Primeval vs Torchwood
16/02/08 20:21 Filed in: Media
No thats not the title for the latest comic cross
over story...but it might be an idea...
No, just some thoughts on two current crop of TV sci-fi shows.
No, just some thoughts on two current crop of TV sci-fi shows.
Primeval
and Torchwood,
they are, to my mind cut from the same cloth.
They are both earth based sci-fi drama's where the alien threats come to the modern day world through space/time anomalies. In Torchwood the treats are alien to the planet, in Primeval they are alien to this time. These threats are dealt with in secret by a small team of specialists that is the focus of the stories. Both are in there second series and sadly both series have there problems, but this doesn't stop me from watching and enjoying them to, I have said, it doesn't have to be good to be fun.
So lets start with Torchwood. This season started very shakily, with two weak episodes, but as I said, I knew it could be so much better, so I stuck with it and yes, after those first two episodes things have been getting steadily better. What's , frustrating to me is that I know it can be so much better than it is now. Yes the latest episodes are much better than the first. This weeks, Reset, was the best yet, and thats not just because apparently Owen gets shot and killed to be replaced by Matha Jones (sorry but I never much liked Owen as character). No the plot was good and pace of the story stopped you from dwelling on the plot problems.
But it's still not up to the standard of Doctor Who and it could be, the same team work on it, it apparently has a similar large budget, so why can't it reach the heights Doctor Who has? What is it that holds Torchwood back?
Well I think that part of the problem is that it wants to be this huge epic drama and it could be, but it's...just not. It comes across as being pretentious. It takes it's self far to seriously. Yes it could have the epic scale it so badly seems to want and still keep a bit of lightness in it. I mean take a look at Buffy the vampire slayer...
Now there's an idea, Now that the writers strike is over in America, wouldn't it be great if Joss Whedon could do a Torchwood episode? I mean look at it, the idea behind Buffy sounds pretty crazy and yet he turned it in to a truly epic story, but still kept some humor in it. Think what he could do with Torchwood...
Okay, dreaming over, back to reality.
And on to Primeval. I've got to say that I missed all but the last 10 minutes of the first series of the show. But the plot is pretty simple, so I had no problems slipping in the second series. Primeval is aimed at a completely different audience than Torchwood. It's early evening family entertainment, in fact it's aimed at pretty much the same audience as Doctor Who is, but ITV have the good sense not to put it up against the Doctor in the schedules, it would not stand a chance and they know it.
So what's wrong with Primeval then?
Well it doesn't have an pretensions, it's not trying to be an epic, which is good, because it's not. The acting in it is...well how can I put this, not great at times and I think a lot of this due to the fact that the writing isn't that good either. It's the TV equivalent of a pop-corn movie. It's a fun romp provided you don't think about it to much. Like Torchwood, it could be more than it is, but I'm not 100% sure I'd like it that way! It's just not an epic and if it tried it would end up like Torchwood. Pop-corn is pop-corn and it should try to be anything else, is what I'm saying here.
What ever both series weaknesses are, I'll still make time to watch them, but what I won't do (probably) is get them if (when) they come out on DVD. Pop-corn is fine once in a while, but I wouldn't want to live on the stuff!
They are both earth based sci-fi drama's where the alien threats come to the modern day world through space/time anomalies. In Torchwood the treats are alien to the planet, in Primeval they are alien to this time. These threats are dealt with in secret by a small team of specialists that is the focus of the stories. Both are in there second series and sadly both series have there problems, but this doesn't stop me from watching and enjoying them to, I have said, it doesn't have to be good to be fun.
So lets start with Torchwood. This season started very shakily, with two weak episodes, but as I said, I knew it could be so much better, so I stuck with it and yes, after those first two episodes things have been getting steadily better. What's , frustrating to me is that I know it can be so much better than it is now. Yes the latest episodes are much better than the first. This weeks, Reset, was the best yet, and thats not just because apparently Owen gets shot and killed to be replaced by Matha Jones (sorry but I never much liked Owen as character). No the plot was good and pace of the story stopped you from dwelling on the plot problems.
But it's still not up to the standard of Doctor Who and it could be, the same team work on it, it apparently has a similar large budget, so why can't it reach the heights Doctor Who has? What is it that holds Torchwood back?
Well I think that part of the problem is that it wants to be this huge epic drama and it could be, but it's...just not. It comes across as being pretentious. It takes it's self far to seriously. Yes it could have the epic scale it so badly seems to want and still keep a bit of lightness in it. I mean take a look at Buffy the vampire slayer...
Now there's an idea, Now that the writers strike is over in America, wouldn't it be great if Joss Whedon could do a Torchwood episode? I mean look at it, the idea behind Buffy sounds pretty crazy and yet he turned it in to a truly epic story, but still kept some humor in it. Think what he could do with Torchwood...
Okay, dreaming over, back to reality.
And on to Primeval. I've got to say that I missed all but the last 10 minutes of the first series of the show. But the plot is pretty simple, so I had no problems slipping in the second series. Primeval is aimed at a completely different audience than Torchwood. It's early evening family entertainment, in fact it's aimed at pretty much the same audience as Doctor Who is, but ITV have the good sense not to put it up against the Doctor in the schedules, it would not stand a chance and they know it.
So what's wrong with Primeval then?
Well it doesn't have an pretensions, it's not trying to be an epic, which is good, because it's not. The acting in it is...well how can I put this, not great at times and I think a lot of this due to the fact that the writing isn't that good either. It's the TV equivalent of a pop-corn movie. It's a fun romp provided you don't think about it to much. Like Torchwood, it could be more than it is, but I'm not 100% sure I'd like it that way! It's just not an epic and if it tried it would end up like Torchwood. Pop-corn is pop-corn and it should try to be anything else, is what I'm saying here.
What ever both series weaknesses are, I'll still make time to watch them, but what I won't do (probably) is get them if (when) they come out on DVD. Pop-corn is fine once in a while, but I wouldn't want to live on the stuff!
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