# Torchwood "Children of Earth" on BBC America in 2 weeks!



## tiassa (Jul 2, 2008)

The BBCA website says "A 5 night miniseries event" -- anyone know how they are going to play this, and more importantly will my already ser Torchwood SP pick it up?


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## danm628 (May 14, 2002)

The ads on BBCA are saying it is being shown as a 5 episode mini-series. 

Another thing: it starts showing the same day that BBC HD goes live. So even if your season pass picks it up you may want to make a change anyway.

- Dan


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## Fleegle (Jan 15, 2002)

Yea, but it'll be cut up. Anyone know if HDNet will be showing this?


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## tiassa (Jul 2, 2008)

danm628 said:


> The ads on BBCA are saying it is being shown as a 5 episode mini-series.
> 
> Another thing: it starts showing the same day that BBC HD goes live. So even if your season pass picks it up you may want to make a change anyway.
> 
> - Dan


Question #1: will my cable system pick up BBCA HD? 
Question #2: Will Tivo get the guide data in time? 
Question #3: How are they going to show it? 5 nights a a row? 1 ep per week?


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

I just finished watching the U.K. first episode of "Children of Earth". It was freaking awesome.

You can find the first U.K. episode on bittorrent and usenet. There is a HD copy available.


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## Ozzie72 (Aug 9, 2008)

Malcontent said:


> I just finished watching the U.K. first episode of "Children of Earth". *It was freaking awesome.*
> 
> You can find the first U.K. episode on bittorrent and usenet. There is a HD copy available.


Oh, sooooo much this.

This was worth the wait. If the rest of the series is half as good, it'll be great. If the remaining episodes are just as good, my head might explode.


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

Ozzie72 said:


> Oh, sooooo much this.
> 
> This was worth the wait. If the rest of the series is half as good, it'll be great. If the remaining episodes are just as good, my head might explode.


Episode #2 is now out on Bittorrent and Usenet. Also, a HD copy is available.


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## The_Geyser (Aug 18, 2005)

Do you think HDNet will pick it up?


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

The_Geyser said:


> Do you think HDNet will pick it up?


*BBC AMERICA HD LAUNCHES JULY 20 WITH A SPECIAL SCI-FI WEEK
*
http://www.press.bbcamerica.com/press/newsdetail.jsp?news_id=113


> - U.S. Premieres of Torchwood: Children of Earth, Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead and Being Human to Air in HD -
> 
> New York, NY - Monday, June 1, 2009 - BBC Worldwide launches BBC AMERICA HD on July 20 with the high-definition simulcast of BBC AMERICA. BBC AMERICA HD kicks off with an extraordinary week of sci-fi U.S. premieres - the return of the channels highest rated series, Torchwood, the latest Doctor Who special, Planet of the Dead, the BBC AMERICA co-production, Being Human and the thrilling season finale of Primeval, Season 3.


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

The_Geyser said:


> Do you think HDNet will pick it up?


there is nothing on the HDNet website that indicates that they will...Torchwood is listed on the bottom of the page with all their "series" but it is the only one with no link to showtimes...

my plan is to record these shows off of BBCA and then wait 3 months to see if HDNet will announce them...if not, I will watch the lousy, SD, cut-up shows from BBCA...


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## The_Geyser (Aug 18, 2005)

Anubys said:


> there is nothing on the HDNet website that indicates that they will...Torchwood is listed on the bottom of the page with all their "series" but it is the only one with no link to showtimes...
> 
> my plan is to record these shows off of BBCA and then wait 3 months to see if HDNet will announce them...if not, I will watch the lousy, SD, cut-up shows from BBCA...


LOL! Thanks, I'll record lousy SD version too!


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## danm628 (May 14, 2002)

I checked last night and my season pass for Torchwood did not pick up the Children of Earth. So I added a new season pass for it.

- Dan


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## Barmat (Jun 1, 2001)

I refuse to watch this edited on BBCA. I'll go the route of less legal methods.


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

Barmat said:


> I refuse to watch this edited on BBCA. I'll go the route of less legal methods.


Already have 1 and 2 ready to go, they took bloody forever to download though, the HD versions are huge, 1.5 gigs.

I think I'm going to wait to watch till I have all 5.

phox


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## tiassa (Jul 2, 2008)

Barmat said:


> I refuse to watch this edited on BBCA. I'll go the route of less legal methods.


Here's a totally legal HD method, probably unedited as well (you have to wait a week, tho):
http://www.press.bbcamerica.com/press/newsdetail.jsp?news_id=116



> Torchwood: Children of Earth hits stores on Blu-ray and DVD July 28, 2009 - just four days after its dramatic finale on BBC AMERICA.


It just turned up in my Tivo Guide as well -- had to set a new SP


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## Sherminator (Nov 24, 2004)

Malcontent said:


> *BBC AMERICA HD LAUNCHES JULY 20 WITH A SPECIAL SCI-FI WEEK
> *
> http://www.press.bbcamerica.com/press/newsdetail.jsp?news_id=113


Not much use to us Cable customers, as there is no guarantee that Comcast & others with HD-NET will carry the channel the instant it s switched on, if at all.


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

**Spoilers**

BBC America has released a full two-minute clip from its upcoming Torchwood: Children of Earth.

