When [It] Strikes Me

The third Series of Torchwood is clearly the cream of the crop, but the entire run is enjoyable.

BBC America fans might be familiar with Torchwood, but it’s not terribly likely. It’s a bit of a shame, as this was one of the better serialized shows on TV in the sci-fi genre. For a country that really embraced The X-Files for nine seasons and two full length features, you’d think there could be a place for Torchwood.

I start with the X-Files reference because, for comparison purposes, it really is the most spot on. Torchwood is a serialized mystery show spun off from the BBC’s thirty-plus season Doctor Who phenomenon. It follows Doctor Who crossover Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and the Cardiff-based branch of a secret agency referred to as the Torchwood Institute.

It’s hard to decide to what degree of depth I should go into on the series mythology on this. I’m gonna go on the light side, but give just some of the basics. Cardiff is the Welsh city in which a space/time tear has opened a dimensional gateway of sorts. As a result, there’s a tremendous amount of alien activity in and around the city. The British Government commissioned the Torchwood Institute a long time ago to monitor and keep alien activity in check.

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