Review: TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY

So, over at Arts Hub I've written up a review of Torchwood: Miracle Day. As is my habit, I'll post an except here, but if you would like to read the whole thing, get thee to Arts Hub!

Newcomers to Torchwood need not fear they’ll be lost in the usual convoluted back stories and continuity references of a successful TV series, for Miracle Day is at pains to introduce viewers to its world and its characters through the eyes of Matheson and his CIA assistant, Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins) – indeed, for long term fans, the drip-fed details may be occasionally irksome. That said, the pace of the first episode (written by Davies, the showrunner, and the only episode that has been provided for review) is generally excellent: it’s a fast and thrilling ride featuring a large cast of well-detailed characters, and with scenes rapidly cutting between numerous locations on both sides of the Atlantic.

Davies has a deft ear for dialogue, and the script for this first episode sparkles, featuring both one liners, and in-jokes for long-term fans of the show. It also establishes a number of plot threads to be explored in the remaining nine episodes of the season, and in the tradition of speculative fiction, raises a number of philosophical questions around the central theme of life, death and immortality that will no doubt be explored over the coming weeks.

The budget for Torchwood: Miracle Day is clearly larger than most BBC productions, given the influx of US funds from Starz, and it shows: this is a good-looking piece of television, full of swooping helicopter shots and luscious cinematography that makes the most of the show’s various locales.

The most obvious US influence is apparent in the episode’s action sequences: there are more guns, and bigger explosions, than Torchwood has ever seen before. At its heart, however, it still feels like Torchwood, albeit on a larger, more expansive scale.

Rating: Four stars

Torchwood: Miracle Day
Saturdays at 8.30pm from July 9 on UKTV
www.bbcaustralia.com/torchwood/

Torchwood: Miracle Day

Thanks to BBC Worldwide and UKTV I've now watched the first epsiode of Torchwood: Miracle Day twice, and I like it a lot. I'm still formally formulating my thoughts about the episode, what I enjoyed and what I disliked, so a proper review will be coming soon, I promise. But trust me, it's one hell of a ride and I can't wait to see what's in store for us in the rest of the series, which premieres in Australia on UKTV at 8.30pm, July 9th.

Meanwhile, hear are some photos of the cast to enjoy:

Life, the universe, entertainment and finances

Normal programming will return as soon as I can drag myself away from catching up on season three of Heroes. I skipped season two altogether on the advice of several friends, and jumped into season three yesterday, only to find myself watching eight episodes back to back (my excuse being that it was hot outside and, being a delicate, retiring sort, I needed to stay indoors).

There's all sorts of things I should be doing instead - reading through the 273 emails in my inbox, planning my radio show for the next few weeks, listening to the pile of CDs I've been sent and the masses of unread media releases that are building up into a dangerous heap on the coffee table, lugging a pile of washing to the nearest laundrette, vaccumming, dishes, etc - but I think today all I can be fucked doing is watching more TV.

It's a bit indicative of my life these last few weeks since I quit MCV, and I'm justifying it by claiming that it's some much needed downtime.

In the last two weeks I've devoured three new Torchwood novels, which is amazing in itself - usually it takes me two weeks to read a single book given how busy I normally am. Of the three, my favourite was James Goss' cracking yarn, Risk Assessment - some great plot twists and an extremely memorable new character - while the weakest was the short story collection Consequences, although the latter did feature one excellent story, Andrew Cartmel's 'The Wrong Hands'.

I've also seen several films, including three at the inaugural Nordic Film Festival: the wartime thriller Flame & Citron, the cerebral gothic horror flick Sauna, and the exquisite and entertaining The Man Who Loved Ingve (pictured above), the most refreshing coming out film I've seen in ages. I've linked to reviews of all three films I wrote for Arts Hub, but as ever you'll need to be Arts Hub members to read them.

