Torchwood

Well, they're all supposed to be 'Omni-sexual', which appears to mean that they will happily do it with anyone or anything at the drop of a hat - or even no hat needed! If the opportunity presents itself, they'll go for it!

WELCOME TO TORCHWOOD - ANY TIME, ANY WHERE, ANY THING!
 
I think I may have “solved” the Torch-Wood question. Specifically the question of how does it manage to be quite so bad when some parts of it are actually very good? I have a theory and I was wondering if you guys could either help me prove it or shoot me down.

Imagine a champion draughts player.
Spent his whole life playing draughts. He’s damn good at it, knows the game inside out. Jumps about that board like a kangaroo, winning game after game.
Now rip him away from his draughts board and plonk him down in front of a chess set, without explaining any of the rules to him. Just tell him to play in the way he thinks best. What will he do?

He’ll start playing draughts.

It’ll look like Chess at first glance. He might even make a few good chess moves by accident or deductive guesswork. But basically, he’s a draughts player lost in a world he doesn’t understand.

How does this relate to TorchWood?

Well, I reckon that most of the TorchWood writers are used to writing “civilian relationship drama.” Coming of age stuff, love on the rocks stuff, Jayne Eyre, Queer as Folk, Our Friends in the North. But now they’ve been given a black-ops sci fi show and they don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know how the pieces are supposed to move. So they’re trying to move the pieces around as they would in the latest “Single mom struggles on council estate” drama. And it’s not working.

The stuff that works in TorchWood is usually relationship stuff or social observation stuff. For example, the only thing that works in Ep 10 is the story of a man trying to deal with an ill, dying son, losing his family and deciding to end his own life. That’s not really sci-fi per sea, it could fit in many other genres as well. The other things that are okay are the observations about the social changes since the 50’s. The actual black-ops sci-fi stuff in that ep doesn’t work at all.

The stuff that doesn’t work in TorchWood would work in another type of show. Like a relationship drama. For example, the main reason that Gwen doesn’t work is because she’s useless, ineffectual, stupid, spineless and whiny. Now, she’d be fine working in an office or a bar in a relationship drama. She’d be credible. She might even be good. But not in an elite black-ops crew in a sci-fi thriller. She’s not credible. But the writer’s don’t know this because they don’t know the genre well enough to produce a good example of it. As a result, the Torchwood staff appear to be useless, because they react to things the way civilians would, not the way elite intelligence and military operatives would. Because the writers don’t know any better.

This is sort of guess work. But I am going to try and find out what the writers have worked on before to see if I’m right.

Opinions?
 
Coolhand said:
the main reason that Gwen doesn’t work is because she’s useless, ineffectual, stupid, spineless and whiny. Now, she’d be fine working in an office or a bar in a relationship drama. She’d be credible. She might even be good. But not in an elite black-ops crew in a sci-fi thriller. She’s not credible. But the writer’s don’t know this because they don’t know the genre well enough to produce a good example of it. As a result, the Torchwood staff appear to be useless, because they react to things the way civilians would, not the way elite intelligence and military operatives would. Because the writers don’t know any better.

This is sort of guess work. But I am going to try and find out what the writers have worked on before to see if I’m right.

Opinions?
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How can you be so meeeeean to poor Gwen?!?!? The woman is trying to function as a 'serious' policeperson in an underground dungeon with it's own built in pterydactyl, struggling under her own body weight in rimmel lipgloss!

To be perfectly serious (and that's hard, I'm mixing cola with after 8's and have the giggles), Torchwood started out ok, the first episode was really tense, but did provoke an in-depth discussion on the logistics in hiding the porter's death for any period of time. it looked like being a credible drama. But, I think you have raised a valid point. I've watched several behind the scene-umentaries about Star Trek, and the scriptwriters seem to research everything thorughly, which is why Trek techspeak sounds so realistic. The writers of Torchwood need to get theri heads down in the local library and look up 'Paradox' and 'theories on aliens who don't just come to earth to kill people or shag them'.