**Spoilers**

http://scifiwire.com/2009/07/new-clip-from-torchwood-c.php


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

Sherminator said:


> Not much use to us Cable customers, as there is no guarantee that Comcast & others with HD-NET will carry the channel the instant it s switched on, if at all.


I thought you downloaded U.K. shows from bittorrent.


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## Sherminator (Nov 24, 2004)

That's illegal. 

Besides, There was no need for me to even contemplate that last year, with HD-Net showing season 2 uncut, in HD & close to the original air-date. With the emphasis on uncut.


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## David Ortiz (Jul 8, 2002)

Fleegle said:


> Yea, but it'll be cut up. Anyone know if HDNet will be showing this?


HDNet's press release regarding Torchwood specifically said Seasons One and Two. It's highly unlikely with BBC America HD launching that they would sign over rights for the third season to HDNet.


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## ewolfr (Feb 12, 2001)

I love the fact that the cappers get the UK broadcasts up so soon after they show over there. Episode 4 is coming in as I type this and the HD caps look fantastic and in my opinion well worth the download.


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## Ozzie72 (Aug 9, 2008)

ewolfr said:


> I love the fact that the cappers get the UK broadcasts up so soon after they show over there. Episode 4 is coming in as I type this and the HD caps look fantastic and in my opinion well worth the download.


Indeed, a huge :up: to our friends across the pond.

When I've gotten home from work "on time", the SD version is available and seeded like crazy -- I think it took me something like 8 minutes to download eps. 3 and 4. The HD versions are taking a bit longer, but only like 45 minutes. I haven't seen the HD caps yet, as I haven't had time to convert them from MKV. But I have my step-by-step guide all set and will be converting some sweet _Torchwood_ HD goodness this weekend.

And then I'll probably watch all 5 eps again, in a row, on Saturday night.

And then my head will explode.


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## Lenonn (May 31, 2004)

I have RCN cable, and wrote them (on the Channel Request section of their webpage), asking them to get BBCAHD. Their response was they they have no plans to add it in the near future.


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## tiassa (Jul 2, 2008)

Lenonn said:


> I have RCN cable, and wrote them (on the Channel Request section of their webpage), asking them to get BBCAHD. Their response was they they have no plans to add it in the near future.


I wrote RCN as well, and got: 


> Thank you for contacting RCN, this is Brandi. At this time I do not have any information regarding these channels. Please visit the following link to request for these channels to be considered for the lineup.


Oh, well at least I can watch on the SD channel and zoom it!


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

I've never watched Torchwood, but the blurb in the Tv Guide gave that miniseries a thumbs-up. Would I be completely lost watching the miniseries without any background on the show?


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## ewolfr (Feb 12, 2001)

Someone asked that very same question on Ask Ausiello this week:

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/07/ask-ausiello-spoilers-on-gossip-fringe-greys-etc.html



> Question: I have never watched Torchwood. Will I be able to watch Torchwood: Children of Earth without being lost? --Kelly
> Ausiello: Hell, yeah. I'm actually only a sporadic Torchwood viewer, so I too had concerns that the five-night miniseries (debuting on BBC America July 20) would be tough to follow. But it's not. At all.


It would certainly help if you knew some of the backstory while watching but I could see how someone that has never seen an episode before could jump right into it. However there are only 30 or so total episodes and if you are running low on things to watch you could grab them all and save the new mini series until the end. Torchwood is a really fantastic show IMO and you would be well served by seeing all of them if you can.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

ewolfr said:


> Someone asked that very same question on Ask Ausiello this week:
> 
> http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/07/ask-ausiello-spoilers-on-gossip-fringe-greys-etc.html
> 
> It would certainly help if you knew some of the backstory while watching but I could see how someone that has never seen an episode before could jump right into it. However there are only 30 or so total episodes and if you are running low on things to watch you could grab them all and save the new mini series until the end. Torchwood is a really fantastic show IMO and you would be well served by seeing all of them if you can.


CoE has done a good job of telling backstory for first time viewers. I am finding CoE a much higher level of story telling then the previous episodes.


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## Skittles (May 25, 2002)

Langree said:


> CoE has done a good job of telling backstory for first time viewers. I am finding CoE a much higher level of story telling then the previous episodes.


I have to agree with this. Children of Earth does a great job at introducing the show to new viewers, while still being incredibly watchable for longtime fans of the show.

My only concern is that it's a bad starting point for anyone new to Torchwood. Children of Earth is, in my opinion, light years ahead of any single episode or any story arc ever done for Torchwood. None of the episodes hold a candle to Children of Earth.

So if you start with Children of Earth, just be warned that the tone and delivery of the show is different during the initial two seasons, and that the general quality of writing, acting, production, and storyline are all downhill after you watch Children of Earth. Kicking off with Children of Earth is great because, honestly, it's one of the best pieces of sci-fi ever. But it's also arguably the best Torchwood's ever been.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Skittles said:


> I have to agree with this. Children of Earth does a great job at introducing the show to new viewers, while still being incredibly watchable for longtime fans of the show.
> 
> My only concern is that it's a bad starting point for anyone new to Torchwood. Children of Earth is, in my opinion, light years ahead of any single episode or any story arc ever done for Torchwood. None of the episodes hold a candle to Children of Earth.
> 
> .....


