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Message # 50905.2.1.1.1.1

Subject: Re:OT: Torchwood season 4

Date: Thu 07/07/11 11:36:14 GMT

Name: MK

Email: wamtec@comcast.net

Website:

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I agree with you......I have been a "purist" longtime Dr Who fan too.....cos I watched the very first episode in 1963 when I was only 8 years old....and I remember that the show caused so much of an impact at that time in the UK....that the BBC changed their schedule the next week, and instead of showing episode 2, they repeated episode 1 again, cos so many people wanted to see it, but missed it. It seems funny today....but in 1963 I used to watch that show with my brother and we used to hide behind our couch (sofa) whenever the Daleks appeared. I also saw most of those 150 episodes in the mid 60's that are now "lost episodes" where the BBC had erased the tapes (including one famous wetlook scene which is on one of those missing episodes).

I was also attached to the show, cos my Uncle Patrick was a bit part actor who worked as an actor on many episodes of Dr Who during the 1960's....he never had a speaking role, but he was very tall (6' 6") so he would often get hired to play the "monstors" on various episodes of Dr Who in the 1960's....he played everything from an Ice Warrior to a Swamp Monster to a Yeti and was a Cyberman several times. He also appeared in several episodes of the series "Blakes 7" in the 1970's that was made by the same production company as Dr Who. My Uncle was also a stand in actor for UK bodybuilder "Dave Prowse" who some people may remember as "The Green Cross" code man in UK commercials, but who is most famous for playing the role of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film (Dave was under the cape, but James Earl Jones did the voice cos producers did not like Dave's high pitched voice)....and then Dave got sick during the Star Wars premiere and tourings, so my Uncle had to take over as Darth Vader during the press tours. My Uncle also did all the driving scenes for John Cleese in the famous Fawlty Towers episode where he beats his car with a stick -- Cleese could not legally drive at that time cos he had a suspended licence for drunk driving and so my Uncle had to play Cleese's stand in for those driving scenes.

But back to Dr Who....as my Uncle was in the show as one of the monsters I was able to go to the BBC Center in the mid 1960's and watch one of the episodes being shot.....so this is a fond memory of my childhood.

I am not a fan all things going "all high tech" with fancy cgi effects....I preferred the old Dr Who series that were with cardboard sets and very low budget.

The classic Dr Who writer/producers were Terry Nation (who invented the Daleks) and John Nathan-Turner......but since they died the Dr Who franchise has been radically altered, and Russell Davies thought that Dr Who was something that he could turn into social commentary on the gay agenda.

Things were getting so bad with the casting and scripts in recent years.....I was jokingly expecting that Russell would cast the next Dr Who and his companion to be David Walliams as the Doctor...with Matt Lucas as his companion......cos that would not surprise me.....i.e. turning Dr Who into "Little Britain".

I enjoy Little Britain (and their new series "Come Fly With Me").....those are very funny shows.....but Dr Who is a sacred institution in the UK (and very popular in Australia and Canada too)....and they need to make the series more serious and not so ridiculous as has happened in recent seasons.

David Tennant was the best thing since Tom Baker....but the latest cast really sucks.

I was just watching an old re-run of the great David Cronenburg film "The Fly" last week.....and when you watch that film you can see that Jeff Goldblum would have been a perfect choice to play Dr Who in a film version....i.e. intellectual but goofy.

The more I think of it....I am sure that if Russell Davies had stayed as head writer for Dr Who....we would have ended up with David Walliams and Matt Lucas being the Doctor and his companion... ha ha.

In reply to Message (50905.2.1.1.1)

Re:OT: Torchwood season 4

By AL'eau - Thu 07/07/11 09:04:46 GMT

Website:

> BBC would not allow him to turn Dr Who into an agenda-activist series

and BBC was right : I has created a big clash between DrWho's Fan and the new series. Nothing against gay or whatever, but this very old serie (you know, it's the oldest/longest of the world, in SciFi at least, started in 1963 !) always focused on adventures / journey / discovering ... and never on characters private life that doesn't add anything in the story, as in too many US shows.

> he quit that show and created Torchwood to be, as put it, "a more intelligent show for adults"

For me, he missed its goal.

Season 1, Season 2 of Torchwood doesn't have the <i>magic</i> of Doctor Who : as said by someone else, it looks like a sequel of XFiles or Supernatural. So, as we say in French "View, re-View, Over-View". So nothing that can make it better than others ... just an other one.

And same-sex adventure of Jack or even Gewn creates only noise, no added value in the story.

More, some episodes are simply boring and repetitive so I left this show and I returned to it only after seeing the new enthusiasm generated in DW fan by the smashing season 3 (and this one is REALLY good !).

All in all, first 2 saisons missing real stories, suspense and, I said, magic of Doctor Who. They miss as well wonderful FX of its master serie.

