Monday, February 26, 2007

The Not-So-Secret SUV

Funny story for you; yesterday afternoon I was out shopping in Bury (small place - bet you've never heard of it) when I saw a copy of Torchwood Volume Two on DVD just sitting there on the shelf. Excited by the prospect of getting the DVD a day earlier, I grabbed it as fast as I could and queued up to pay.

The queue however took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Literally, I must have been stood there waiting for a good twenty minutes as the store staff attempted to work their way through the queue of customers. Eventually I got to the front, and a nice lady called Sheila served me. She was all smiles, and took my DVD off me to scan it into the system. Only that's where it all went horribly wrong.

For Sheila's supervisor was watching. Yes indeedy, and the man (who was at least twenty stone) could see what was currently in Sheila's hands; and smelling an early sale, he moved in and snatched it off of her. Looking at me as though I'd done something horribly illegal, he announced that the DVD wouldn't be released for another 24 hours, and in what felt like agonising slow motion, he opened a draw next to the till and deposited the DVD inside.

That damn supervisor prevented me from getting my DVD a day early, and for that he's forever on my "naughty" list. Damn him. Still, didn't stop me from queing up and buying the DVD today - and getting home as fast as I could to watch it.

Volume Two features two of my all time favourite Torchwood episodes, a rather average lesbian-fest, and the dull as anything diaster that was "Random Shoes". It also contains a number of great little featurettes and such for any Woodie to enjoy.

Sure, they're mostly just chewed up and spat out editions of "Torchwood Declassified" but they still manage to give a decent sized look at what goes into the day to day making of a series like "Torchwood". Take the "Torchwood on the Road" feature which reveals how hard it is working with a vechile like Torchwood's SUV. Hell, Julie Gardner appears and says she's "bored" of the car - which doesn't bode well for it's future in series two!

The SUV feature also tackles the question "isn't Torchwood supposed to be secret?". If that's the case, then why does its vechile have "Torchwood" printed on its side?!? Russell T Davies insists that it just "looks good" - which is hardly an excuse! Still, at least it's not as bad as the "UNIT" vechiles back in the old days...

I'd like to make a confession now, if that's okay with you? I don't know why, but I find Torchwood's deleted scenes incredibly dull. Okay, okay so that's the whole point of deleted scenes, that they're not good enough for final broadcast; but aside from the odd gem (i.e Rhys' heartbreak in "Countrycide" as Gwen leaves a night in with him to go work for Torchwood some more) these delted scenes add nothing of importance. Still, any new Torchwood is worth watching, don't you think?

And that's my afternoon for you. I know, I know I probably could have spent the time a little wiser - but with "Self" almost complete (all that's left to do is a quick final edit and to add the narration voice over) don't I deserve a little time off?

What do you mean no?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you put some of the deleted scenes on YouTube or something? Coz I'm such a miser I won't buy the DVD. You spelt vehicle wrong, BTW. Funny story though.

Anonymous said...

you've spelt deleted wrong aswell

Anonymous said...

Please dont give too much away - cant get my DVD til the weekend. My local supermarket at work doesnt have it. The only supermarket for five miles and they cant see a golden opportunity!!!

Anthony Garnon said...

Ever since I was a child I've spelt "vehile" wrong - it's one of those words I'll never get the hang of.

As for "deleted" being spelt wrong, that was just plain careless!

*jackharkness must do better*

Anthony Garnon said...

Damn, spelt it wrong AGAIN!!!

Anonymous said...

It is okay. jacky, we forgive you!

Anonymous said...

Re the deleted scene with Rhys-I didn't see it as a regular escape to go to Torchwood to work moment. I thought it was probably supposed to be a scene left out from Countrycide, just before Gwen first spent the night with Owen as she was a bit furtive but obviously still hurting from the shotgun wounds.

Anonymous said...

Well, I would go a long way never have to shop in that store again

Anonymous said...

i thought the deleted scenes were better than in the first torchwood dvd, especially the one for greeks bearing gifts, which i thought was a really good scene. the other special features were good as well, mainly the SUV feature, but i think the 'torchwood on the scene' from the first part was better.

Anonymous said...

jackharkness, the scene where Gwen leaves Rhys, saying 'she's gotta go to work', is evidently when she goes to shag Owen because there wasn't a message or anything on her phone and obviously she couldn't tell him she was about to start an affair. Oh, and on www.torchwood.org/html, Gwen says to Owen in one of the instant messages that Jack made her take a few days off. Poor Rhys, he's dead sweet, mind you, Gwen is and probablt always will be my favourite character.

Anonymous said...

will you put Self on YouTube? It sounds great.

bluemonkeyape said...

This website has inspired me to make my own website dedicated to Torchwood! Although it is a minor site compared to this amazing site, it would be cool if you came to my website.

http://www.torchwoodfanatic.piczo.com/?cr=7&rfm=y

I hope you don't mind me pasting that!

bluemonkeyape said...

This website has inspired me to make my own website dedicated to Torchwood! Although it is a minor site compared to this amazing site, it would be cool if you came to my website.

http://www.torchwoodfanatic.piczo.com/?cr=7&rfm=y

I hope you don't mind me pasting that!

Anonymous said...

I don't mind that dam obvious black SVU, I reckon it looks hot... maybe its has a similar key that Martha had from the tardis which makes it unobvious to those around it....