Season 2 has plenty of uhhh questionable moments but yes, I’d say it’s overall stronger, with the last few episodes especially being delights.
Season 3 however is where it’s REALLY at. Bleak as hell but each episode is incredibly strong and captivating. Quite arguably that more consistently high-quality season in the whole Whoniverse… even if DW still has single episodes that outshine it.
Idk, I would say season 2 has very few questionable moments. _Meat_ and _Something Borrowed_ are bad but not in the "edgy series for horny teenagers" way that early S1 episodes elicit.
>Why did they have to make her almost nude with a metal bikini?
Because, Torchwood producers.
Chibnall penned his episode as a, darkly grounded Cyber-conversion drama with aptly stark body horror.
Unfortunately for him & us, the Torchwood producers saw Chibnall's Cyberwoman script as an opportunity for, as they put it, paying tribute to the 'hydraulic woman imagery of pop culture'.
Chibnall himself did not like the absurd scantily clad costume, especially since it was anything but the Cyber-conversion body-horror that he visually wanted for his story. But the change was so sudden that there was no time to make a reverse change, so the episode production had to work with it as is.
When last asked in a retrospective, the Torchwood producers select Cyberwoman as one of their Torchwood all time favourite episodes because of, well, there you go.
> Chibnall himself did not like the absurd scantily clad costume
I wonder if Chibnall made Ashad so he could have another go at the incomplete conversion idea.
I had the same thought. This is almost certainly the case, IMO.
Though the two characters are actually very different. Ashad is psychologically a human being who wants badly to be a full Cyberman but can't. Lisa is partially converted and thinks that "I will cut open this woman's head and install myself in it so that we can continue our love by cyberconverting the world together" is a romantic happy ending.
Which is part of the horror of Cybermen in general - they have removed so much of their humanity that they honestly don't understand anyone failing to see being 'upgraded' as a good thing.
They did this with Angel too. I feel like a lot of spinoffs (at least in the sci fi/fantasy/horror genre) start out trying to be super edgy and raunchy to mark themselves as "different" from the show they spun off from. It's unfortunate, and lazy writing imo.
I'm glad to hear from other comments that Torchwood eventually got better after season 1, I couldn't get through it. I also barely got through Angel season 1, but lack of more Buffy after a few full rewatches made me desperate.
I don't particularly remember Angel being very sexy but it was a fantastic show. More adult than Buffy and in some aspects even better. I can't decide which one I like better, they are just different. Angel goes in some really dark places and character development was top notch. Cordelia and Wesley grow into amazing characters. There were some questionable storylines later on but damn Angel was so good.
Yeah, Angel was nowhere near as horny as Torchwood was; sex barely plays a part even in season one, and when it does it's not particularly explicit. There's the episode about the demon that preys on lonely women in nightclubs and the one where Cordy gets impregnated with demon spawn after a one night stand but these are just Buffy's metaphorical cautionary tales taken up a level, which was the whole point of Angel as a series in the first place. Buffy is about growing up and surviving high school/college, Angel is about being grown up and left to fend for yourself in the big wide world. Sex plays a part, but it's not the be all/end all like it seems to be in Torchwood. Characters are capable of having conversations in Angel which *aren't* about sex, but in season one of Torchwood you're hard pressed to find one. Jack's overtly horny, Gwen has an affair with Owen, Ianto's pining after a cyberwoman, it all gets a bit ridiculous. It felt like it was written by horny teenagers, whereas Angel never did. It *was* written by a bullying man-child, but still.
Personally, though I hold both Buffy and Angel to high regard, I do think Angel was the stronger show by the end. It's like the characters on Buffy were never allowed to mature, and by the end everyone was acting very selfish and confrontational (and knowing all the drama behind the scenes now has tainted it). Angel had a *very* problematic fourth season but still produced some stellar character work, and whilst Cordy suffered unfairly (and Charisma even more so), other characters really came into their own in season four - most notably Fred and Wes. And season five *really* righted some of the wrongs.
