I’m sure it’s been posted around the Dope before, but…
(Obviously now a little out of date).
I tried to get into Torchwood, but I was constantly bothered by the fact that it was terrible. But feel free to pitch it to me, or put it in a better light. The stories were not great, the acting not so good either, the attempts to be edgy that were more icky than outre, and the general wheels-spinning the season arc seemed to be stuck on… what’s the appeal? Aside from Spike dressed as Adam Ant turning up to make out with Captain Jack?
Cute, but I feel like I’m missing the joke because I can hardly pick anybody out of the lineup. Who are some of the more notable Companions in there?
I presume it’s Rose, Ten, and K-9 over at the extreme right. 
…YOU ARE NO TRUE WHO FAN!!!
Seriously, all of companions in the picture are notable: which ones do you recognize?
The first season of Torchwood was terribly uneven (“The Keep Killing Suzie” and “Random Shoes” were excellent, while “Countrycide” was nearly unwatchable and most of the rest were undistinguished). The second season was much better, though, with quite a few first-class episodes.
A lot of people did like the characters in the first season – Jack especially. The second season gave them some depth and background and went off in directions that made it all work quite well.
My least favorite character by a mile :D. It’s the actor much more than the part actually - I think he kind of blows. Maybe he’d be better without the American accent, but he hard as he tries to pull off the mysterious, dashing, charming rogue, his delivery often feels forced to me. He looks the part, but Nathan Fillion or someone like him would have worked better IMO.
I really only like Eve Myles as an actor, and its not just because she’s cute. Though the writing is sometimes off ( she does unrealistically stupid things ) she has the most natural delivery and the least cliched mannerisms. Also she does emotional rather well and her home relationship works for me. It reminds me just a little of the Gundersons from Fargo.
The other three are often various flavors of meh and I blame the writing to some extent for that. With less screen time the writers seem to have gotten lazy and tended their personalities a little towards caricature.
It’s an uneven series, but I do prefer the more mature tone relative to Dr. Who and the second season ( I’m halfway through it ) has been an improvement over the first. Haven’t seen the short third yet.
The rest are, in fact, most of the female companions from old Who.
The first one, calling him “Grandfather” is of course his granddaughter Susan from the earliest series. The last of the black-&-white ones is Zoe from the last black-&-white series & the first of the color ones is Liz Shaw from the first color series. The one in the long white dress & the blonde with the straw hat next to her are the two different incarnations of Romana (whom some fans consider his unofficial ex-wife). The one who calls him “Professor” is Ace from the last regular series of old Who. The last one in the line (before Ten) is Dr Grace Holloway, the love interest from the 1990’s tv-movie.
But yeah, it’s pretty nearly every female companion from the old tv shows. It skips two or three from the William Hartnell series: Barbara (who was one of Susan’s schoolteachers & hardly the typical ingénue), Katarina (who was killed off in her second arc), & Sara Kingdom (who was only in one arc). So EVERY major female companion but Barbara, who I suppose was just slightly further outside the “beautiful young companion” stereotype than Liz & Romana?
http://mimi-na.deviantart.com/art/Doctor-s-Girls-46247500
ETA: I also find the actor who plays Jack Harkness a bit annoying. His American accent is just bizarrely strong. (He’s originally from Scotland, but picked up the accent after his parents moved the family to Illinois.)
He’s an odd one is John Barrowman. When he switches to hos Scottish accent, it’s also bizarrely strong. Incidentally, in the UK he’s on the telly all the time,hosting various light entertainment shows, and releasing albums of show tunes.
It’s jarring to hear him saying things like “lifts” in his American accent. It sounds forced and unnatural - like hearing Jeff Foxworthy say “innit”.
Wait - five specials? I can only find three on Netflix: “Planet of the Dead”, “The Waters of Mars”, and “The Next Doctor”. Or, are you including the two animated episodes?
Plus, what’s up with “Voyage of the Damned” and “End of Time” only being available on disc through Netflix? Every other episode is available on instant watch. Very frustrating.
Sounds like I’ll wait until after Doctor Who until diving into Torchwood. I, too, find Captain Jack kind of annoying. He’s not too bad when there’s a Doctor to balance him, but I’m not sure how I’ll like him unrestrained.
The End of Time was a two part final episode for the Tenth Doctor, so that’s the last two Specials.
The two part End of Time?
Ah, got it. For some reason I was under the impression that “The End of Time” was just the last two episodes of that series, not a “special.”
That year David Tennant was on a semi-hiatus, due to wanting to take a break, and performing in Hamlet, so all of that series were considered extra long “Specials”.
At the age of eight, and he lived in the US until he was 22. That’s plenty of time to pick up an American accent (though probably a midwest one), as well as a citizenship (which he has). I don’t see anything wrong with his American accent (as opposed, say, to Nicola Bryant, or Arne Gordon in “The Chase”).
Oh, it’s a good American accent in the sense that it’s actually American. Not really anything wrong with it that’s not wrong with standard Midwestern Yank accents in general ;). It’s just very American when you’re watching British tv & listening in British.
If one was to be truly hardcore they’d start watching Dr. Who from “An Unearthly Child”.
If one was to be truly committed they’d build a time machine to go back to the first broadcast of “An Unearthly Child” & record all the original serials as first broadcast, including those that have been lost, restoring them to the historical record.
Or, if that’s impossible, to hire new actors to act out the scripts of the lost episodes (which I think has actually been done). That’s hardcore.
Something like that was done with some missing Douglas Adams segments, yes.
See? I can’t even quote properly just thinking about them!