Doctor Who Re-Watch: Series 2, Episode 2 Tooth & Claw

I’ve got more than one of these Re-Watch posts in the bag so I’ll be posting one today and you’ll see another one Monday, after that I will be caught up to the viewing sched properly as we’ve not moved onto the Cybermen two-part arc yet in our Re-Watch.

For today though…TOOTH AND CLAW!

RTD had a theme whenever he started a new Series of DW, he’d do one intro Companion ep, and the next ep would ALWAYS be one that took place in the past (Episode 2’s in Order: THE UNQUIET DEAD, TOOTH AND CLAW, THE SHAKESPEARE CODE, and THE FIRES OF POMPEII) It was just something he did. Now one might argue that of those eps, THE FIRES OF POMPEII is the best…but I think there is more at work in TOOTH AND CLAW than anyone gives it credit for. So let’s dig in shall we?

The Doctor tries to take Rose to a concert in the 1970’s…but miscalculates and they end up in the 1870’s Scotland, not only that but they stumble across a covered carriage that is transporting the Queen herself (Victoria)! I love the idea that the Doctor is like a tornado in time; he attracts big events, people and fixed points like a loadstone, and the Queen is no exception. What’s even more interesting is that they are heading to Balmoral Castle, but are waylaid by a train derailment and end up at a retreat in the wilds of northern Scotland that the Queen’s deceased husband used to frequent called…dun dun dun….TORCHWOOD! Yep, this is the genesis of the future organization and the eventual spin-off show.

Sidenote: Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who. Ding ding ding…the more you know!

So the Torchwood estate has, unbeknownst to the Doctor, Rose and the Queen and Co., been taken over by a band of fighting mystic monks set on releasing a creature upon the Queen when she arrives. The creature, revealed just after the credits roll is some type of Werewolf. Cue the best special effects shown in DOCTOR WHO so far, the wolf is wonderfully realized, scary and growly. When the company arrives at the estate the monks disguise themselves as staff and the staff are kept in a sub basement with the creature, who of course escapes and attacks.

 There is a lot of little things in this episode that I enjoy watching. Firstly Rose’s attempts to get the Queen to say her famous line (“We are not amused.”) start off ridiculous and get more hilarious as the ep goes on. It’s one of those moments where you realize just how much FUN Rose has while adventuring with the Doctor.

Sidenote 2: This is something I feel was missing from recent companions Amy and Rory. They never seem to be having fun on their adventures, it’s all business.

Anyways, the Queen eventually obliges and says the line, much to Rose’s enjoyment. There is also the fact that David Tennant gets to use his actual Scottish accent in this episode since he is posing as Scottish Doctor and that must have been great for him, and we certainly enjoyed it. Watching the genesis of Torchwood and why it exists (created by Victoria in the waning minutes of the episode since she realizes that the British Empire is threatened by non-terrestrial enemies as well as terrestrial ones) is always fun, especially knowing where it went down the line. What it began as and what Jack Harkness fashions it into are two different things, and RTD let himself play about in the sandbox history of that.

The dénouement of the episode concerns the fact that Prince Albert was aware of the werewolf threat and had Victoria's famed diamond cut down so it fit into a telescope device in an observatory on the estate as a key component that would send the werewolf (which was actually an alien creature of light who was trapped on earth) gracefully into death forever. The etsate was designed in the past by the Earls father as a trap to catch the beast and set it free. It also shows us that in the final battle with the Wolf before subduing it, Victoria was bitten and the Doctor explains that her line always and forever after that had a blood abnormality (this is a truth on historical record actually) that no one could figure out. RTD made Queen Victoria and the current line royalty…part werewolf. THAT is super cool.

One of the more emotional moments in the story is when the owner of the estate, Sir Robert, after having begrudgingly let the Monks trap the Queen in the house for fear of what they would do to his family, sacrifices himself to save them, buying them time in the observatory room and preparing the device. It’s a small moment, but I always love how RTD can help redeem people. Even though he wasn’t a villain, Sir Robert made a mistake in allowing the Monks to get as far as they did and that made him a touch cowardly. Well the redemption in death allows you to walk away from the episode and not think poorly of Robert for nearly betraying his monarch. That’s kind of a big feat for a paragraph in a script to accomplish, as he could have just as easily allowed Robert to live and written his transgression away by reason of needing to save his family, no matter the cost. RTD takes the tougher route in the narrative flow and makes it look easy. Bravo sir.

There’s lots of comedy, action and dramatics in this episode and it just seems like the cast and crew had a blast making it. Great ep!