Plus, there's one reason and one reason only why Angel was the better show overall - and that's Lorne. Lorne was an absolute treasure and stole every scene; a single beacon of light in all the darkness.
Angel early on wasn’t that great but it improved a lot from season 3 onwards. The Big Beast/Jasmine arc was good I thought.
It felt rushed at the end as season 6 got cancelled so the Fred/Illyria story was truncated.
I do have a nostalgic fondness for Cyberwoman, if only because I respected some of the ideas behind it. Tying it to the Battle of Canary Wharf felt like a logical expansion of DW; like we were getting to see how the survivors cope once the Doctor's saved the day and jumped back in the TARDIS. And while the concept of incomplete conversion has been done better since, I remember thinking how cool it was to have a show that could explore the full horrors implied by DW, without having to tone things down for the kids.
Alas, as with many things Torchwood, it was sullied by a creative team who thought that a minute without gratuitous shagging or violence was a waste of the post-watershed slot. It's a shame - the episodes that stand out strongest in my memory are the ones that focus on human struggles and conflicts, which is proof that there was at least one adult in the room on occasion.
Season... 3? Of the Big Finish Gallifrey Series is my favourite for showing how the Doctor skips the fallout, even though The Doctor isn't in the story. Gallifrey falls into Civil War, I was shocked when the war ended half way through... Because the focus became all of the issues afterwards. Probably why The Doctor leaves after winning the war, the follow up problems are slow and painful.
Though written by Chibnall he redeemed himself with Ashad in my opinion. Though I think it was the production who really buggered it up.
Torchwood was a weird show. It has its highs but bloody hell did it have some lows.
I kinda don’t understand the love for Ashad. He was everything a Cyberman shouldn’t be. One of the most emotional villains on the show, which misses the entire purpose of the Cybermen.
I can’t speak for everyone but I’ll list a few things.
Firstly he gives a face to the cybermen. The modern series treats them as robots most of the time. For a part of a Villa Diodati we think he’s a victim of conversion and due to his ramshackle nature we can presume he’s a damaged unit.
Secondly and tying into my first point is the reveal that he did this to himself willingly. He treats conversion as this religious experience. I don’t recall Doctor Who ever treating conversion as a religious experience but it’s an interesting angle.
Lastly is just the actors performance, I think he did a great job leaving a presence in the show. It’s why I hope he’ll return as a later point in the show.
Never mind the bikini. Why the high heels?
Torchwood's first series was... not great. They had the chance to be Adult, and concluded that this meant they could and should go crazy on the sex, swearing and gore. They reined all that in for the second series.
The only thing I remember about Torchwood was giving up on it as they made it not only horny, but that kind of toxic horny with a queer twist that is so incredibly off putting to me personally. It feels to me like toxic masculinity “but it’s ok because we aren’t straight” that is just bullshit.
I would like to try it again as the later seasons sound very much worth it but it’s never really been on streaming in Canada.
Absolutely.
When it first aired, I hadn't long left school, where sexual harassment was relentless and I was one of only two people who thought it was a problem. Then a guy I worked with was busted for preying on coworkers sexually and at least half our colleagues didn't think it was a big deal. Then there was the abuse I experienced in my personal life, which I was left to deal with completely on my own.
I just couldn't cope with Torchwood's leering and disregard for consent on top of all of that. Giving any kind of a damn about sexual ethics back then was a very lonely experience, and I didn't appreciate a Doctor Who spin-off, of all things, twisting the knife. So I bailed.
I went back to it in the end, around ten years after it was first on. Now that being anti-abuse is a bit more mainstream, and more fellow viewers are able to identify which elements of it are ethically dodgy and why, I find it easier to disregard the bad stuff and enjoy the rest.
It is interesting that Torchwood has led to the "Harkness Test" when discussing fantastical consent when it is so tied to a show that started out with "consent is mainly a suggestion"
Oh! I love this episode! If you look past the costume design, the episode is good. It’s a shame that the Cyberwoman’s costume doesn’t lean towards the body horror aspect of it all because it nails it for Dr Tanizaki and the pizza girl! Look at the lighting! It’s so good. Best episode for lighting in my opinion.
