The second series continues in the same fashion as the first series. A 'risque' version of Doctor Who, where Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and his team fight aliens who jump through the rift which is based in Cardiff. They go through many adventures in order to keep the world safe while having many different relationships.
What differentiates it from the Doctor is this is for strictly adults. The director, Russell T Davies (Queen as Folk) takes the characters and rather than just save the world and fight monsters and aliens, the characters are sexual beings to different degrees. Captain Jack, in particular, has this 'I sleep with anything' sexuality and you can suck my balls if you do not like it' attitude. This has turned off a number of Doctor fans for being too gay. This was a very brave step for Davies to take but I think it is to show the appreciation to gay sci-fi fans.
A lot of gay men grow up following sci-fi or super heroes, probably because there are characters that have to hide their identity in order to save the world. Therefore, having a main character so sexually driven is fantastic. Of course, it is the BBC so it is not the most explicit TV series you will ever find but it still challenges the norms of science fiction TV. Gay issues, such as bisexuality and analogues for HIV/Aids are featured as well as quotes from Christopher Isherwood are dropped in every now and then for the gay viewers.
Now, I am not going to pretend I am a massive science fiction fan. I have only watched a few episodes of the Doctor because it had Billie Piper in, who I think is fantastic. I also like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but that is more to do with the witty scripts than the science fiction. Torchwood, however, is more to do with human relations than sci fi. The best episodes are the ones when where the focus is on relationships withing or involving members of the team rather than fighting aliens. In this series, James Masters (Spike from Buffy) makes guest appearances in the opening and closing episodes (Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang and Exit Wounds). These were very emotionally charged, witty and serious. They also happened to be the best!
Of course the acting is not always great (Tosh in particular, seems bad despite Naoko Mori usually being a good actress),and Barrowman can come across as cheesey, but that is sci fi for you! It is the perfect series for someone who likes to dip their toe into fantasy/sci fi but does not want to make a long term commitment.
I know the format of Torchwood changed after this series as it went down to a five part, one story format. I know it was shown a long time ago in the UK but I do not really watch TV often and prefer to rent them in box sets.
4/5 - The perfect sci-fi series for a non sci-fi fan!
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