Discoveries: Dr Who and its amazing spin off Torchwood

So, I’ve never really been into the British sci fi. They always have poor effects. As good as the stories can be, their translation onto the screen tends to come across as a little amateurish compared to the big budget sleeker American versions of them. But I suppose as their effects budget tends to be lacking, they have to work that much harder on the story and the characters. Look at the hilarious ‘Sean of the dead’ and ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. Okay, these two are the ones that immediately come to mind so I googled ‘British sci fi movies’ and the results produced:
Quatermass and the Pit,
Day of the Triffids,
Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun,
The Day The Earth Caught Fire.

I’ve not even heard of these titles, but I will now make a point to find them and watch them.

Back to the subject at hand, 2009 has brought for me exposure to all the BBC DSTV channels and through this, I have discovered Dr Who and now, what has become my favourite thing on TV since hhhmmmm, Heroes?

Dr Who is one of those serieses that have been on air forever. In that time there’ve been about 10 actors that have portrayed the lead character who regenerates every single time to become, The Doctor. Currently on BBC Entertainment, the Doctor is being played by David Tennant whose appearance goes against everything a leading man should be. He is thin, tall and nerdy looking. The premise of the series is really that The Doctor is a time lord, is from a planet far far away and his race was killed off by their mortal enemy the Daleks. He travels the universe in a telephone booth called the Tardis, and has human companions, currently Martha Jones. He also has another companion called Captain Jack Harkness who is a Time Agent. He, is the hook that got me into this whole thing.

Torchwood is a spin off of Dr Who, Captain Jack puts together a team in Cardiff (situated right in the middle of a time/space rift, which makes it prone to having visitors from another time and space) to battle supernaturals in the area. Captain Jack is sometimes described as an omnisexual as opposed to bisexual, basically, he will do anything.

I suppose what I love the most about this series is that it is funny, gory, sexy, clever. And although the special effects leave a lot to e desired, the story lines make up for it 10 times. Take for example this one episode titled, the CountryCide. Very suspenseful and concludes that with everything that they’ve battled in the past, humans take the cake in being the most evil species. My personal favourite so far was the episode ‘Captain Jack Harkness’, very romantic.

Torchwood’s last episode of season one aired this past Sunday and I don’t see series 2 on the schedule. Dr Who on the other hand continues and airs on Sunday nights at 7pm. Its just the thing to get you going for the week ahead!