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John Barrowman on R T Davies:

Russell is probably the one writer around today who really has no fears of what people think. And he writes everything as it happens in society. Rather than having things that are glossed over and pretending that they don't happen, Russell writes about them, because as he says “I write about the way people live”.

And not only with all the other things he's done, but with Doctor Who, what he's done is he's been able to bring in the way people actually live but into a sci-fi show. And to engulf and bring in a children's audience, to an adult audience, to a teenage audience--in the UK it spans a whole gamut of things. It plays to three demographics. And, you know, Captain Jack is bisexual. It's never said full out on the show, but he is: he likes both men and women.

And the fact that Russell has done this...the British public have accepted it with open arms, because it's done with the right type of humour, the right type of realism. It's not salacious, it's not done in a rude or crude manner.

Russell takes a look at characters, particularly--and this is kind of going off Doctor Who a little--he takes a look at characters and people, and whether they be gay, straight, bisexual, or, you know, red, green, black, whatever they may be, or what they're into, he treats it as a norm. And that's why I think it's so acceptable amongst so many people.

The guardian of the lastest incarnation of Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies, has put his own creative force behind Torchwood, which follows the adventures of a mysterious agency that salvage alien technologies for use in the future defense of Earth and the WPC who finds herself falling through the rabbit hole ...

Torchwood revels in its post-9pm slot -- expletives, slang, and innuendo are peppered throughout -- and is much closer to the drama series that Davies made his name with, Queer As Folk, which is a slightly uncomfortable fit for a series that is looking to mix a darker tone with Doctor Who's new-found campy irreverence.

The first episode revolves around a rain-soaked night in Cardiff and a murder. A young WPC called Gwen (Eve Styles) is present at the crime scene as a black four wheel drive screeches to a halt and exciting, well-dressed people alight to take over and be mysterious. Being a plucky example of a WPC, Gwen scarpers for higher ground to see what Team Torchwood are up to, and is shocked to discover that with the aid of a gauntlet they revive the murder victim for two minutes -- only to argue about how best to converse with the recently deceased post Torchwood-revival! It's a tough life for slick secret organisations, and they soon disappear but not before the alpha-male Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who kissed Christopher Eccleston's Doctor no less, notices Gwen spying. As he turns and flicks his rather dashing military coat (a nod back to his mysterious past as a soldier in the second World War, I'd wager) Gwen does some more scarpering but her interest will get the better of her -- it has to, she's plucky.

Credit must go to Davies, his one liners rarely miss their target (the defamiliarisation of everyday British life being a key theme of Doctor Who and Torchwood), and his use of Cardiff -- not a city familiar with bright lights -- is inspired; Torchwood's HQ is situated beneath the Wales Millenium Center, and it is encouraging to see imagination deployed in using locations. Cardiff also comes to life at night, looking for all the world like the neon vista of Las Vegas in CSI -- believe me, this is no mean feat. The first episode also uses aerial shots to depict the roads that shoot through Cardiff as almost arterial, giving life to this city that helps the show immerse the viewer more convincingly than a warehouse, or a non-descript piece of 'futuristic' architecture might. As Gwen pursues Torchwood, she faces an alien being called a Weevil, sees a pterodactyl (Torchwood's mascot? Symbolism? Evidence of time-travel?), and learns that Torchwood do very little to liase with the police force, army, or government, despite almost reverential acknowledgment of their existence. We learn that this set-up is the third incarnation of Torchwood, and later that Jack Harkness is looking for a 'real doctor' to help him solve a rather annoying (for some) condition.

The second episode begins with Gwen and her boyfriend celebrating her 'promotion' (as she already begins to lie about her mostly nocturnal activities) when space debris flashes across down-town Cardiff and crashes into woods. Torchwood SMS Gwen into action -- her first case -- and when her and another member of the team indulge in banter an alien entity is accidentally unleashed on the populace, inhabiting a young lady and informing the team later on that orgasmic energy is its snack of choice, hence the young would-be male suitors left in piles of dust wherever the young lady lays her handbag. Despite recycling an old plot from the new Outer Limits, the pacing of this episode is slightly snappier than that of the first and it is an enjoyable romp through a variety of cliches that Davies can't leave alone (despite him not writing this episode, his prints are all over it).

A solid start to this 13-part series was what everyone wanted, and of course, there could be much to learn from Captain Jack Harkness and his adventures -- How did he get back from the 51st century? Is he bisexual? Is Doctor Who his absentee father? Will the pterodactyl get a spin-off show? Will Joss Whedon sue? Will Russell T. Davies stop pushing a metrosexual agenda? Admittedly, these are important questions, but whichever this show offers answers for it has proved to be, and it does have the potential to remain, an entertaining, emotional, and witty fifty minutes of television.

Despite the inherent stupidity that bubbles gleefully beneath Doctor Who and Torchwood, almost to the derision of the very genre, it is good to see the BBC putting its faith in genre television with high production values and genuine personality. For that, Russell T. Davies, I'd buy you a drink.