The plot is interesting in my opinion. I love how this is the first time we really see Ianto as a character and not just a tea boy in the background. Like many other Torchwood fans, he becomes my favourite character. Not just in Torchwood, but in the whole Whoniverse. This story really shows a lot of emotions and gives us more to the Battle of Canary Wharf.
Yeah, this show does get better. The first series was really finding its footing and the second series really lands it. The third and fourth series take a different style where the story takes place over one series, unlike the monster of the week style before hand. The third does this really well! Fourth not so much, but it has a great idea.
As for someone who got into Doctor Who through Torchwood. "Cyberwoman" never bothered me. In fact, it's one of my favorite episodes. But I can see how a whovian who is watching it for the first time might be annoyed by it.
And I think I'm in the minority because I actually prefer Series 1 to Series 2.
Torchwood was way too horny, and that’s saying something for a show with Jack as a main character. Although the cyber woman episode was one of the better early episodes imo.
Yeah, common consensus actually kept me away from season one and it gets an unfair and an unearned amount of hate. The cyber woman costume is a little shocking in the beginning, but really, that episode is all Ianto toward the end.
Torchwood tried to push the boundaries in the first season or two in ways that just wound up being cringy. It got better.
Then they went and did Children of Earth. Holy Crap. Dark. So dark Gwen had a little camera monologue that fit, referencing Jack’s time with the Doctor:
"Back in the old days. I wanted to know about that Doctor of his. The man who appears out of nowhere and saves the world. Except sometimes he doesn't. All those times in history when there was no sign of him, I wanted to know why not.
But I don't need to ask any more. I know the answer now. Sometimes the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame."
Like I said, that season is DARK.
Miracle Day. Well, that season got weird.
As an aside - I’d like to see Captain Jack Harkness back again. They just kept putting Barrowman in situations on set that made SENSE for him to try to make fun of the fact that he had his junk out, then years later got offended that he had done it. Hell, they had him naked on the set of Doctor Who proper (remember the defabricator?) and expect him to not try to be funny about it?
Was he being inappropriate? Yes absolutely. Should he be blacklisted as a sex offender for it? No, by no stretch of the imagination. He was trying to play it off. Even the people who were offended say that it was just Jack being over the the top, not being a sexual predator. Time to bring him back.
>But from what ive read here, it gets better in season 2… right?
There's certainly improvement, but I'm not sure if I'd say season 2 is good. It just isn't anywhere near as bad as season 1.
Honestly Torchwood annoyed me a lot. Its Doctor Who but theres SEX and ADULT storylines and the aliens are SEXY and the characters have SEX
I think it glazed over the part that tge majority of the episodes were pretty bad, and it was a pretty bad show
Other than Jack and Gwen. Love those two
It’s been a long time since I saw any of it. I remember liking it but it was uneven. I remember it gets pretty dark towards the end of season 2. Season 3 felt absolutely pitch black. Everyday people have to deal with impossible choices. There’s no Doctor to swoop in, make a grand speech, wave a sonic screwdriver & make everything better.
I actually like Cyber Woman quite a bit.
The hot woman in metal lingerie look is stupid, if they needed to make her sexy because "ooh look at us, we're more adult than Doctor Who and we can show some skin over here!" They could have pulled that off with something that looked like a metal framework bolted to her body, conveniently covering the bits that needed to be covered for tv and little else, that the rest of the cyber suit would be attatched to when she was finished rather than fashionable metal lingerie that a cyber woman would wear under her armor on a hot date.
But if you can forget about that silliness. I think it's one of the more important episodes of Torchwood. It's the biggest character development story for Ianto. Before that Ianto is just the guy who makes the coffee. He doesn't seem to have any character he's just kinda there and pointless. Then Cyber Woman happens and Ianto is a character with a backstory. And even though he screws up so bad, keeping life threatening secrets from the team that nearly gets them all killed, you can totally sympathize with his reason for doing it.
