Sci-Fi Storm

Captain Jack returning to Who

by on Nov.28, 2006, under Television

Acton John Barrowman spoke with SyFy Portal about his character, Captain Jack Harkness, currently appearing in the spin-off Torchwood, will return for a multi-episode arc of Doctor Who in the upcoming third season. He also mentions that Who won’t cross over into Torchwood – the target audience is too different (children vs. adults). I haven’t watched Torchwood yet, but I’ve heard from people that weren’t too kind…what do you think of it?


3 Comments for this entry

  • Anonymous Coward

    torchwood- not the greatest

    honestly, it looks like a teen with final cut pro trying to emulate a hodgepodge of CSI/Buffy/X-Files.

    script has the same failing.

    and oh my god. the incidental music seems to be desperately trying to over-compensate for all the failings.

    but it’s good background noise while balancing the checkbook.

    • Anonymous Coward

      Re:torchwood- not the greatest

      I’ve seen all the episodes of Torchwood, and while it’s not the overproduced American telivision that we see so much of, it has a lovely cast who have good chemistry together. Some of the scripts have been less good than others, but I think it has a lot of potential. The last two episodes have been /very/ good.

      • Anonymous Coward

        Re:torchwood- not the greatest

        I agree with the second poster. Torchwood is not exactly like many overproduced glossy TV dramas… it’s gritty and harsh. People act realistically, rather than always going for the perfect timing of ideal drama. It’s gritty and sometimes nasty, and the people aren’t the “flawed anti-heroes” that modern drama has stereotyped, but instead they’re regular people… sometimes they’re doing things you don’t want them to do. Sometimes it’s even excruciating to watch. But it’s what they do. You really get the feeling you’re watching a group of real people, some of whom you really don’t like, instead of watching a group of “heroes”.

        The series has mis-stepped a little here and there, but generally it’s good adult drama, and it’s doing a surprisingly good job of being a touch different and not falling into the post-modern traps:

        • Old drama: Heroes are squeaky-clean All-American (or British) alpha-males.
        • Modern drama: Heroes have flaws, but they’re still good guys’n’gals, and they end up doing the right thing. Yes, women can be goodies too. And even forgeigners. If they’re friendly.
        • Torchwood: Doesn’t feel like a dramatisation. Sometimes they really screw up. And in bad ways. Sometimes they can’t decide what to do, or how to do it, and freeze in critical moments, or make bad choices, or are just plain idiots. Generally people are hired for specific talents, and their pwersonality flaws are tolerated because the talent is irreplaceable. Like real people. Really hard to classify them – their actions vary according to situation, mood and other factors we can’t always predict (just like real life – you can’t predict people’s responses all the time unless you know them really well).

        The CGI in Torchwood is acceptable, though not great. It’s enough, but won’t generally impress. The music’s a little overpowering in places, but builds and suits moods very well. The lighting and filming are stellar – excellent use of camera and a high-def picture that’s so gleaming sharp you could cut yourself. Scripts are mostly good – the odd duff line, but any fannish series is going to have lines that each sub-genre of fan dislikes.

        I may not like all that happens… but if I think about it enough, I realise that I respect it.

        A very fine series, I say.

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