::REVIEW:: Torchwood: Miracle Day - Episode 1: The New World

I have a confession to make: I've never been a huge fan of Torchwood.

In fact, during my initial viewing of the previous 5-year run of Doctor Who under the guiding hands of former show-runner Russell T. Davies, my only interest in its spin-off series has been marginal, at best, having only watched a handful of episodes without much care.

Then, last year, as anticipation on anything Who-related mounted drastically with the release of the Series 5 Blu-Ray set and the coming Christmas Day Special, A Christmas Carol, was nearing its air-date, I found one curious, little tidbit of news that caught my attention: Torchwood was moving to Starz in 2011 with a new surname attached to it, Miracle Day, and a seemingly simple hook: one day, every person on Earth becomes incapable of dying. "Death is not an option."

Throughout filming I kept up with the production sporadically and soon, as the premiere got closer and closer, my interest began to pique. So last week, I decided to watch the preceding 5-part Series, Children of Earth, and it made me lose my entire faith in humankind as I fell head-over-heels for a show brimming with outstanding moral quandaries and ideas about the human race and the darkness that lies within all of us.

Needless to say, I was ready for Miracle Day. So how did it stack up in the end?

Brilliantly!

The show starts two years after the events of Children of Earth and the silent war with The 4-5-6. The Torchwood Institute is now nothing more than a myth; its ruins less than relics of a simpler, less complex time. Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood's last commanding officer and an immortal from the 51st Century (played to perfection by the incredibly talented John Barrowman), is on a self-imposed exile from Earth after committing an unspeakably cruel and unforgivable act in order to save the planet from The 4-5-6. And Gwen Cooper, a former cop and Jack's second-in-command (played by the beautifully intense Eve Myles), is living in hiding with her husband Rhys and baby daughter Anwen, after the members of the institute were marked for death by the British government.

This is all you need to know prior to the beginning of Miracle Day regarding the characters and the first episode, aptly titled The New World, (three guesses as to where it's filmed) does a fantastic job of setting up the pieces across the board while building up the premise of a World without Death at a brisk and flashy pace. By the end of the first episode, the full implications of such a premise are laid plainly for our consideration and we're left salivating for the next installment.

New characters include Rex Matheson (played with fierce determination by Mekhi Phifer), the CIA's golden-boy, and his friend Esther Drummond (played by the wonderful Alexa Havins), a watch-analyst for the agency, who both get involved with Torchwood through circumstances beyond their control, yet it never seems like their integration feels forced. In fact, I was surprised by how well the script by RTD brought them all together and how truly genuine the chemistry felt between all of the actors.

And that, for me, is the most crucial element: the script.

I'm not a big fan of Russell's tenure as Doctor Who head-writer. His only three episodes I genuinely love are The Parting of the Ways, Midnight and The Waters of Mars (which he co-wrote with Phil Ford and won, deservedly so, the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form). Out of 30 or so episodes he wrote from 2005 to 2009, these three are the créme-de-la-créme. The darkest, most vicious stories you're likely to find in a family show going on 48 years strong now, in which the eponymous hero faces his own potential for evil and how his very existence influences the lives of those around him and turns them into weapons, for good or ill. Powerful, thought-provoking storytelling befitting a more adult show, yet perfectly at home in the family-friendly world of The Doctor, The Oncoming Storm.

Which is why Davies shines all the more in Torchwood. Here he can cut lose and be as free as he wants with his vision. And what a brilliantly malicious and ambiguous vision it is! Russell excels in highlighting the worst attributes of the human spirit. His characters are highly flawed individuals who strive to be better with every breath they take. His stories are metaphors of the worst that is within us and how we, as human beings are prone to do, can easily do wrong, even when trying to do the right thing. A more cynical person would merely describe him as a nihilist, yet underneath that darkness, lies hope in that we strive to better ourselves for the sake of our future.

If the first episode of Miracle Day is any indication, we're in for a very special treat that doesn't come along very often in television.

I can't recommend this series enough.