Torchwood: postmortem

Well, it is time to bid adieu to Torchwood. Captain Jack seems to have hitched a ride in the Tardis and who can blame him? His work colleagues have a propensity for shooting him (and sometimes each other!) on a regular basis and even that doesn't work as this boss can't die. Honestly, chaps, just go for a collective grievance and sort out the working conditions that way. Though, on the other hand, shooting him cuts through the bureaucracy.

Unfortunately, I missed the first two episodes as I fell asleep..... But since then I have watched the edited highlights on the BBC website. There were some fresh, imaginative and creative storylines that transgress the usual norms concerning sexuality such as alien life force feeding off orgasmic energy to sexy seductive gender bending aliens. Oh and the main characters do get to shag a little bit. We even find out bits and pieces about the enigmatic Captain Jack. Other storylines, included, one that was a kinda Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Wicker Man.

One area I was disappointed with was the way the main characters were glossed over and not fully fleshed out (well, to me anyway) so it jarred and seemed a tad odd to me a bit when one of the main characters (Ianton) keeps his half Cyberwoman girlfriend in the dungeon. You get a glimpse at their past relationship but now he is in the role of Dr Frankenstein as he wants to "cure her". Doesn't end well as you can imagine.

I found the same with most of the characters especially with Gwen the new recruit (I found her irritating for some reason), her boyfriend and her on/off fling with Owen (the medical dr). I just felt I never really got to know the characters at all.

I liked the storylines that included demonic fairies, the send-up of the film Fight Club but using scary bitey aliens called Weevils and resurrected work colleagues (another one who was shot but it was self-inflicted this time). There was the odd time travelling story, you know, you step on a plane in 1953 and end up in 2006 (no, they weren't using Easyjet). And last night's finale was about the time rift being shattered causing a devilish creature to plague downtown Cardiff (poor old Cardiff). But Jack saved the day and he was resurrected by a kiss (Oh, stop pinching storylines from The Matrix....).

Overall, there was freshness and imagination (Buffyesque in places.... though doubt they have the mega budget to spend on sophisticated special effects etc. as it seemed all sticky back plastic and rubber) but that couldn't save the clunky scripts and lack of characterisation. I'd give it 7 out of 10 and that's me being generous. Could do so much better! Maybe next series (she hopes).