Torchwood: Miracle Day episodes 1 & 2 Review

Torchwood is no more... Or so we though after 'Children of Earth'....

The CIA knows about the British organization and for some reason, wants the remaining members, Jack & Gwen, gone.. There is a twist to the BBC Woldwide/Stars collaboration. Headed up by the team that brought you the 'DoctorWho spin off, Miracle Day has started with a bang!

The first episode brings you up to date on the remaining members, Capt. Jack Harkess(John Barrowman) and Gwen Cooper(Eve Myles) are alive and kicking. Gwen is a mom and living with Rhys(Kai Owen) in some place isolated in Wales. A CIA worker Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins of All My Children fame) is looking into Torchwood and while talking to a friend/ Coworker Rex Mathison (Mekhi Pfifer) is involved in a deadly impaling car accident.. and survives. Suddenly, everything related to Torchwood vanishes! A child murderer/molester, played by Bill Pullman, survives lethal injection. Soon reports from all over the world are coming in about people not dying. And this is just the first episode!

Second episode continues the fast pace and something truly inhuman is going on. As most of us know, Jack is immortal due to Rose using the time vortex in The Parting of Way in DoctorWho. But during this, he is completely mortal. A new twist on the familiar. Someone is trying to eradicate the team and anyone who has pulled up their information, but why? Murder attempts, espionage, set-ups, the walking but aging , living dead.. fine stuff! Meanwhile doctors from all over the world are trying to figure out what is biologically going on.

So far, Torchwood:Miracle Day is turning out to be one help of a ride! I'm going to stay tuned.. are you?

torchwood...

Review of episodes one and two will be up later this week. :)

Torchwood on U.S. Soil?

That's right!

You heard me. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox is working with BBC Worldwide to produce U.S. version of the BBC Sci-Fi hit, Torchwood. Along for the ride are creators & executive producers of the original series, Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner. Also rumoured is an 'Americanized' Doctor Who. *groans*

Personally, I think an American Torchwood might work,(note i said MIGHT).

Why it would work:

1. Russell T. Davies & Julie Gardner. They have a proven track record of successful programs that have reached American audiences.
2. Casting. If John Barrowman and new mom Eve Myles are on board. The two have a genuine on-screen chemistry that works! But I would also love some new blood infused. Or maybe an appearance of Martha Jones and Mickey Smith.
3. Established Fan Base: There is an audience already established with the series. This was evident at the Sand Diego Comic-con in 2009.
4. Freshness: It is a relatively new series.
5. Story-line expansion: There are more chances for more non-Britain/Cardiff,Wales stories.

Why it would not work:

1. Decreased sexuality: Now unless this show is on cable/ satellite, the sexuality of Capt. Jack Harkness will be diminished greatly; as American television is quite conservative.
2. Russell T. Davies (I know): This comes in because of his noted comments when he killed off fan favorite Ianto Jones during Torchwood: Children of Earth.
3. Risk of being 'sanitized & dumbed down' for American TV: This irks me because I love smart dramas and to dumb down a program that is witty, intelligent and works in the original format is a disservice to fans world wide.
4. Continuity: As we all know, Torchwood is a spin-off & anagram of Doctor Who. Torchwood is based in the UK. Citing the history of the founding of Torchwood, this might make it difficult to explain why a British underground agency has offices in the U.S. Unless the come up with some mumbo-jumbo about it being a world-wide organization or ties to the F.B.I. or C.I.A. Which is probably likely to occur.
5. Story-Line Issues: Most Americans have no clue what Doctor Who or Torchwood is (those people are either television recluse, have no cable/satellite, or never watched PBS in the 80's). This means that there might have to be a visual history lesson for non-viewers by way of showing the original series; which might complicate viewers little brains.


Now on to the nonsense of an 'American' Doctor Who. (Williams Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Verity Lambert, Jon Pertwee, Sydney Newman, Barry Letts, and my dad are pitching a hissy fit!) Listen up! The series as it is is just fine! We do not need a copy or an 'Americanized' version! Don't be daft! It's like messing with a formula that has worked for years. It will diminish the originality, history, and legacy that the show has created in its nearly fifty-year history! I grew up watching the classic series and now the revised one and I feel that would be a huge mistake- not not only for television, but the fans!

What do you think? Should there be a U.S. Torchwood? Leave me your pros/cons below :)