On First View: Torchwood Series 1

Guest contributor Harpal Khambay shares some first impressions on the debut series of the spin-off.

When you are a Doctor Who fan you quickly hear about the spin-offs of the show, and one of the largest is probably Torchwood. The only series I had seen was Series 3: ‘Children of Earth’, which I watched when it originally aired. I loved the drama, tension and the way it explored humanity. This Easter I had the idea of purchasing the complete box set and thanks to online shopping I had the set within a day. I watched them all, bar Series 3, in thirteen days and afterwards found myself a Torchwood lover. Over this series of articles I hope to present you with my first impressions of each episode, characters and themes.

Episode 1, ‘Everything Changes‘ does for Torchwood what ‘Rose’ did for Who. I loved how Gwen was an independent character with a clear life and a job, which is totally thrown upside down by her own curiosity. What’s great about the episode is that we are thrown into the world of Torchwood, along with Gwen, and this strengthens the connection with the audience and her character, fantastically played by Eve Myles. We also got a subtle taste of each Torchwood member, and those who live in the world of the motley crew. One of my favourite scenes was in the hospital when Gwen encountered the Weevil for the first time, as this showed the work that Torchwood does, the theme of gore and horror and the fine line between aliens and humanity, which was symbolised by the rift.

I also was shocked to find out the truth about Suzie, and when the ending credits rolled I felt it tricky to get my head around it. When it suddenly clicked, I realised how dangerous life with Torchwood was, and it was apparent that this was the sole aim of the episode to establish, apart from establishing the character of Gwen. However, I felt that if Suzie’s suicide came later, if the audience knew her slightly better, her death might have had a larger affect. All in all though, I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Everything Changes,’ and felt that it threw us into Torchwood sleekly and smartly.

‘Day One’ is probably my least favourite episode, purely because, I felt the idea was clichéd and childish for a supposedly mature show. However Gwen’s development was appreciated along with the Torchwood team’s. I found ‘Ghost Machine’ very interesting and different. It was the first episode that I found the theme of human darkness to be a large part of the plot, and this was another thing that I liked about Torchwood. Although the main plot revolved around the machine, I felt it was also a really good character piece for Owen and partly Gwen. What I found with Torchwood was that one of its main strengths was the characters. I felt that I really got to know them, and they were very well developed.

‘Cyberwoman’ was the episode in which Ianto got a chance to shine, and I began to understand why people loved him so much. For me, ‘Cyberwoman’ was an intense thrill ride, which fantastically reminded us that Torchwood was linked with Doctor Who. The iconic image of the Cyberwoman itself is one that has stuck in my mind, and I feel it is one of the most memorable Torchwood monsters in the first series. I was horrified to see Lisa swap her brain with the pizza delivery girl, but it made an emotional final scene, which allowed Ianto to develop massively.

‘Small Worlds’ presented an interesting concept, which kept the mystery of the fairies secret until the end. It wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I felt that it worked in the sense in teaching me that Torchwood deals with hidden threats in our world.

‘Countrycide’ was my favourite episode of the first series. The main reason I loved it was because the darkness of humanity was heavily explored. I found this massively interesting, and genuinely shocking to find that anyone had even come up with the idea, but when it was revealed, I realised it couldn’t have been anything else. I loved the gore, horror and the dark feel to the episode. However, the biggest shock came at the end, when it was revealed Gwen had begun an affair with Owen. I actually screamed, and my mother, who was present at the time, suddenly stated that she disliked Gwen. It made me like the character even more, as it showed she was flawed, and it emphasised that she needs to be able to confide in others.

I also liked ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’ as it allowed us to explore Tosh, a character that I began to love. It also had an interesting premise, and Mary appeared to be a manipulative and worthy adversary. I liked how Tosh gained the respect she deserved by the end, and we truly got to see a glimpse of her morals.

I loved ‘They Keep Killing Suzie,’ as we got to see more of Suzie and how villainous she was. A shiver of shock and excitement ran through my spine when Suzie came back to life, and it also gave us a window into what happens to Torchwood members after they die. I have the same thoughts towards ‘Random Shoes’ and ‘Out of Time.’ I liked both, but they are not ones I would watch on repeat. I preferred ‘Out of Time,’ as we got to see more of the characters, which I love about Torchwood, and it showed us all aspects of work Torchwood have to do.

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Combat,’ as I felt it was another unique episode, which let us explore Owen and Gwen. I also grew fonder of the Weevils throughout the episode, as we got to see aliens in a different light and situation. I also thoroughly enjoyed ‘Captain Jack Harkness’ as we got to explore more Jack’s earlier life even further. The whole episode had a romantic and bright feel to it, and I felt quite sad at the end that Jack lost… Jack. I had never seen this side to him before and it made me look at him in a different way.

Now time for the finale ‘End of Days.’ The premise was fantastic, and I loved the first half hour of the episode. Gwen’s emotional turmoil at Rhys’ death was heart wrenching, and the conflict within the Torchwood team was by far the highlight of the episode. It emphasised that they are still people, and that sometimes they have to put themselves first. However, my love for this episode fell when I saw Abaddon, which I felt was extremely random. There was no premise to this part of the story, and I felt that this idea was way to mystical for Torchwood, which, up until this point, was gritty and realistic. Like any other Who fan my I tingled when I heard the TARDIS noise at the end!

In terms of the whole series, I thoroughly enjoyed it. As I have previously mentioned, my favourite aspect of the programme was mainly the characters and how they were developed. Every single one got a story which allowed us to delve into their emotion, morals and how they managed their chaotic lives. I felt it was a successful series, and built the foundations for several more, as we got a taste of all the recurring themes of Torchwood, such as violence, sex, darkness and death. In my next article I will go through my thoughts on Series 2!

Thanks for reading my article. I welcome any questions!