Torchwood - Series 1- Part 1 Details

Captain Jack and his WoodWagon

There's a huge appetite in this country for smart, adult-orientated science fiction.That's why, when Torchwood was launched, 2.5m hopeful viewers tuned in to the opening episode.

Three weeks later and at least half of them had already given up.

Why? Because the programme was (and is) a disappointment on almost every level.

The production values are cheap and nasty. The almost comical Torchmobile exemplifies the low-rent feel of the show. The rubber masks are, unmistakably, rubber masks.

The characters are poorly drawn. Captain Jack - as his name suggests - belongs in a cartoon. Eve Myles is watchable as Gwen, but the other characters have personalities that shift not just from episode to episode, but from scene to scene. One character goes from date-rapist to romantic leading man in the space of a fortnight.

The biggest surprise, and the least forgivable failing, is that the scripts are so poor. The plots have so many holes in them that they seem to have been almost improvised on the day. One minute the Torchwood base is an impenatrable fortress, for example, the next minute someone saunters in delivering a pizza.

The show has been pitched at an adult audience but, despite the potential richness of the material, there isn't a truly adult theme in sight. There's some self-conscious swearing and some harmless sexual refernces, but they're clumsily tacked on to what feels like, in essence, a kid's show.

Torchwood, sadly, is a turkey.

If you're in the market for grown-up sci-fi, and you haven't seen them yet, US shows like Firefly and Invasion are in a different league.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Outside the government, beyond the police.

Torchwood is a spin-off from the highly popular 'Doctor Who' series. The series is about a group of renegade investigators of alien and human crime located in Cardiff in Wales. Starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, and Eve Myles as his sidekick Gwen Cooper.

Everything Changes:

Police Constable Gwen Cooper comes across the mysterious organization known as Torchwood. While investigating their world, she finds technology and methods she never imagined.

Day One:

Gwen's first day on the job sees Cardiff's nightlife at the mercy of an alien who consumes its victims during orgasm leaving behind dust, and whose final victim will be its host.

Ghost Machine:

Torchwood comes into possession of a device that can tap into the hidden energy left behind by strong emotions, creating ghostly recreations of the events that left them there. When Owen accidentally uses the device at the scene of an unsolved murder, he becomes obsessed with bringing the killer to justice.

Cyberwoman:

Ianto has a dark secret, tied to the basement of the Hub — a secret he will protect at any cost.

Small Worlds:

A withdrawn but intelligent child has her suppressed anger taken advantage of; Jack must encounter his past to defeat those responsible: fairies at the bottom of her garden.