Critical Approaches (Torchwood & Dr Who)

Genre- TV Sci-Fi Drama

Doctor Who v Torchwood
The Spin-Off

TV Sci-Fi Drama
Sci-Fi
Science Fiction or Sci-Fi is a unique genre. Although it is similar to Fantasy, Sci-Fi is used to portray scientifically possible stories or scientifically postulated physical laws. Fully imaginative things are used but not as much as Fantasy. Sci-Fi is used a lot more as a sub genre, other genres it goes with mostly are: Action, Adventure, Family & Drama. A lot of writers use Sci-Fi to discuss philosophical ideas such as identity, desire, morality and social structure. Sci-Fi is best watched by people who suspend in disbelief.

Codes & Conventions of Sci-Fi
Sci-Fi has very specific codes & conventions what make it what it is, they are futuristic settings, futuristic science & technology, space travel, time travel, parallel universes and extra-terrestrial life. These are specific to the genre because science is always advancing and some of the futuristic settings or technology is scientifically possible. Extra-terrestrial life has never been scientifically proven but with rumours and stories about extra-terrestrial life, imagination is used to create aliens and monsters, most with humanoid features.

Drama
Drama is the most seen and/or used genre this is because it is based on developing realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes used such as; Alcoholism, drug addiction, sexuality, poverty, class divisions and corruption put the characters into a conflict with themselves. Some sub genres of drama are Romance, Crime, Historical, Documentary, Comedy and Tragedy.

Codes & Conventions of Drama
Drama has many codes & conventions, close up of characters are used to show emotion, Low and High angles are used to show strength and weakness in characters, Alcohol, Drugs, Guns, Knives & Mobile Phones are typically used in dramas. Dramas are mostly set in towns or villages and don't change location unless there's a special episode.

Spin-Off
A spin off is a show based in more detail on a specific topic, event or character of an already made production. In this case Torchwood is based on the character Captain Jack Harkness one of The Doctors companions from the series Doctor who.

Character Representation
Doctor Who has been on for 50 years, throughout the 50 years there has been 11 doctors, each Doctor has there own personality. I'm going to talk about the 10th Doctor as this was The Doctor during Torchwood.

At the start of Doctor Who we are introduced to The Doctor at a slow pace due to regeneration. At the very start The Doctor is learning who he is himself, in the first episode The Doctor loses his hand, this is also used in Torchwood giving a link between the two shows. As Doctor Who goes on we learn more about The Doctor and his past. The Doctor never travels alone, we first see him traveling with Rose Tyler she's first seen as an everyday teen brit, working, trying to make a living, this is when she was very first introduced with the 9th Doctor, when we first see her with the 10th Doctor she get's worried because it's her first time experiencing seeing the regeneration and isn't sure if it's the same man. As time goes on The Doctor and Rose grow a great bond, when The Doctor loses Rose it hits him hard. This shows that for a man who's lived for over 900 years, the right people can still find  away to your heart. Captain Jack is introduced in Doctor Who when the TARDIS lands in Cardiff.


During the time The Doctor has been on his Journey with Rose, Captain Jack has been busy with Torchwood in Cardiff so when he hears the TARDIS he goes running for it. He knows about this because we were first introduced to Captain Jack with the 9th Doctor, with the 9th Doctor a lot of things happened with Jacks life, one of those things being that he was made immortal, this is a big factor throughout Torchwood.
When Jack makes his infamous return to Doctor Who he is introduced to The Doctors new companion, Martha Jones she was introduced to the show as a victim that The Doctor helped, she was introduced as a medical student in a hospital, they meet when the hospital is teleported to the moon and The Doctor goes to help. They travel together for a long time, The Doctor, Martha & Jack all find themselves in a war against The Doctors oldest enemy, The Master. The Master captures The Doctor & Jack leaving Martha alone to save the world this is when we see her full potential, she saves them then leaves The Doctor because of the feelings that she has for him and knowing he doesn't have the same feelings for her. After Rose's departure we are introduced to a new character, Donna Noble. She is seen in the TARDIS in a wedding dress, she is seen as a cocky character similar to the attitude of the actor portraying her, Catherine Tate. She travels with The Doctor for a short time before leaving, then he travels with Martha, after Martha's departure the Doctor is on an alien search alone when he runs into Donna again it becomes a much bigger bond this time and they travel for a long time.

Torchwood is based around 5 main characters who all work for Torchwood.

• Captain Jack Harkness, Jack is a Time Agent from the 51st century, he is first introduced in Torchwood as the clear leader of Torchwood. At first Jack is very strict about most things but after Gwen joins the group bringing in some sanity to the group he becomes a lot more mellow and laid back. He becomes a lot closer with the team as it progress's. At the start we learn that the team doesn't know of his immortality, only Gwen finds out because she witnessed him die then resurrect. Jack's immortality becomes a big factor during the show as he dies many times to save his team showing how honourable he is.

• Gwen Cooper, Gwen is introduced as a Police Officer doing her everyday job when she gets sent to a murder case where she has her first encounter with Torchwood, she get's very nosey about Torchwood when she eventually gets involved with it and becomes a part of the team.

• Ianto Jones, (Yan-to) Ianto is the receptionist for Torchwood, he is first seen as the Chauffeur for the team, he stays like this for a while until things get a lot more dangerous and serious then he becomes more of an agent as well. It is not known at first but it can be seen with hints that Ianto is gay and has feelings for Jack.

• Owen Harper, Owen is first seen as the gadget guy for Torchwood, it is evident from the start that he is a ladies man. At one point Owen is killed, he is resurrected and becomes known as the "King Of The Weevils" the weevils are a species seen occurring throughout the show. He starts to grow feelings towards Tosh losing his rep as a ladies man. Although he was resurrected he can still be killed and is not immortal like Jack.

• Toshiko Sato, Tosh is first seen as the tech person for Torchwood, she is first seen very shy and quiet, as it progress's she becomes a lot more known and a much more important member of the group as she becomes a very big help on the battlefield.



Narrative Structure

At the very start of Doctor Who we see that things are not going well from the get go as when we first see The Doctor he comes out of the TARDIS after it crashed, he seems happy at first but then passes out, this is due to a fresh regeneration, after the regeneration is done we learn that the new Doctor is a brave new man. Doctor Who likes to change the set out of episodes, some episodes are linear and others are non-linear. As each of his companions change we learn something more about The Doctor and who he is. The Doctor goes through a second regeneration but doesn't change, after this regeneration we get the biggest reunion of The Doctors companions, they get called "Children Of Time" in this Episode the Earth is stolen all of the companions and the Doctor fly the TARDIS pulling the Earth back to the Solar System.

The narrative of Torchwood is the same as Doctor Who, some episodes are linear and others are non-linear. In the very first episode of Torchwood we see the Torchwood group on the hunt for a murderer, they use an alien tech glove that revives people for a couple of minutes, Gwen the officer is on the case of the murderer and witnesses Torchwood using the glove, the mystery of what happens gets her curious so she gets very nosey with Torchwood, she begins to realise that one of the members is the murderer, they confront each other and Jack is watching it, she knows he is there and shoots him, as she is about to shoot Gwen Jack stands back up so she kills herself, this opens up a spot in Torchwood, Jack offers Gwen the job, she takes at and from there they begin the journey and quest of finding aliens and monsters in Cardiff.