rmiriam12  04/20/08

I'm with you on Gwen, but Ianto is really growing on me. Diane and Lisa were in the first season, where Season 2 was MUCH better overall.

That being said, I was devastated to see Tosh & Owen go. Burn and Naoko were definitely the best actors of the bunch.

jkcampbell  04/20/08

I'll miss Tosh and Owen too, but I'm excited to see what they'll do next.

Collin Kelley  04/20/08

Naoko Mori was the heart and soul of season two for me and it was devastating to see her go. Of course, the rumors are that Martha Jones is going to become a regular character in Torchwood in series three and many of the episodes will pair her off with Gwen. I think they will do something pretty radical to shake up Torchwood to keep us guessing. Series 2 was so completely different from 1 that it was like watching a different program.

llkane  04/21/08

Yeah, I meant to type, "Gwen and Rhys...Ugh." I corrected it above. I think Eve Myles is an interesting actress, but the two of them just bore the hell out of me!

Rose Tyler  04/21/08

I'm not a big fan of Torchwood but I think that Martha seemed like a good fit on the show.

jkcampbell  04/21/08

Yeah, I would like to see Martha on Torchwood. They're going to need a new medic anyway. It would be fun if James Marsters came back too.

Collin Kelley  04/21/08

The company that makes all the Doctor Who figures in the UK, Character Options, has announced it will release a line of Torchwood toys later this year. The first will be a pack containing Captain Jack, Gwen and a Weevil. Now I understand why they started showing the edited version of TW in the UK...to make it platable for the kiddies and so they could make action figures! :)

Rose Tyler  04/21/08

Hehe My son, he's 4, is a huge Doctor Who and Sarah Jane fan. He even has his own sonic screwdriver. We've not let him watch Torchwood of course. I would like to get him a Captain Jack figure though. He loved him on Doctor Who.

dude17111  05/04/08

I live in the states so I run about 6 monyhs behind the world(what else is new) I think TW is fantastic and I am really excited about learning of a season three. I will miss tosh and owen but Martha is a bright spot. BTW how many seasons did the bbc do of DR Who? They only showed two here and it would be great to find access to more.
Regards
dude17111

Collin Kelley  05/04/08

Sci-Fi Channel in the states have aired all three seasons of the new DW and are now showing the fourth season every Friday night.

BBC plans to take a break in 2009 and film three DW specials while David Tennant does a stage play in the UK. Then they will film a full fifth season for 2010, but whether Tennant will play the Doctor is still uncertain.

fireproof  05/07/08

Ah I'm glad Martha will be featured more in Torchwood. She was pretty good and really came into her own. Gwen is a great character, a really strong female and almost an equal to Jack in some ways. I'm glad RTD didn't pair her off with him, I think it would have somehow have made her character weaker whereas Ianto's character has blossomed because of the romance.

Wonderstar  05/18/08

I'd like to see Gwen's friend from the force, Officer Andy join the Torchwood team. I don't know so much about Rhys being on the team. And Martha Jones would make a great replacement for Owen.

Of course all would be contingent upon what happens in the Doctor Who Series 4 finale.

pcs  05/21/08

Don't let the critique that follows make you think I'm not a Torchwood fan. I enjoy it, and recommend it to other SciFi fans. But it doesn't surpass the best of the Dr Who episodes in the 2007 season (the last seven episodes -- "Blink" was nothing short of brilliant). The 2008 DW season is pretty good so far, but not quite up to the bar set last season.

So, let's get into it, starting with character development. While TW has seen some of this over the two seasons, I wouldn't say it's been terribly significant, with one exception.

Consider the part of Ianto. Sure, he's stopped his incessant mourning -- keeping his semi-cyber girlfriend stashed in the basement was simply too implausible anyway. And he's come out of the closet -- but didn't that seemed really contrived? "Hey, I've got an idea! How about Jack and Ianto on the rebound?" Short of having more clever one-liners in his dialog, gay and "not as morose as he used to be" pretty much sums up the character. Not that I really understand homosexual relationships, but quite frankly, I don't know what a supposedly sophisticated and deep character like Jack sees in him.

continued,,,

pcs  05/21/08

character development, cont.
------
Now Owen got a good slap in the face (or bullet in the chest, as it were) to wake his character up. At first it looked like this might just work. But aside from the convenient plot device of having the undead on staff, it's been little more than an excuse for not building a serious relationship with Tosh. And I can't understand how undead-Owen can talk, but can't perform mouth to mouth resusitation -- don't both involve exhaling? Can he blow out a candle? But that's nit picking. No, the undead Owen seems little more than a weak plot cop-out. An interesting heterosexual relationship with Tosh would have been much more challenging to develop and sustain, and probably more engaging to watch. I will say I did appreciate the juxtaposition of man who can never die with man who can never live.

Tosh has always been a bit too much the shy, innocent asian girl stereotype, and we don't even need to go into that. Also, her role reminds me a bit of the role that the Uhura character occupied in the original Startrek -- oddly (dare I say, artificially) limited to technical support, with occasional glimpses of a real person (her despair at losing even a fictitious relationship with Adam, for example). Perhaps unrequited love was her only redeeming character quality.

pcs  05/21/08

more on character development
-----
Of all the characters, Gwen's has undergone the most interesting development, and has shown far more depth. I am not sure if that is due to Eve Myles or the writers, but the former seems more plausible. She and her character are both eminently believable. Her struggle with the pressures of maintaining a "normal" life outside of Torchwood is well treated. The other characters seem to be stuck in the "Because of all I have seen I have nothing in common with anyone" rut. Gwen, on the other hand, grabs that bull by the horns. I especially like that she breaks the taboo about sharing TW secrets with outsiders -- that strikes me as very realistic. And exploring the consequences of that, as with the mother and son reunion in "Adrift" was particularly artful.

