Torchwood: The Complete Original UK Series

My copy just arrived, and the presentation of the set is nicely done. The disc case is done up like a bound book. The 'pages' inside include full color screen shots on the sleeves, generally from an episode present on that particular disc, but not always so. Each sleeve holds a disk as well as a list of the episodes or content on the disc and which writer or cast member is doing the audio commentary. The BBC did a really nice job on this set. The first series has commentary on every episode, but there are none on the second series episodes, so I was a little disappointed. The Torchwood Declassified insider peeks and interviews are available for both series 1 and 2 however, as well as outtakes and deleted scenes. The commentary and Declassifieds add snippets of backstory that were lost in the deleted scenes.Torchwood is a spin-off series of the legendary Doctor Who, focusing instead on the adventures of a former companion of the Doctor, a time traveler from the future, Captain Jack Harkness. Captain Jack is a walking anachronism, born in the 51st century, dressed like the middle of the 20th, and living in the 21st. Jack also has a little problem - he can't die. A handy feature in the dangerous profession of leading a semi-secret organization (The Torchwood Institute) and taking on the responsibility of guarding the Earth from the effects of a huge rift in the space-time continuum that runs through Cardiff, Wales. But as the years pass, it becomes obvious that Jack often looks on immortality as a curse. He's outlived just about everyone he's ever known or loved. He sends his friends into danger knowing that they can be killed by things he can walk away from. So he does the only thing he can do: Live out loud, and try to make a difference.The show is at times lighthearted and laugh out loud funny, but the topics and subplots are more adult in nature than those found in the majority of Doctor Who. The willingness to embrace the humor and occasional camp is needed though. When you take a break and wander into the kitchen between episodes to get a glass of water it'll occur to you that most of the episodes are rather grim stuff, and the show attempts not to get crushed under that weight. Like his friend The Doctor, Jack finds himself in the position of having to be the one who has to make crappy decisions in which the team often disagree with, where no one is the hero, the ending isn't always happy, and it's a matter of choice between the lesser of two (w)evils. Because he has knowledge of future events, and a certain amount of shame regarding his own very long history, he doesn't share some info with his team and the resulting friction is a major plot point in several episodes.Torchwood is still very much an ensemble cast, and episodes will tend to focus on certain characters and their relationships to each other in a stressful job. Several stories are viewed from Gwen's perspective as an "Everyman" due to her newbie status on the team shaking up the business as usual routine. By maintaining 'normal' relationships outside of Torchwood, Cardiff her perspective challenges Jack to retain his humanity, a theme often seen in the parent series' Doctor Who and his companions. By no means does this indicate that the other team members are lacking in humanity - they triumph, make mistakes, get it totally wrong, or utterly right and are in the fight they signed up for. Owen is cynical, pragmatic and often a jerk with flashes of gold underneath, but their resident medic. Toshiko is the stereotypical quiet, shy computer whiz, but with definite personality of her own. Ianto is a gem of understated dry humor and wit, and hidden facets and provides a delightful contrast to Jack's larger than life personality. Rhys, Gwen's often bewildered boyfriend ("Aliens? In Cardiff?!?") is also a gem and the show skirts sucking him into the weirdness of Torchwood while keeping him (and therefore Gwen) anchored in the real world.The three series (seasons to us Yanks) are short; American seasons are 22 - 23 episodes long, whereas Torchwood runs 13 episodes in a series, with the exception of Series 3, which was the 5 episode miniseries Children of Earth. There is much muttering about CoE among fans because the feel and events differ sharply from the previous seasons, and without giving away many spoilers, contains a series of short, sharp shocks to viewers. I didn't watch Torchwood or read anything about it until I spent a week viewing all the episodes back to back. I think that not spending three years as a fan gave me a little different perspective on the events of CoE. I love Torchwood, in spite of it's flaws. Characters sometimes acting outside of normal behavior, as many plot holes as twists, editing issues (really, how many bodies DO they keep in morgue drawer #6?), and an apparently endless stream of Welsh extras dying whenever something dangerous comes through the rift. CoE tightened up on the writing, editing, themes and acting, making it a more seasoned Torchwood with a darker plot that acknowledged the outside world having a stake in the strange events that effect the Torchwood version of the world.So if you're still upright after the end of Season 2, brace yourself, but go on and watch Children of Earth. It has the kind of darker grittiness that is similar to the Battlestar Galactica 'reboot'. Lest fans forget, this is the universe in which everyone in Torchwood, London *dies*, The Master condemns the last humans at the end of the universe to tortured existence as cyborg bots, and Abbadon wipes out hundreds in Cardiff when he walks the Earth. Torchwood, Cardiff keeps most of their former employees in their own morgue.Now, let me annoy the fan-shippers on both sides a little bit as I end by noting the ongoing Gwen-Jack-Ianto issue. Captain Jack, who finds 21st century labels of sexuality 'quaint', would make Captain Kirk appear positively Victorian and prudish in comparison. It's established early on that his affection for Gwen is beyond casual yet mutual on a certain level, but kept at bay by his respect for her pre-existing relationship with Rhys and the fact that Jack is never going to be normal. He instead eventually starts a casual relationship with Ianto which develops over the series as Ianto himself grows as a character. Jack-Ianto become more established when Gwen withdraws to become more established with Rhys, but I was always left with the sense that while Ianto loves Jack, Captain Jack is not fully committed emotionally to Ianto. But when he's already outlived at least one wife and eventually everyone he's ever loved, you wonder how emotionally committed Jack can truly get and not be damaged. The relationships only make you more interested in the characters, even the minor re-occurring ones (Martha, Andy, etc)It's a thought provoking series, no doubt, and in spite of it's flaws will appeal to fans of Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, the Buffy-verse, Firefly and other dramedy science fiction.

