Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #574 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-06-30
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 650 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
In many ways a far more experimental and variable series than the show it spun out of, Torchwood demonstrates many of the qualities of Doctor Who, but has certainly developed a tone all of its own.

Season two finds the Torchwood team still under the pavements of Cardiff, and still led by John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness. But there’s a lot going on this second series, with a variety of guest stars--including Alan Dale (yup, Jim Robinson from Neighbours), James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Richard Briers--along with the arrival of Freema Agyeman’s Martha Jones. There are also a variety of intriguing threats that the Torchwood team face, and while the tempo is often uneven, at worst it’s always interesting.

What’s more, Torchwood isn’t afraid of pulling its punches. Unpredictable at times, right through to the explosive final episode, this second season is an improvement on the show’s already-impressive debut. And while it sometimes makes familiar mistakes as it tries to play to a more mature audience, it nonetheless feels riskier than before, and better for it. Furthermore, where they take it now for season three is a fascinating proposition: fortunately, there’s plenty of rewatch value in the show’s second series to cover the wait to find out. --Jon Foster

Special Features included:

- Deleted scenes

- Out-takes

- The Life and Deaths of Captain Jack

- Torchwood Declassified Cut-down

- English 5.1 Surround Sound

Synopsis
Outside the Government, beyond the Police, fighting for the future on behalf of the human race. The 21st century is when everything changes and Torchwood is ready. Torchwood, the award-winning drama created by Russell T Davies, bursts back onto our screens, bigger and bolder with more adventure and excitement for the alien-fighting team. Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), Gwen (Eve Myles), Owen (Burn Gorman), Toshiko (Naoko Mori) and Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) return as the investigators delving into the alien underworld of modern day Cardiff.

The new series sees the team encounter alien terrorists, a stranded creature threatened by humans, a tragic soldier from the First World War, as well as a memor y thief who exposes long-forgotten secrets in members of the team and a wedding with an unexpected guest.

Customer Reviews

Jack's Back
The Torchwood team spring into action once more, investigating alien activity in Cardiff and looking damn cool while they do it. Opening episode `Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' sees the team floundering without their charismatic and immortal leader, Captain Jack Harkness; furthermore, Jack's old sparring partner Captain John (Buffy's James Marsters) is in town, and looking to humiliate his old mucker in any way possible. This fast-paced if slightly uneven story provides a brilliant introduction to the second series of the smash hit Doctor Who spin-off.

Second episode, `Sleeper' is arguably the weakest story here. A young woman finds herself committing acts she never thought she was capable of, and is horrified when she subsequently learns, with the help of Torchwood, that she is part of an alien invasion spearhead. The story has an interesting premise, but is too disjointed and contradictory to be really effective.

Next up is `To the Last Man', a poignant character-based yarn about a cryogenically frozen First World War Soldier, Tommy, who is woken up once a year in preparation for a future catastrophic event that only he can prevent. Providing the lovelorn Toshiko Sato with yet another doomed relationship gives actress Naoko Mori a chance to shine; and shine she does, with a powerful performance that foreshadows tragic events later in the series.

`Meat' has some good moments - not least when Gwen Cooper's dull fiancé Rhys inadvertently discovers what she really does for a living. The story is unfortunately let down by its CGI space creature, a giant whale of sorts, but there is pathos aplenty, Ianto gets some of his best lines, and Gwen's tangled relationship with Jack begins to rear its head once more.

Story five, `Adam', has a great premise: What if your memories had been tampered with; some removed and some new ones added? Adam has been part of the Torchwood team for three years, he's Toshiko's lover, Gwen's best mate, and Jack's closest confidante - or is he? A loose story arc, hinted at in episode one, begins to take shape here, as Jack's past comes back to haunt him, and he faces the biggest challenge of his life - all 180 or so years of it.

`Reset', `Dead Man Walking' and `A Day in the Death' are a trio of linked stories that deal with the death and resurrection of one of the team. `Reset' sees former Doctor Who companion, Martha Jones, arrive at The Hub as a member of UNIT; The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce; and represents a shift in tone from dark to even darker, whilst the other two stories see the team battle a manifestation of death and deal with their colleague's demise.

