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torchwood

I just went on a Torchwood messageboard to see if anyone had any ideas about how the aliens could be beaten, and man oh man, it's interesting to see fandom from an outsider's perspective. The episode made me cry because of the prospect of millions of children dying - for then, it was only Ianto's death that made them cry.

Actually, they seem to have seen a special version of the episode in which nothing happened except Ianto dying. I skimmed through a thread of over 200 posts, and only one of them mentioned anything else from the episode at all (and he seemed to have watched a different episode as well, because he said that the female minister was standing up for the children).

Some of them have now vowed to never watch Torchwood again, and have accused RTD of being homophobic.

Good Lord. That's one fandom I am avoiding.

I mean, I was annoyed when they killed off Donna and haven't watched Who since, but at least I was able to acknowledge that her death wasn't the only event in that episode.

4thwrite said:
dunno, couldn't see for all the Bubbles in the tank
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:D And there were all those rumours about an oxygen tank ....
 
I forgot about the failed asylum seekers (which might also be a decent name for a New Seekers tribute band) "They won't be missed".

It's amusing to have Cabinet politicians talking candidly as you know they must think.

Taking the asylum seeker angle further, it might have been interesting to have gone for the racist angle given the BNP's recent success rather than school league tables; perhaps excluding children with indiginous parentage. That would have generated some reflection.
 
London_Calling said:
I forgot about the failed asylum seekers (which might also be a decent name for a New Seekers tribute band) "They won't be missed".

It's amusing to have Cabinet politicians talking candidly as you know they must think.

Taking the asylum seeker angle further, it might have been interesting to have gone for the racist angle given the BNP's recent success rather than school league tables; perhaps excluding children with indiginous parentage. That would have generated some reflection.
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But wouldn't have made much sense. The BNP aren't in power.
 
madzone said:
But wouldn't have made much sense. The BNP aren't in power.
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If we were to talk seriously about the preposterous for a minute; if a politician - obviously looking for the minimal political damage to themselves - had the choice between children at the bottom 10% of failing schools (regardless of the childs ability) or . . . children of a non-indigenous background, which of those would the politician think would be the most expedient, the most acceptable to the general population of the UK as it is today?

Reference the ‘middle brow’ tabloids and some red top tabloids. That would have been an interesting Cabinet discussion. Too brave for the BBC, I suspect.

As it is, morally speaking the whole 10% theme is already about a five minute bus ride from Auschwitz.
 
Can I just say again, how bloody awesome is

a) this format

b) the storyline

It's reminsicent of the multi-parter Doctor Who's from the old days, you get much more development and depth in a multi-parter. Makes the previous two series' look like absolute crap :D
 
London_Calling said:
If we were to talk seriously about the preposterous for a minute; if a politician - obviously looking for the minimal political damage to themselves - had the choice between children at the bottom 10% of failing schools (regardless of the childs ability) or . . . children of a non-indigenous background, which of those would the politician think would be the most expedient, the most acceptable to the general population of the UK as it is today?

Reference the ‘middle brow’ tabloids and some red top tabloids. That would have been an interesting Cabinet discussion. Too brave for the BBC, I suspect.

As it is, morally speaking the whole 10% theme is already about a five minute bus ride from Auschwitz.
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I'm bloody glad they didn't focus on race. It would have been clunky, laboured and daft. As it is it's sharp, uncomfortable viewing.
 
madzone said:
I'm bloody glad they didn't focus on race. It would have been clunky, laboured and daft. As it is it's sharp, uncomfortable viewing.
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Right, as compared with focusing on failed schools, filled as they are (from this political pov) with non-fee paying working class kids, likely to be at some stage of social disenfranchisement, social alienation, steeped in stereotyped estate culture and who – in terms of their importance to society – are seemingly one step up the ladder from failed asylum seekers in terms of expendability.
 
London_Calling said:
Right, as compared with focusing on failed schools, filled as they are with non-fee paying working class kids, likely to be at some stage of social disenfranchisement, social alienation, steeped in stereotyped estate culture and who – in terms of their importance to society – are seemingly one step up the ladder from failed asylum seekers.
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What? :confused:
 
my daughter has already been threatened with being alien fodder:D
bet there were teachers up and down the land going :hmm:10% you need the list by tomorrow :D
 
Looks like tonights episode is going to be scarily similar to the kind of nightmares I have. Running and fighting to keep my kids safe in a war type environment, I am going to be on the edge of my seat.
 