Next Time: Buffy’s mentor Giles, it turns out, is actually a human drinking bat creature form Space in SCHOOL REUNION! Also, Sarah Jane returns after 35 years with everyone’s favourite metallic dog K-9. “Affirmative, master.”

TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY - Episode Seven (Immortal Sins)

Look, you’re just going to have to suspend your disbelief for a second and go with me.

TORCHWOOD has redeemed itself.

Now if you’ve sat through my bitching and moaning over the last couple weeks you’re probably well versed in my thoughts on why the show has failed to catch on in its hybrid-American incarnation.

Poor performances, weak scripts, endless exposition, excruciating pacing and a host of other problems have combined to kill the show with an abundance of little cuts.

But this week the show managed to put aside everything that wasn’t working and focus on some of the untapped strengths of TORCHWOOD that have been rarely explored this season, namely the acting strengths of its original cast members.

Immortal Sins alternates between the current storyline, set in the present, and one of Jack’s solo adventures in the late 1920s.

In the here and now Gwen kidnaps Jack in order to trade him to the mysterious organization behind the Miracle in exchange for her family. Although determined to deliver Jack she’s clearly torn between family and her loyalty to Torchwood.

The bulk of this episode takes place in the late 1920s. After a misunderstanding Jack falls in with Angelo, a recent Italian immigrant, and the two of them decide to find a rent a room together. Sexual tension builds between the two men before they finally give into their feelings.

Jack brings Angelo along with him to a local church as he makes a contact with a local priest who is supply him with sacramental wine to sell for a little extra money. The proto-bootlegging scandal earns them the attention of some local mafia type, with a mysterious job for Jack.

It turns out the mob boss is hiding a parasitic alien life form which he intends to use to use on Franklin Roosevelt. Jack kills the alien and disrupts the plan but not before getting himself killed (temporarily) and Angelo caught.

When Angelo is released from jail he’s wary about falling in with Jack again since he knows the man is no longer strictly human. Angelo becomes convinced Jack is the devil and kills him (temporarily). Before he can be resurrected Angelo ties Jack up and starts to show his Lazarus routine to other people in the neighbourhood. Soon Jack is reviled as a demon and he is killed over and over and over again by a frightened populace.

Angelo regrets his decision and frees Jack, begging him to run away together. Jack refuses and leaves by jumping off the side of a building, preferring to kill himself (temporarily) rather than stay with Angelo.

This episode has it all. It’s a complete stand alone story that still manages to further the overall seasonal plot arc. Which is a welcome change of pace, considering that MIRACLE DAY is big on set up and awfully thin on resolution.

The whole episode is really an actor’s wet dream. Jack’s relationship with Angelo is handled with delicacy and style. Portraying a homosexual romance is still a rarity on television of any stripe and to see a genre program like TORCHWOOD handle it with grace and composure is refreshing.

Barrowman gets to prove he’s more than just a strutting peacock, preening and joking around whenever possible. Instead, while exploring his relationship with Angelo and his unexpected betrayal, Barrowman gets to show a vast range of emotion, from tenderness and vulnerability to a man on the brink of madness.

Betrayal and heartbreak are two themes that are frequently intertwined in this episode. TORCHWOOD has always been the more adult offering in the Who-vian universe, but while the Doctor always seems to come away relatively unscathed from encounters with the deadliest of opponents, in TORCHWOOD similar encounters always seem to end in tragedy. What makes this contrast even more painful is that here Jack draws a direct comparison between him and the Doctor, striving to live up to his example, even going so far as to mark Angelo as his Companion, but failing to live up to the Timelord’s impossible standards.

If Jack gets all the big emotive pieces then Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper gets to paint her own masterpiece in an understated, but no less impressive, fashion. Gwen’s struggle to keep her emotions in check and to justify her own betrayal of Jack is writ large in the smallest of gestures. It might not be as showy but it is just as effective.

TORCHWOOD has done so many things right in this outing that you can’t help but wonder why all the previous entries have gone so far off track.

The greatest change is the construction of the show’s narrative framework. They’ve finally introduced drama and style into a show that all too often has a propensity to just play it straight and ramble on until the end credits show up. Now we get a three act story, with an escalating tension, a climax and even a resolution. I’m all for defining your own style, and decompressed storytelling has its place on TV. But when you understand and utilize certain basic principles of story and narrative you create a more interesting and enjoyable end product and this Immortal Sins certainly proves that theory.