But here's a sneak preview if you're not an Arts Hub member, and as a bonus, each review excerpt contains a link to the official site of each movie in case you want to learn more. Never say I don't spoil my blog readers!

Flame & Citron: "Less a film about noble partisans fighting the good fight, and more about the way even the noblest of intentions can lead one astray in the fog of war, Flame & Citron is a dense, dark and ambitious tale, and one of the most successful (and most expensive) Danish films to date."

Sauna: "Annila has crafted a very European horror story in Sauna, with the emphasis on suspense and atmosphere rather than shock and gore. He successfully utilizes all the elements of the film’s broad palate, from the central characters’ sibling rivalry and the all-too-fresh tensions of a 25-year long war, through to a palpable sense of unease and decay and the gothic motifs of the ghost story. The film’s production design is visceral and vivid, and performances are excellent – especially Ville Virtanen as the war-haunted Eerik Spore, whose spectacles hide the self-loathing eyes of the habitual killer."

The Man Who Loved Ingve: "Featuring charming performances from some of Norway’s best young actors, and incisive direction from newcomer Stian Kristiansen (who was still studying at Sweden’s National Film School in Lillehammer at the time he was appointed to helm the production) The Man Who Loved Yngve avoids clichés and sentimentality while telling a fresh and authentic story about adolescent life. Characters are appropriately inarticulate, avoiding the faux-adult teenage dialogue depicted in such staples of US drama as Dawson’s Creek, The OC and more recent productions such as Gossip Girl; and the pangs and pains of adult life are fleetingly though accurately portrayed."

I've also seen the new Australian film about love, dreams and trucks by writer/director David Caesar, Prime Mover, which I wanted to like but didn't - to quote Don Groves from SBS Films, it's a 'straight-forward, cliché-riddled tale' - and writer/director Roland Emmerich's disaster-porn epic 2012 - which I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would: it's big, it's dumb, but it's surprisingly fun.

I've also been stressing about my finances, since I don't have a new source of income to replace the money I was making working two days a week at MCV; and I've been worrying about how much I've been drinking while I've been off work - it's getting a bit excessive, in all honesty. That said, I guess I can only fight one vice at a time, and since I kicked a major speed habit earlier this year I probably shouldn't beat myself up too much. However, when I do get paid next week I think it might be time to buy some running shoes and take up some serious exercise, since I don't want to end up like my old man, who dropped dead at only 47. That's just five years away from where I'm standing...

Anyway, since I've been meaning to properly update this blog for a couple of weeks, I'm actually pretty happy with this morning's output. That's one thing I can cross off my long list of things to do, which means it's time to watch a few more episodes of Heroes!

I've been taking a breather...

Had you noticed? I haven't blogged about anything for the past month, because quite frankly, I didn't have much to blog about. I mean, I could have written about the night I drunkenly decided to start inventing details, characters and a history for a Melbourne branch of the Torchwood Institute after listening to James Goss' excellent Torchwood: Golden Age radio play; or how I faced the couple-world that is Ikea to buy new bookshelves, but such events didn't strike me as particularly blog-worthy.

But now, all that's changed.

No, I won't be telling you how I bravely sneaked past the Single Police who guard the borders of Ikea, where lone homos without partners, such as myself, who dare to enter are shot on sight as pair-bonded hetero and homo couples watch on cooing and arguing over matching tableware named after small Danish streams. Though I might, if you're very lucky, one day reveal the secret location of the Torchwood Institute (Melbourne branch) circa 1912 and details of the curious individuals who staff it - assuming that is that I ever get around to writing up my drunken notes into something ressembling a radio play, a novel or even a campaign for a Torchwood-inspired riff on the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game.

No, the reason that my blog is coming out of a month of hibernation is because the 2009 Melbourne Fringe Festival is now officially underway! Hurrah! All across Melbourne, over 4000 independent artists and theatre-makers and comedians and creative sorts of every description are mounting exhibitions and performances in theatres and galleries, laneways and store rooms. I've already seen five shows at the Fringe since Wednesday, and I have at least another 30 booked between now and October 11, when the festival ends.