`Something Borrowed, Something Blue' is as droll an episode as this series will see. In some welcome respite from the doom and gloom of the preceding three stories, the team attend Gwen's wedding, however the blushing bride has to deal with being impregnated by an alien shape-shifter, subsuming her feelings for Jack, and nearly being ripped apart by her mother in law (Nerys Hughes as you've never seen her before!)

Attending the opening of a refurbished cinema in the episode entitled `From out of the Rain', Ianto is taken aback to see Jack appear on screen as part of a Nineteenth Century travelling circus. What's more, the nefarious `Night Travellers' have begun to escape from their celluloid prison and are determined to wreak vengeance on a society that consigned them to oblivion. Julian Bleach (Davros in Doctor Who) plays the sinister leader of the travellers, and is deliciously wicked, as he steals peoples' breath and leaves them for dead, so that he and his troupe may exist permanently once more.

`Adrift' has Gwen Cooper determined to uncover the truth behind a glut of missing persons in the Cardiff area. But why is Jack so insistent that she let it go, and what is going on underground on an insignificant island in the Bristol Channel? A powerful and emotive story, `Adrift' addressed the issue of what happens when the rift takes people rather than spewing them out, and successfully treads that fine line between pathos and mawkishness.

Penultimate story `Fragments' shows how the current Torchwood team came together, and offers some insight into the personalities and backgrounds of Tosh, Ianto and Owen. Meanwhile, the anarchic `Captain' John Hart returns to Cardiff to wreak more havoc, and Jack discovers that there is someone far more dangerous pulling John's strings.

Series Two climaxes with a story entitled `Exit Wounds'. In a typically end of season finale from writer Russell T Davies, the story arc reaches its conclusion and the Torchwood team are shattered as two of their members become history.

DVD extras include out-takes, deleted scenes, and a short feature on the character of Captain Jack Harkness.

Whilst Series Two certainly builds on its predecessor, there are some inconsistencies in tone and pacing, particularly early on in the run. However, from fifth story `Adam' onwards, Davies shows the audience exactly where he's going with the story, and the series is ultimately a triumph. It remains to be seen how the depleted team will cope with the loss of their friends, as Series Three looms.

No shame...just humanity. (And the rest)
Torchwood's great: it's a good mix of semi serious 'dark' (their word!) sci fi and fluffy fun with a generous dose of sheer humanity. ('tho those who bring this out aren't always human!) The much maligned (and celebrated) snogging between same/opposite sexes and aliens is a part and parcel of the whole series aim to present the bizarre within a very normal (Welsh) world. The snogging, the cameraderie, the Cardiff backdrop are the normal bit and I strongly recommend you allow your kids to watch it because guys do snog guys and gals gals and the sooner they accept this, the sooner the world will become a more pleasant place to live in. Torchwood Series 2 has been pre-watershed-ed to make it more watchable by kids and they've taken out some of the violence. I'm pre-ordering despite being only part way thru the series on TV because I applaud Russell T Davies and his team for making ground-breaking, mould-breaking TV within the genre least likely. Oh, and let's face it, JB IS eye candy!

This review is for the actual dvd content
The second series of Torchwood marks a distinct improvement on the rather patchy first series. I won't go into plot details as other reviewers have already done that. Instead I will concentrate on the dvd set itself. The packaging is rather cheap looking and is made from cardboard with an awful red cover with just the Torchwood logo on it. The main let down for me is there are no audio commentary tracks on any of the episodes. One of the highlights of the first series dvd set was the highly entertaining commentary tracks by cast and crew. Why BBC dvd havn't included them on this release is beyond me. What you do get is some deleated scenes (always welcome), out-takes, a Captain Jack doccumentary and the Torchwood Declassified (regretfully the cut down versions). So all in all a pritty good dvd set episode wise but not the most exciting extras ever. Oh, and don't let the garish packaging put you off either.