As for Jack, what can you say about the "Face of Boe"? He's a very interesting character, and has been from the start. What is intriguing for me is that he doesn't so much develop as reveal his character -- we are as curious about him as his colleagues are. One of his really interesting moments was the decision to sacrifice his memories of his father to banish "Adam". The theme of personal sacrifice is central to this show, and is often used to good effect. On he downside, I think the writers are a bit heavy handed with the "let's make the homophobes squirm again" device. Jack is bisexual -- we get that. Barrowman seems to relish this aspect of Jack, but overworking it risks becoming as every bit as annoying as the Capt. Kirk uber-masculinity sequences.

pcs  05/21/08

And one last thing...

I think far too much is made of the so-called "adult" nature of the show. Granted, the "Sarah Jane" stuff could easily be in the Disney Channel lineup, and I certainly wouldn't want to see TW go that way. Several in this forum have defined "adult content" as being characterized by sex, violence and profanity. Indeed, this seems to be an industry definition. However, I don't find "in-your-face" homosexuality having any more intrinsic entertainment value than standard hetero T&A fare, which is really quite juvenile -- think Al Bundy in "Married With Children". As to violence, it's a given in SciFi that you can't battle vicious aliens without breaking a few eggs, as it were. Some amount of graphic violence in TW seems perfectly acceptable for a variety of reasons, foremost being realism. But nothing defines violence as being "adult". In my opinion, adjusting the level of graphic violence to fit the time slot has little to do with artistry or entertainment value. So that leaves us with the profanity. Leaning on profanity as entertainment tends to give a show all the cachet of a "Southpark". Enough said on that. In summary, to say that gratuitous sex, graphic violence and uninhibited swearing is "adult" is a real stretch -- I see these being more the hallmark of a junior high school dropout. Or a television executive pandering for ratings.

I don't mean to be a killjoy, but many SciFi fans have relatively high standards for the genre. We have seen these standards met and occasionally exceeded with the likes of Dr. Who and his companions. Torchwood has excellent potential, but not for reasons of "adult content" or a late time slot.

pcs  05/21/08

I left out the point... I won't miss Owen and Tosh too much. I liked them, but they didn't define the show. TW is all about plot and story, but if there has to be one or two characters that carry it (a la Dr Who), then Jack and/ot Gwen could potentially do it. I am not so sure about Martha, although I think she would make a good permanent addition. I do agree with the earlier comment about the "glow". That would be a detriment.

NDF  05/22/08

pcs, I'm with you on the adult content in season/series 2. It is much too in-your-face and distracts us from the story line. The loss of two main characters will probably not hurt - just as ****/MI5 has survived constant changes. Most of the TW season 2 storylines were strong enough and I expect that the Beeb will commission a third. I'm far more disappointed with Doctor Who S4. Back in 1963, DW was commissioned as an educational and entertainment show for kids, and you can see that history lessons continue in many episodes, so I was willing to let go stupid mistakes like "presenting" Queen Victoria to Rose - which is arse about face - or referring to the UK flag as the "Union Jack" - it's been the Union Flag since January 1801. But this series gets just about everything wrong about UNIT forces - which are on attachment from the British Army. The Land Rover is referred to as a "Jeep", whilst in army lingo it is a "Rover", soldiers and officer salute without their hats on - this is acceptable in the US forces but is an absolute no-no in the UK forces, and people continuously **** weapons that are already cocked. It grates on me very badly and spoils the show. The Star Trek series were notable in that there was always continuity and technical staff on hand to double check these details. It looks like DW has no-one doing the same. Despite these criticisms, I shall keep watching, because at heart I am a very shallow person who only watches for the chance of seeing my favorite eye candy, Martha.

pcs  05/22/08

NDF: I'm not qualified for that level of fact checking, but I see your point. I suppose every SciFi show suffers this to some degree. I did not know about the educational premis of the original Dr Who series. I always took it as strictly SciFi, and viewed the "historical" plots as simple fictional constructs.

BTW, I really enjoy this latest revival of Dr Who, in contrast with previous versions/incarnations. It seems to strive for a depth of character in the Doctor that the others never did. The Eccleston characterization is far more serious, but Tennant has obviously taken that ball and really run with it. Humor has replaced "camp", and I suppose that the advanced special effects have a good deal to do with that. This is definitely top drawer SciFi, and as I said previously, I believe that Torchwood has the potential to be nearly as good, so long as the writers and cast remain focused.

Nicoley  06/29/08

Im actually a very big Gwen fan so I was glad to see that she did not leave in the finale of series 2, however, I felt that we were only just getting to know Owen and Tosh and I thought this was the wrong choice of characters to get rid of! I am not a fan of the relationship between Jack and Ianto as they try and fit it into the plot in a lot of unnecessary places, I would much prefer to see Jack and Gwen get together, not fall in love, but just something happen between them - god knows we've been waiting for something to happen since the beginning of series 1 - and I thought we were in luck on the episode of Gwen's wedding, I was certain Jack would stop it! Damn! Not a fan of Ianto's character at all, I just don't think he fits into Torchwood, he's best left as the tea boy!