Somehow we missed the second season of Torchwood when it finally was shown on American TV. We watched the first season and found it okay, and then were riveted by Children of Earth. But now having seen all three seasons of the BBC show (yes, I know there were 4 seasons but the 4th season was an American production), I can say we have a new appreciation for the show.After watching the first season on TV, we weren't horribly impressed. None of the characters seemed particularly likable, not even the absolutely delicious John Barrowman as Captain Jack. The character of Gwen Cooper, played by the stunningly beautiful Eve Myles, who is supposed to be a sympathetic character, is cheating on her devoted boyfriend, Rhys, with the crotchety and just plain nasty Owen Harper. Ianto, who could be likable, is so busy pining for his girlfriend turned Cyberman that he abandons all of his normal good sense and quiet capability, and Toshiko could easily become one of the original "Mean Girls." Rather than working together as a team to try to catch the aliens who constantly pop into Cardiff due to the interspatial rift upon which the city is situated, the Torchwood group snipes at each other and careens from one incursion after another, often causing more problems than they solve.The second season, however, brings them together as a team, working together to resolve the alien situations. The first episode of the second season shows them slogging along without Captain Jack, who has disappeared. Gwen Cooper is leading the team and seems to have resolved her problems with Rhys because she has accepted his marriage proposal. Tosh is no longer the little snitch, dripping with jealousy if anyone so much as talks to Owen, and Owen, himself, has become likable. He is still cynical and caustic, but has lost the nastiness he displayed in the first season. Ianto is steadier and more of a full member of the team, and when Jack finally makes his appearance, he finds that the group has moved beyond him. They are no longer willing to do whatever he says; they have become quite capable of making their own decisions, which don't always align with his.The writing for the second season is very powerful, and just about every episode left me in tears. Particularly moving was the episode involving the World War I soldier who is brought out of cryogenic storage one day a year to see if it is time for him to play his extremely important, but completely mysterious role in saving the universe. Also moving was the episode in which Owen finally comes to terms with being dead, even though he is still able to walk and talk. While I found Freema Agyemang's Martha Jones character annoying on Doctor Who, she was a very welcome recurring character in this season of Torchwood.In addition, the episode in which Gwen wakes up on the morning of her wedding only to find herself extremely pregnant with an alien's baby was very, very funny. The final two episodes of Season Two, in which they explore the back stories of how each of the characters came to Torchwood, were very, very moving and sad-- and ranked right up there in terms of quality with some of the very good Doctor Who episodes.One of the things that is always especially fascinating about Torchwood is, of course, the character of Captain Jack, without whom there could be no Torchwood. Himself an alien, he often looks at things from a different moral standpoint than the humans who surround him. The first season episode in which he, without protest, allows a child to join the fairy-like aliens who have so viciously attacked her family and the people who have tried to protect her, is but one example of the different way in which he looks at things. The episode in which the airplane passengers arrive from the past is another example, as it is very difficult to imagine any of the human members of Torchwood assisting the older man in his suicide as does TJack. There are times when his character is so completely alien as to be totally incomprehensible, and other times when you can see that he, at times, understands humans more than we understand ourselves-- and to drop into philosophical mode for a moment, that is probably the most interesting thing about Torchwood, in that it explores the foibles of humanity in a way that Doctor Who has never been able to do.I am very glad we decided to give this series another try, as the second season alone has made it very worthwhile. The third season, Children of Earth, is also an incredibly strong storyline, compelling, outrageous, and ultimately another unbearably sad ending. I hope that Torchwood will return again, preferably on the BBC but if we have to accept the American version, so be it.

