Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Uncategorized Which TV show? 'Torchwood: Children of Earth'
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 3:25 AM
When I posed the question “Which TV show should I start watching?” I received a lot of enthusiastic feeback for “Torchwood,” creator Russell T. Davies’ spin-off of “Doctor Who.” Given the universal acclaim for the new five-part “Torchwood” miniseries, “Children of Earth” (airing at 9 p.m. weeknights this week on BBC America, and out on DVD July 28), I couldn’t NOT watch the screeners that came to the office. It’s even written to be newbie-friendly. And yes, it’s a gripping and engrossing piece of TV entertainment — but not quite what I expected.
It’s a little odd to sample current generation of British non-comedies, like “Torchwood, “MI-5? and “Primeval.” I associate British genre dramas with shows from the late 1980s and 1990s, especially “Mystery!” and “Masterpiece Theatre,” which delivered grittily realistic, impeccably acted, top-drawer police procedurals like Helen Mirren’s “Prime Suspect,” Robbie Coltrane’s “Cracker” and such miniseries as the original State of Play (before director David Yates went to Hogwarts) and the wickedly entertaining “House of Cards” political satires, starring the late Ian Richardson. You could see the influence of those shows on the heavyweight American dramas that have become synonymous with HBO.
Watching four of the five episodes of “Torchwood: Children of Earth,” like seeing the pilots of “MI:5? and “Primeval,” is to see influences going the other way across the Atlantic. Compared to the “Mystery!” shows, these are faster, sleeker, more action-oriented and slightly cheesier programs that owe a debt to American dramas, particularly such Fox network shows as “24? and “The X-Files.” “Torchwood” offers a variation of the latter show’s premise by depicting the exploits of the Torchwood Institute, a small, secret organization that investigates extraterrestrial phenomenon. (Not coincidentally, “Torchwood” is an anagram of “Doctor Who.”)
It begins when every child on Earth periodically “stops” — standing utterly still with blank expressions — and begin uttering ominous phrases in unison, beginning with “WE ARE COMING. WE ARE COMING.” The scenes hark back to the creepy children of Village of the Damned and build to terrifying “first contact” encounters with an enigmatic, ruthless alien force. Peter Capaldi (whom fans of 1980s films will remember from Local Hero and Lair of the White Worm) superbly plays a hapless government official who unwillingly finds himself humanity’s spokesman and conscience. The incursion builds to a dilemma of Biblical proportions.
I knew Torchwood commander Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) was had become a cult favorite as a man of action who happened to be a self-described “omnisexual,” liable to make a pass at any gender (and presumably other intelligent species). At the beginning of “Children of Earth,” he’s beginning a relationship with right-hand man Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd). Captain Jack’s apparent immortality and inability to be killed doesn’t get nearly as much attention as his sexual flexibility. I had no idea, though, that Captain Jack was so American. Comparable to Mark Harmon about 20 years ago, he’s a clean-cut, blue-eyed, cleft-chinned jock type, which makes his tendency to kiss other men between world-saving episodes even more subversive for a sci-fi action show.
The early episodes of “Children of Earth” suffer from a subplot involving a government hit squad (which leaves a laughably transparent paper trail) that’s as hackneyed as any conspiracy Jack Bauer ever untangled. Ironically, it requires far more suspension of disbelief than the “A” plot involving beings from another planet. The soundtrack music is pretty terrible, too, but overall “Torchwood” features clever dialogue, likably unglamorous supporting players and a story that builds to breathtakingly high stakes. “Children of Earth” is good enough to make you want to go back and get caught up on the rest of “Torchwood.” I’m not sure, though, that it would belong on “Masterpiece Theatre.”
Photo courtesy of BBC
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