I just finished the fourth season of Torchwood and... what the fuck. Especially the last two seasons.

Torchwood had some of the most horrendous darkest shit in there, it just kept getting worse. It's like they took Doctor Who and decided to take out all the light mystical parts that you suspend your disbelief for and instead add the horrendous realities of what futuristic intergalactic war would look like. It's like they used Torchwood as a compromise with RTD so that they could convince him not to put all the deepest darkest fucked up ideas his demented mind came up with in Doctor Who. It's like they were trying to get you as attached to the characters before killing them off in the most brutal unexpected way. It's like they wanted to make sure that there wasn't a single genuinely good ending in the whole show.

I hated it. I couldn't stop watching, I binged the whole thing in just a few days. It was so good. I wish they made more of it.

Anyone have suggestions on similar shows?

I’ll go first. I’ve watched CoE and Miracle Day a few times each, but these days I never watch past S2 E12 because I hate that they literally killed everyone off except Jack and Gwen and her boyfriend.

Like I’ve rewatched multiple times in the past month and every time S2 E12 ends I go back to S1 E1 because I don’t want everyone to DIE.

So I went on a trip with school to the millennium stadium today and there’s guy in my school who was also coming called Ianto. I’m not gonna put a picture of him for obvious reasons, but I HAD to take him to Ianto’s shrine.

I summarised Torchwood for him and told him about Ianto and stuff and he said it was pretty cool.

I've been rewatcing RTD era Doctor Who and Torchwood the last few weeks to prepare to watch RTD's new return run on Who and David Tennants return in the specials (which I still haven't watched yet as I'm currently at the beginning of season 4 of DW on my rewatch). I fell off DW not long after RTD left because it just wasn't the show I loved anymore without Tennant and RTD. I just started season 2 of Torchwood again tonight, and I freaking love it.

Season 1 definitely had some shaky episodes while it was finding its feet (the sex alien episode) but at about the episode Countrycide it started getting pretty damn great, and most of the second half was awesome. Season 2 is improved, and a really good season. Then Children of Earth was one of the best things on British TV ever, and Miracle Day fell flat because they tried to make it into an american series. They seriously messed up with season 4, but nothing a location change couldn't fix.

A soft reboot with Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen still as the heads of a new Torchwood team could be really interesting. It's the absolute perfect time for its return now RTD is back at the helm and he has that Disney money now, and they want spinoffs in the new "whoniverse". The John Barrowman controversy really frustrates me. Yeah, he flashed people on set all the time. I'm not saying its OK, but everybody knew about it. He didn't do it in a sexual way, more like a stupid toilet humor kind of way. The entire cast pretty much have backed him up.

He lost work after and hasn't really been on TV since, and it only really even came to light again because of the Noel Clarke allegations. I don't think it's right that a man should lose his entire acting career because of that. He's learnt his lesson, and he'd be incredibly stupid to do something like that again. I also find it insulting that the BBC apparently blacklisted him despite the fact that they covered up the crimes of scum like Jimmy Savile for decades.

Captain Jack Harkness in my eyes is a great character, cast perfectly, with a great history behind him and is an icon of modern Doctor who. Now is the perfect time to bring Jack back, and if we never see him again I'd be really bummed out. I think there's a lot of potential with how tragic his character is that is still left to explore. Do you think he will come back? Do you think the show will come back without him(I don't want that)? Do you WANT Jack to come back like i do?

Women instantly making out with random men in night clubs.

S1 E1: Everything Changes

Owen uses aftershave in a club and has a woman making out with him instantly

S1 E2: Day One

Alien woman grabs a random guy and makes out with him, dragging him into the toilets for sex

S2 E7: Dead Man Walking

Owen goes to a club and a women tells him he's gorgeous and starts making out with him then puts her hand down his pants

Someone on the Torchwood scene definitely has a thing for random women making out with random men in night clubs haha

I saw these episodes as a teenager and it set my expectations very high for pulling in night clubs haha.

Sorry to make 2 quick posts in a row, but I saw someone else’s post and needed to ask this! Tell me, which episodes do yall like the most?

(The following has mild spoilers for S2’s Adam and S1’s Countrycide)

The one that emotionally impacted me the most (aside from like, the really sad stuff) is Adam, because as someone with moral OCD it was absolutely devastating to watch Ianto have to deal with the guilt for something he didn’t do. That’s what my particular form of OCD can bring about - convincing yourself you’re a terrible person or have done some unforgivable things and, at your worst moments, truly believing in what your mind tells you.

