Here's a pic of me and a couple of mates...
@atruedrwhofan, myself, and @MattBobRoss
For a while, the two of them did some Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures tweetalongs, some of which I joined in... Then they did a 30th anniversary tweetalong of The Trial Of A Timelord. It was mad, zany, enlightening, frustrating, and completely and utterly bonkers. And after they finished, the next venture was mapped out: TORCHWOOD! Since January, the three of us, and anyone that decided to join us, endeavoured to watch, tweet about, and riff the hell out of all forty-one episodes of Torchwood. And last week (Wednesday 18th October) we finished it off with the last episode of Miracle Day, The Blood Line...
It was an interesting, and pleasantly contradictory exercise. Contradictory in the sense that I had to pay attention more in order to create the relevant tweets for the moment in time. Meaning, instead of being distracted, I was actually noticing a lot more, even with the aforementioned Trial Of A Timelord episodes. In short, over the last 9 months, I've had a fun, but engaging, and informative look back on one of the best things to come out of the Whoniverse... And a question I have is: Does it still hold up?
OF COURSE IT BLOODY DOES!!! Whilst it may have the same cons that its parent show can sometimes suffer from, it is still brilliantly realised, and giving the viewer a grounded sense in reality, whilst also having aliens that feed off of orgasms. As well as that, Torchwood matured (ironically) as the series went on, going from a barage of sex and blood in alien of the week stories, to contained arced series that give a focus on a true horror of the human race. The things that scared us were our own sickening potential more than the gory monsters. And that's how Torchwood was more mature. It may have ended with saving the world, but it reminded you that the world still had a lot of shit to deal with...
Since it ended in 2011 with Miracle Day, books, comics and a gorgeous range of audio dramas from Big Finish, including a range of single dramas across the whole of Torchwood history, and a whole range of boxsets and special releases.... And then, we have the crowning glory of Big Finish's involvement with Torchwood; Aliens Among Us...
Billed as the official Series 5 of Torchwood, the first eight episodes (the last 4 are out in February) are some of the best audio dramas you can let your little ears feast into, let alone best Torchwood. It evokes the pure feeling of a perfect mix between the two eras of Torchwood, a neat monster/plot device of the week self contained story in all of them, whilst also being connected to a bigger, series long story arc. If you can afford it, you should be listening to it this very second.
So why am I merely talking about it, instead of reviewing it? Well, I've decided to put off the review until February, so I can do it as one whole, complete thing... but there's another reason....
https://www.facebook.com/DoctorWho/videos/1988073971206620/
Follow that link, and read the comments....
This is one of the few things that leaves me genuinely pissed off and upset. To be clear, the vast majority (of what I have seen at least) of the commenters are not people who can't listen to it. They're people who won't listen to it, who don't have an inkling, people who, simply because it's not on television, they won't acknowledge its existence.... I'm aware that not all of the fans are like this, and there are even those on the facebook post excited about the series. It's just when the majority of them are critical about it simply for what it is, it's a little disheartening. And to those who can't experience these (for reasons of ability, cost, or unease with the audio medium), I understand.
But to those complaining "Why can't this be on the telly? It's lazy..."
Points to consider...
One: Making a TV series is freaking expensive. There are a lot more factors to consider than just the cast and crew you hear about. And after the under-performance of Miracle Day, can you blame the BBC for being hesitant about funding a new series?
And Two: RUSSELL T DAVIES, THE MAN WHO CREATED TORCHWOOD, HAS NOT ONLY GIVEN HIS BLESSING TO THIS THING, BUT HE IS ALSO THE UNOFFICIAL SHOWRUNNER FOR IT, ALONGSIDE JAMES GOSS!!
The Torchwood range, and especially Aliens Among Us, not only expand upon the concepts and timeline of the series, but have proven on several occasions, to be even better than the TV series. And this utter discouraging of it is something that is just hard to comprehend. Let me be clear on this: I would love for Torchwood to come back to television, I WOULD BE ECSTATIC IF THAT HAPPENED!! But, as other factors are keeping that from happening, Big Finish is giving us the next best thing. And that thing has shown it can be better than the thing we are all clamouring for.
As stated a million times before, Doctor Who and its associated shows all thrive on change. And even a change of medium. And if you're prepared to take that change... then you are in for something amazing... But if you're not gonna try it, don't drag it down for people that want to...
You don't hear me talking about Game Of Thrones, saying "I thought it was gonna be on podcasts, but it's only a TV show. Shame..."
Torchwood: Aliens Among Us Volumes 1 and 2 are available from Big Finish. Volume 3 will be available from February onward.
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