Wow! This makes me look forward to the BD release even more. FIOS will not be adding BBCA-HD for the premier week so I will just rent or buy the BDs and see the show uncut.


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## Skittles (May 25, 2002)

I offer no spoilers here.

I will only say that, after finishing Torchwood: Children of Earth, the show has set an impassable barrier for itself. I suspect it will likely never be this good again. It's certainly (for me) never been this good before. It is just five hours of complete goodness.

Children of Earth operates on a whole different level than the remainder of the show. And not only is it the best of any Torchwood offering, it's truly one of the best pieces of science fiction in far too long.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

Skittles said:


> I offer no spoilers here.
> 
> I will only say that, after finishing Torchwood: Children of Earth, the show has set an impassable barrier for itself. I suspect it will likely never be this good again. It's certainly (for me) never been this good before. It is just five hours of complete goodness.
> 
> Children of Earth operates on a whole different level than the remainder of the show. And not only is it the best of any Torchwood offering, it's truly one of the best pieces of science fiction in far too long.


:up:


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

phox_mulder said:


> Already have 1 and 2 ready to go, they took bloody forever to download though, the HD versions are huge, 1.5 gigs.
> 
> I think I'm going to wait to watch till I have all 5.
> 
> phox


I can't wait for #5 to be available.
I have Day 1- Day 4 waiting on my PCs hard drive. May watch Day 1 in a few minutes.

Day 5 may be available in a day or two.


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## Sherminator (Nov 24, 2004)

Day 5 in HD, should be ready for me in 1 hour, I guess it depends on where you get it from.


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

I get my stuff from Usenet. I download at my max speed all the time every time. No ratios to worry about like with Bittorrent.


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## Ozzie72 (Aug 9, 2008)

Skittles said:


> I offer no spoilers here.
> 
> I will only say that, after finishing Torchwood: Children of Earth, the show has set an impassable barrier for itself. I suspect it will likely never be this good again. It's certainly (for me) never been this good before. It is just five hours of complete goodness.
> 
> Children of Earth operates on a whole different level than the remainder of the show. And not only is it the best of any Torchwood offering, it's truly one of the best pieces of science fiction in far too long.


There are not enough :up:s or "+1"s for this post.

For the fans' sake, I hope that the BBCA airing doesn't cut too much and screw up this piece of pure genius. If they do, those seeing it for the first time will truly be robbed of an incredible experience.


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## tlrowley (Jun 10, 2004)

Skittles said:


> I offer no spoilers here.
> 
> I will only say that, after finishing Torchwood: Children of Earth, the show has set an impassable barrier for itself. I suspect it will likely never be this good again. It's certainly (for me) never been this good before. It is just five hours of complete goodness.
> 
> Children of Earth operates on a whole different level than the remainder of the show. And not only is it the best of any Torchwood offering, it's truly one of the best pieces of science fiction in far too long.


Every word Skittles says is true. An amazing 5 hours of sci-fi.


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## spikedavis (Nov 23, 2003)

I just watched episode 2 and I'm floored. Season 1 of Torchwood is near god awful. Season 2 was a massive improvement-and this is on par with some of the best TV on right now. What a incredible improvement this is. Torchwood used to be silly-some of this stuff is downright chilling!


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## Dignan (Jan 27, 2002)

Um, we aren't supposed to talk about this....

Agreed, great stuff (only 3 episodes in). The HD caps are top notch.

Anyone else recognize the awkward co-star from the movie Local Hero?


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

wow...with such a recommendation from you guys, I'm seriously considering watching the SD version...that is high praise indeed...


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## TravisKU (Nov 26, 2001)

Hands down the best 5 hours of television I have seen in a long time!!!


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

Ok, so I thought I'd get SOME idea of Torchwood before trying out the miniseries, and found Season 1 Episode 1 on a website. I am sad to say that we couldn't even get through the entire episode. The woman police officer went from one weird/violent situation to another without so much as a hiccup. Huh??

This is a spoiler from S1E1 which describes my complaint:



Spoiler



In one scene she's watching the Torchwood gang in action reviving a dead body (using a strange glove) to find out if he knows who who killed him. Then she runs away, only to find herself in some hallway, watching a weird-headed monster dude literally chew the neck off her colleague(?). Ok her eyes widen a little, but all she does is run the other way down the hall and the scene cuts out. In the VERY NEXT SCENE she's driving on the highway calm as can be.



The other problem we had was that the heavy accents were hard to understand. We were getting something like every other word.

Sorry Torchwood fans. Unless the miniseries is far different from this experience, I don't think we're going to bother with it.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

dbranco said:


> Sorry Torchwood fans. Unless the miniseries is far different from this experience, I don't think we're going to bother with it.


Obviously you just need reasons to ignore the good things everyone is saying. Your loss.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

dswallow said:


> Obviously you just need reasons to ignore the good things everyone is saying. Your loss.


Although I have to say, whatever flaws the first season of Torchwood had, the first episode was pretty fantastic. If you didn't like that one, you probably won't be enthused about the mini.

Part of the problem might just be not understanding the world it takes place in. If you didn't watch Doctor Who, you wouldn't realize that aliens have become pretty common knowledge, with annual invasions and whatnot. In that context, Gwen's reactions to the weirdness going on around her are a lot more understandable.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

dbranco said:


> Sorry Torchwood fans. Unless the miniseries is far different from this experience, I don't think we're going to bother with it.


