Of Torchwood and Spinoffs

My first post in this blog was on Doctor Who, the infamous TV series that's something of a national treasure in the UK because of it's longevity and versatility. HOWEVER, there's another show that the BBC had broadcasting a year back or so, and it's a spinoff series from Doctor Who. Named after the British alien investigation agency in Doctor Who, the series is called Torchwood. You can get to the official site here.

Gwen Cooper

The show follows the lives and stories of the five members of this organization, but primarily Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles). She gets involved with Torchwood almost by accident; nosing into a police case that she has no business in and sneaking around till she finds out about the secret organization. There she meets the other members, who I'll talk about next.

Cpt. Jack Harkness

The show is much more adult than Doctor Who. The situations are more adult, the monsters and aliens are more disturbing, there are blatant sexual innuendos, and A LOT of sexual tension between multiple characters.

Owen Harper

Captain Jack Harkness (a recurring character in Doctor Who, played by John Barrowman) is a man who can't die. His character is shrouded in mystery, and he's hugely charismatic. (It's because of this character that the show was even thought of. People wanted to see more about him. He's many people's very favorite character. As you can see here.)

Toshiko Sato

There's also Owen Harper (Burn Gorman). He's the primary medic for the team, and when you first meet him, his character seems boorish, crass, and unfeeling. But as you get to learn more about the characters, you find out that there's a lot more underneath his angry exterior.

Ianto Jones

Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) is a technological genius. She's in love with Owen but too shy to say anything for most of the series. She cares a lot about the rest of the team, though she doesn't show it as much as she'd like to. (Many fans love the Owen/Tosh pairing, though it wasn't shown much in the show. Here's a fansite.)

And finally there's Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd). He's very quiet in season one, primarily seen as a butler type character. But in season two the writers gave him a lot more to do, and I'm so glad they did, because he rapidly became my favorite character. He and Jack are in a relationship for most of season two (which is considered one of the more adult themes of the show. I think it's brilliant how open they are with it). It's one of the most-loved gay relationships on TV thus far. Here's a link to a fansite.

Defending Cardiff, Wales from aliens coming through a rift in space and time, Torchwood stays in the shadows. The show has a big following, which isn't surprising, seeing as many fans of the already-popular Doctor Who tuned in while it was still airing. Here's a link to one of many fan communities.

Lastly, I'm going to expel a moment of rage about the ending of the show. Characters died that didn't need to die, and it made me very upset. I cried. A lot. I hate you, writers. The end.

(left to right) Ianto, Gwen, Jack, Toshiko, and Owen in all their badass-ness

Picture Sources:
http://doctorwho.neoseeker.com/w/i/doctorwho/a/a3/Torchwood_Logo.jpg
http://lisapaitzspindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/cooper_gwen1.jpg
http://www.hellomagazine.com/imagenes/profiles//burn-gorman/915-burn-1b.jpg
http://lilcocky.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/toshikosato.jpg?w=495
http://images.digitalspy.co.uk/09/28/550x_torchwood_iantos03.jpg
http://blogs.popzara.com/media/14/20100120-torchwood.jpg