BBC America: Torchwood Children of Earth Miniseries

[+ ArVaGuy]

I should have started this thread earlier in the week but oh well…. I know we’ve got more than a couple of science fiction fans participating on this board. BBC America aired a five night miniseries Torchwood – Children of Earth this week. Did anyone else out there view this miniseries and were you blown away by it?

 

Over 20 years ago, I read Frank Herbert’s Dune and was profoundly affected by the themes and storytelling in that novel. So much so that I read it every few years and still find it incredible. This week after viewing Torchwood COE, I’m having that same thought provoking experience. This was more than a mere science fiction program on cable, the storytelling arch is layered with such complexities that absorbing the themes feels like sensory overload.

 

Here’s a couple of links for background, this show’s too complex to synopsize here.

 

http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/262/torchwood-coe-episode-1.jsp

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Earth

[seeker630]

Great show - and you still can catch it!

 

I should have started this thread earlier in the week but oh well…. I know we’ve got more than a couple of science fiction fans participating on this board. BBC America aired a five night miniseries Torchwood – Children of Earth this week. Did anyone else out there view this miniseries and were you blown away by it?

 

Over 20 years ago, I read Frank Herbert’s Dune and was profoundly affected by the themes and storytelling in that novel. So much so that I read it every few years and still find it incredible. This week after viewing Torchwood COE, I’m having that same thought provoking experience. This was more than a mere science fiction program on cable, the storytelling arch is layered with such complexities that absorbing the themes feels like sensory overload.

 

Here’s a couple of links for background, this show’s too complex to synopsize here.

 

http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/262/torchwood-coe-episode-1.jsp

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Earth

 

I too have been incredibly impressed by the quality of this show. The 2 previous seasons were very good, but this one kicked it up to a whole new level of serious drama. And very scary & thouhgt-provoking, in terms of what humanity is capable of. This is one of those films/movies that really is entertaining as well as thought-provoking.

 

**** All the episodes, plus an introductory segment, are being re-broadcast on BBCAM Sunday afternoon, so you can TIVO or DVR it.

 

btw, ArVa Guy - I had the same experience with Dune, lo those many years ago!

[TruthBTold]

Literature

 

I can recall that Dune was regularly read as a selection in my college literature classes.

[+ ArVaGuy]

I'm totally geeked up for Sunday afternoon and will be purchasing the DVD next week for sure.

 

Torchwood's creator, Russell T. Davies, is certainly worthy of several major awards for this program. If he's not recognized by BAFTA for this work there's no justice.

 

For you non fans of this program, you don't have to have watched the two previous series to fully appreciate the dynamics of this miniseries. The story stands alone in many respects and opens the program for new audiences.

 

Seeker, I found the moral dilemmas faced by every character to be very well defined and their choices seriously affected the plot. Such is usually not the case in most television writing these days. The real villains turn out to be ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstance. Considering that sixty years ago humans were loaded into boxcars to be shipped to camps where they were placed in ovens the actions of these fictional characters is not beyond the realm of what humanity is capable.

[KMEM]

I hope the machinations of the Holocaust were not still going on in 1949. I am sure you meant 60 odd years ago.

 

The program looks interesting. I will have to check it out.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[+ ArVaGuy]

I hope the machinations of the Holocaust were not still going on in 1949. I am sure you meant 60 odd years ago.

 

The program looks interesting. I will have to check it out.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

 

Consider it a rounding error.

[KMEM]

My (eating) errors have contributed mightily to my "rounding" errors.

 

I have now found the programs that you have suggested and requested that Directv save them for posterity or at least for me to view.

 

Thanks.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[Guest rohale]

I'm totally geeked up for Sunday afternoon and will be purchasing the DVD next week for sure.

 

Torchwood's creator, Russell T. Davies, is certainly worthy of several major awards for this program. If he's not recognized by BAFTA for this work there's no justice.

 

Actually there has been justice as Torchwood won the BAFTA CYMRU (Bafta Wales) award in 2007 for best drama. What suprised a lot of people in that given year was the fact that Torchwood managed to beat out it's parent show "Doctor Who". Definitely Russell T Davies received full acknowledgement for his contribution to the show.

 

However in the last two years the level of competition has grown for Torchwood to compete with. With television shows like Wallander, Shameless, Spooks and even the resurgence of a revitalised Doctor Who which are now considered great quality standard shows of high standard, Torchwood very much has found itself as the outsider and just about survives yearly renewal.

 

Not to sound the alarm bell, but one issue of concern for Torchwood fans has been the future of Russell T Davies association with the programme. Apparantly rumours have been running rampantly that Russell T Davies is moving to America in an apparent attempt to try his luck within Hollywood and will leave him no time to work on Torchwood. The BBC have made it clear that the property of Torchwood is theirs and not Davies and shows ratings will decide whether another serial will go into production or not. This is where things stand today.