It is.


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## jschuur (Nov 27, 2002)

dbranco said:


> Sorry Torchwood fans. Unless the miniseries is far different from this experience, I don't think we're going to bother with it.


The one thing I can say that might be helpful is that the mini series moved even further away from Doctor Who's classic British sci-fi cheesiness roots and has a very strong, dark and dramatic core. It's like Russel Davies (the writer for the mini series) looked at Ron Moore and said 'The new Battlestar Galactica is grittier? I'll show you gritty!'.

The reason people are liking this series is not for the sci-fi elements or action. It's the decisions and events it puts the characters through.


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## spikedavis (Nov 23, 2003)

I just finished Episode 4. Wow. This is epic.


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## Ozzie72 (Aug 9, 2008)

jschuur said:


> The one thing I can say that might be helpful is that the mini series moved even further away from Doctor Who's classic British sci-fi cheesiness roots and has a very strong, dark and dramatic core. It's like Russel Davies (the writer for the mini series) looked at Ron Moore and said 'The new Battlestar Galactica is grittier? I'll show you gritty!'.
> 
> The reason people are liking this series is not for the sci-fi elements or action. It's the decisions and events it puts the characters through.


I think this is a great point to make, especially to the new fans / first-timers following the thread. At the risk of oversimplifying, _Torchwood_ is the result of _Doctor Who_ and the new _Battlestar Galactica_ having a child prodigy who eats at _CSI_'s house a lot and flirts with _NYPD Blue_ when no one's looking.

Season 1 gets you invested in the backstory (especially if you've not followed the revived _Doctor Who_) and gets you to buy in with the right amount of suspension of disbelief. Season 2 gets you invested in the characters, giving them lives, desires, failings, etc., and it shows you that -- as would probably happen if this was all real -- being part of something like the Torchwood Institute means constantly walking a tightrope between wonder and terror, ecstasy and despair. The major complaint I've heard about the first 2 seasons has been that they sometimes fall into the "monster-of-the-week" rut, but I can look past that. The premise of the show is that Torchwood protects Earth against alien threats. Stands to reason that aliens kinda need to be part of the action quite a bit. 

This 5-ep series that comprises Season 3? Well, I still can't find the right words to describe it. Suffice to say I'm transcoding the HD versions as quickly as I can and watching all 5 episodes again as soon as I can.

Hmmm...maybe I'll watch the SD versions while I'm transcoding the HD versions...


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## kimsan (Jan 23, 2002)

Ozzie72 said:


> This 5-ep series that comprises Season 3? Well, I still can't find the right words to describe it.


I'll join in on the praise side of this thread. The original Doctor Who series was always fun and campy with just a touch of deeper issues generally presented in a multi-episode series arc. The RTD run still leans toward the campy fun but with much deeper emotion and social commentary. Most episode could be considered stand-alone, but there was a continuing arc to each series.

The first two Torchwood seasons kept the fun and camp and added in sex and profanity. They also threw in more of the morality and emotion and social commentary on the RTD Doctor Who. They also could be taken as stand-alone (generally) with and overall series arc.

Children Of Earth still had it's light moments, but was far more about individual
emotions and decisions and social commentary than aliens. The five night series was just long enough to tell the story, add to the overall character mythology, and set up a new beginning for the next series (if there is one.)

I'm glad I watched and am likely to re-watch again to take in more of the subtleties. Simply the best Torchwood to date.:up:


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## catcard (Mar 2, 2001)

I downloaded and watched this weekend. This was the best mini-series I have watched in years! The writers and actors did an awesome job!


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## tewcewl (Dec 18, 2004)

For those of you who are wondering, I just set up a SP to catch this because my normal Torchwood SP didn't pick this up as this is under the title "Torchwood: Children of Earth." And it looks like it may be shown unedited as each episode is shown to be 1 hour and 15 minutes long.

ALSO, for those of you who are interested, after each episode there'll be a 15 minute special called "Torchwood: Inside Look." So you'll have to set up a separate SP for that if you want to record it since it looks to be five different episodes, not a repeat. So, there'll be two hours of Torchwood-y goodness to record next week.

Additionally, there's a one-hour special airing on Monday, July 20 called "Torchwood: Inside the Hub." I set up a recording for that.

Whew. Got all that?


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

tewcewl said:


> For those of you who are wondering, I just set up a SP to catch this because my normal Torchwood SP didn't pick this up as this is under the title "Torchwood: Children of Earth." And it looks like it may be shown unedited as each episode is shown to be 1 hour and 15 minutes long.


If you go with the typical formula of 20 minutes of commercials per hour, it looks like they'll have 50 minutes of show in that 1:15 (probably less as 20mins/hr is a broadcast network formula and cable usually does more than that). The original episodes, commercial-free, run close to a full hour.

So there's probably going to be some stuff cut.


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## tiassa (Jul 2, 2008)

busyba said:


> If you go with the typical formula of 20 minutes of commercials per hour, it looks like they'll have 50 minutes of show in that 1:15 (probably less as 20mins/hr is a broadcast network formula and cable usually does more than that). The original episodes, commercial-free, run close to a full hour.
> 
> So there's probably going to be some stuff cut.


