ have ruined a british phenomenon! and i like hollywood. but this was just wrong!
September 16, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I just want to say that I absolutly loved this series it pains me to read the miserable comments from so many boring people, if you dont like it -dont watch it! You really dont need to bother making useless comments either! However I want to say long live Captain Jack and the Torchwood team I cant name anything better on tv and what I am I going to do with my thurs evening now! I hope you go on to make many more and I will always be there for the ride!
September 24, 2011 at 8:27 pm
In your logic: If you don’t like those comments, then don’t read them. Look, way I see it, this is a place for leaving your opinion on what was written above, possibly opening a debate on some of the strong/weak points of the show. Telling the people who didn’t like it to piss off would make this message board a really boring place.
September 17, 2011 at 12:07 am
I enjoyed watching the series, it was all good, leave them inpatiently waiting for the next installment stuff.
I would like to know if the person who wrote this series got their inspiration from todays elf and safety envirnoment in the West and the over population of everywhere else.
We are all encouraged to live long and prosper… (sorry wrong series)
… So, like all good sheeple we have given up the fags and booze and are now living longer but pension planners have always assumed a mortality rate (on average) after retirement of a year or two, not ten!
As an oldie (very active and still contributing I hasten to add) the collective ‘we’ may soon have to decide who is catagory one!
What we need is a dam good war to reduce tje global population to one third of its current level to make it more sustainable.
Not including me of course.
The need to reduce global overpopulation has already been discussed by TPTB so don’t have a go at me.
September 17, 2011 at 6:19 am
yawn! Look guys, you watch Torchwood and enjoy! I’m outta here!
September 17, 2011 at 2:19 pm
I thought it was a great series and delved into some things that doctor who which is exactly what a spin off should do. It kept a high suspense all the way through and put a massive twist in the tail right at the end. Rex was amazing.
Long live Rex(well he will won’t he)
September 17, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Please, please, please if TW is to return then lets keep the Americans out of it and get it back to Cardiff. I did enjoy Miracle day but agree with those who have said it should have been 6 episodes. Come on RTD you could right the ultimate story line to bring the whole thing back to the fantastic level of series 1,2 and children
September 17, 2011 at 10:49 pm
i have to agree with kev way back up the list before the vitriolic masses piped in. not the best series of the 4, but still fairly compelling even if it did drag it’s heels through much of it. cutting it down by a few episodes would have kept its pace better and remained more interesting. nothing can match children of earth though which i thought was brilliant. but to say this eries was so bad and deserves to die blah blah is a bit harsh you nay sayers.
September 18, 2011 at 11:17 am
A couple of random questions:
Did they get the idea of Buenos Aires and Shanghai from an episode an episode of Torchwood?
And why did they sing “The Day Thou Gavest” with some of the slurs in the the tune in the wrong place, so that the emphasis kept going onto unimportant words (whereas the normal version put the emphasis in the natural places)? Just weird!
September 18, 2011 at 11:18 am
Sorry, I meant “Did they get the idea of Buenos Aires and Shanghai from an episode of QI?”
September 18, 2011 at 2:58 pm
series should have been a lot more compact, some of the characters were totally confusing i.e. oswald, and finale was dissapointing! defo not torchwood at its best, children of earth was a monster that was always going to be hard to beat, and unfortunately with this one they didn’t do it. however saying all of that, overall a brilliant spin-off that has still got huge potential. don’t mind the american involvement if it keeps the series alive, but please, please, please russell, don’t ever let them lead you again. torchwood is british and written by the best storytellers on the planet. if they not happy, tell them to blow themselves! lol
September 18, 2011 at 9:32 pm
I didn’t watch it and didn’t advertise it because I am still upset about the pointless death of Ianto Jones. I am not about to change my mind when I read the reviews…
June 30, 2012 at 8:05 pm
God, I hear you.
September 20, 2011 at 10:39 pm
I didn’t think much to Torchwood as a series and was pleasantly surprised whilst waiting for another program to start I caught the end of part 8 when on holiday. Then noticing the series catch up episodes 1-9 (as was then) on iplayer I watched all of them in 2 days and counted the days until I got to see part 10.
I was not disappointed.
