This show is action packed and fast paced, there is no doubt. It is set shortly after the cyberman invasion of earth and the destruction of the Torchwood London offices. We learn that there were several autonomous offices set up all over the world to capture alien technology and repel alien invasions. Captain Jack is in charge of one such office, set in the city of Cardiff in Wales. A suspicious policewoman uncovers the organisation, and we follow her exploits as she joins its ranks and goes about her daily business.
It is a much murkier show than Doctor Who, and comparisons have been made about the difference between Star Trek Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, but Torchwood is a bit darker than Deep Space Nine ever was. Murder is a commonplace thing, and the very first scene featuring an alien has a rather gruesome death in it.
The darker side of life in the slums is fairly accurately portrayed, but is a little disturbing. There's no doubt that you do not want your kids watching this program. It contains scenes of a sexual nature in ways that aren't that far from a criminal offense, and the line of decency is crossed over on several occasions. Hopefully this was just an "attention getter" episode, and not typical of the series as a whole, because the basic premise is very good.
As can be expected from any new venture, the actors aren't entirely sure how they should be playing their parts, and as a result tend to overdo them slightly. The members of Torchwood seem very shallow and one-dimensional, which may be intentional, but leads you to think that it's not going to be much of a show. Hopefully, the characters will develop a lot further and pad out a bit as the show progresses.
Even Captain Jack, with his appearances on Doctor Who, is a bit wooden and shallow, although his mysterious nature works in his favour, since we don't know a lot about the illusive Captain Jack.
The show is about the right length, despite the first episode being mostly character and world introduction, with enough breaks from action packed running around to keep the show from seeming frantic, which is a problem with some shorter shows. It could probably stand being a bit longer, and no doubt the writers will use the classic "To be continued.." to have a particularly involved plot.
Meanwhile, many mysteries remain. How did Captain Jack get back from the future after he was abandoned by the Doctor and Rose at the end of Season One of Doctor Who? Was his amazing ability caused by Rose as the Bad Wolf, or was that incident only one event in a long chain which began much earlier? And why did he go to such studied pains to draw our attention to that hand in the glass jar?
We shall just have to wait and see.
