Wednesday, 27 November 2013

The Coffee Shop Torchwood & Me by Chloe Robertson


It was last year, of which I found Torchwood, and it found me and took me into its universe of fandom. Glancing at the lifeless shows of normal telly, I was bored. Being with Virgin Media, and their subscription, I found On Demand and many Doctor Who episodes! However, to get there, I had to go through options of what category it was. Scrolling down the categories, I would select Sci-Fi, and at the top of the list, there it was; a universe of episodes of Doctor Who. I looked down the list as it spoke of Red Dwarf, Doctor Who and then Torchwood. I was intrigued by this, and after wearing out Series three of Doctor Who, I decided it was time to move on. I checked most days to see if Series Four had made it to the list, but instead Torchwood Series Two was sat, jumping out at me. A few days later, I forced myself into the temptation, and played the first episode of Series Two, because Series One had not made it there yet. I watched the title sequence, which was very modern and jumpy, and then a blowfish in a sports car going along to traffic lights. I was very sceptical, and once the team rode up in a big black car (The SUV) and the woman with the black hair (Gwen Cooper) asked the old lady at the traffic lights the common quote: “Have you seen a blowfish in a sports car?”, I dismissed the whole fact of Torchwood, and tossed it out of mind, as I felt it was just trying to be an adventure Doctor Who, which had a very childish factor (The Blowfish), even though it is cert 15.

About a month later, TV was plain dull, and once again I had gone through all the menus to access On Demand, I found no new Doctor Who, but there was Torchwood: Series One. I had nothing better to do, no homework, no social networking and it was a cold blustery day. I clicked on it, and began to play it. I thought if I started watching it from the start, I would get more immersed and begin understanding the drama taking place. I adore the element of action, guns, weapons, and assassination. As bad as that sounds, I love the feeling of not knowing what is going to happen next, instead of that old romance, of which you know from the first second a male and female meet in a story, it is predictable that they would fall in love, after a bumpy road. Torchwood was just what I liked, the twists of not knowing what was going to happen next, and the thrill of the tension, whilst having relationships which surprise you, and do not make you sigh in boredom of the predictable relationship. (Other than The Decoy Bride; starring David Tennant who made it extremely funny and twisted!) Two police officers, in the soaking rain, surrounding a body, as forensics took samples. Already it was interesting, a murder mystery I questioned? Well that mystery was soon revealed as a team sauntered up to the body, and everyone left, as the ginger police officer (Andy) suspected they were ‘Special Ops’, and then babbled later in “CSI Cardiff that’s what I’d like to see, they’d be measuring the velocity of a kebab!”.

We are turned to the attention of the team, and I am inquisitive to what they want with a dead body in the middle of Cardiff city, especially on a rainy day, when the blood has been diluted and all. Then after the police officer had mentioned ‘Torchwood’ in a great Welsh accent, and the title ‘Torchwood’, things began to unravel. However, they are alien catchers? Or so I thought. I sat back as they kneeled over the body, and Jack spoke “There you go. I can taste it. Oestrogen. Definitely oestrogen. You take the pill, flush it away, it enters the water cycle, feminises the fish. *pause* It goes all the way up into the sky and then falls all the way back down onto me. Contraceptives in the rain. I love this planet. Still, at least I won’t get pregnant. Never doing that again. How’s it going?” I loved how this brought some humour towards the show; it was not all focused on the body; and it then showed how the body was not as important, even as the rest of the team scrabbled along with a metal glove, and the dead man. It automatically showed how Jack was dictating, and was the leader. Once they resurrected the body, which could only be seen as a God alone action, we learnt how the team were normal human beings, as Owen snapped about “Freezing my arse off here” and the team froze in the frosty evening. We could relate to the characters, and see ourselves in them, they were unique, but they were real! They weren’t these fake people who carried a gun, and had the common blond hair, whilst having layers of make-up, and then walking around in killer high heels. No, this team, they were the relatable, not the sexiest team, they were not all super models, but they showed how you do not have to have the beauty of angels to be part of a team. It brought some reassurance to those of us (including me) who have a low self esteem. It was interesting as the corpse awoke and started talking, and then after a minute and Suzie using the glove, they were left in peace, and the team swanned off, and left the body surrounded by the police boundaries.

As Gwen peeked round corners, and looked for information of Captain Jack Harkness, the only name she had heard, we learnt as she learnt, whilst getting an insight to her life -and Cardiff around her. It teaches you about real friends too, the ones which would take a bullet, and then the ones who stand and watch as you take the bullet suggesting strengths of relationships. However, the team to me seemed like a small family, quietly working away in the depth of the city night above them. We understood Gwen was a clever woman, she knew her role, and being an Officer meant she would question every aspect which was unclear to her. I took it all in a light-hearted way, I was not a defined fan, but it did question the next episodes and showed reality, with the Sci-Fi feel. As we were launched into Gwen getting your average pizza guy to search the database, it showed she had authority, and I started to like her. After seeing the point where he is asked about a ‘Torchwood’ and his reply “Aye, we do ‘em all the time, good customers them”, it gave another funny aspect, however, Owen was not so secrete about their organisation. This made me laugh, but still I questioned the existence of ‘Torchwood’, and gave me the love of every individual, and the understanding of every characters life.


After Gwen calling Jack a ‘bastard’ as we would have all reacted, we saw her trying to remember, but also, it questioned, why use a computer, why not write it down, but she was in a drugged state. I loved how the story moved throughout the episode, and the development was fantastic. (Well done Russell T Davies!) I wondered why I had not heard of Torchwood before, or even why I dismissed it in the first place. Once Gwen remembered, which showed the awesomeness of her character, her remembering took her into trouble. Then after Suzie producing the gun, I felt the feeling, I loved of tension, once more Torchwood had me gripping the edge of the seat in suspense. Then, once Jack rose on the step, we saw Suzie not even hesitating as she pulled the trigger. I was gripped to the story. Then Jack stood up, after being shot in the head, as an act of glory, saving Gwen, and it shocked me, when in a split second, Suzie pointed the gun towards her, and put it at the bottom of her face, pointing up, and shot herself. My heart was actually pounding and basically missed a beat as she killed herself, trying to stop future consequences. Then Gwen was looking mortified, in total shock. Jack just walked on, like it was nothing, and offered Gwen the vacancy. After it finished, I was blown away by the intense start, and then thought, with such a good episode, I would watch the next. The more I watched, the more I would stay up late nights, just to finish an episode; and that was it, I and Torchwood were in a passion. The more I watched, the more my parents would sigh at the continuous titles of Torchwood, but I just adored it! Once I had watched all the episodes from series one to three, and everyday checked ‘On Demand’ for series four. I only started watching series four once it had been repeated on Watch. I also refuse to watch the last episode of Miracle Day, as I do not want Torchwood to end, because once I watch it, it will end my image and imagination. I have not watched all of it either because the characters change, they become badass and blow everything up, and Gwen changes her attitude. So no spoilers please! 

It has changed my out view on life, and has shown me, you do not have to be the blonde cliché, who has the best body, and the perfect plastic face. It showed me that being heartless was a bad decision in life, and given me the confidence whilst making me a selfless person. It influences my life, and I have fallen in love with Eve Myles! (Gwen Cooper). Torchwood brought me this personality, and I would be heartbroken if this is the way Torchwood ends…


Photo source: 
BBC Torchwood 




















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