The optimist in me says they will go with the "12 mins/hr" level of commercials, which would leave nothing cut. If they are spending an extra half hour on each show (15 mins + 15 mins of "Inside Look") it seems to me that they wouldn't need to cut anything.


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## zordude (Sep 23, 2003)

tiassa said:


> The optimist in me says they will go with the "12 mins/hr" level of commercials, which would leave nothing cut. If they are spending an extra half hour on each show (15 mins + 15 mins of "Inside Look") it seems to me that they wouldn't need to cut anything.


I bet they definitely cut some nudity and language, not that there is a lot of either.

Z


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

zordude said:


> I bet they definitely cut some nudity and language, not that there is a lot of either.
> 
> Z


If memory serves, there was no nudity at all.

edit: oh, okay... I remember now. Yeah, that was pretty minor, but I forget what BBCA's policy is on that. I bet they just blur it rather than cut it.


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## Hoffer (Jun 1, 2001)

I put season 1 disc 1 of Torchwood in my Netflix queue. I've never seen the show and noticed it was out on Blu-ray. Figured I'll give it a shot.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

I just finished (not) watching all five hours and it's (not) freekin' awesome!


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

TonyTheTiger said:


> I just finished (not) watching all five hours and it's (not) freekin' awesome!


I think if you're British, you can legally watch that way.

I'm not, so I can't watch them tonight and tomorrow night.

(HD versions took up to 10 hours to BT)

phox


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## Sherminator (Nov 24, 2004)

phox_mulder said:


> I think if you're British, you can legally watch that way.


:up:

Being British and paying the TV license fee for many years, I take that as it entitles me to the same amount of years of BBC programming equal to the amount of years that I have paid the license. Of course through work, sleep & the other channels, I hadn't reached my 'quota' whilst I was in the UK, so over here, I am collecting the BBC TV that I am due.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Yeah, that'll work


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## tiassa (Jul 2, 2008)

busyba said:


> If memory serves, there was no nudity at all.
> 
> edit: oh, okay... I remember now. Yeah, that was pretty minor, but I forget what BBCA's policy is on that. I bet they just blur it rather than cut it.


Yeah IIRC they blur the nudity and "mute" (not bleep) the language -- amusingly they also bleep the closed captions (as in f**k).


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

tiassa said:


> Yeah IIRC they blur the nudity and "mute" (not bleep) the language -- amusingly they also bleep the closed captions (as in f**k).


That isn't normal?


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## BobB (Aug 26, 2002)

aaronwt said:


> That isn't normal?


Not in Europe. Most Americans have no idea what a puritanical country they live in.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

BobB said:


> Not in Europe. Most Americans have no idea what a puritanical country they live in.


We got it from Europe.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

cheesesteak said:


> We got it from Europe.


More specifically, it left Europe for America because it wasn't welcome there any more.


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> More specifically, it left Europe for America because it wasn't welcome there any more.


where can we send it next?


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

Are you guys watching the hd torrents on your pc or burning them and watching them on a blu-ray player? I've never been able to get into watching tv shows or movies on the computer. I'm contemplating the torrents since I won't have BBCAmerica HD and I don't wan't the extra edits for commercials.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

cheesesteak said:


> Are you guys watching the hd torrents on your pc or burning them and watching them on a blu-ray player? I've never been able to get into watching tv shows or movies on the computer. I'm contemplating the torrents since I won't have BBCAmerica HD and I don't wan't the extra edits for commercials.


You can transcode the content to watch on your TiVo or to burn to DVD or BD. Or you can watch it on your PC. It's just video content. It's just a matter of transcoding from one format to another.

Personally I'm waiting for the BDs to be released on the 28th before I watch it.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

cheesesteak said:


> Are you guys watching the hd torrents on your pc or burning them and watching them on a blu-ray player? I've never been able to get into watching tv shows or movies on the computer. I'm contemplating the torrents since I won't have BBCAmerica HD and I don't wan't the extra edits for commercials.


They have devices that pull material from your network and play it on your computer. I have an HDX-1000, which has worked out very well for me. It plays pretty much any file format, and supports 1080p and DD 5.1. You can also drop in a hard drive and use it as stand-alone storage, and it can run bit-torrent clients, although I've never bothered with that; I just want it to pull stuff from my computer and watch it on my HDTV.

There are a number of such devices out there.


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## tiassa (Jul 2, 2008)

aaronwt said:


> That isn't normal?


On American TV series (or shows specifically made for the US market) neither are in the show in the first place. Kudos to BBCA for at least not totally censoring Torchwood (although it took me a while to figure out what Owen was saying to the Lady Pilot from the past when he asked if they could be "****buddies")

One more thing (after seeing the Promo shots) Eve Myles in leather carrying 2 revolvers --yum!


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

cheesesteak said:


> Are you guys watching the hd torrents on your pc or burning them and watching them on a blu-ray player? I've never been able to get into watching tv shows or movies on the computer. I'm contemplating the torrents since I won't have BBCAmerica HD and I don't wan't the extra edits for commercials.


I send the HD versions to my S3 TiVo with PyTiVo.

I've also been able to watch on the big screen via my PS3 or DirecTV DVR.