Blogging about the wonderful range of shows I have seen and will see more of will commence shortly. Probably tomorrow. First there's this pesky, minor matter called the AFL Grand Final that I have to watch first...

But you - yes, YOU - should book yourself a ticket to a Fringe show immediately. Well, unless you live in Scotland or Sweden or somewhere like that of course. In which case you're excused. On with the show!

In memory of Ianto Jones

Don't watch this if you haven't seen Torchwood: Children of Earth yet. If you have, make sure you have a box of tissues handy...

Things I'm thinking about at this particular moment

1. Whether I should stop wasting time on the internet and go to bed.
2. Whether another stubby of cider is out of the question before bed.
3. Will I participate in the National Day of Action for marriage equality tomorrow, or go and see Soderbugh's Che film in two parts at the Melbourne International Film Festival instead?
4. Why so many gay Torchwood fans are still whining about the death of one particular character in Children of Earth. The writer has every right to kill off his own character you dickheads; just because you're gay and the character was queer doesn't give you any special right to demand RTD ressurect him RIGHT NOW! Jeeeesus.
5. Have my regular blog readers noticed the sudden increase in film reviews in the last week that are unconnected with the film festival? (If you have, it's because I'm now handling film reviews for the paper I work on, as well as TV reviews, but I don't plan on posting the latter here just yet - I don't think the world really needs another review of The Farmer Wants a Wife season four...).
6. Whether I should stop wasting time on the internet and go to bed.
   

Seizing the day

Jack's memorial service was on Friday. I was the MC, and managed to hold it together right until the end. It was the final photos of Jack, taken on his and Dee's honeymoon and set to a Nick Cave song, that set me off.

I was crying as I made my closing comments to the vast crowd that had gathered to celebrate a life lived to the full.

That's something I took from the memorial, and from all the wonderful words that were said about Jack - that he seized the moment and lived every day like it was his last.

Here's to doing the same.

Last night was the program launch for the Melbourne International Film Festival. There's some fascinating films in the program (which will be made available to the public with The Age this Friday), and everyone will have their own favourites, but here are just some of the films that have caught my eye so far:

• The Red Riding trilogy, a film about the Yorkshire Ripper murders in 1970s-80s Britain, screening in a new package called Vengeance is Mine, films that turn on the theme of retribution;
• Blessed, a new film by Ana Kokkinos (of whose The Book of Revelation, the less said the better) and screenwriter Andrew Bovell, based on the remarkable play Who's Afraid of the Working Class by Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Christos Tsiolkas and Melissa Reeves;
• The closing night film Bran Nue Dae, an energetic Indigenous road-movie musical directed by Rachel Perkins;
• The opening night film Balibo by director Robert Connolly, about the Australian government's complicity in the murder of five journalists by Indonesian soldiers in East Timor in 1975;
  
• An Englishman in New York, in which John Hurt once more dons the role of England's stately homo, Quentin Crisp;
• Steven Soderbergh's two-part epic about the revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, Che;
• and the black and white Bulgarian noir thriller Zift, which screens in another new package of films, The End of Europe: New Balkan Cinema.

There's a lot more to write about, which I'll do after I've had more time to devour the festival program properly.

Other things I haven't had time and/or energy to blog about lately include:

• The re-launch of The Store Room Theatre last Wednesday night (check out the theatre's website for details of the 2009 program - some great-looking shows are coming up!);
  
• The final monthly installment of the Anarchist Guild Social Committee show at Trades Hall Sunday week ago, which was a fantastic collection of original sketches by some great local comedians; and,
  
• The latest Last Tuesday Society at Yah Yah's last week, at which I happily hooted with mirth; and which sadly was the last installment of the event until September, as Rich is going to Edinburgh and Bron’s working on her solo show for Melbourne Fringe.