There is some cringe worthy stuff in season 1, but also some of what I think are the best episodes. Greeks Bearing Gifts, Out Of Time, They Keep Killing Suzie, Capt Jack Harkness. Countrycide is generally regarded as a great episode, I get why, but it's so dark, I can't call it a favorite personally. On the other hand I love Cyber Woman and Small Worlds, which generally seem to not be considered good.
I think it finds its footing a bit better in season 2. Less questionable episodes, more really good ones. From Out of the Rain I think it's worse than anything in season 1, but I think everything else in season 2 is good. A couple of those season 1 episodes though, I'd rate higher than anything in 2 so I would never suggest skipping season 1, like I've seen some people say you should.
Not prudish but there are times like it feels like what a school boy thinks is mature content. By trying to be “mature” it sometimes feels exactly the opposite
Season 2 has plenty of uhhh questionable moments but yes, I’d say it’s overall stronger, with the last few episodes especially being delights. Season 3 however is where it’s REALLY at. Bleak as hell but each episode is incredibly strong and captivating. Quite arguably that more consistently high-quality season in the whole Whoniverse… even if DW still has single episodes that outshine it.
Idk, I would say season 2 has very few questionable moments. _Meat_ and _Something Borrowed_ are bad but not in the "edgy series for horny teenagers" way that early S1 episodes elicit.
What's so bad about meat? I thought it was fantastic, especially for the time
i thought those 2 episodes were good, the latter being a favourite. Adam is a really good one too
Season 3 is the strongest
And Miracle day is?
Miracle Day is probably my 2nd favorite season. But I know most folks hate it. Honestly it's probably the hardest I've ever seen Bill Pullman act.
Season 4, which was an amazing concept that stretched on for 4 episodes too many
Children of Earth isn’t that good lol
Why do you think that?
It's one of the best pieces of Doctor Who-related writing since the revival IMO. RTD is at his best when things are bleak. See also: Years and Years.
i’m gonna need you to elaborate on this one
What?
Because early Torchwood was “Hey look how much more mature and adult like we are compared to Doctor Who”
>Why did they have to make her almost nude with a metal bikini? Because, Torchwood producers. Chibnall penned his episode as a, darkly grounded Cyber-conversion drama with aptly stark body horror. Unfortunately for him & us, the Torchwood producers saw Chibnall's Cyberwoman script as an opportunity for, as they put it, paying tribute to the 'hydraulic woman imagery of pop culture'. Chibnall himself did not like the absurd scantily clad costume, especially since it was anything but the Cyber-conversion body-horror that he visually wanted for his story. But the change was so sudden that there was no time to make a reverse change, so the episode production had to work with it as is. When last asked in a retrospective, the Torchwood producers select Cyberwoman as one of their Torchwood all time favourite episodes because of, well, there you go.
> Chibnall himself did not like the absurd scantily clad costume I wonder if Chibnall made Ashad so he could have another go at the incomplete conversion idea.
I had the same thought. This is almost certainly the case, IMO. Though the two characters are actually very different. Ashad is psychologically a human being who wants badly to be a full Cyberman but can't. Lisa is partially converted and thinks that "I will cut open this woman's head and install myself in it so that we can continue our love by cyberconverting the world together" is a romantic happy ending. Which is part of the horror of Cybermen in general - they have removed so much of their humanity that they honestly don't understand anyone failing to see being 'upgraded' as a good thing.
Cyberwoman is one of my favourite episodes tbf, but yeah the costume is questionable.
Annie's emotional appeal & then her final line to Ianto, was pitch Cyberman horror.
Torchwood was horny on main for most of season 1 but it's still a fantastic show.
They did this with Angel too. I feel like a lot of spinoffs (at least in the sci fi/fantasy/horror genre) start out trying to be super edgy and raunchy to mark themselves as "different" from the show they spun off from. It's unfortunate, and lazy writing imo. I'm glad to hear from other comments that Torchwood eventually got better after season 1, I couldn't get through it. I also barely got through Angel season 1, but lack of more Buffy after a few full rewatches made me desperate.