TiVo is the easiest to get the video to, but I think the PS3 looks better.

phox


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## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

cheesesteak said:


> Are you guys watching the hd torrents on your pc or burning them and watching them on a blu-ray player? I've never been able to get into watching tv shows or movies on the computer. I'm contemplating the torrents since I won't have BBCAmerica HD and I don't wan't the extra edits for commercials.


I play the torrents through my laptop (my dedicated BT machine) hooked to my television with a VGA cable. I've tried burning stuff to a DVD, and unless it is a disk image file you are burning, or your DVD player can play XVID files, hooking to a computer is way easier than the slow and error prone process of converting the file to DVD format. I can get close to filling up the whole screen with the picture there is thin black border around the picture, but it is totally watchable, and better than SD. Watched the first episode last night, so far so good.

I am contemplating selling my Blu-ray player, and Wii and buying a PS3. Is the PS3 good at playing torrent files in full size on an HDTV?


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## Sherminator (Nov 24, 2004)

cheesesteak said:


> Are you guys watching the hd torrents on your pc or burning them and watching them on a blu-ray player? I've never been able to get into watching tv shows or movies on the computer. I'm contemplating the torrents since I won't have BBCAmerica HD and I don't wan't the extra edits for commercials.


Streaming them to my PS3 via Windows Home Server.


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## Dignan (Jan 27, 2002)

I used to convert to MP4 and watch via Apple TV. Now I use a Western Digital Media Player, plays just about anything (including .ts files). The WD player is about $80.


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## zordude (Sep 23, 2003)

I send torrents to my HD TiVo with PyTiVo.


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## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

I have watched through episode 2. I am trying to get the other episodes but I can only find up to episode 3, weren't there 5 episodes total? According to the BBC site there were 5 that were all shown a week or so ago, so where are eps 4&5?


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## tlrowley (Jun 10, 2004)

I know I've heard they're available on The Box (and usenet).


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## mmcgown (Feb 7, 2002)

aaronwt said:


> You can transcode the content to watch on your TiVo or to burn to DVD or BD. Or you can watch it on your PC. It's just video content. It's just a matter of transcoding from one format to another.
> 
> Personally I'm waiting for the BDs to be released on the 28th before I watch it.


I don't do any transcoding......not sure I know how.

I use pyTivo to send the file directly to my TiVo.

Maybe pyTiVo knows how to transcode for me.


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## zordude (Sep 23, 2003)

DeDondeEs said:


> I have watched through episode 2. I am trying to get the other episodes but I can only find up to episode 3, weren't there 5 episodes total? According to the BBC site there were 5 that were all shown a week or so ago, so where are eps 4&5?


I hear that mininova has them all.

Z


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## spikedavis (Nov 23, 2003)

I watch them on my Apple TV as well.


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

ok...this is something I've resisted long enough...don't even know what to search for, but I'd like to figure out how to do it...

so I go to usenet and download the shows...how do I send them over to my HR21 (which is hooked up to my wireless network)?

can you direct me to a thread that talks about this stuff to an idiot like me?


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## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

Anubys said:


> ok...this is something I've resisted long enough...don't even know what to search for, but I'd like to figure out how to do it...
> 
> so I go to usenet and download the shows...how do I send them over to my HR21 (which is hooked up to my wireless network)?
> 
> can you direct me to a thread that talks about this stuff to an idiot like me?


I've tried this, it is a huge pain in the butt. The HR-21 will only recognize a few of the main media formats, like wma and maybe avi, which aren't commonly used on torrent sites. So what you have to do is install a program on your computer that runs as a server and converts your files on the fly and streams them to the HR-21 in a compatible format. I think it is called Tversity or something like that. I tried this and discovered that it works OK, but there is no fast forward or rewind just stop. So if you need to pause a file you basically stop it then when you start you are at the beginning of the file with no way to fast forward. Also I couldn't get 16x9 format files to play properly on my TV, it would scrunch it down to 4x3. I am sure if I tweeked it around I could have gotten it working, but using my laptop was much easier.

I think hooking up a laptop, PS3, or even that previously mentioned $80Western Digital Media player are way better ways to go. But if you are still interested google Tversity and HR-21 and you should find the info you are looking for.


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## spikedavis (Nov 23, 2003)

This is what I do-I have a Mac and an Apple TV.

I download the show-it's usually in AVI format. I convert that file in VisualHub-which automatically adds it to iTunes.

I then walk into the living room and it's on my Apple TV to watch.


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

DeDondeEs said:


> I've tried this, it is a huge pain in the butt. The HR-21 will only recognize a few of the main media formats, like wma and maybe avi. So what you have to do is install a program on your computer that converts your files on the fly and streams them in a compatible format. I think it is called Tversity or something like that. I tried this and discovered that it works OK, but there is no fast forward or rewind or pause just stop. So if you need to pause a file you basically stop it then when you start you are at the beginning of the file with no way to fast forward. Also I couldn't get 16x9 format files to play properly on my TV, it would scrunch it down to 4x3.
> 
> I think hooking up a laptop, PS3, or even that previously mentioned $80Western Digital Media player are way better ways to go.


I can do that...I already have Tversity and have moved files to my PS3 (it takes so darn long, though!)...shoot...so I already had all the tools and was just too stupid to do it...

one major issue: every time I've tried a bittorrent or any of these sites, I've ended up infected with some trojan or virus (the last one almost killed my laptop)...I've yet to find a way around this...but I want to watch this show in HD...


