Expectations achieved. That was my first thought while watching the pilot episode of “Torchwood,” the “Doctor Who” spinoff that premiered Saturday on BBC America. It was fast and fun and the characters were charming. (Even if the diversity of the Torchwood gang seems a little forced.)
Eve Myles (pictured, left) was the standout as Gwen Cooper, a Wales police detective who stumbles into a top-secret group of alien hunters while investigating a murder. Even the attention-hungry Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman, right in photo) couldn’t outshine her performance. (“Who” fans may remember Myles as the young mortuary assistant in the season one episode that also featured Simon Callow as Charles Dickens.)
I suspect the episode was edited for length (though not for profanity, except the “F” word which was uttered I think once and scrubbed out). It just felt like there were missing scenes. I can’t prove it, though.
I’m eager to see more – and to see how future installments tie into “Doctor Who.” There was a lot more of that in the premiere than I expected (the Doctor’s hand, for one, which he lost during his regeneration cycle in the first Christmas special – it was sitting in a jar in Torchwood HQ!).
Who knew that anything interesting happened in Wales?”Torchwood” airs Saturday nights on BBC America.
