Everything Changes

"...and so it starts, the long wait is over....TORCHWOOD is here, and is well worth the wait.

So, what's it all about? For those of you still watching the second "new" season of Doctor Who, you'll be aware that TORCHWOOD has already been mentioned in a couple of episodes, most notably the Christmas Invasion, where they were contacted by the Prime Minister close to the episode's end and the "Tooth and Claw" episode where the TORCHWOOD institute was created by Queen Victoria. There will be other references, but I'll keep this spoiler free.

Now, TORCHWOOD comes in to they’re own. The opening episode promises a series that is a gritty at times, funny at times combination of "Men in Black" and "The X-Files". From the outset, the message comes loud and clear, that although this is a spin-off from Doctor Who....we're playing a whole different ball game and this is post watershed viewing with bloodshed, profanity and adult themes.

PC Gwen Cooper is investigating the latest in a series of murders, when a "special ops" unit turns up, causing the area to be evacuated. We instantly recognize the leader of this unit to be Capt Jack Harkness, still wearing the same familiar military uniform. From an overlooking multi storey car park, Gwen sees the incredible sight of a mysterious steel glove being used to temporarily resuscitate the murder victim for 2 minutes for interrogation.  

Thus begins her investigation of TORCHWOOD.

Her second run in with them is at a local hospital, where the upper floors have been sealed. Following a hunch, she has her first encounter with an alien, and meets up with Capt Jack, whom she follows to Cardiff Bay. She finds out that the only Capt Harkness on record actually disappeared during the height of the blitz in 1941 (nicely tying in with "The Doctor Dances). In the meantime...Capt Jack has escaped, but Gwen is being watched on CCTV. She is now determined to find out what TORCHWOOD actually is. She infiltrates their base, and we meet the TORCHWOOD team for the first time.

Joining Capt Jack are Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Suzie Costello, and Ianto Jones.

TORCHWOOD is based underneath Cardiff's Millennium Centre in the Bay Area, the underground lair is filled with alien artifacts, a live pterodactyl, surveillance gear, computer banks and secret entrances. They also have holding facilities for aliens such as the one seen earlier, called a "Weevil". The site was chosen because it sits on a special temporal rift in space & time that runs right through the heart of the city (it's exactly where the Doctor landed the TARDIS to be recharged in "

Boom Town"). They are able to use a perception filter to get in & out of the base unseen...or at least un-noticed. We also learn that Cardiff is Torchwood #3. Torchwood #1 was in London, but was destroyed. Torchwood #2 is a small office in Glasgow run by a strange man (?? future episode??) and Torchwood #4 is...missing. But Capt Jack feels sure they'll find it one day (another upcoming episode?) We also learn that Capt Jack can't be killed - a result of Rose's reversal of time at the conclusion of "Parting of the Ways". He says that one day, he'll find a Doctor...the right kind of Doctor, and maybe he can explain it.  There are other references to Dr Who, but apparently there will be no crossovers. Mention is made of the Christmas Invasion and of Cybermen but in the spirit of not spoiling, again - I'll go no further.

Naturally, as the title suggests, everything does indeed change and Gwen joins the TORCHWOOD team by the episode's end thus setting the scene for the upcoming episodes."

Day One:

It's Gwen's first day on the job, and a meteor crashes to Earth just outside Cardiff and off she goes in the uber-cool Torchwood Rangel Rover (a black, armored looking customized version with more on-board gadgetry than Bond's Aston Martin and the Batmobile combined).

A gaseous alien is accidentally released and chaos ensues as the alien seeks a host body. This is when things get just a little different in an interesting way. No invasion, no takeover, no "take me to your leader"...this entity now in the host body of a young woman feeds off orgasmic energy during sex, reducing her partner to a small pile of dust. Apparently, human orgasmic energy is the best hit there is.

A touchy subject to be sure - one that is skillfully handled here with the right amount of humor (without plumbing the depths) and pathos as we see the effect the invader has on the host. It becomes clear that Gwen's part in the series is to provide the basic humanity - the empathy.

Capt Jack's origins are still a mystery; we still don't know how he got from the Dalek battle to 21st Century Earth. He claims to have come from a lot of places...but we find that he has a severed hand in a jar that seems to mean a lot to him (....I'm not sure if this will turn out to be the one the Doctor lost in the Christmas Invasion shortly before regenerating a new one...or it could just be wishful thinking on my part.)

Roll on episode 3. I'll see you then.

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