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## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

Anubys said:


> I can do that...I already have Tversity and have moved files to my PS3 (it takes so darn long, though!)...shoot...so I already had all the tools and was just too stupid to do it...
> 
> one major issue: every time I've tried a bittorrent or any of these sites, I've ended up infected with some trojan or virus (the last one almost killed my laptop)...I've yet to find a way around this...but I want to watch this show in HD...


I update my antivirus everytime I log onto one of those sites. I also have a machine solely for downloading and watching stuff. I am thinking of going one step further and using a virtual machine on the dedicated machine so that if something does get through I can just nuke the VM. Or you could just use Linux.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

mmcgown said:


> I don't do any transcoding......not sure I know how.
> 
> I use pyTivo to send the file directly to my TiVo.
> 
> Maybe pyTiVo knows how to transcode for me.


yes.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

I can now vouch for Torchwood improving markedly about halfway through series 1. But oi, that first half, it burns.


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## cditty (Jun 8, 2003)

How do you manage to get viruses downloading videos?


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

cditty said:


> How do you manage to get viruses downloading videos?


Through the web browser. It's not downloading that's dangerous (assuming you're really downloading a video file and not some fake *.avi.exe file), it's the web browsing.

I got nailed about a week ago, hit the wrong web-page and got my system infected with a really nasty trojan that got in through firefox. (Either a browser attack or an embedded flash attack; not sure which).
I ended up nuking the system partition and reinstalling.


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## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

lambertman said:


> I can now vouch for Torchwood improving markedly about halfway through series 1. But oi, that first half, it burns.


That's good to know. I only watched the first two episodes of season 1 and sort of lost interest. But I am really enjoying Children of Earth, so I might give S1 another shot.


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

Jonathan_S said:


> Through the web browser. It's not downloading that's dangerous (assuming you're really downloading a video file and not some fake *.avi.exe file), it's the web browsing.
> 
> I got nailed about a week ago, hit the wrong web-page and got my system infected with a really nasty trojan that got in through firefox. (Either a browser attack or an embedded flash attack; not sure which).
> I ended up nuking the system partition and reinstalling.


Give the Firefox add-on called "NoScript" a look. It stops Flash and other scripts from auto loading.

http://noscript.net/


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## jones07 (Jan 30, 2001)

Downloaded and watched all the mini last night till 3:15am. I could not turned it off.
Wow is all I can say 

Now with 3 hours of sleep I'm off to work. Going to be a looong day.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I'm looking forward to watching it on Blu-ray Disc at the end of the month. I ended up ordering it from Amazon and I'll probably just rent the Dr. Who BD.


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## catcard (Mar 2, 2001)

Hopefully this is not a highjack but I haven't watched any of the Dr. Who series - I am assuming the Capt Jack character was introduced in Dr. Who? Was it a specific season of Dr. Who? I would be interested in seeing it but don't really want to watch multiple seasons of Dr. Who. Anyone tell me which season I should watch?


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## Skittles (May 25, 2002)

catcard said:


> Hopefully this is not a highjack but I haven't watched any of the Dr. Who series - I am assuming the Capt Jack character was introduced in Dr. Who?


 Yep!



> Was it a specific season of Dr. Who? I would be interested in seeing it but don't really want to watch multiple seasons of Dr. Who. Anyone tell me which season I should watch?


Captain Jack Harkness is introduced in the first season of Doctor Who. It's well worth watching the entire first season, since some of the plot details over the course of the season unfold in Torchwood. Plus, it's just 13 episodes, and it's all good TV.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

Skittles said:


> Yep!
> 
> Captain Jack Harkness is introduced in the first season of Doctor Who. It's well worth watching the entire first season, since some of the plot details over the course of the season unfold in Torchwood. Plus, it's just 13 episodes, and it's all good TV.


The episode in question, The Empty Child. Freaky, spooky episode.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

BBCA has announced they are airing the 5 parter uncut, so "we" will be seeing the same version they aired in the UK.


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## Skittles (May 25, 2002)

Langree said:


> The episode in question, The Empty Child. Freaky, spooky episode.


Don't forget the second part of that, The Doctor Dances. 

But really, the most important stuff with Captain Jack takes place in the last two episodes of Season 1, which are Bad Wolf and The Parting Of The Ways. That explains a LOT about why his character is the way he is in Torchwood, as well as what some of his motivations are.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

Skittles said:


> Don't forget the second part of that, The Doctor Dances.
> 
> But really, the most important stuff with Captain Jack takes place in the last two episodes of Season 1, which are Bad Wolf and The Parting Of The Ways. That explains a LOT about why his character is the way he is in Torchwood, as well as what some of his motivations are.


Absolutely.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

Langree said:


> BBCA has announced they are airing the 5 parter uncut, so "we" will be seeing the same version they aired in the UK.


Cool. I'll wait until next week. I downloaded an hd torrent but after watching the first five minutes, the audio and video don't always match up. Beautiful picture, though.


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Langree said:


> The episode in question, The Empty Child. Freaky, spooky episode.


But,



Spoiler



nobody dies!


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## IDSmoker (Apr 11, 2004)

Has anyone seen anything on where the next season/series of Torchwood will go after the events of "Children of Earth"?

Until we have a spoiler friendly thread, I won't say anything beyond: 
"Wow!!! Where do you go from here?"​
Now *that *was great television!