The show was camp but fun and filed with talent in its cast of UK and US actors. If Torchwood comes on TV again… I’ll be watching.
September 20, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Absolutely, phenomonally excellent! Bring back another series ASAP!!!
September 21, 2011 at 1:38 pm
As a fan of dr Who since 76′ i had some problems with the way Torchwood developed, but after a while i really started to love it and started to see it as an independant series instead of a spin and have seen it grow in a fantastic quality scifi series…however as with doctor who it is even more obvious with torchwood
the scene at the end, being immortal by bloodtransfusion. That really killed the series, luckely it was at the end, but i feel insulted and treated like a complete idiot by the writer……….
i do not know how they are going to fix that, otherwise they better stop.
the same feeling starts to creep up with the 11th doctor.
it is really a shame, they should have left it at children of the earth and produced this when they had a quality story.
really, BBC, there may be gaps in producing if it makes the quality better
September 21, 2011 at 11:32 pm
i dont get to watch much on tv theses days, running a busy pub dosnt help… but i have to say i have religiously ( all beit on iplayer or sky+) watched torchwood since the day it started. and i love it. each time the series ends i am dissapointed and sad! and i can not wait for the next series to be aired. yep, ill agree with some that this last series of miricle day has been a little drawn out, and the episode of soft gay porn was a little dissapointing ( but hell, we got to see jb starkers… ;) i havent watched the 10th in the series yet, as i dont want it to end… but i have to say, this time, Torchwood, you came back, Bigger and better than before! i feel the new characters filled old shoes well, but the old characters were still missed (im waiting for yanto to return :) am looking foward to the dvd’s coming out so i can hold yet another masterpeice of british writing in my collection. Long Live Torchwood!
September 22, 2011 at 1:21 am
I loved it. All of it. What a ride… and at the end when I dreaded the sort of let down we got from Lost, Russell T came through as always and left me breathless. I was totally carried along by the story all the way to the end. Awesome job guys…I am waiting for the next story…impatiently…
September 22, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Didn’t watch the first 2 Torchwood series because i thought it looked cheesy & naff. Saw the trailer for miracle day & thought i would give it a try. Thought it was a great piece of sci-fi, intelligent, well written, some good dialogue and with some really interesting characters. Thought Bill Pulman was superb. My only criticism would be the amount of un-neccesary gay sex. Nothing wrong with being gay of course, but its just a sci-fi adventure series and not the right place for pushing out the boundaries on that sort of thing.
October 13, 2011 at 9:02 am
I agree fully with your comments about gay
Please check this link to realize hjow deliberate and dominant this issue was to the writer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Torchwood
September 22, 2011 at 9:24 pm
I remember watching the first episode of Dr Who. He was (almost)mad, bad and certainly dangerous to know. The first Dr was designed to entertain men who had seen military action during WW2, hence the fascist Darleks etc. The second Dr diluted the founding principles, which eventually deteriorated into almost farce. Now Torchwood is, to a fashion, returning to those first principles. The Captain is more debonair then the first doctor, which is fine, however it imperative that the darkness of the soul suggested by the first Dr – which is the evitable consequence of time travel – remains the paramount theme. Regretably I am resigned to Dr Who remaining family entertainment; however the market audience for Torchwood must be Noir. The children who watched the first Dr want to experience that frisson of ‘fear’ again, now as adults. We don’t need simple homosexuality, or psuedo fascist politics, but more mature and credible abstraction. I want Torchwood to become the sci-fi equivalent to Cage Fighting…only then will be a worthy successor to Dr Who.
September 23, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Way to long, could have been done in 10 half hour episodes, disjointed and frankly boring. The only good stuff was some of the Gwen Cooper bits. Way to American, really on the run in 4 inch heels??? Jack character was wasted.
September 24, 2011 at 4:30 pm
TW was better than i expected, loved every minute of it watched every episode 1-10 on i player couldnt take my eyes of it
September 25, 2011 at 10:50 pm
Wow, ok let me tell you about the largest plot hole with this last Torchwood. BAD WOLF! Jack isn’t immortal, he’s just a skip in time! An infinity loop! His blood is mortal but reverts back to where he wasn’t hurt. This last Torchwood completely shat all over Bad Wolf that made him what he is!
