The figures are in and the September 8th premiere of the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood on BBC America brought 496 thousand viewers, breaking the station’s viewing records.
Not only did it get a good viewing figure, but the critics are also quite pleased with the Cardiff-based paranormal program.
The Hollywood Reporter said Torchwood is “a crackling good, brilliantly conceived sci-fi series that targets actual grownups.”
TV Guide described it as “a cheeky and often startlingly adult spin-off” and Variety said it has “the fixings of a thinking-man’s sci-fi series that doesn’t take itself too seriously.”
The Kansas City Star says the program is “one of the best serial dramas to arrive on American television in 2007″ and The Philadelphia Inquirer describes it as “by turns super-slick, raw, bizarre, hilarious, spooky, scary and sublimely sexy”.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, The Seattle Post Intelligencer and The San Jose Mercury News all have very positive things to say about the quirky sci-fi program.
Thanks to Gallifreyone.com for the news.
I have great hopes that the series will prove very successful, perhaps more so than the new Doctor Who.
If you are a Comcast cable subscriber, you can access the episodes via the Direct TV option.
Taking over from the best actor to play the role of the Doctor in 1970, light comedy actor and performer Jon Pertwee remains one of the most important contributers to Doctor Who over its long life.
Thanks to the fact that my local PBS stations played seasons 17-18 of Doctor Who (the light comedy Graham Williams era) seemingly in an endless loop, my exposure to incarnations previous to the then current Doctor, Peter Davison was decidedly limited. The first time I had even heard of him was in a documentary where he was referred to as being more popular than Tom Baker, which raised my teenage eyebrows more than a little.
With veteran character actor Patrick Troughton on his way out the door after a three year stint in the role fighting Ice Warriors, Cybermen, Daleks and the like while scuttling down hallways like a cartoon character, the production team of Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks had a lot on their minds. They needed to reinvent the series. The consensus was that the cardboard sets and rubber monsters were getting too fantastic and unreal. The audience needed to feel connected to the drama unfolding on screen. The decision was made to ground the Doctor on contemporary Earth.
The fall out from the fantastic 10 part story The War Games (an excellent story well deserving of a DVD release), saw the Doctor spat out onto a field, a man changed once again.
In an inspired decision, Jon Pertwee decided to play the role straight, making him the most serious Doctor the audience has ever seen. Preparing for a photo op, Jon rummaged through an old dresser and came out with the opera cape and frilly shirt which he wore to announce his entrance into Doctor Who. The image stuck and he became known as the ‘dashing dandy.’
The most egocentric and determined of all the Doctors, there seemed to be little that the Doctor could not do with a little time and his trusty sonic screwdriver. Pertwee saw his Doctor as a protector of humanity, often speaking of the image of his arms outstretched as a protective ‘mother hen’ gesture. It’s a shame that this image, originally intended for the opening sequence, was never seen on the program.
Test title sequence – 1970
To talk about Pertwee’s era, you must also talk about UNIT and the Master. This was the secret of the program’s success at the time. While many fans prefer his first season with the thrilling Ambassadors of Death and equally impressive Silurians, the British public really took to the newest incarnation of the program with season 8 when Jo Grant and the Master were both introduced.
Also an exile from his people, the Master was the flip side to the Doctor’s persona. Whereas the Doctor was always determined to protect the innocent, the Master was always ready to take advantage of them, determined to rule over the universe as was his right. Played with aplomb by veteran actor Roger Delgado, the earliest incarnation of the Master on the screen was an intellectual and gentlemen. He had a chauffeur, dressed in sharp suits and fully expected that the Doctor must be out of his mind to not be on his side. In many of the Master’s stories, it’s clear that he views the Doctor as a friend, perhaps since they are equals in many ways.
While the Master eventually returned later in the program, it can be said that none of the actors who have played the role since have captured this character in quite the same way.
In sharp contrast, Jo Grant is a bubbly female lab assistant who was dumped on the Doctor for internal political reasons. Knowing full well that others expected little from her, she tries extra hard to impress them, often bungling things and getting into more trouble than she can handle. Which is where the Doctor comes in like some silent film hero. Actress Katy Manning played the part perfectly and excels at being charming and dim all at once. The ‘ideal’ companion, Manning makes it look easy… which given the many sub par companions seen in the program is not the case.
While he was the star of the program, Pertwee himself saw Doctor Who as an ensemble show and it really was. When the program is staged in Earth and we see Sgt. Benton, Cap. Yates and the Brigadier chipping in, Doctor Who seems fuller and more secure in comparison to stories such as The Mutants which features The Doctor and Jo Grant on some alien planet.
Apparently, current head writer and series producer Russell T Davies is also a fan of this era for similar reasons. RTD has stated on numerous occasions that he dies not wish to stage a story on an alien world since viewers could care less about the inhabitants of ‘Planet Zog.’ However, he has also stated that fans who dislike his work would rather UNIT show up and save the day, so there may be some discord in this theory.
After his long time friend Roger Delgado who played the Master died in a horrible car accident, Pertwee decided that it was time to leave. To see him off, Sarah Jane Smith was introduced to take the place of Jo Grant. Perhaps the most loved and successful companion of the entire history of Doctor Who, Sarah Jane saw Jon off with style.
The last year of Jon Pertwee’s era saw the actor become re-invigorated in the role. Whereas he can be criticized as being bored in certain stories (the fact that he personally disliked monsters and Daleks alike can be seen in his performances), his last season saw a revived actor welcoming audiences to the program almost as if it was a new series entirely. The first story, The Time Warrior, is so sharp and tightly written that it can easily be seen as an introduction to Doctor Who.
1973/4 Title sequence
The finale to his five years on Doctor Who, The Planet of the Spiders, was a tale embedded with mysticism, Buddhism, and featured a host of puppets destroying the Doctor’s ego.
In short, perfect Who.
Jon returned to the role for the Five Doctors, Dimensions in Time and additionally a short bridging sequence for the Doctor Who documentary ‘30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond.’ In all of these appearances, it’s stunning to see how easily he slid back into the part, as if he could easily take the role of Doctor back in a moment’s notice.
His successor, Tom Baker, referred to Jon as a mystifying wizard, saying that like a light bulb, he ‘glistens.’ Pertwee was an all-out action man who was deeply committed to the series. Like his predecessors, Jon appeared at numerous events and insisted on appearing in costume, claiming that the fans want to see the Doctor, not Jon Pertwee. For an actor, this seems to me to be quite generous.
As a fan, I have only recently discovered Pertwee’s era and thoroughly enjoy it. Full of comic book style stories and thrilling adventures, it set a high watermark for the series that the incoming team were set to top.