I wish I could give 0 stars. Please everyone do NOT buy this particular edition. I like Torchwood series and was tempted by this nice looking set. It was one of the worst shopping experiences I had. The first set I received had: Season 1 disc: 1,3,5 small scratches, Season 2 disc: 1 had big scratch with 30 min of episode gone, disc 2 was blank (totally black), it played only Planet Earth preview, Season 3 disc 2 had big scratch. I thought will try just asking for replacement. I also asked for Amazon to send me shipping label via post to return first set. I'm from Toronto it's March 2020: COVID-19 and I'm working from home and don't have printer. I never received return label. I was told to go to the Public Library or ask a friend to print it for me and I guess bring it over! (P.S. Libraries are closed, and Canada is practicing social distancing at this time!!!). After I received nothing I discovered the second set was also sent to wrong address. OK: I talked to Amazon they said they will send another set and I don't have to bother returning the first one. I thought that was nice until the replacement set of Torchwood arrived and Season 2 disc 2 again is totally blank and plays only Planet Earth preview!! (I only checked one disc in this set). This is obviously manufacturing defect. Amazon got the product on clearance or some such. I will return all of it (both sets) not sure how I'll get the labels printed, but I don't want to see any of those any more. So, please everyone save yourself a trouble and don't buy!

Held off on buying this series until the prices became more reasonable. Apparently it's been 10 years. Altho it's in video - which I find off-putting due to its overly real quality (you can count the pores on the actors' faces), it doesn't really matter because I'm enjoying the show so much. God, I missed Captain Jack Harness and his swashbuckling, everyone / thing is sexy character! Plus, the idea that Cardiff has a Hellmouth (the rift) like in "Buffy" is a great idea. Lots of plots for the show. I do wish the writers had given the characters a little more emotional maturity, there's a lot of ridiculousness deriving from adults acting like children.But, I've just hit the show where James Marsters (Spike from "Buffy" , cool, no?) entered the plot, and he hasn't changed a bit: eminently watchable, shaggable, and entertaining. And apparently he's an American (doing an entirely plausible British accent). Makes me think I'd better go dig out my seasons of "Buffy" again.So yeah, be prepared for the slightly chintzy effect of video, and some pretty sad plotting, as well as lots of blood and gore (when called for in the episode), and lots of sex. Hey, I'm an adult - it's OK. Too bad it's only 3 seasons.

There is an introduction that is kind of nice to see. The bluray transfer is virtually flawless with great sound and clarity. If you like Doctor Who before the series got 'woke' then you'll like Torchwood! Give it a shot why don'cha!!

Great series, I love Torchwood. Comes in a good looking booklet style, however, you need to pull hard on the disk to remove it from its envelope, as it's tighly stuck, the sleeve is glued and some disks are also glued with pages. High risk of scratching the disks and no way to avoid sticking your fingers on the readable surface. Disk often skips if not cleaned properly before watching it.

The darker, "X-Files" side of the Doctor Who Universe is on stunning display in all three original seasons of "Torchwood" with Captain Jack Harkness and his team as they combat paranormal, other worldly threats in Cardiff, Wales and London, England.