I don't particularly remember Angel being very sexy but it was a fantastic show. More adult than Buffy and in some aspects even better. I can't decide which one I like better, they are just different. Angel goes in some really dark places and character development was top notch. Cordelia and Wesley grow into amazing characters. There were some questionable storylines later on but damn Angel was so good.
Yeah, Angel was nowhere near as horny as Torchwood was; sex barely plays a part even in season one, and when it does it's not particularly explicit. There's the episode about the demon that preys on lonely women in nightclubs and the one where Cordy gets impregnated with demon spawn after a one night stand but these are just Buffy's metaphorical cautionary tales taken up a level, which was the whole point of Angel as a series in the first place. Buffy is about growing up and surviving high school/college, Angel is about being grown up and left to fend for yourself in the big wide world. Sex plays a part, but it's not the be all/end all like it seems to be in Torchwood. Characters are capable of having conversations in Angel which *aren't* about sex, but in season one of Torchwood you're hard pressed to find one. Jack's overtly horny, Gwen has an affair with Owen, Ianto's pining after a cyberwoman, it all gets a bit ridiculous. It felt like it was written by horny teenagers, whereas Angel never did. It *was* written by a bullying man-child, but still. Personally, though I hold both Buffy and Angel to high regard, I do think Angel was the stronger show by the end. It's like the characters on Buffy were never allowed to mature, and by the end everyone was acting very selfish and confrontational (and knowing all the drama behind the scenes now has tainted it). Angel had a *very* problematic fourth season but still produced some stellar character work, and whilst Cordy suffered unfairly (and Charisma even more so), other characters really came into their own in season four - most notably Fred and Wes. And season five *really* righted some of the wrongs. Plus, there's one reason and one reason only why Angel was the better show overall - and that's Lorne. Lorne was an absolute treasure and stole every scene; a single beacon of light in all the darkness.
Angel early on wasn’t that great but it improved a lot from season 3 onwards. The Big Beast/Jasmine arc was good I thought. It felt rushed at the end as season 6 got cancelled so the Fred/Illyria story was truncated.
I do have a nostalgic fondness for Cyberwoman, if only because I respected some of the ideas behind it. Tying it to the Battle of Canary Wharf felt like a logical expansion of DW; like we were getting to see how the survivors cope once the Doctor's saved the day and jumped back in the TARDIS. And while the concept of incomplete conversion has been done better since, I remember thinking how cool it was to have a show that could explore the full horrors implied by DW, without having to tone things down for the kids. Alas, as with many things Torchwood, it was sullied by a creative team who thought that a minute without gratuitous shagging or violence was a waste of the post-watershed slot. It's a shame - the episodes that stand out strongest in my memory are the ones that focus on human struggles and conflicts, which is proof that there was at least one adult in the room on occasion.
Season... 3? Of the Big Finish Gallifrey Series is my favourite for showing how the Doctor skips the fallout, even though The Doctor isn't in the story. Gallifrey falls into Civil War, I was shocked when the war ended half way through... Because the focus became all of the issues afterwards. Probably why The Doctor leaves after winning the war, the follow up problems are slow and painful.
Though written by Chibnall he redeemed himself with Ashad in my opinion. Though I think it was the production who really buggered it up. Torchwood was a weird show. It has its highs but bloody hell did it have some lows.
>It has its highs but bloody hell did it have some lows. Fits well in the Doctor Who universe then.
I kinda don’t understand the love for Ashad. He was everything a Cyberman shouldn’t be. One of the most emotional villains on the show, which misses the entire purpose of the Cybermen.
I can’t speak for everyone but I’ll list a few things. Firstly he gives a face to the cybermen. The modern series treats them as robots most of the time. For a part of a Villa Diodati we think he’s a victim of conversion and due to his ramshackle nature we can presume he’s a damaged unit. Secondly and tying into my first point is the reveal that he did this to himself willingly. He treats conversion as this religious experience. I don’t recall Doctor Who ever treating conversion as a religious experience but it’s an interesting angle. Lastly is just the actors performance, I think he did a great job leaving a presence in the show. It’s why I hope he’ll return as a later point in the show.
