Torchwood (UK)

Juggling the themes of famine, fame, and family, Torchwood: Miracle Day--conceived by series creator Russell T Davies, with some episodes written by Buffy and Dollhouse vet Jane Espenson--makes a smooth transatlantic shift that will, I hope, broaden this marvelous, tense fantasy franchise's audience.

For today, enjoy a home-grown version of a great series that's suspenseful, exciting and flat-out fun. That may not count as a miracle, but it's awfully good news nonetheless.

The most effective scenes focus on characters' interactions, the sorts of moments Torchwood always did well.

The story line is expertly structured, especially after the first hour's exposition, as potential explanations emerge and the pieces begin to fit together. And the writers maintain an all-important sense of humor, not just with the one-liners among the team members but with shrewd social satire.

Torchwood: Miracle Day is smashing entertainment.

Lots of action, lots of shoot-'em-ups and lots of big explosions that don't kill anybody. It's also lots of fun.

For such a vast and important story, Torchwood: Miracle Day feels strangely confined and artificial. Here's hoping for more by Episode 4.

It manages to remain faithful to the tone and lively style of the original. Newcomers really don't have to be well-versed in Torchwood lore or "Doctor Who," the series that spawned it, to get a kick out of sci-fi craziness of it all.

The performances and characterizations are all top-notch, and the action sequences, especially in the first episode, are crisply directed.

The show is a bit of a junk heap--Fringe, Mission:Impossible and Death Becomes Her are in the pile--but it's a real adventure. [11 Jul 2011, p.34]

Our heroes' new companions may be less than electrifying, but there's plenty of action to compensate--and, as always, sex (though Capt. Jack now asks about protection)--and a chilling adversary in Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman), a psycho killer who survives execution and becomes a perverse cult hero in the media.

As a straight-ahead sci-fi tale, it's engrossing: how is this happening, who is doing it to us, and how does it relate to Captain Jack's own blessing/curse of immortality? The social aspects, however, are handled more hamfistedly so far.

If not nearly as gripping, creepy or tightly constructed as the five-hour "Children of Earth," Torchwood's fourth flight nevertheless remains grand, intellectually stimulating fun--precisely the kind of smart popcorn fare Starz has stated its intention to provide.

The vote here is to not only give Torchwood: Miracle Day a chance, but to ride out the bumpy parts and put some faith in Davies' unique take on storytelling.

As the series proceeds, the fiction of the bigger events--e.g. global immortality--is made believable or at least compelling by tiny touches that perfectly anticipate how society would respond.

It aims high, and wide, and near and far, and if it doesn't hit all of its many targets, it hits several. And that's probably enough to justify the time and expense everyone put into bringing Torchwood more firmly onto American soil.

The way to keep both casual and hardcore sci-fi fans in the fold is to tell stories that revolve around memorable characters, to take on compelling questions and to give the tales intellectual and emotional plausibility. Torchwood: Miracle Day doesn't quite have all those elements nailed down all the time, but it gets reasonable chunks of those things right--enough to keep me tuning in and hoping that the story gains coherence (and not just speed) over the course of the season.

With any luck, subsequent episodes will find a sharper, cleaner stride. All the elements are there, it's just the alchemy that seems a bit off.

The Miracle Day mystery itself feels, at least at first, hopelessly tangled. Viewers may be willing to give it some time, though, because the action provides an entertaining ride.

The uneven 10-episode series shifts from pedestrian cloak-and-dagger to camp.

The chilling threat of Miracle Day involves a power strong enough to "force people into life," and one can only hope that in future installments, Davies and company are smart enough to realize that they shouldn't try to force square actors into circular plots.

Science fiction often is at its best when it raises big questions, but early on it's unclear what the true source of Miracle Day is and where that will take this batch of Torchwood episodes.