Since there won’t be any new Doctor Who episodes until 2010, I’ve gotten into its spinoff, Torchwood…of course, now that I’m addicted, I find out there won’t be any new episodes of until 2009. That said…woof. Super sexy people in the U.K. alternately saving the world and doing each other like bunnies, all with shades of Buffy and Angel (James Marsters, coincidentally, guest-starred this season).
I tried to get some friends to rent the first season but then I realized that, while it can be watched without prior new Who knowledge (the episode “Countrycide” is an amazing one-off), once Martha Jones is introduced in the second season then you really need to watch the third season of Doctor Who to understand her and Jack’s relationship, which means you need to watch the first season of Who to understand Jack and The Doctor’s relationship, which means you need to continue into the second season to understand Rose and The Doctor’s relationship (and why Martha couldn’t compare), then you may as well watch the fourth season to see the lackluster crossover action that occurs in the finale, at which point you now have half a dozen seasons to catch up on. At least it’s British television and each one is only thirteen episodes long.
Also, just once, I’d really like to get into a TV show and NOT have my favorite character killed off…though in Russell T. Davies’s universe a character can die halfway through the season, be brought back to life, and still be in on the action. He’s a big fan of the deus ex machina.
