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[Klaus]

TORCHWOOD



(featuring spoilers of course, ya been warned)

outside the government, beyond the police; fighting for the future on behalf of the human race. The 21st Century is when everything changes and Torchwood is ready.

'Torchwood' was a spin-off TV series to the hugely popular, and still ongoing, 'Doctor Who' that aired between 2006-2011. It was created by Russell T Davies, the man in charge of bringing back 'Doctor Who' in 2005 and starred Captain Jack Harkness as the leader of a group of alien hunters. Captain Jack had first made his appearance in the episode 9 ('The Empty Child') of the 2005 series of Doctor Who before departing in the finale. He would go on to make further one-off appearances in the 2007 and 2008 series. The Torchwood Institute had also been referenced throughout the 2006 series of Doctor Who, leading up to an explosive finale that centred around the institute.

In the 'Torchwood' series, Captain Jack lead a much smaller team based in Cardiff, operating after the 2006 series events, that defended Earth from aliens and villains who, in the first two series, mainly came from a time rift that was first explored in the 2005 series of Doctor Who. The team consisted of Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Ianto Jones. The series was intended for a more adult audience and therefore took a more darker tone, the first series perhaps saw the adult tone most explicitly but the darker tone is something that is heavily seen throughout. The series has a possibly unique feat of airing each series on a different channel with the first series originally airing on BBC Three, the second on BBC Two, the third on BBC One and whilst the fourth also aired on BBC One, it premièred on the US channel Starz first.



The first series saw a glimpse into another initial team member, Suzi Costello before she shockingly died in the first episode but she would go on to appear later in the series. We also saw sex monsters, cannibalism, a cyberwoman, a main cast member venturing into a lesbian relationship, fightclubs and many explorations into dealing with death and loss. It also introduced us to Weevils, a monster that would feature throughout the first two series. In the series finale, viewers also learned more of Captain Jack's background and the fact that Captain Jack is not even his name!



Series 2 saw Martha Jones feature in a special trilogy of episodes exploring the living death of main character Owen. The series also featured more explorations into Captain Jack's past with our first glimpse of another time agent in the first episode as well as seeing Captain's Jack's brother, later on. It followed the same format as the first series by having 12 mainly separate adventures as well as a two part finale. The devastating series finale, where we saw how each team member joined the team, brought about the deaths of two of the main cast members.



A change of format would arrive with the series' debut on BBC One as the third series brought five episodes telling a single story that would be aired in one week. 'Children of Earth' mixed in elements of a political thriller alongside the sci-fi nature of the series. Ianto was involved in a more central role and we explored his family life, as well as finding out Captain Jack also has a family on Earth! The series heavily focused on the possibilities of how a Government would react to an alien invasion and it took a VERY dark view of this. Nothing can get darker than the government deciding which children should be sent off to be used as drugs for aliens. It saw the Torchwood hub destroyed, ultimately meaning the end of the team following Ianto's death. 'Children of Earth' was a huge critical and rating success.



For the fourth series, BBC One joined up with the US channel Starz to produce a 10 part story titled 'Miracle Day'. The premise, that no one in the world was able to die is reminiscent of Captain Jack's own immortality. The series saw Jack and Gwen flown over to the US and Rex and Esther unofficially joining the team. The series, once again, was able to explore the reactions to such a threat ever occurring. It also didn't feature an alien threat as such, rather the enemy were a sort of cult.

'Torchwood' was able to be independent and a huge success outside of it's parent show as shown by the 'upgrading' of channels with each series. However, it appears unlikely that the show will be returning to TV screens with Russell focusing on other projects. The series is currently being (half) resurrected through audio drama, with the first release being in September.

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