With this episode TORCHWOOD has finally decided to use their characters properly. Each has been given their own set of easily defined goals and objectives, with high stakes at play for all involved. But more importantly, the outcome of many of the stakes were resolved by the end of the episode, instead of being put over to be dealt with on a future show. How novel! And the questions that are left unanswered only serve to build the suspense for further episodes.

With Immortal Sins TORCHWOOD’s creators have finally given us just enough to leave us wanting more.

What took them so long?

P.S. If I had to crab about one thing it would be the wildly inappropriate and jarring musical choices that continue to populate this show. Seriously, if I’m paying more attention to the music then I am to the story then there’s definitely a problem with one of them.

P.P.S. A surprise cameo by Nana Visitor? You had me at hello…

TV Review: TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY - Episode Six (The Middle Men)

The problem with TORCHWOOD is that it manages to consistently fall flat on its face despite having so many good things going for it. I’m serious, its one of those shows I watch despite of itself, because it seems hell bent on sabotaging its own success.

Which is really asinine, because when you think about it, and let’s be honest I think about this kind of stuff far too much, as TORCHWOOD is broken down into its component parts its clear it’s got a lot going for it.

It’s sporting a dedicated showrunner with a proven track record, it’s carrying the banner of a proven nerd franchise with a ravenous fan base, a strong core cast in John Barrrowman and Eve Myles, a high concept story hook and Hollywood star wattage in Mekhi Phifer and Bill Pullman. With all these assets in their tool kit you’d think TORCHWOOD would have a better than average chance at making cult success. Instead the show has become shamefully unwatchable and made me into some sort of apologist in the process.

After every episode my wife turns to me and says “this is the show you’ve been waiting and raving about for so long?” And I’m left stammering and explaining with pitiful excuses like “its Captain Jack” and “but you should have seen CHILDREN OF EARTH?” We can all agree that CHILDREN OF EARTH was the show’s entertainment zenith, especially in comparison to the awkward fumbling that is MIRACLE DAY, but that doesn’t excuse the show’s meteoric fall from grace.

Because in spite of all the individual elements working it’s in its favour whenever the creators get together they apparently swirl these assets around to create a meal as unappealing as it is interesting.

TORCHWOOD first shot itself in the foot with its lacklustre pacing. After a passable premiere, which managed to set the stage for the season and introduce us to all the main characters, the show languished in a hellish swamp of needless exposition that must have killed any interest amongst casual or new fans. And when it finally got the point that TV is a visual medium where things actually happen it was too late. The narrative momentum was lost and it was impossible to muster the same enthusiasm for the show.

From a performance POV the American influence on TORCHWOOD is akin to hanging a millstone about its neck. For every Ernie Hudson or Marc Vann we have to take on Alexa Havins or a myriad of other performers more attractive than skilled.

(I mean seriously, if you were watching this week’s show did you catch the performance of the young woman playing the secretary? It may have been the smallest of day player roles but I was cringing when I had to watch her try to convince her boss that she’d been kidnapped by Torchwood. There’s wooden and then there’s petrified. I’ve heard tell that Hollywood is full of attractive people, surely there are some good actors as well?)

Budget seems to be a problem on the show as well. TORCHWOOD is a show rooted in big ideas and big sets and unfortunately the bulk of this season seems to be shot on repurposed industrial and commercial sets. Which means audiences are looking at lots of offices, sparsely decorated apartments and gloomily lit basements. TORCHWOOD needs strong visuals like human beings need oxygen, or some other overwrought analogy, and it’s hard to work up an interest in a show that too often looks like it was shot in the producers’ administrative offices.

Anyway, in this week’s episodes Torchwood fights back against the concentration camps, on both sides of the pond. Gwen manages to rescue her Dad, Rex gets revenge on the concentration camp director for killing his girlfriend and Jack does some digging into PhiCorp’s past. Jack’s conversation with the PhiCorp’s CEO seemed to play directly into my theory that the force behind Miracle Day is actually a sentient computer program (lotsa talk about ‘the system’ calling the shots) but the ‘scenes from next week’ segment at the end of the episode sort of poured cold water all over that.

As any FYI to any other viewers when I was at SDCC this year John Barrowman said that next week’s episode was the best TORCHWOOD material he had ever shot. He even guaranteed tears, so that’s something. Sadly, this season TORCHWOOD fans are all too familiar with tears and the gnashing of teeth.

Trailer: TORCHWOOD - MIRACLE DAY

Hey all you DOCTOR WHO fans!

Are you looking for something to tide you over through the dog days of summer until the return of some new Who goodness?

Might I suggest TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY

(Pssst, you're welcome)