In less than three hours (as I write this bit) Torchwood will return to UK screens (on in the US last week - boo!) with Miracle Day: Episode 1. I find myself reasonably positive, I know this is ten episodes on one story line, I have mostly avoided spoilers, I expect it to be more Americanised and it will have to introduce a new audience to what is Torchwood and who is Captain Jack.

Beyond that I have a feeling the RTD (Russell T Davies) cares about this project and it has had some care and attention. Beyond that I will let you know later…

Immediate Reaction

Too grim, too blunt and too slow. Still Torchwood but trying to tell a story that’s probably too big for a series.

The Good and the not so Good

Good: Jack’s back, Gwen Cooper is super and Rhys was tremendous. Enough of the old school Welsh setting was retained to link to the past. Some sub-plots such as who sent the email. Yes well made, dramatic.

Not so good: pointless shoot them up scene on the beach - nobody can die, why do this! The head removal scene - unnecessarily pushing back boundaries in a way that didn’t need to be done - someone could have described seeing living head. All the mystery on Jack can be injured would have gone over the heads of the new audience I think. Also Jack ‘re-appears’ within hours of Torchwood being mentioned to release the malware - pretty good from across the galaxy.

Next?

I don’t think this is a good story for anything except a one-off, I also at this point think the ten parts will need to tell two or three major stories and almost be a mini-series.

I will watch it but it needs to sharpen up. Introducing new characters is also a difficult gig when they are not the narrative figure.