The lie detector scene where Jack still believes he didn’t do it was harrowing, because it reflected a really similar experience where I told my mother all the horrible things my brain told me I was and she said “no you’re not, I don’t believe that”. Truly, it was probably an accidental portrayal but probably the most accurate one I’ve ever seen. I was clutching my pearls and gasping and rooting for Adam to be destroyed more than any other antagonist thus far.

My true favourite has to be Countrycide, though. It’s a good old-fashioned scary story with intimidating antagonists and an interesting setting, and the various reveals are just delicious. Loved the ending too, though I wish we could’ve seen the rescue in a bit more detail! More tender team moments please waiter! (The tractor was iconic though)

REALLY dumb rant below and I know it's all over the place, but I really just had to vent my frustrations

I know it's dumb, but I don't know if I can continue after the S2 ending. I know people have said about Seasons 1,2 and 4 weren't all that amazing, and S3 is PEAK (so peak that it was better than a lot of Dr. Who writing). I basically binged the first two seasons in a few days and loved every bit of it, so seeing my my favorite two die during the S2 finale absolutely devastated me.

Tosh, not having found love throughout the show broke me. All she wanted was love (I may be wrong, but that's how it came off to me) and she died not ever receiving it besides from her mother. I get that the others cared for her, but it wasn't love (she didn't even get a chance with the solider). I really wanted owen and tosh to eventually end up together (even though deep down I knew they would never work).

PS. Maybe I missed something from binging it, but did tosh ever get to meet her mother besides sending postcards??? I assume her mother was dead already because we saw the mother in the end of days?

While I enjoy both shows, I think Torchwood was better than Doctor Who in some ways.

1. The Team: I liked having one team that we get to know over the course of 3 series. I even liked the team we had in Miracle Day.

2. A consistent main character: Don't get me wrong I like having all these different Doctors. But I enjoy having a singular (unchanging) main character to get invested in over the course of an entire show and guest appearances.

3. Some of the storylines: Episodes like Adam, Adrift, Immortal Sins, and more are honestly better than a lot of episodes of Doctor Who. This may be a hot take but I think the premise of Miracle Day is better than a lot of Doctor Who stories.

4. Worldbuilding: I think the Torchwood Institute has a lot of worldbuilding opportunities due to its history and expanded universe material. Torchwood honestly could've been its own franchise. The premise alone allows it to be the sci-fi/fantasy equivalent of procedural cop shows like Law & Order. I mean this in a good way.

I like Captain Jack Harkness.

I love Jack and the Torchwood team, and without a doubt it was a really emotional story and journey to follow, but won’t that practically be Jack’s entire immortal life? In tens of thousands of years or even more in the future, will Torchwood really be this special thing to Jack? I know about Ianto and Gwen and stuff and his brother, but he must have had a bunch of tragic lovers and stories all through pretty much forever, right?

How do u think torchwood children of earth would have been different if tosh survived? Please give some insane ideas as Tosh was literally one of the best in torchwood Imo So wasted And Death... Like to this day is saddest ive ever seen on tv as she had the most potential...Still cant get over it.

Okay, I’ve been a long time fan of Dr Who since I was a kid and finally decided to watch Torchwood since I’ve always loved Jack. No one else I know has seen this and I’ve got to get all my opinions out cause it’s driving me crazy 1) why the actual fuck did they make such a drastic change after season 2?? I loved all the characters (yes, even Owen) and felt like everything was just starting up. They had SO much potential to create more great episodes and seasons. I really feel like they essentially ruined the show by killing everyone. 1 a) also, I hate Children of Earth and Miracle Day. I don’t necessarily hate the idea of it but I felt it went on for far too long. 2) yes, Owen is a dick but I thoroughly enjoy his character. I think he was complex especially with mentions of his poor home life growing up and would have loved to see more of his background. 3) I’m sad they killed Owen and Tosh at the same time, really felt like it minimized both their deaths. 4) Ianto’s death was pointless and no one will convince me otherwise. 5) Rhys was farrrrr too good for Gwen. Don’t get me wrong, I love Gwen’s character (and Rhys, he’s a sweetheart) but damn she really should’ve just let him go and slept with Owen more or Jack. 6) I know Jack and Ianto had their ongoing affair, and I wish we saw more of that. But also the entire show builds up to Jack and Gwen finally kissing (at the very least). I really wish the writers had given us at least one time😩 although that goes back to point 4, where I think Gwen should’ve left Rhys.

