When it was first announced that Torchwood would be heading US-wards there was (perhaps predictably) an outcry – and not just from British fans. Plenty of Captain Jack aficionados in the US were equally disturbed by the idea of their beloved bisexual time traveller quitting Cardiff for sunnier climes while there were those who wondered whether the show would lose something in translation as it headed for wider landscapes and considerably fewer Whovian in-jokes.
Given that the show doesn't start until Thursday in the UK we're going to avoid spoilers here – you might not want to click the links – and instead look at what US critics made of the shiny new Torchwood: Miracle Day aka Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper's big budget US adventure. (If you've seen the show and want to discuss the episode in depth, try Dan Martin's series blog)
The answer is … something of a mixed bag, actually. There are those who loved it, most notably io9's respected Charlie Jane Anders who called it "the most idea-driven show on television" adding that "Russell T Davies may have hit on his most fertile premise yet". David Chute at IndieWire was equally enthusiastic, claiming that Torchwood had "expanded and deepened without getting weighed down by its aspirations" while NPR's David Bianculli singled out John Barrowman for praise calling Captain Jack "an old-school swashbuckler with new school sass – kind of like a bisexual Bruce Willis". The Chicago Tribune raved: "If you watch the first hour and don't find yourself hooked, check your wrist – you may not have a pulse."
Yet not everyone was quite so convinced. In a review which reeked of a disappointed teacher dressing down a once promising student ("You've let the fans down, you've let the show down, most of all you've let yourself down") the New York Times's Mike Hale attacked the "bland American locations" before adding: "Maybe it's the new Yankee sensibility … maybe its that the season is definitively a mini-series with a single story arc and no self-contained episodes. Or maybe it's just the lack of Cardiff. In any case Miracle Day is a letdown."
In the Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara was equally unimpressed concluding that "while many of the top notes of the British Torchwood are still in place …the setup is unnecessarily repetitive as if Starz [the cable channel on which the show airs in the US] wants to make certain the audience 'gets' it."
And that is the key issue surrounding this latest season of Torchwood. Who exactly is it trying to appeal to? At io9 Anders listed all the things that long-time viewers know about Captain Jack ("he had a brother named Gray, who was lost during an attack by alien invaders, and turned evil. He also had an ex-boyfriend Captain John, who turned sorta-evil. He was agent for the mysterious Time Agency, which erased two years of his memory. He fought in the first world war and about three versions of him were in the second world war. He was attacked by fairies and joined the circus…"). Anders then admits "almost certainly, none of this stuff will be mentioned or even referred to, ever again. Forget we mentioned it."
Meanwhile the Hollywood Reporter's largely positive review queried where the audience in the US would come from. "It's difficult to guess at which audience may find Torchwood: Miracle Day compelling enough to stick it out," wrote Tim Goodman. "Diehards might not like the American infiltration and newbies might sense that there's more wink-winking and missing back story than they can handle."
Most critics additionally felt that the new US additions (Mekhi Phifer and Alexa Havins as CIA agents) fail to truly mesh with their long-established British counterparts, although Lauren Ambrose and Bill Pullman fared better in eye-catching supporting roles.
Yet for all the quibbles US critics have not entirely written off the new show with Entertainment Weekly singling out the show's humour and Variety hailing its "offbeat charm". And it's fair to say that most reviewers felt Russell T Davies and co had more to be proud of than disappointed in. It might not be the soul-destroying Children of Earth but Torchwood: Miracle Day is still better than many other programmes. As David Chute concluded for IndieWire: the US Torchwood might be more grandiose than the British version but "it's still light on its feet and great fun to hang out with".