ViolentPanda said:
With the Prime Minister called Green (I mean, can we think of another Prime Minister with a surname that's a colour, hmmm? :)), I think it's fairly obvious, and that odious spinner had the Mandelson sliminess totally down-pat.
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Anyone else notice that it was Nicholas Briggs who plays the voice of the Daleks etc. Nice to see him on screen for a change.
 
Don't know if anyone's interested but Torchwood has done really well in the overnight ratings this week. The figure in brackets is the audience share.

Top overnights (Mon-Thu)

01 …. 8.8 (43.0%) …. Coronation Street (Mon 19:30) ITV1
02 …. 8.5 (39.2%) …. EastEnders (Mon 20:00) BBC1
03 …. 8.5 (38.4%) …. Coronation Street (Mon 20:30) ITV1
04 …. 8.2 (41.5%) …. Coronation Street (Wed 19:30) ITV
05 …. 7.4 (38.8%) …. EastEnders (Thu 19:30) BBC1
06 …. 6.5 (34.0%) …. Emmerdale (Mon 19:00) ITV1
07 …. 6.2 (27.0%) …. Torchwood: Children of Earth (Thu 21:00) BBC1
08 …. 6.1 (33.9%) …. Emmerdale (Wed 19:00) ITV1
09 …. 5.9 (25.8%) …. Torchwood: Children of Earth (Mon 21:00) BBC1
10 …. 5.9 (27.1%) …. Torchwood: Children of Earth (Wed 21:00) BBC1
11 …. 5.7 (32.0%) …. Emmerdale (Thu 19:00) ITV
12 …. 5.6 (24.0%) …. Torchwood: Children of Earth (Tue 21:00) BBC1
13 …. 5.3 (26.1%) …. Celebrity MasterChef (Thu 20:00) BBC1
14 …. 5.4 (29.9%) …. Regional News and Weather (Mon 18:30) BBC1
15 …. 5.0 (24.5%) …. BBC News at Ten (Mon 22:00) BBC1
16 …. 5.0 (24.4%) …. The Bill: Conviction - Breaking Point (Wed 20:00) ITV1
17 …. 4.9 (28.9%) …. Regional News and Weather (Wed 18:30) BBC1
18 …. 4.8 (24.1%) …. BBC News at Ten (22:00) BBC1
19 …. 4.8 (21.3%) …. Holby City (Tue 20:00) BBC1
20 …. 4.7 (21.2%) …. EastEnders (Tue 19:30) BBC1
 
What's most impressive is its highest audience was last night - they almost always drop after the week-long promo build up regardless. The slot helps, of course.

I suppose the BBC knew it was a winner, at least as best you can know.



andy2002 - do you have access to all the overnight ratings, just interested in one other that's not on the BARB free stats?
 
London_Calling said:
andy2002 - do you have access to all the overnight ratings, just interested in one other that's not on the BARB free stats?
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I nicked them off www.gallifreybase.com - it's the new place for Doctor Who and Torchwood fans after Outpost Gallifrey closed down. Torchwood has its own section (called Torchwood Institute) and you'll find lots of ratings stuff in the threads devoted Children Of Men.

By the way, those ratings above don't include people watching in HD, on iPlayer or those who Sky+ it, so I'm guessing most of those figures will eventually rise to around 7 million.
 
London_Calling said:
What's most impressive is its highest audience was last night - they almost always drop after the week-long promo build up regardless. The slot helps, of course.

I suppose the BBC knew it was a winner, at least as best you can know.



andy2002 - do you have access to all the overnight ratings, just interested in one other that's not on the BARB free stats?
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Digitalspy has a ratings thread in TV programmes which always has the overnights the next day.
 
andy - cheers.

It's giving Emmerdale a bit of a kicking and very little outside major sport can do that these days. They'd go berserk at Television House if it reached Eastenders levels.
 
bouncer_the_dog said:
I like Who but think Torchwood is a pile of shite. Should I have bothered with this?
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Up until now Torchwood has been a pile of shite. This is completely different though - well written, well acted, loads of twists and turns, and too many edge-of-your-seat moments to count.
 
I love the fact that they are staying true to the Captain Jack character.

If you remember he started off as a time traveling crook. Deep down he has a selfish nature which rises to the surface at times.

So we've seen him in a callous phase handing over kids. Then bravely saying fuck you to the aliens and then saying okay have the millions if kids just don't take Ianto.

Not how the ever so noble Doctor would do it :)
 
The ratings are, indeed, excellent - almost on a par with those which Doctor Who usually achieves towards the end of each run, despite that having a much better timeslot.
 
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