Months ago, way back in October 2006, I attended an extra special preview screening of Torchwood's pilot episode "Everything Changes". At the time I boosted about how great the series was, and how I'd never seen anything like it. Now, having seen all of the first season (and lived through a few duff episodes) I can say with confidence that I'm still enjoying Torchwood - as much as I did back in October. The big question is; how come a lot of people aren't?
Take former 'Doctors' Colin Baker and Peter Davison, who at the recent Invasion VII convention in Barking apparently praised Russell T Davies and the work he's done on the brand new Doctor Who, but claimed that Torchwood was a massive let down. Davison joked about the Cyberwoman living underneath Torchwood's own basement, and the Land Rover with the ultra-secret "Torchwood" written on the side. Okay... so he kinda has a point with those last two...
Elsewhere and the latest SFX Doctor Who Special Edition hit news stands today - and contains reviews of all the "NuWho" episodes so far, from Doctor Who to Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. And boy, does Torchwood get a slating, with most of the episodes receiving a poor 2.5ish out of 5. The winning episode (for anybody taking notes) turned out to be "Small Worlds". Still, the magazine recognises the show's potential for greatness and lends its support to season two...
The same cannot be said for the vast majority of the British newspapers. Unusally the tabloids and broadsheets seem to be in agreement; they don't like Torchwood much. Which is a shame, because if they just looked past the sex, and the swearing, and the rest of the apparently 'adult' content they'd see a show which is able to stand on its own two feet, away from Doctor Who. How many spin-offs can boast that?
All I'm saying is that sometimes it's easy to log onto places like OutpostGallifrey and moan about a show. But it's so much more rewarding to remain loyal to a show, and hope that the writers and producers have the confidence (and balls) to actively do something to correct the format's flaws.
Just because somebody else might say something is "bad" doesn't mean we have to act like robots and automatically agree. We're human beings, and have the freedom to make our own opinions. You don't like Torchwood? That's great (because that's your opinion) - just don't spoil the ride for the rest of us.
3 comments:
I think Torchwood was great from start to finish. It has a strong visual style and feel which isn't in keeping with what most telly is doing right now (which is why I feel people find it uncomfortable viewing). Farscape did this back in 99 .... and was cancelled in favour of the more audience friendly and excessively bland Stargate SG1 .... long live the underdog!
It's just been hard to compare it too such a brilliant show as WHO. That is some pretty stiff competition and no other show on TV can match up.
It's had its high and low moments and next year it should really start to find its groove.
There will always be some flaws when a spin off comes along. But, Russell and his team can fix them in the second series so Im looking forward to the best series of Torchwood ever!
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