Jumping Jack Flash

For anyone worried that the integrity of Torchwood might be muddied by BBC Wales’ partnership with BBC Worldwide and US premium entertainment network Starz… ye, of little faith! Did you not see how the quintessentially British Doctor Who managed very happily to have its spin-off kick off from the beginning as beautifully Welsh without losing any of the warmth, humour and general Doctor Who-ness? Well then.

Great aspects of Torchwood are all still here – that’s a fantastic story, a great cast and a well honed script utilising characters that are as ambiguous and engaging as anyone you’re likely to meet down the pub, albeit a pub on a very remarkable corner of the universe. With John Barrowman’s Captain Jack and Eve Myles’ Gwen Cooper being joined by Mekhi Phifer, of ER fame, and Bill Pullman, who you may have caught sitting in the White House on a small flick called Independence Day, the core cast is already strong. Oh, and there’s the fabulous Lauren Ambrose taking pole position Stateside too. You know her – she’s the beautiful red-headed young lady from Six Feet Under. Still worried?

The premise is that Miracle Day is the day when no one dies. Doesn’t matter what happens to you, one of our leads pretty quickly into the programme gets skewered while in a car crash and he still survives. As does a certain paedophile murderer played with a quiet menace by Mr?Pullman, delivering an impactful non-death before the opening credits have even started to roll. It’s actually a non-execution, providing a classic Torchwood double whammy of delivering not only the crisis but some alarming consequences of that crisis at the same time before you’ve had time to romanticise the first idea. Live forever? Didn’t Mr Gallagher sing about that? Oh, not so nice. Beginning to see the full implications Torchwood may have to deal with. Job done.

I particularly enjoyed the finer location details, delivering localising information to the newer Yank viewers while entertaining us more familiar Brits mightily at the same time. I’m thinking especially of Phifer’s difficulties in comprehending Wales, which I won’t spoil by explaining it here. Torchwood is no homogenised mess of characters from around the world coming together to pretend that they could have grown up next door to each other. There are culture clashes, big American production values, Russell T Davies’ snappy scripts, Captain Jack’s fabulous full length military coat, Gwen’s domestic squabbles with Rhys – and surprisingly they all fit into the same Torchwood world.

This is a partnership for financial reasons but, without trying to put too much spin on it, BBC Wales and the Torchwood posse seem to have made it into an opportunity before any griping or compromising could start. Torchwood was always about events that were happening to the entire planet (or off it), so it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch to be involving characters from countries other than Wales. The bureaucracy shrouding the government agencies trying to make sense of the things Torchwood cuts to the chase of is still there. As are the darker undercurrents both from the known and the unknown. With ten episodes in total in the series, all following a single story arc, this feels like the entree to a feast I can’t wait to tuck into. My mouth is watering already.

Torchwood: Miracle Day, BBC1, Thursday 14 July, 9pm