Visit the official Doctor Who website

Visit the official Doctor Who website
Look to the future

Asylum seekers...

Asylum seekers...
Refuge of the Daleks

Doctor Who picture resource

Doctor Who picture resource
Roam the space lanes!

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website
Step back in time

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
Armed and extremely dangerous

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures
Fearless in the face of adversity

Call on Dani’s House

Call on Dani’s House
Harmer’s a charmer

Intercept the UFO fabsite

Intercept the UFO fabsite
Defending the Earth against alien invaders!

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse
Programmable agent Echo exposed!

Hell’s belles

Hell’s belles
Naughty but nice

Love Exposure

Love Exposure
Flash photography!

Primeval portal

Primeval portal
Dressed to kill or damsels in distress?

Charmed, to be sure!

Charmed, to be sure!
The witches of San Francisco

Take on t.A.T.u.

Take on t.A.T.u.
All the way from Moscow

Proceed to the Luther website

Proceed to the Luther website
John and Jenny discuss their next move

DCI Banks is on the case

DCI Banks is on the case
You can bet on it!

On The Grid with Spooks

On The Grid with Spooks
Secret agents of Section D

Bridge to Hustle

Bridge to Hustle
Shady characters

Life on Ashes To Ashes

Life on Ashes To Ashes
Coppers with a chequered past

Claire’s no Exile

Claire’s no Exile
Goose steps

Vexed is back on the beat!

Vexed is back on the beat!
Mismatched DI Armstrong and bright fast-tracker Georgina Dixon

Medium, both super and natural

Medium, both super and natural
Open the door to your dreams

Who’s that girl? (350-picture Slideshow)

Monday 30 October 2006

Who will kill Blake?



Episode three of “Torchwood”, “Ghost Machine” by Helen Raynor, was an improvement on the first couple of stories shown last week. It wasn’t perfect but held the attention more readily. The plot was reasonably involved, concerning an alien device which can initially enable its handler to relive past events but latterly to foresee the future. But just how complete a picture does it give of the shape of things to come? Will Jimmy White look-a-like Owen Harper (Burn Gorman) really avenge a past crime or will a certain leading lady, by the name of Eve Myles, be the one to accidentally twist the knife in?!

The direction seemed to move at a faster pace than previously (which isn’t necessarily a good thing), especially in the way the teaser was edited. Best of all, “Ghost Machine” featured a superb cameo from John (“The Caves of Androzani” and “The Happiness Patrol”) Normington and a star turn from a cigarette smoking, haggard looking, Gareth (“Blake’s 7”) Thomas as a guilt-ridden ex-teddy boy! The scene in which Owen exposes the terror of Gareth’s ways was terrific, a lot more fun than the chase through the back gardens of suburban Cardiff that was the focus of the following “Confidential”-like documentary “Torchwood Declassified”.

In “Ghost Machine”, John Normington played against expectations, a mild-mannered ageing evacuee, the complete opposite of the Trau Morgus character from his first “Doctor Who” - the embodiment of an ambitious, ruthless, corrupt politician best remembered for turning to camera and exclaiming, “The spineless cretins”. I also recall him in a play, made shortly after “Caves”, in which he co-starred with Patrick Troughton, about a jazz musician, played by the ex-Doctor, who loses his memory and goes missing only to end up at a pub called, appropriately enough, The Northern Star. It was on BBC2 but, unfortunately, brief research on both IMDb and Google has failed to reveal its title.

Gareth Thomas, on the other hand, as well as his most famous role, I remember in BBC dramas “The Citadel” and “Morgan’s Boy” as well as an ITV Sunday afternoon children’s serial, also co-starring Patrick Troughton (in his final role), entitled “Knights of God”. I still have a copy of the latter on a couple of Betamax tapes, which also featured Don Henderson, John Woodvine, Michael Sheard and Julian Fellowes, amongst others, and was directed by Michael (“Battlefield”) Kerrigan and Andrew (“Time and the Rani” and “Remembrance of the Daleks”) Morgan. Though it’s a long time since I watched it, I do remember it contained some plot inconsistencies but was nevertheless a fun, if undemanding, watch.

Returning to the present, it was good to see both Gareth Thomas and John Normington again, and on such fine form, and a bonus that it was in an SF drama. I didn’t notice any direct references to parent show “Doctor Who”, this week, but next week’s episode couldn’t be more connected if it tried, the eagerly awaited “Cyberwoman”. I’m ever-optimistic!

3 comments:

Stuart Douglas said...

My God - John Normington, so it was adnd I neve reven noticed (in fact, I just had to go and check).

TimeWarden said...

I suspect it was the quality of acting, by those with more experience, that raised the level of this week’s episode!

Stuart Douglas said...

That's a very good point, those two are the best actor sseen in the show so far and it's bound ot have had a positive effect (although I do think the Sapphire and Steel niche is a better fit for Torchwood than the faux-Angel of the first two episodes)