Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Tegan]

As much as I like ancient mythology, this episode didn't really do much for me.

The opening setting, in Cardiff 1812 showed promise. At least it looked like a good set-up.

The attempt to misdirect with the skeleton being described as "she" and having been shot was obviously wrong from the start. And having Mary standing beside the excavation gave it away.

Then we get to the almost obligatory lesbian snog! OK, We get it! Enough already!

It's becoming like The 'L' Word!

It seemed for a while that the story was going to go along a Greek Mythology track, which got me interested again, especially with Mary revealing her true form. But then it just dropped it suddenly and got back to a "banished alien" story.

I have to say I'm getting a bit bored with Captain Jack being the one to save the day with a bolt of intuition at the last gasp, somewhat akin to Hercule Poirot pulling an undisclosed clue from his moustache. Very Agatha Christie. (I hate her little stories, something always crops up on the last page which hasn't been even hinted at for the whole story, but I digress).

And the fact that he is perfectly calm in disposing of any inconvenient aliens (or even humans) to the centre of the sun or some such. There's not much hint of humanity there.

Of course this is seeming to be where the series is going. It's not unexpected to find out that Jack "smells different from the others" and doesn't seem to have an internal dialogue for Toshi to read. He heard her scratching around in there.

What do we know so far about Jack.

1: He's been dead, and come back to life.

2: He can no longer die.

3: He has either a very long life span, or;
He can time travel, or both. (He was a Time Agent)

4: Most likely not human.

5: Either has no extraneous thought process or can mask it.

6: Has, at best, a utilitarian attitude to killing in order to get things done.

7: Has an uncharacteristic attachment to The Doctor (and probably his hand!)

Here is my (admittedly off the wall) theory, which is my theory and is not the theory of anyone but me. The Brontosaurus... Oops wrong theory.

Has anyone ever checked Captain Jack's Heartbeat(s) any of the times he has been shot, electrocuted or in any way despatched?

The Doctor said he was a father once? Is Jack the child of The Doctor and a human woman? And the father of Susan?

Or here's another one.

Is Captain Jack THE MASTER?!?!?!?!?! but simply doesn't know it!!

I'm sorry, but that just needed all the question and exclamation marks. It's just so big!

If that doesn't get a discussion going. Nothing will!

[meglos]

I liked this episode. I'm loving Torchwood and Captain Jack

[FredDag]

I liked this episode. There really wasn't any greek mythology at all. Just in the title and the name Mary called herself. It seemed a Science fiction episode from the start.

To answer some queries.

I'm sure the vassal Captain Jack was in, in the Empty Child was a time ship. So of course Captain Jack's been doing a lot of time travel before we meet him initially in Dr Who. This would explain why he had a Girl Friend who is now aged (well actually dead). Captain Jack's gone back in time. had a fling and then gone to some other time period.

Nothings ever been stated weather captain Jack's human or not. I see those hints (like the smells) that somehow Captain Jack's been transformed by Rose in Parting of the Ways.

I soooooooooooooo hope that Captain Jack is not a child of the Doctor and not the master. That would be sooooooo lame. I just hope he's a Human Being from the future who's had things done to him by Rose when she had all those powers. Gosh I hope so. Though you don't know what powers or tricks he's picked up on his time travelling adventures before he met the Doctor. Also he stated that his memory had been wiped prior to meeting the Doctor, so maybe whoever wiped his mind has done more then that.

I'm finding that this series isn't anywhere near as exciting as Dr Who. Dr Who seems bigger and looks like it has a bigger budget. Torchwood seems to be on such a smaller scale and not as complex.

Has every episode so far had something either mentioned or done that's linked Torchwood to Dr Who?? I think episode 6 has no links at all?? What does everyone else think???

[Amano07]

episode 6 when they are talking about who was eachothers last snog ..when its Jacks turn he asks the question human or otherwise ( or something similar) that could be a reference to kissing the Ninth Doctor.

[Tegan]

[FredDag]

Hey Tegan

I apologize and stand corrected. Obviously I don't know much about greek mythology unless it's in my face.

Thanks for pointing out those references. Maybe a lot of people (ignorant like me) thought it was just a straight Sci Fi story.

I did enjoy the no gore compared to Countrycide, though I thought Countrycide had a much better story.