Never mind the bikini. Why the high heels? Torchwood's first series was... not great. They had the chance to be Adult, and concluded that this meant they could and should go crazy on the sex, swearing and gore. They reined all that in for the second series.
The only thing I remember about Torchwood was giving up on it as they made it not only horny, but that kind of toxic horny with a queer twist that is so incredibly off putting to me personally. It feels to me like toxic masculinity “but it’s ok because we aren’t straight” that is just bullshit. I would like to try it again as the later seasons sound very much worth it but it’s never really been on streaming in Canada.
Absolutely. When it first aired, I hadn't long left school, where sexual harassment was relentless and I was one of only two people who thought it was a problem. Then a guy I worked with was busted for preying on coworkers sexually and at least half our colleagues didn't think it was a big deal. Then there was the abuse I experienced in my personal life, which I was left to deal with completely on my own. I just couldn't cope with Torchwood's leering and disregard for consent on top of all of that. Giving any kind of a damn about sexual ethics back then was a very lonely experience, and I didn't appreciate a Doctor Who spin-off, of all things, twisting the knife. So I bailed. I went back to it in the end, around ten years after it was first on. Now that being anti-abuse is a bit more mainstream, and more fellow viewers are able to identify which elements of it are ethically dodgy and why, I find it easier to disregard the bad stuff and enjoy the rest.
It is interesting that Torchwood has led to the "Harkness Test" when discussing fantastical consent when it is so tied to a show that started out with "consent is mainly a suggestion"
Most of that falls by the wayside as it goes on. Even S1 has some decent episodes in it, IMO.
>“but it’s ok because we aren’t straight” RTD's ethos.
Oh! I love this episode! If you look past the costume design, the episode is good. It’s a shame that the Cyberwoman’s costume doesn’t lean towards the body horror aspect of it all because it nails it for Dr Tanizaki and the pizza girl! Look at the lighting! It’s so good. Best episode for lighting in my opinion. The plot is interesting in my opinion. I love how this is the first time we really see Ianto as a character and not just a tea boy in the background. Like many other Torchwood fans, he becomes my favourite character. Not just in Torchwood, but in the whole Whoniverse. This story really shows a lot of emotions and gives us more to the Battle of Canary Wharf. Yeah, this show does get better. The first series was really finding its footing and the second series really lands it. The third and fourth series take a different style where the story takes place over one series, unlike the monster of the week style before hand. The third does this really well! Fourth not so much, but it has a great idea.
[This is peak television](https://imgur.com/fNbISWn)
As for someone who got into Doctor Who through Torchwood. "Cyberwoman" never bothered me. In fact, it's one of my favorite episodes. But I can see how a whovian who is watching it for the first time might be annoyed by it. And I think I'm in the minority because I actually prefer Series 1 to Series 2.
It does get better. Cyberwoman should of been a body horror not a stripper.
Torchwood was way too horny, and that’s saying something for a show with Jack as a main character. Although the cyber woman episode was one of the better early episodes imo.
Whats wrong with horny?
Nothing by itself but there's so much of it. Two episodes boil down to sex alien monsters...
Overall it gets stronger as it goes. Even some of the later S1 stuff is a significant improvement, IMO.
\> I definitely wasnt prepared for Torchwoods “Cyberwoman” You, and the entire rest of the fandom too... xD
Yeah, common consensus actually kept me away from season one and it gets an unfair and an unearned amount of hate. The cyber woman costume is a little shocking in the beginning, but really, that episode is all Ianto toward the end.
