Carrying a light for Torchwood

I actually got round to watching Torchwood this evening. Now, there have been mixed reviews but generally, there's been a positive reaction.

I've always liked sci-fi, and British sci-fi at that (never could get into Star Trek or the X Files). There was always something a little superior, nay, dark, about British alien stories, and not always with the heroric or happy endings that America demands. So after the revival of Dr Who, so comes the threatened spin off.

Captain Jack seemed too good a character to entirely let go of at the end of the first come-back series. And the BBC commissioning types did the right thing by letting Torchwood get to air. Man, it looks good in HD, too. But enough of John Barrowman for the moment...

So yes, the script was a bit ropey - establishing espisode always are - but the characterisation works, it looks good on the screen, the music's not bad at all and, well, Cardiff as a backdrop? Wasn't sure about that at first, but it really makes a change from endless series set in London or the south of England. The second episode was much better than the first, with some different interpretations available for media students to expose... I found at least two, I think.

It's definately better than the wretched Robin Hood. Dare I say I found it slightly better than the last few episodes of Dr Who. What will pull it down will be trying too hard to be adult, or different. TV shows are, by their very nature, running out of original ideas, and so critics will find comparisons here, there and everywhere if they want to. But trying to shock, trying out new film techniques and the like will wear thin if the writing isn't up to scratch. I fear the longevity of a series that's chasing aliens as a shadowy organisation headed by a man that can't die...

As a piece of escapism from a day long of dreary reality, it was rather good. If the storylines are fresh, then the look and feel will go along for the ride for a few series yet. Spin-offs never get a good reputation, but, I don't know, this one wasn't bad.

Let's see, then. Hidden plotlines of fear of external threat in times of conflict (War of the Worlds, anyone?), fear of difference or the unknown, or fear of over-familiarity breading contempt mixed with contemporary reality with a friendly alien (so a little outside our world) as our guide. And because it's a British series, the alien must has a dark side, surely.

So far, Torchwood ticks all the right boxes so far. If there's a pencil case of writers, as is done with Dr Who, then maybe the spin-off won't go stale that quickly. There's certainly mileage with the right creative minds. I hear, too, that it scooped the largest non-terrestrial audience for a British programme (rather appropriate, I thought). It deserved it. Also, because of the unique way in which the BBC is funded, there's a nice looking website too (so there should be, really).

And it did look rather good in HD.