Has anyone got any theories about what's gonna pop out at the end of the season? Are we going to get a Dr Who monster? Are we going to get a big suprise like we got at the end of Season 2 of Dr Who??? Maybe Daleks??? Surely not!

Hugs

[meglos]

It is going to involve the rift in some way, I'm just not sure how. My guess is some link betwwen Gwen and Gwyneth from The Unquiet Dead. So I suppose anything that's had anything to do with the rift: Cybermen, Daleks, Slitheen, Gelth, Rose, The Doctor, The list could go on.

[Tegan]

[Amano07]

In one of John Barrowmans recent tv interviews he basically said that the season finale of Torchwood would lead into series 3 of Doctor Who. I cant wait for The Doctor and Jack to meet up again..i really liked the combo in series one..its a shame Rose wont be there but i think it will still be good.

[Theta Sigma]

A very good look at Tosh's character thanks to Naoko Mori's performance.

I was taken aback when Mary spoke in her real voice.

[Theta Sigma]

There's Something About Mary:
The corresponding Torchwood Declassified episode to Greeks Bearing Gifts. First of all nice use of the title from the Cameron Diaz movie.
I thought this was a pretty good retrospective on Tosh's character.

[ADAMK]

After showing this week's episode 55 minutes late, looks like Ten has pulled TW (at least for now!). They are now showing something called "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" next Monday evening:
http://ten.com.au/ten/tvguide_synopsis.html?id=The_Lost_Tomb_Of_Jesus_1666496.xml

Hopefully this is just a one-off but I fear that Ten may have returned to their bad old tricks!

[Ickabod]

[Odnet]

I thought it was a bit strange that Ten didn't show any "Next Week" trailers after the episode. I also notice that Ten's Torchwood website has a "Not currently showing" notice on it. Has it been axed? If so then that sucks. Ten should at least show the rest of the series at another time so that people who have been following it can at least get to see the whole story. Even in the middle of the night is better than not at all. I hated that Ten got this. Now I'm really mad. (Or maybe it's nothing and it hasn't been cancelled in which case I take it all back)

[Theta Sigma]

[Sulp Niar]

F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother F***ing Big Brother...

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, Torchwood. ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’, to be more specific. This episode can be boiled down to what people have already said on forums; it’s Tosh’s episode, there’s another lesbian snog (although this time it’s genuine, not manufactured alien orgasmic feeding). The main draw of this episode is really the Tosh bit; finally becoming a character in her own right, Tosh was a lovely person to watch here, and Naoko Mori gave it her all, crying her eyes out. On the other end of the spectrum, whoever-played-Mary was very good too, hammy and pouty but in an enjoyable slutty way (and I can use the word slut, because she... or her host body... was called a whore in the episode itself). The plot was sound – I liked how Tosh saved the lives of two people by hearing the man’s thoughts. Jack was good – I particularly liked his suspicious interrogation of Tosh and the fact that we couldn’t hear his thoughts (as predictable as that was), though I’m not sure why he insists on standing around in the most pointless places staring pointlessly into the distance. Owen was laughably Owen in this episode – smarmy, petty, a right git. He’s still my favourite character, on a purely “god he’s a prick” level. Gwen had a few nice moments with Tosh at the end (even if she sounds a hypocrite when she tells Tosh to give this “love” thing a run. Besides, her teaching Tosh about love almost makes Tosh sound like an alien). Pretty good music, pretty good direction, the usual. Ianto got barely anything to do, typically.

