I'd be interested to see whether the 9pm BBC1 level of content is going be the standard for future series or whether this is the midway between the old format and a new saturday evening version that they can use to cash-in on more of the Who audience and fill the gap left by the demise of the Robin Hood poop. It certainly seems suspicious that they are bumping off everybody except the popular lead and the token audience association character. I'm pretty sure that tossers (Owen) and female doormats (Tosh) arn't the sorts of character types that the BBC want on prime time BBC1 and getting shot of Spoiler Ianto saves them the hassle of having to overtly deal with gay relationships on a weekly basis in a timeslot that'll attract fire.
FYI: You may want to throw that last bit into spoilers. It hasn't aired in the North America or Australia yet and I'm sure a lot of the US viewers not downloading it will want to visit this thread when "Day 1" airs here in a couple of weeks.
Is it me or does anyone else think Jack's a prick ? Spoiler And I wonder where that leaves us, Jack going away. Will he come back ? Will he start another Torchwood ? Only time will tell
If they wanted to end it right there, that is a pretty good ending. Spoiler Since Jack has to go into space and eventually become the Face of Boe
Yes, millions of years in the future Jack over time becomes the Face of Boe, then he dies in Gridlock
6+ million viewers pretty much guarantee that Torchwood will be back next year and I expect that he's gone into space to appear in a Who episode.
I avoided this thread until I'd watched all 5 parts. I have to say, I was dissapointed. The first 4, and then the first half of the 5th were great. Then in true Davies fashion, last minute wrap up. I could feel it coming
This has been airing in Australia, on Pay TV. Day 5 tonight. UKTV 1 and 2, although I've been catching it on UKTV2 myself.
Added a spoiler tag to the thread title. Just finished watching the last part myself. Found myself enjoying all the parts, but the resolution felt slightly out of character for Jack. Using his own grandson to stop the aliens. That's pretty cold. I was thinking the same thing about Jack going off into space. No doubt he'll wander for a bit, bump into the 11th Doctor have a few adventures then end up back on Earth for the next series of Torchwood Was a shame to see Ianto go. You'd think after losing him it might have stopped Jack from using his grandson. Now he's even further away from his daughter and everything he held dear on this planet. As Yak said, they did seem to use the as a sort of 'spring clean' to bring it into the lines of a BBC1 show. Hell they even got rid of there base of operations. Will be interesting to see what the new one looks like (if there is a new one) Oh and for those interested, there a new clip of 'The Water of Mars' up: BBC - Doctor Who - The Waters of Mars - Episode Guide
Best of the Torchwood series, but still depressing, I like Jack Better when he's in Doctor Who episodes, he seems much happier and more of a fun character. Yet when he's in Torchwood, he's depressed and the show always has a bad ending each season. If they do another series, I'd like to see the Jack Harkness personality from Doctor Who, not Torchwood.'
My goodness, that was ever so.... depressing... I mean really, really depressing.... WONDERFUL story, but horribly depressing... I mean, just... wow... After everyone that... and then his own... and I thought we might see more of Spoiler Captain Jack's family , but in circumstances like that? Spoiler that was horrible what he did, but did he have a choice? After Yanto was killed, I didn't think he'd be his 'normal self', but his own grandson???? ..... Wow... I want to see what happens in the next series. Spoiler I mean, the entire team is dead (sans Gwen, but by the time the next series starts, she'll have had a kid, and -I *really* don't mean to sound sexist here or anything like that- would she be galavanting around playing hero, knowing the risks, if she's got a kid in a crib?(I mean really, ALL of her teammates are dead, her boss dies on a constant basis, and she's lucky to have made it through (relatively) unscathed)
Hmm. Maybe it's me, but this would've been a pretty interesting setup for a Doctor Who episode in the premise, though obviously The Doctor would've worked out a solution without taking a life and far sooner. However, from a pure plot it was pretty decent. However, execution wise, it just didn't really work for me. I'll admit Torchwood has been all along very hit and miss for me, but there was almost no surprises or twists and the resolution was so fast and "repercusionless" that it was jarring. As mentioned, if this was a sendoff for Torchwood, I feel I would've thought better of it due to the finality of the ending, but as just a few episodes before more are made, I don't see it working. If I may: The Hub, a rift in time and space that when opened even just for a little bit causes all of space/time to come unhinged is obliterated and nothing happens? Everyone has access to Torchwood's super alien technology, like the laser cutters and stitchers, bombs, and computer databases. What's the purpose of Torchwood again? Martha may be on her Honeymoon, but what about SJS and all the other options to contact The Doctor? (Yes, I realize this is Torchwood, but they mentioned him; no one attempts to contact him?) How was the virus released? I could go on, but why bother? Bottom line, the series wasn't that well structured.
"Repurcusionless" my foot! Every single character suffered severe emotional trauma. If you care about inconceivably minor plot points, then you are missing the point of the mini-series. It was, at its heart, about losing your humanity. Everything in it was dedicated to this purpose. And it was done so brilliantly. I actually cried when Frobisher died. It's weak point? Gwen. But, considering her track record, that's hardly a surprise. Oh, and good from a plot perspective? Bunch of aliens want to get high off hormones. Yup.
Watched the whole thing in one go and rather enjoyed it, although, I am majorly bummed to see Ianto killed off. The Hub was destroyed, not the Rift. The Rift is intangible; the Hub was the structure, the base of operations Torchwood built over it. Which is why Rhys painted "HUB 2" on the inside of the old Torchwood 1 holding facility after they occupied it, as it became their new base of operations.
Just watched the last part....wow, that was grim. But all in all, a FANTASTIC miniseries. Best Torchwood series/story there has been. But I don't know if Torchwood should go on anymore, the ratings obviously suggest it will, but I don't think it'll be same, and its charm will be gone. Although I could be wrong. Time will tell.
I'm pretty sure they said the story was based on what happens when the Doctor isn't around to save the Earth. He might be able to time travel, but he still can't be everywhere at once. Very powerful episode, and very depressing. I loved Gwen's speech about the Doctor. It makes me wonder if he'll end up learning about what happened in one of the specials this year (obviously not the Waters of Mars) and what his reaction would be.
