When I talk about Torchwood, the three words that inevitably come up are ‘perfect science fiction’. I didn’t think that it could get a whole lot better than the later seasons (and occasional early episode) of Deep Space Nine, but Torchwood is consistently mind-shattering and resonant.
After two full seasons running in the UK and on BBC America here in the states, Torchwood took a hiatus, and returned with the very oddly structured ‘5 day miniseries’ that ran for a solid week, every night. It makes perfect sense, thematically, as the story is timed to happen over five weekdays, and lending it a weird sense of relatability. So, an odd format, but a really smart one. I’m not sure if I want to see any other shows condense themselves into a week before taking a long break, but I’ll take it this time.
So, the Torchwood : Children of Earth miniseries is officially the ‘third season’, and it comes with the full impact of any other season, even though it’s only five hours long. Five hours, might I add, that I sat down and watched all at once because Torchwood is fantastically absorbing. Sure, you can hit pause on your DVD player, but then that’ll be more time between you and the amazing stuff that’s going on.
I guess I should define my idea of ‘perfect science fiction’. Yours may differ, but my idea of perfection is a fantastic world that’s presented in a believable, relatable manner and is populated by characters that react appropriately to both emotional and bizarre situations. I want to come away from science fiction feeling like the world is smaller and larger, all at once. I want to be hit with ideas that I never would have thought of. I want to see humans (or aliens, as the case may be) act with genuine humanity or horrible inhumanity, and to feel what I feel, and maybe face situations that they couldn’t have fathomed. And I might be in the minority here, but I don’t want to get too deep into the ’science’ of everything, because that’s the job of the ’speculative fiction’ genre, but I want your science to seem natural enough so that it goes beyond question. It’s a tall order. I don’t feel like Torchwood has ever failed me here.
The unanimous reaction to Torchwood : Children of Earth is that it leaves you feeling raw, not unlike the devastating end of Season Two. The quick premise is thus : aliens come to Earth, and they want something from us. The entire five hours is how the planet Earth deals with this impossible crisis, and it’s handed with such realism and grace that it really does leave you feeling completely torn apart. If you already have a penchant for walking up to precipices and questioning your existence, you should probably watch something else. But come back to this – it’s amazing.
The DVD set is fantastically classy and fits really well into the existing DVD collection. It comes with 2 discs, containing all five episodes and a ‘Declassified’, behind the scenes bit that runs for 30 minutes and is more a discussion of the story and a little bit of the filming process – much less lighthearted than the usual ‘Declassified’ bits with John Barrowman being his funny, charismatic self and bouncing off the set pieces. Of course, it’s completely full of spoilers, so don’t watch it until everything else is through.
Undoubtedly, some of the best science fiction, and best television, that I’ve ever seen. I can’t imagine a respectable shelf of sci-fi DVDs without this series on it. The fourth season of Torchwood hinged heavily upon the success of this series, and very recently, it was given the go-ahead. I couldn’t be more excited for the awesomeness.