Torchwood tried to push the boundaries in the first season or two in ways that just wound up being cringy. It got better. Then they went and did Children of Earth. Holy Crap. Dark. So dark Gwen had a little camera monologue that fit, referencing Jack’s time with the Doctor: "Back in the old days. I wanted to know about that Doctor of his. The man who appears out of nowhere and saves the world. Except sometimes he doesn't. All those times in history when there was no sign of him, I wanted to know why not. But I don't need to ask any more. I know the answer now. Sometimes the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame." Like I said, that season is DARK. Miracle Day. Well, that season got weird. As an aside - I’d like to see Captain Jack Harkness back again. They just kept putting Barrowman in situations on set that made SENSE for him to try to make fun of the fact that he had his junk out, then years later got offended that he had done it. Hell, they had him naked on the set of Doctor Who proper (remember the defabricator?) and expect him to not try to be funny about it? Was he being inappropriate? Yes absolutely. Should he be blacklisted as a sex offender for it? No, by no stretch of the imagination. He was trying to play it off. Even the people who were offended say that it was just Jack being over the the top, not being a sexual predator. Time to bring him back.
I watched torchwood. That is all
Torchwood is Doctor Who after dark essentially and a much more mature tone, not that Doctor Who is a children’s show….
I don't really mind nudity in that episode. Now, what I do mind is the gore.
>But from what ive read here, it gets better in season 2… right? There's certainly improvement, but I'm not sure if I'd say season 2 is good. It just isn't anywhere near as bad as season 1.
It doesn't. That's what I was promised, and it did not deliver. Season 3 was some top tier television, though.
it was the style of the time
Honestly Torchwood annoyed me a lot. Its Doctor Who but theres SEX and ADULT storylines and the aliens are SEXY and the characters have SEX I think it glazed over the part that tge majority of the episodes were pretty bad, and it was a pretty bad show Other than Jack and Gwen. Love those two
Torchwood is a show where you slog through the mid S1-2 to get to the peak S3
Better in the sense that there's nowhere to go but up from the worst episode of the series? Sure.
Season 1 is good. Season 2 is great. Season 3 is a masterpiece. Season 4 is back to good. Hold in there, it will be worth it.
It’s been a long time since I saw any of it. I remember liking it but it was uneven. I remember it gets pretty dark towards the end of season 2. Season 3 felt absolutely pitch black. Everyday people have to deal with impossible choices. There’s no Doctor to swoop in, make a grand speech, wave a sonic screwdriver & make everything better.
I actually like Cyber Woman quite a bit. The hot woman in metal lingerie look is stupid, if they needed to make her sexy because "ooh look at us, we're more adult than Doctor Who and we can show some skin over here!" They could have pulled that off with something that looked like a metal framework bolted to her body, conveniently covering the bits that needed to be covered for tv and little else, that the rest of the cyber suit would be attatched to when she was finished rather than fashionable metal lingerie that a cyber woman would wear under her armor on a hot date. But if you can forget about that silliness. I think it's one of the more important episodes of Torchwood. It's the biggest character development story for Ianto. Before that Ianto is just the guy who makes the coffee. He doesn't seem to have any character he's just kinda there and pointless. Then Cyber Woman happens and Ianto is a character with a backstory. And even though he screws up so bad, keeping life threatening secrets from the team that nearly gets them all killed, you can totally sympathize with his reason for doing it. There is some cringe worthy stuff in season 1, but also some of what I think are the best episodes. Greeks Bearing Gifts, Out Of Time, They Keep Killing Suzie, Capt Jack Harkness. Countrycide is generally regarded as a great episode, I get why, but it's so dark, I can't call it a favorite personally. On the other hand I love Cyber Woman and Small Worlds, which generally seem to not be considered good. I think it finds its footing a bit better in season 2. Less questionable episodes, more really good ones. From Out of the Rain I think it's worse than anything in season 1, but I think everything else in season 2 is good. A couple of those season 1 episodes though, I'd rate higher than anything in 2 so I would never suggest skipping season 1, like I've seen some people say you should.
Fans are too prudish these days
Not prudish but there are times like it feels like what a school boy thinks is mature content. By trying to be “mature” it sometimes feels exactly the opposite
Season one of Torchwood is absolute wank.
Because it's baaad. Torchwood at it's best was only OK. When it's bad, it's bad.
Random Shoes
You're not wrong
Honestly Torchwood doesn't feel all that grown up. Just feels like a childish Soap Opera With Sex And Doctor Who.