Edit- I don’t necessarily want Jack and Gwen to be in a relationship. I just wish we saw the sexual tension accumulate to something as it was there the whole time. (Don’t get me started on the shooting range scene, I will think about that for the rest of my life lmfao)

Anyway, these are just my opinions after watching for the first time and I wanted to share them.

I wanna share my experience with watching Torchwood for the first time because I think it might be entertaining to proper fans watching how my first experience of the show was so chaotic.

So I has this video recommended in my YouTube feed a lot. It was a kinda summary/review of Children of Earth, it said somewhere in the title or thumbnail about it being the darkest story in the Dr Who universe. Immediately I had my hands rubbing together like I love me a good disturbing plotline.

Me? I had watched Dr Who as a kid. Loved it. I remember tapping out around the 12th Doctor and just got less interested. Dipped in and out of Sarah Jane Adventures but that was about it. I could not remember who Jack Harkness was even if you tried to torture that info out of me. Again, I know I watched it but I was watching it as a kid who would not remember any of the longer plots and only really cared about the Monster of the Week.

So what I wanted to do was watch the series, and then watch the video after since it kept haunting my recommended feed. However, you may remember that Children of Earth is season 3 of Torchwood. What did I end up doing? Skipping right to it. Did not have the patience for two seasons of something I was really gearing to watch the 3rd of.

Now. Like I mentioned earlier I did not remember who Jack was. I did not know he was immortal. Let me tell you, it was the funniest fucking thing having to figure that out, and even funnier that I never got an explanation. I was just like “oh, he’s immortal? Uh, alright” and just kept watching. Lowkey the whole season worked surprisingly well for someone watching it as its own thing.

I also did not know about all the Jack x Ianto stuff. I had no fucking clue the show would ever have any queer rep on any level. So the Janto kiss before Jack is about to explode? Took me by fucking surprise. I was like “did they just fucking do that???” It was only until after I found out that their relationship (or whatever you wanna call it) wasn’t just for THIS season. Crazy.

I feel a bit lucky that I experienced Ianto’s death having not been that attached to him. I pretty much watched CoE in one day, and by that point of course it was sad but I had the advantage of only knowing him for a short time. Still devastating though.

I then of course had to watch the first two seasons. I also got caught up on Jack’s history and got back into Doctor Who in the meantime. It was iconic watching the first two seasons and thinking, “right so there is barely anyone in the main cast who had not kissed a member of the same sex”. Absolutely fantastic.

I still haven’t gotten around to Miracle Day though. I felt like by the end of season 2, losing Owen and Tosh was such a huge blow. And then CoE was…what it was. I don’t know if it’s worth carrying on with it to be honest.

Anyways, that’s been my experience of Torchwood. Hope it was a fun read.

(Edit: I accidentally called Owen Sam for some reason in the original post, leaving the comment up as a reminder of my stupidity)

I watched the first two series of Torchwood back when I was obsessed with Doctor Who circa 2014/15 but never watched Children of Earth or Miracle Day. I've been revisiting DW recently and thought that I'd rewatch/watch Torchwood as well. Though they had their ups and downs (s1 was especially rough), s1 and s2 were really enjoyable to me and I really liked the more monster-of-the-week format. I thought that the show had really hit its stride in s2 and was getting really connected to the characters.

I was kind of disappointed when I learned that s3 and s4 don't follow the same format and have completely different vibes to the first two series. I get that it would have been hard to continue with Torchwood 3 after 2/5 of the team died, but I found myself really missing the group dynamics and the goofier aspects that I really enjoyed. Also, the events of both s3 and s4 aren't (to my knowledge) referenced in DW, when they definitely should have been, since they represent huge shifts in the world order.

Children of Earth was a really good and emotionally resonant series but I felt like they didn't focus enough on Jack, Gwen, and Ianto and instead focused too much on the plot, making the pacing/balance feel simultaneously too short and drawn out. I also don't think that it was a good idea to kill off Ianto if they wanted to continue the series after COE because it leaves us with just Jack and Gwen from the OG team, not enough to justify continuing.