Among all the sequels I saw about DW world, my chart is :

1- Doctor Who

2- Sarah Jane adventure

3- Torchwood

In reply to Message (50905.2.1.1)

OT: Torchwood season 4

By MK - wamtec@comcast.net Wed 06/07/11 16:35:18 GMT

Website:

It's not so much the orientation of the leading actor in that series....it's the head writer of that show, Russell Davies....who is a staunch gay activist in the UK. He used to be the head writer for the Dr Who series, but quit that show because the BBC would not allow him to turn Dr Who into an agenda-activist series, so he quit that show and created Torchwood to be, as put it, "a more intelligent show for adults", and then proceeded to make the first 2 seasons of Torchwood to be "intelligent' by including same sex kissing scenes in almost every episode....in an obligatory and totally gratuitous way. If you took the first 2 seasons of Torchwood and edited out all the gay sex scenes, you would be left with a pretty decent sci fi series. I don't have a problem with agenda-driven tv shows if they are honest about preaching their agenda....i.e. when you watch shows like "Touched by an Angel" or "Highway to Heaven"...you knew exactly what Michael Landon was preaching. Some sci fi movies are brilliant, even when they have an agenda, cos you can clearly see what it is....i.e. the 2009 Nicolas Cage sci fi film "Knowing" is an excellent sci fi movie....and the fact that it is basically telling the story of Scientology....does not bother me at all...cos a good story is a good story...you don't have to believe in it.

Anyway....it was mainly the first 2 seasons of Torchwood that were preaching the gay agenda way too much...and for Season 3 they toned things down, and now hopefully they will just return to pure sci fi only.

The real irony is....the writer of Torchwood, Russell Davies, complained bitterly in the press after he came out with his BBC series first, and then 6 months later the other tv channel (ITV) created their copycat series "Primeval".....cos Davies complained they they were plageurising his show, and he called Primeval a vacuous show that lacked an agenda....so even Davies himself admitted that his show had an agenda whereas Primeval did not...and then he went on to criticize Primeval's cast for having a "lack of diversity"....i.e. no gay people in the cast....ha ha.

The similarities between the 2 shows are rather funny though....i.e. Primeval is all based around a "wormhole" in time and space and Torchwood is based around a "rift" in time and space.......they should combine the 2 shows together...and then Jack Harness can explores who has the bigger "wormhole"....ha ha

In reply to Message (50905.2.1)

Re:Wetlook alert: Torchwood season 4

By AnthonyX - anthonyx@jowc.net Wed 06/07/11 16:04:51 GMT

Website:

I've seen some Torchwood, was aware of "Jack Harkness" and his orientation, but maybe haven't seen enough of it (or perhaps the relevant seasons) to notice an agenda. Never really got into it as much as Doctor Who. Never got into Primeval either... saw a couple of episodes, but it never really caught my interest... seemed like a cliche "monster-of-the-week" show, with a dash of "X-Files" like conspiracy theory, but maybe that was just based on a poor sampling.

In reply to Message (50905.2)

Re:Wetlook alert: Torchwood season 4

By MK - wamtec@comcast.net Wed 06/07/11 15:35:59 GMT

Website:

The new season of 10 shows look interesting, and as you say fhey have increased their production budget a lot now, cos the new season is more like 10 tv movies, not 10 tv episodes. I guess that is why the show has been taken OFF the free digital cable channel in the USA (the BBC America channel...where the first 3 seasons aired)...and now for Season 4 they have moved to the Premium pay channel "Starz Channel" in the USA....so now you have to pay extra to see this show. It will air one day earlier in the USA, July 8th on the Starz Network....and weirdly this will air in Canada in the USA one week earlier than it airs in the UK.

Sadly, that wetlook scene does not look good, cos the girl is wearing a fullsize rain coat over her clothes, so you do not see wet clothing, all you will see is a wet raincoat....so that scene is for raincoat fetishists or wet hair fans....cos a raincoat is like a life jacket....it covers over things.

But I am sure the show will be entertaining....cos basically it is a UK version of The X Files and very similar in style and production values to "Primeval" (which is also starting a 5th season too)....actually I think Primeval is much better show than Torchwood....cos Primeval is just pure sci fi without any hidden agendas woven into the scripts....whereas the first 3 seasons of Torchwood are have been way too thick on weaving in the gay agenda into far too many episodes in the past....i.e. just stick to sci fi storylines....and quit ramming the gay agenda down out throats.

In reply to Message (50905)

Wetlook alert: Torchwood season 4

By AnthonyX - anthonyx@jowc.net Wed 06/07/11 13:34:40 GMT

Website:

Torchwood season 4 premieres on Canada's Space channel this Saturday (9-Jul). Just saw a promo in which "Jack Harkness" (John Barrowman) and a girl fall from a building and land in a fountain. The girl looks to me like she might be actress Alexa Havins. IMDB lists the first broadcast date as 8-Jul, so it may already run on Friday elsewhere (Syfy, perhaps?).

For what it's worth, the production values appear to be more feature film-like than previous installments of Torchwood, but that could just be the illusion of a carefully edited promo.

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