Oh yeah, and I finally caught up with Barely Contained, the new show from Circus Oz on Saturday night. A full review coming soon!

Tonight, if you're free, come and check out FULL TILT - The Talk Show at the Arts Centre at 6.30pm in the State Theatre foyer: the second in a series of free forums I've curated and am presenting. Tonight we talk about non-verbal language in performance - dance, circus and more.

And as soon as the forum is over I'll be racing straight home to watch episode one of Torchwood: Children of Earth on UK TV at 8.30 pm. It promises to be one hell of thrill-ride through some dark sci-fi and government conspiracy territory.

I can't wait!

Meet the Doctor's new Companion

This is 21 year old Scottish actress Karen Gillan, who previously appeared in Doctor Who in the fourth series episode The Fires of Pompeii. Filming on the new series will start in July, to be screened at Easter 2010. Squee!

And in other Who-related news, here's an extended trailer for season three of Torchwood - Children of Earth. Again, squee!

We. Are. Coming.

Here's the new poster for Torchwood season three, Children of Earth - oooooh.....

Torchwood: Children of Earth (season three trailer)

I can't wait...

The return of Captain Jack

He's rumoured to be making a return in the current UK series (season four) of Doctor Who, along with Rose (a "harder... sadder" version of her character, actor Billie Piper confirmed in a recent BBC interview) but it's now also confirmed that the dashing, devilish Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) will be back for the third season of Torchwood in 2008. No definite news yet on who is to flesh out the team following the tragic end of season two, however, though Mickey Smith and Martha Jones are both said to be possibilities.

According to this website, however, at this stage the BBC has only green-lit five one-hour specials of Torchwood, with no word yet on whether we can expect more episodes after that. This makes sense, in a way, as it parallels the current plans for Doctor Who in 2009, which will also see only a limited number of one-off episodes produced, in order to allow David Tennant time off to play Hamlet; with season five not scheduled to screen until 2010 (sob!).

Meanwhile in other Who news, the ABC has confirmed season four, starting with the Christmas special starting Kylie Minogue, Voyage of the Damned, will screen on Sunday June 29.

For the most up-to-date page of Who news around, you may like to visit Sylvester McCoy's site (yes, the seventh Doctor) but beware: spoilers abound!

Oh, Ianto. *swoon*

So in 2006-2007, as regular blog readers would know, my entertainment crush was definitely Captain Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman, from Dr Who spin-off Torchwood. This year however, thanks to the way his role has developed in the show, I'm definitely falling for the sharply-dressed, sharp-quipping Ianto Jones, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd.

Or am I falling for Gareth?

No, I think it's definitely Ianto who I'd like to get into bed - all I'd need is a stopwatch, and perhaps a cute red beret (sorry, those are references which only keen fans of the show will recognise)...

Anyway, you can read an interview with Gareth here, in the online version of SFX magazine, which goes into a little more detail about his role, and the character of Ianto generally; whereas if you want to know more about Gareth himself, then I suggest checking out his official website. Did you know, for instance, that he fronts a rock band called Blue Gillespie? No, I didn't either - and nor do I have any bloody idea what that name means!

But who cares? Isn't he cute?

Martha: So, you and Jack?
Ianto: We.... dabble.
Martha: And how is his... dabbling?
Ianto: Innovative. Bordering on the avant garde. [Gazes into the distance in reminiscence]

Good times on Gertrude Street

Friday evening saw me dropping in at RRR for a quick drink with Kim Jurick, who's stepping down from the Music Coordinator's position he's held for a year; and receiving the excellent news that the station would like me to host its annual Intrepid Travel trip later this year. It was a huge surprise and an honour to be asked, and also a much-needed morale booster given that I've had the week from hell at work this week.

The country we'll be visiting has yet to be determined, with Egypt, Morocco and Cuba all possible at this stage, as I undestand it. Budgeting and availability of flights and etc will whittle that list down to one country, but any of them would suit me! Any recommendations from you blog readers, please? Which of the three would you visit if you had the chance?