So there wasn’t much particularly wrong with this episode – as a standalone. However, by now, the dodgy continuity of the series and such is really getting to me. Of all the things that have happened to the Torchwood crew, the only one that seems to be getting a more-than-one-episode run is the Gwen and Owen relationship (has anyone else noticed that they share the last three letters of their name? And remove the first two letters and place them together and you have “Go”? Er, doesn’t matter). Elsewhere, it’s almost as if nothing has changed. After Lisa’s rampage throughout the Hub, you’d think they’d place in some sort of security. Now, I know that as soon as Tosh and Mary waltzed in, the rest appeared, but I don’t think somehow that that was because they had sensors. If anything, the fact that Tosh thought she could easily bring Mary into the Hub proves that they haven’t learned a thing. What’s more, Ianto’s love of Lisa has been put on the backburner, which isn’t a huge problem, but jars slightly – as I suspect that Tosh will reduce back to nothing in next week’s episode. Gwen was responsible for killing someone in ‘Ghost Machine’, but this has never been referred to later, even though, along with the events of ‘Countrycide’, it would have made perfect sense to do so when she’s thinking about her newfound relationship with Owen. Gwen also snogged a girl/alien in ‘Day One’, but there’s no mention of this here. Now, I know that it would be a bit dodgy as a piece of dialogue – “Oh, Tosh, I snogged a woman once too” – but this was an episode about reading peoples’ minds. Therefore, I’m sure Gwen would have thought about it, and I’m sure Tosh would have heard it – but no, nothing doing. For that matter, we should have heard Ianto still thinking about Lisa, but again, no, no, no.

What’s really starting to jar about the series is sexuality. Now, in ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’, Tosh had a huge crush on Owen (a guy) but started snogging Mary (a woman). Leaving aside the ratings, I just don’t see how this is possible when, you know, Jack and Owen are both bisexual as well (one could argue that Owen is just bicurious, but he was very quick off the mark to take the guy back with him in ‘Everything Changes’). Having three out of five people be bisexual is practically impossible. Lest we forget, Gwen too got to snog a girl, even if it was an alien thing. I’m getting the impression that the Torchwood crew live on carnal desires only, due to their antisocial and freakish ways, so that’s why, for example, Owen has an orgy, or Ianto is in love with a half-cyberised woman (actually, this was more believable than most of the other relationships in the series). Gwen, who’s supposed to be the more social and practical one, does say to Tosh that love is a good thing, but she’s having an affair at the moment herself and refuses to stop doing so, so we can’t exactly take her word for it. The Torchwood crew really have some strange attitudes to sex – or at least, the writers of Torchwood do.

Oh, and Ten is really annoying me now. I already showed my frustration about Big Brother before, but I’ll go on now. It went overtime, vastly overtime. God, it ALWAYS goes overtime, so why the hell don’t Ten just change their schedules beforehand, the stupid pricks? Even worse, during the ad-breaks, a “M” rating kept trying to push itself through, flickering on and off as if to taunt me. But no, it was back to Big Brother. That said, I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone turned on Big Brother, saw Gretel Kileen and thought they were watching an alien in Torchwood instead.

And when the episode finished, did we get a trailer for next week? Presumably it was cut for timing purposes. We got a trailer about a crew with a returning, despised member who’s back from oblivion. And no, it wasn’t Suzie from Torchwood, it was Dicko. Goddamn it. If there was the time for an Australian Idol trailer, why the hell not the trailer for ‘They Keep Killing Suzie’? Maybe we should rename Ten “They Keep Killing Brain Cells”.

Actually, I’ve just remembered – Mary’s plan in ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’ was quite ludicruous. She’s spent years waiting for someone to find that transporter, then she starts screwing Tosh to get inside? I mean, there was no indication that Tosh was bisexual anyway – barring the fact that she’s an antisocial freak like the rest of them – but more than that, if she’s so content to wait for ages, why does she just waltz into the Hub at the end? Moreover, since she constantly pops fags in her mouth (er, I mean cigarettes here) and struts around like a self-assured slut, isn’t it just blatantly obvious to Tosh that she’s a villainess? And after she reveals herself as an alien, I personally wouldn’t trust her ever again. I guess Tosh is that desperate to hold onto an illusion of companionship, but it’s still suspicious. Still, considering Toby Whithouse’s last work for the “Whoniverse”, it’s much more believable that people wouldn’t suspect Mary than Mr Finch. And Mary has a far better plan than Mr Finch too, even if both are screwed over. Oh, and I believed the relationship between Tosh and Mary far more than that of the Doctor and Sarah Jane. And the monster was better. And the music was better. And Captain Jack was better than the Doctor therein. And... well, anyway, I just didn’t like ‘School Reunion’...

EDIT: Ah. Just saw the bit about not being on the schedules next week. Now I'm even madder at Ten.

[montypython]

[Sulp Niar]

[ADAMK]

TW has been bumped to midnight, Tuesday nights! (Wednesday 12am)
Bloody Ten! http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2007/07/bumped-torchwood.html