September 26, 2011 at 12:03 am
I thought it was brilliant. Keep it coming!
September 26, 2011 at 3:01 am
I think most of the people who liked season 4 were new to TW. If something works don’t change it. Please bring TW back. I truly hope the people who produce it are reading this whole page.
September 27, 2011 at 4:30 pm
hear hear, what I saw was NOT Torchwood
September 27, 2011 at 4:29 pm
This was Torchwood, but not as I knew it and it did suck BIG time. Moving the central story from Cardiff to the States, involving the CIA, not having any aliens all those things made Torchwood, Torchwood. It lost it’s Britishness it pretty much lost all it’s sci-fi too which means it lost it’s essence. I still think it would have been better if Torchwood could have been re-built. As American money was used to make this series the backers would want American actors wouldn’t it have been better if some clandestine US version of Torchwood which had also been almost destroyed seek out Jack & Gwen, with the US version being less experienced and Jack taking the lead of that team too?
Also can someone explain what the purpose of Oswald & Miss Kitzenger’s characters were? The story could have quite easily carried on without those characters. I can only assume that they are planning a second US backed series with a continued role for Kitzenger and the only reason for Oswald was to give a reason for the Kitzenger Character .
Plus WTF with making Rex immortal too! That means that Jack, although far more experienced, is no longer unique in all the universe and that was the whole point of Jack. However, as it’s been suggested that Jack is the Face of Bo and that the Face of Bo was the last of Bo kind, could Rex be the begining with more Bo kinds to come?
September 28, 2011 at 6:37 am
There are tons of good tv shows to choose from to say it’s the best. No matter what is said though, there is no doubt that this show ranks in the top five of all of them. Yes, there are shows that are a bit newer but this one still has charm. There is comedy, love, and a little darkness, easily moving it up to the top. They just don’t make them like this nowadays.
October 13, 2011 at 8:06 am
To American nized.
The Camp is part of the charm and they are trying to be to serious.
This arc seems to have run out of steam and
creativity with its ending. Could have been great but was like – WTF? A living rod through the planet no one knows about yada yada…
Last arc was much better.
Please return to England and make it good once more.
October 13, 2011 at 8:58 am
I regret to disagree but Torchwood definitely ‘sucks’. The writers have taken an established reputation of a children’s /family story developed over decades, and then corrupted the story beyond recognition to meet their own agendas.
The following quote highlights how this was a deliberate attempt contaminate the story line, not with sexuality, but a particular sexuality. I give you Mr Davies:
“Without making it political or dull, this is going to be a very bisexual programme. I want to knock down the barriers so we can’t define which of the characters is gay. We need to start mixing things up, rather than thinking, ‘This is a gay character and he’ll only ever go off with men” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Torchwood
Strange, I thought the story was Sci fi, not an extension of Queer as Folk
I find the fact that the writers can be allowed to openly set out on this crusade using a family show as their cover to be unnacceptable as a licence payer – and all this at expense of the story line because it was a pretty weak and over extended script but I guess that was to ensure we had all been subjected to lots of homo eroticism, including those whose children watched it, because that appears to be the point of the show
The next time Mr Davies and friends want to to write a gay/bi-sexual space adventure, I suggest that they do so on their own budget, be clear about the plot, and let it succeed or fail on its own merit. The underhand way in which this agenda has been allowed to associate with Dr Who is very worrying.
October 29, 2011 at 2:58 am
Torchwood is a nice show. One of the best show on television. Amazing things I have seen in Season 4 and I love to watch this season again online.
January 6, 2012 at 11:03 pm
Torchwood Miracle Day defiantly does not suck.
Perhaps there’s lots of homosexual jokes, and such.. But looking past that it’s a great season. It’s thrilling, and is very interesting. I like the whole concept of it, and how they explain it.
It might not feel very Torchwood-y as there’s only Gwen and Jack left from the former Torchwood crew… But never the less I enjoyed it.
>.> I seriously don’t understand why you a lot of you disliked it. Are you all anti-gay or something? If so then why are you watching Torchwood?!?! o.o When the main character is gay?? And so many people are. Lol. xD
Yeah, maybe they stretched it a bit much, but who gives a damn? That doesn’t make it a bad season.
>.> Ugh. You people are killing me!