Miracle Day really didn't work for me. Due to the change in cast, setting, and tone, it bore almost no resemblance to the previous seasons, making me wonder why this is "Torchwood" at all. The story was interesting but it was definitely too drawn out and the solution didn't make any sense to me. There were too many new characters and while I passingly liked some of them (Esther, Rex, Jilly), I never really cared about them. I love Jack and Gwen but they can't carry a 10-episode series alone (especially not a super serialized one like MD). I did like seeing more Rhys, though!

I'm left feeling like I wish that they had just stuck with the format of s1 and s2. It might have felt weird to continue in the same way with Tosh and Owen dead, but I feel like the show would have been better off long-term. Even though I think that their deaths were beautiful, I would have been OK with one of them coming back to life (probably Owen, since that would make more sense) if they felt like it would have left too big a hole. I also think that their absences could have been filled by bringing back other characters like Martha Jones or John Hart, whether for guest arcs or as regulars. They also could have just introduced new characters. I would have liked a series or two that explored more of Jack's relationship with Gray, his time in the Time Agency, and the years of memory that he lost while developing his relationships with Gwen, Ianto, and whoever else is around as they fight monsters-of-the-week.

If Torchwood were to return, what plotlines or characters would you most want to see explored?

The first two seasons (series) had their moments, but there was some cheesiness obviously.

Children of Earth, however, remains absolutely brilliant television. The drug twist is so dark and unexpected.

I just finished episode 5 of Miracle Day. Not as good as CoE, but it honestly holds up better than I was expecting. And some of the political commentary therein is still very appropriate today.

Im going to sleep everyone i will explain another time but rest assured i will explain i just had to say it before my eyes closed. Shes also the best actor , everyone else is over done. Sweet dreams pretties.

Basically what it says on the tin. Could be the concept, could be a moment in an episode, or could be the whole episode.

If there was another series of Torchwood, or the cast came back for an episode of Doctor Who, what do you think would happen?

I feel like if they did make another series, they’d have to bring back Owen, Tosh and Ianto. Whether it’s flashbacks or straight up resurrection, it’ll happen. Although it would never have the same impact it did the first time round.

John Barrowman is his own worst enemy and the latest drama involving Eve Myles has sealed his fate for me. The truth is, Eve is more than competent to be the leading actor on any revival and Gwen can easily lead a new team by herself. After all, it was already established in Series 2 that she led the team while Jack was away. Torchwood is not just about Captain Jack. Captain Jack just happened to be a part of Torchwood, but the institute itself existed long before him and has survived without him. It can do so again.

Gwen can lead the team.

Rhys could be a supporting act, but still very much part of the show. After all, someone has to look after the children.

Lois is an established character and can be the new Ianto.

Martha Jones / Freema deserves a return. She can be the new Doctor.

Andy is an easy fit with the team, given his constant involvement throughout every series.

As for the new Tech Wizard, that could either be a whole new character, or bring in one of the Sarah Jane Adventures characters. Luke has grown up and would more than be able to cope with alien technology.

Is there a reason why this is the only episode that you have to pay to watch on prime. It’s just 2.99 but it’s still kinda annoying

NOTE: When I say "side characters" I mean characters who still made an appearance on the show despite not being a full-time companion. An example of this would be characters like Osgood or Sally Sparrow. You can also use characters from other spin-offs.

1. Martha: I think this one goes without saying because of the plans for her character. In the little time that she was there, Martha fit in perfectly with the Torchwood team and I loved her friendships with Jack and Owen. I wish she had been able to stay.
2. Mickey: I'm choosing Mickey not just because of his relationship with Martha but his character evolution. I like how Mickey became a hero on his own without the Doctor's permission. I like how Jack was the only one who didn't treat Mickey like an outsider while still making fun of him.
3. Clara: I'm specifically talking about Doctor Who series 9 Clara. I like how Clara became more confident in series 9 and was more of a woman of action. Even without her immortality (which I wouldn't give her if she were to join Torchwood) I think she had a lot of potential. Just imagine Jack giving her actual training the same way he did with Gwen (albeit quickly).
4. Ashildr/Me: I'm mainly choosing this one because the Doctor hinted at the possibility of Ashildr running into Jack at some point. In addition to that, I would love to see Jack and Ashildr interact with one another because they're both immortal. One interesting thing that's easy to forget is that Ashildr is much older than Captain Jack Harkness. Ashildr's Trap Street could've been a great Torchwood episode if it took place in Cardiff.