Torchwood

BBC has launched a new show this season, Torchwood. It is part Dr. Who, part X-Files, and part Angel. Torchwood is a team of 30-somethings led by the enigmatic, ever-watchful Captain Jack Harkness. They use scavenged alien technology to solve present day crime - both alien and human. They’re separate from the government, working outside the police and beyond the United Nations. From an underground base built on a rift in time and space, Torchwood sets its own rules, delving into the unknown and fighting the impossible whether it is responding to an alien threat, sightings of extra-terrestrial technology, an unusual autopsy report, or the spread of a deadly alien virus.

Captain Jack is played by openly gay actor John Barrowman. I love that an openly gay man is cast as the lead in a series. Captain Jack's sexuality is rather ambiguous. He's neither gay, straight or bi. He's more pan-sexual. He is very private about his private life and ambivalent to sexual boundaries. I think Captain Jack is more of a mystery than anything else we will see on the this show. As for actor John Barrowman, he is HOT!!! There is a certain Tom Cruise look to him, but where I don't think Tom is cute at all, John is a cutie for sure.

The rest of the Torchwood team consists of Gwen, a new recruit fresh from the police force; Suzi, the second in charge; Owen, the team's scientist and medic; Toshiko the technical genius; and Ianto, the "Alfred" of the team.

Torchwood promises to be an action packed thrill ride filled with personal drama as well as danger. I am looking forward to seeing how the show shapes up. So far in the first episode Owen used an alien spray to attract a straight couple into bed with him and Gwen had a make out session with a woman whose body was being taken over by an alien life force that fed off orgasmic energy (she would hook up with a guy and just as he orgasmed the alien would absorb the man's life force and he would be reduced to a pile of ash.)

With all that goes on, the mystery of Jack's life will be the biggest challenge of all.