Friday, July 8, 2011

VIEW

 Torchwood : Miracle Day
Starz Network, beginning July 8th



What if everyone stopped dying?


When I was eight years old I remember watching a British TV show on Canadian public television called Doctor Who.  Doctor Who was a benevolent alien who traveled the galaxy in his police box-shaped time machine saving humans (and humans dressed in foam-tentacled suits) in peril.


In 2005, Russell T Davies (Queer as Folk) revived the family friendly scifi adventure on BBC to wild success.  That success led to his creation of the spinoff series Torchwood.  Aside from being an anagram of Doctor Who, Torchwood was the name of a fictional government organization tasked with engaging and investigating alien threats on earth.  The series took a notably darker, more adult tone than Doctor Who.


After three seasons on BBC (airing on CBC in Canada and BBC America in the United States) season 4 begins tonight on the Starz network and July 14th on BBC One.


Why you should watch.
If you like your science fiction with grand ideas and unexpected consequences, Russel T Davies is a man whose media you want to consume.  The premise of Torchwood:Miracle Day revolves around a sudden halt in the earth's mortality rate. This mysterious phenomenon leads to the return of the remaining members of Torchwood, led by John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness.  Though I'm not the biggest fan of Barrowman, Davies gives him so many cool and tragic things to do that I can't help hopping on the band wagon.  You should too.


Promotional billboard at 42nd St and 8th Ave, New York



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