Torched

First impressions of the first episode of Torchwood.
Well, it’s definitely not Doctor Who – and definitely not family-hour viewing. For this to make the leap to the US, editing will be required, for both language and content. (Since the first episode is longer than Doctor Who by a few minutes, this makes some of the content edits a no-brainer where US television standards are concerned.) But in its original context, it’s quite an entertaining show – sort of like a sexier British version of The X-Files with a touch of Men In Black. There are some surprisingly major links to Captain Jack’s appearances in Doctor Who, including a very surprising, previously unknown transformation that he underwent in the last few minutes of his final episode. Turns out the Doctor wasn’t the only one who was forever changed…
The dialogue is sharp and funny, the characters are intriguing in that they have some clear character flaws on display (some of these people are clearly bent after having to spend so much time in isolation, doing things that they can never tell another human being about, so much so that they can’t even relate to everyday people on a normal level anymore), and overall it’s just a little bit more grown up. Folks who liked the Doctor Who New Adventures novels will be able to sink their teeth into this; folks who think that nothing even remotely Doctor Who-related should ever have any risque elements or even a twinge of unpleasantness should stick with Doctor Who itself. John Barrowman is quite an appealing leading man out from under the shadow of Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, but the real treat here is Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper. She guest starred as the ill-fated Gwyneth in the first season Doctor Who episode The Unquiet Dead, but her decidedly more modern-day character is both feisty and feminine without compromising either quality, and damned if she isn’t cute. (I like leading ladies who aren’t rail-thin, thankyouverymuch.)
Oh, and before I forget: love the music. There was an odd, non-sequitur shot in the first episode that seemed to be there only to show Captain Jack standing atop a building he couldn’t have possibly scaled and to let us hear one of the better music cues without any background sound, almost like they stuck a promo shot in the middle of the show to pass the time. I ain’t complainin’.
Count me in for the rest of this season; I’m intrigued enough by the setup to stick around for more.