Thereafter I headed back to Fitzroy for the opening night of Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Theatre Collective's The Dirty Mile. This interactive theatrical experience is a historical walking tour of Fitzroy, and marvellously entertaining. As you wend through laneways and back streets, you encounter actors portraying both everyday events and remarkable people from Fitzroy's pre-settlement Woiwurrung origins through to the major cultural landmarks of the 20th century. It was a fantastic night's entertainment, and highly recommended.

Yesterday I also had a fine time on Gertrude Street in the company of some old friends at Añada, a new Tapas bar that's just opened around the corner from my flat at 197 Gertrude Street Fitzroy. Excellent wine paired with very more-ish (and in some cases Moorish) food and good conversation. I'll definitely be going back to work my way through the menu!

Afterwards I came home and started watching the new season of Torchwood. I've already seen the first two episodes, but watched them again anyway, to remind myself of what has come before, and then launched into newer episodes with gusto (and a bottle of wine). Definitely a stronger series than the first season: characters are more fleshed out, interactions between the members of the team are spicier and sharper. And Ianto, my favourite character, remains as dapper and charming as ever.

For once I actually feel like I've had a weekend. Now I have to get some work down: housework, laundry, a grant application, read a stack of job applications for a position at Fringe, check with some referees, have a CD listening section, plan my show for Thursday and much, much more. With luck, I might even be able to fit in a film or two, or even a visit to the museum, but maybe that's being ambitious...

Dr Who season 4 and Torchwood season 2 trailers

Care for some more Dr Who and Torchwood goodness? Then drop in here, to FreemaAgyeman.com, for the trailers for season four and season two of the shows, respectively.

Torchwood Season Two

Curious to know what's going on with Captain Jack, Ianto and the rest of the Torchwood crew? If you are (hello, Yarraville Paul!), then click here for details - including some minor spoilers (one of which is news of a proper date between two of my favourite characters - w00t!).

And yes - with the year winding down and less theatre and gallery openings to go to than usual, this blog is more reflective of the fan-boy part of my personality. Never fear, my inner critic will return 2ith gusto in 2008 - or before!

Oh yeah, and here's a picture of Torchwood season two guest star, James Masters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as a rogue Time Agent, together with John Barrowman (Capt. Jack) just to whet your appetite...

"A kiss is just a kiss..."

From the penultimate episode of UK tv series Torchwood, which I've been blogging about a lot lately...


[spoiler alert]


...starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, and Matt Ripey as Captain Jack Harkness....

Twice in one night

Oh, get your minds out of the gutter.

Cried.

Twice.*

Once while watching the penultimate episode of Torchwood, with its romantically doomed slow-dance and man-pash.

Again while watching the final episode of the series, when everyone - characters and viewers alike - thought our favourite character was deceased. Said tears transmogrified into tears of joy as a consequence of the final scenes.

Happy tears are the best.

I love a drama that can actually make me feel, not just provide a manipulated approximation of real emotion via sweeping music and clever editing.



*Actually I take that back, I cried a third time - well, sniffled anyway - reading the latest blog entries of a certain happy couple. Oh, loveloveLOVE!


We now return you to cynicism as usual.

Damn you Captain Jack!

John Barrowman, who plays the roguish bisexual leader of the Torchwood Institute in Dr Who spin-off Torchwood, on BBC 3, has tied the knot with his partner Scott Gill in a civil union service in Cardiff.

Any hopes I had of Barrowman sweeping me off my feet are now utterly dashed. Excuse me for a moment while I throw myself onto my chaise lounge and sob uncontrollably, will you?

On the other hand, at least I can console myself with the fact that an eyepatch-wearing friend with the habit of saying 'Arrrrr' a lot has a copy of the Dr Who Christmas Special for me to watch this weekend...