Sometimes I do get the feeling we're gonna get an Eastenders style two-hander ep with Jack and Gwen in Gwen's kitchen, talking about 'life'. Instead of Gwen asking Jack meaningful questions like'so you think that's all right, then? (boyo)'. It would take very little effort to turn it into a very cool sci-fi show with a relationship-py twist, rather than a relationship show which happes to be set in an alien hunter's basement.

When I used to watch the XFiles, I always preferred the mythology episodes to the standalones, and I'd really like to see something like that happen in the next series of Torchwood; intersperse some quality singles among a continuing thread, not just 'will-Rhys-find-out-or-HAS-he-had-a-lobotomy?'. MORE in depth Capt. Jack, less of the hints! Less sex monsters, more interesting ones! MORE of the strange, pervy Ianto!

Aplogies for rambling-ness.
 
HappyHippo said:
When I used to watch the XFiles, I always preferred the mythology episodes to the standalones, and I'd really like to see something like that happen in the next series of Torchwood; intersperse some quality singles among a continuing thread, not just 'will-Rhys-find-out-or-HAS-he-had-a-lobotomy?'. MORE in depth Capt. Jack, less of the hints! Less sex monsters, more interesting ones! MORE of the strange, pervy Ianto!
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Coolhand said:
Well, I reckon that most of the TorchWood writers are used to writing “civilian relationship drama.” Coming of age stuff, love on the rocks stuff, Jayne Eyre, Queer as Folk, Our Friends in the North. But now they’ve been given a black-ops sci fi show and they don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know how the pieces are supposed to move. So they’re trying to move the pieces around as they would in the latest “Single mom struggles on council estate” drama. And it’s not working...

But the writer’s don’t know this because they don’t know the genre well enough to produce a good example of it. As a result, the Torchwood staff appear to be useless, because they react to things the way civilians would, not the way elite intelligence and military operatives would. Because the writers don’t know any better.
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I agree with both those observations, except I find it hard to believe since some of the writers have written SFF for TV before, and some have been around quite a long while, they are not all new. Hammond (who I think wrote the "Fairy" story), wrote 'Sapphire and Steel' (though that was also more supernatural than Scifi.) I certainly agree with the X-Files comments. Before Torchwood began it was described as 'X-Files meets kitchen sink drama'. Still waiting on the X-Files part.
 
*POTENTIAL SPOILERS* (probably not, it aired three days ago!)

Just watched this week's episode (I LOVE my sky+). And I can only say....

WHAT?!?!?! Seriously, WHAT?!?!?!?!

I played my usual game of guess the plot, and got 80% correct, well done me. However, I don't really think any part of it lived up to the 'beyond the goverment' thing.
So, poor old Owen's finally been on the other end of it; SO WHAT?
So, Gwen's confessed, but then she gives Rhys an amnesia pill, well we all knew she was immature and self centred, this just proves it.

Where, O, where was the sci-fi? Where, for that matter was the drama? I was seriously disappointed, I found the whole ep to be full of plot holes and lunchtime drama acting.

I hope the double length new years episode lives up to the trailer :(

sorry to waffle on!
 
Interesting artice about some of the issues the show will need to address in it's second year.
feeling listless - "Life. Like things and things going on."
Worth reading. For example:

If the characters are allowed to actually save the day without being the cause of the crisis in the first place, our empathy with them will improve too.
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I totally agree. That would make a huge difference to things.
 
Not just that. Torchwood needs more structure.

In Torchwood, the initial goal, which usually involves the investigation of an alien something ... more often than not resolved in the opening first ten minutes of the episode ... then a secondary goal is usually created because of the motivations or mistakes of someone within the crew. .... it doesn't simply doesn't satisfy because predominantly the secondary goal is far less interesting than the proposed original
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Also:
On other occasions, there are scenes and episodes in which no one seems to have agency so the audience doesn't know what to think.
... It's a very subtle thing, and it has to do with acting, shot angles, editing and music and the director deciding who is most important in a scene and the message
...the camera angles don't favour anyone ('s point of view) and the performances don't reflect anything that has happened in the episode up until that point.
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That sums it up for me.
 
You forgot one!

Weevil = psychotic pit bull terrier.
 
Oh yes....just before they rip your throat out!
 
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