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## edc (Mar 24, 2002)

IDSmoker said:


> Has anyone seen anything on where the next season/series of Torchwood will go after the events of "Children of Earth"?
> 
> Until we have a spoiler friendly thread, I won't say anything beyond:
> "Wow!!! Where do you go from here?"​


Quite possibly, nowhere. The series has not been renewed. No stories have been written, but exec producer Russel T. Davies has said that he would like the series to continue and that he has some ideas for the future.


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## Sherminator (Nov 24, 2004)

IDSmoker said:


> Has anyone seen anything on where the next season/series of Torchwood will go after the events of "Children of Earth"?
> 
> *Until we have a spoiler friendly thread*, I won't say anything beyond:
> "Wow!!! Where do you go from here?"​
> Now *that *was great television!


Well you can always contribute to the thread in UK General Chit-Chat, the Mods are OK with conversations concerning UK shows not yet aired in the US in that sub-forum.


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

To me, Torchwood was this weird sci-fi show that was sometimes good, and sometimes ok...

but this mini-series is just fantastic from the first to the last second...simply some of the best TV I have watched in a long, long time...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I just watched the seven minute opening teaser on the BBCA site. Now I really want to see it. It's going to be a long wait until my discs arrive on July 28th.


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## whitson77 (Nov 10, 2002)

Starts tonight! We can't wait. Isn't there a Doctor Who special on BBCA soon too?


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

whitson77 said:


> Starts tonight! We can't wait. Isn't there a Doctor Who special on BBCA soon too?


This weekend the Special airs.


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## JohnB1000 (Dec 6, 2004)

This was simply fantastic, but also harrowing. I'm a Torchwood fan and ep 1 had be hooked but I had no idea where it was going. It's the first TV show that's really had me thinking for a while. My wife said it has disturbed her on many levels.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I am so glad I waited for the BD. This has been excellent so far. I'm just starting the third episode and I wish I could watch the last two tonight but I don't think I'll have time.


It looks and sounds superb on the Blu-ray Disc.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

whitson77 said:


> Starts tonight! We can't wait. Isn't there a Doctor Who special on BBCA soon too?


I watched the Dr. Who: Planet of the Dead last night. I rented the BD from Netflix (I purchased the Torchwood:CoE)

Dr. Who looked and sounded superb too. Plus it was the first time I've seen it in HD. It was always upconverted on broadcast on SciFi(SyFy).


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

aaronwt said:


> Dr. Who looked and sounded superb too. Plus it was the first time I've seen it in HD. It was always upconverted on broadcast on SciFi(SyFy).


That's the first time it's ever BEEN in HD.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> That's the first time it's ever BEEN in HD.


That's what I thought.


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

Well, never having seen Torchwood or Dr.Who, we were hesitant to watch this, but so many great comments prompted me to tiVo all of it. And all I can say is WOOWWWW. I'm so glad that I did!! 

All of your comments here about it being a fantastic series are spot-on. No doubt our watching experience would've been richer had we been familiar with the characters and their back-stories. But even so, we are finding it easy to follow the story and it's been a fantastic ride so far. (one more ep. to go)

Thanks!
Deb


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Currently giving this a re-watch. Clever, funny, and downright chilling.

Hands-down one of the best sci-fi shows ever on tv.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Hcour said:


> Currently giving this a re-watch. Clever, funny, and downright chilling.
> 
> Hands-down one of the best sci-fi shows ever on tv.


I've been thinking about watching it again as well. I agree that it's one of the best things I've ever seen on TV.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

A wonderful series. And one of the few to have a mainstay gay protagonist, and where this is not the character's defining characteristic. Good show!


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## Unbeliever (Feb 3, 2001)

Mikeguy said:


> A wonderful series. And one of the few to have a mainstay gay protagonist, and where this is not the character's defining characteristic. Good show!


Harkness was introduced in Dr. Who as pansexual, but in Torchwood, they dropped the pan.

--Carlos "literally, anything that moved, including robots" V.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

Children of Earth was great. The rest of Torchwood, other than Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper, not so much.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

cheesesteak said:


> Children of Earth was great. The rest of Torchwood, other than Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper, not so much.


There was a lot of great stuff in Torchwood.

Mixed in with a lot of...not so great stuff.


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## wprager (Feb 19, 2006)

He probably just meant the stuff that came after CoE.


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## dtle (Dec 12, 2001)

The biggest problem with Miracle Day was that it was too long. If the last season was to condense into 5 episodes, like CoE, it would've been so much better.


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## dfreybur (Jan 27, 2006)

dtle said:


> The biggest problem with Miracle Day was that it was too long. If the last season was to condense into 5 episodes, like CoE, it would've been so much better.


I thought Miracle Day would have made a wonderful two episode arc. As it was it was almost like they were driving wooden stakes into a vampire heart again and again to kill the possibility of another season.


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## kdmorse (Jan 29, 2001)

dfreybur said:


> I thought Miracle Day would have made a wonderful two episode arc. As it was it was almost like they were driving wooden stakes into a vampire heart again and again to kill the possibility of another season.


Two episodes, Five Episodes, (I personally would say Three), all feasable. It had a good beginning, a good middle, and a good end. But the lulls in between, oh god the lulls were horrible.


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