TORCHWOOD-SEASON 1 DVD REVIEW

A blurb from BBC Warner about Torchwood-Season 1: “Separate from the government, outside the police, beyond the United Nations: Torchwood sets its own rules. Led by the enigmatic, ever watchful Captain Jack Harkness, the Torchwood team delves into the unknown and fights the impossible.

Torchwood is a spin-off series of the revamped Doctor Who TV series. It deals with a covert and highly secret team of scientists that work at the Torchwood Institute that deal with alien intelligence and hardware that fall from the skies and invade Earth on a regular basis. The leader of the team is Captain Jack Harkness an alien from the future that was first introduced in the Doctor Who story “The Empty Child”. He is indestructible and has regenerative powers thanks to Rose in the story “The Parting of the Ways”. The show is more mature in content. There are stories about Cannibalism, Love affairs both Heterosexual and Homosexual and Bisexual, Time Rifts, and possible ending of the World. I personally like the stories but sometime the Adult content and profanity is thrown in your face for no other reason that shock value. Apart from that there were some good stories. The show is now in its second season and is popular now enough for a possible third season. The first season set includes Audio commentaries on every episode along with Deleted scenes, Outtakes, featurettes on every episode, a making of feature of the series and Torchwood: Declassified which are short takes on each episode by the cast and crew.

VIDEO

The video quality is fantastic! Episodes were shot in HD but shown on the discs as Standard. Episodes are also uncut. There is also a Play All feature on each disc. Each episode runs approx 50 mins each.

Audio

Was originally recorded in 5.1. It is presented on this set as 5.1.

Disc 1- 1. “Everything Changes”
2. “Day One”

Disc 2- 1. “Ghost Machine”-with Gareth Thomas
2. “Cyberwoman”
3. “Small Worlds”

Disc 3- 1. “Countrycide”
2. “Greeks Bearing Gifts”

Disc 4- 1. “They Keep Killing Suzie”
2. “Random Shoes”


Disc 5- 1. “Out of Time”
2. “Combat”

Disc 6-1. “Captain Jack Harkness”
2. “End Of Days”

Disc 7- 1. Torchwood Declassified

1. “Welcome to Torchwood” (10:36)
2. “Bad Day at the Office” (09:05)
3. “Girl Trouble” (10:06)
4. “The Country Club” (10:25)
5. “Beyond The Grave” (10:41)
6. “Time Flies” (10:31)
7. “Blast From The Past” (10:05)
8. “Jack’s Back” (08:00)
9. “Loving History” (09:04)
10. “Away With The Faries” (10:06)
11. “There’s Something About Mary” (10:23)
12. “Dead Man Walking” (10:18)
13. “Weevil Fight Club” (10:23)
14. “To The End” (10:24)


Extras

Disc 1: Audio Commentaries on “Everything Changes” and “Day One”
Welcome To Torchwood (14:30)
Torchwood on the Scene (15:40)
Torchwood Out of This World (10:32)
Deleted Scenes (11:02)

Disc 2: Audio Commentaries on “Ghost Machine”, “Cyberwoman” and “Small Worlds”
Torchwood Out of This World-“Ghost Machine” (05:15)
“Cyberwoman” (04:17)
“Small Worlds” (05:14)

Disc 3: Audio Commentaries on “Countrycide” and “Greeks Bearing Gifts”
Torchwood-Sex, Violence Blood and Gore (15:40)
Torchwood-The Team and Their Troubles (10:26)


Disc 4: Audio Commentaries on “They Keep Killing Suzie” and “Random Shoes”
Torchwood on the Road (09:07)
Torchwood The Team and their Troubles (11:43)
Deleted Scenes (06:49)

Disc 5: Audio Commentaries on “Out of Time” and “Combat”
Torchwood Moments in the Making (10:38)
The Captain’s Log (10:24)

Disc 6: Audio Commentaries on “Captain Jack Harkness” and “End Of Days”
Torchwood Moments in the Making (10:35)
Torchwood on Time (10:08)
Deleted Scenes (14:17)
Outtakes (05:36)

Disc 7: Bonus Disc-Torchwood Declassified-See above



Verdict

A defiantly different series to Doctor Who! If you can get past the Adult content, it’s a pretty good series! Will look forward to Season 2 when it comes out.