Last Sunday, we watched the first couple of episodes of Torchwood—the spin-off series from Doctor Who. I wasn’t sure whether it would be any good, though I liked the character of Captain Jack, once he lost his slightly smarmy edge. The programme is billed as being an ‘adult’ version of Doctor Who, and they certainly made the most of that status in the first couple of episodes, with swearing, blood and guts, and sex aplenty. It’s not really necessary, to be honest, because Doctor Who (at least the first series with Christopher Eccleston), managed to be funny, scary and sexy without being at all explicit. Nevertheless, the freedom they get from being shown post-watershed does give Torchwood a grittier, darker feel than Doctor Who.

I think we’ll have to get used to the chracters who make up the members of Torchwood—a secret (or not so secret—the police and army seem to know who they are) organisation collecting and analysing alien technology—over a few episodes. Apart from Jack Harkness (who seems more serious and angry than we last saw him in Doctor Who—being killed by a Dalek probably does that to you), the other characters have yet to really establish themselves. However, Gwen Cooper (played by Eve Myles), a policewoman who ends up joining Torchwood when she accidentally finds out about them, is excellent. She’s feisty, intelligent, stubborn and full of empathy for others.

There were some nice moments of humour in the first couple of episodes (the crack about CSI: Cardiff was excellent), some good twists and mysteries, and it generally left me with the feeling that I’d like to see more. By the way, the set of the Hub is pretty wonderful—hi-tech meets Victorian engineering. If you missed it last week, it’s also being shown tonight at 9pm on BBC 2.