Torchwood/Doctor Who Viewing Order

July 28, 2009 10:31 AM

Just received my Torchwood:Children of Earth DVD! I also have sitting here the first season set of Dr. Who (the first "modern" season...with bigger budget than the classic show). While I realize TCOE is considered fairly stand-alone, would it be best if I watch the Dr. Who stuff first? And, for that matter, since I'm probably going to watch the other Torchwoods eventually, even though I know they're not supposed to be as good, should I go ahead and do that before viewing TCOE? Or does everything work just as well if I approach it completely scattershot?
posted by jimmyjimjim to media & arts (34 comments total)

What do you consider "the Dr. Who stuff"? The first "modern" season of Dr. Who? I'd say not really. Jack appeared in a few episodes of Dr. Who, but I don't think there was a whole lot of continuity necessary. Mind you, I haven't seen T:COE, so maybe there are in-jokes and references you'd miss, but I think the same could be said if you haven't watched the whole of the Dr. Who film universe, to a degree.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:37 AM on July 28

It would be worthwhile to watch the other Torchwoods first, since COE very much follows on what has happened before in Torchwood.

In an ideal world it would be great to watch Doctor Who first as well, but you don't need it to get Torchwood, and not all that would be relevant is in the first new series (you'd want bits of a couple of the other new series as well). Doctor Who is definitely well worth watching, though:-)
posted by sueinnyc at 10:39 AM on July 28

"Doctor Who is definitely well worth watching, though:-)"

Oh, I intend to! But between Doctor Who and the prior Torchwoods, that's an awful lot of catching up....and I'd really like to view TCOE!

I will try to watch the earlier Torchwoods, first, though. Thanks!
posted by jimmyjimjim at 10:42 AM on July 28

You COULD just watch the Captain Jack episodes of Dr. Who and THEN go on to the Torchwoods. There's only a handful, I think (three or so from the Eccleston era, another three from the Tennant era).

That way you'd get to see one of the all-time great Captain Jack moments, to my mind, when he somehow manages to produce a gun from somewhere on his person despite being completely and utterly naked. "You REALLY don't want to know where I was keeping this."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:47 AM on July 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ouch....$100 for DVD sets of Torchwood Seasons 1+2 (a smidge less if I buy the complete boxed set from Amazon UK). This is gonna be expensive.......

Thanks, EC...will look into those Captain Jack episodes...
posted by jimmyjimjim at 10:50 AM on July 28

It's worth watching a lot of the older Dr. Who's as well, because it gives you a little bit of background into the Torchwood universe, but it certainly isn't necessary.

Torchwood really stands alone, as long as you know about the Doctor. It isn't necessary to watch the Dr. Who first, although I'd recommend watching them inline, together. That is, watch a couple of Dr. Who until Captain Jack appears, then watch the first Torchwood ep, then another Dr. Who and then a Torchwood, etc.

Works out best that way, IMHO, but again, it isn't necessary. Watch whichever one you like first, it really makes little difference.
posted by neewom at 10:52 AM on July 28

Captain Jack is a completely different person on Doctor Who. It might help you be more sympathetic toward him if you watch him there, rather than just on TW when he's a miserable bastard half the time.
posted by elsietheeel at 10:54 AM on July 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

Oh, another thing I might mention - I personally prefer the shows previous to Children of the Earth - it gives you a hell of a lot of insight into the characters that it would be best to have before watching Children of the Earth.

Clips on YouTube or Clips on BBC might be able to give you some of that background.
posted by neewom at 10:56 AM on July 28

There is an overwhelming arc to it, but yes, you can drop in and out. Things make deeper sense in place, but that's why you can go back and watch it again in the right order and see what you missed the first time.
posted by pupdog at 11:04 AM on July 28

Watch the Doctor Who first---or at least those episodes with Captain Jack in them. That gives you an introduction to why the Torchwood is even in Cardiff in the first place and why Jack is the way he is. You'll understand the gray hair remark in COE that much better.

And, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances is just awesome Who.

I'd go with neewom too---the last few episodes of last season's Torchwood (the whole story with Gray) gives a great intro to who the characters are in COE.
posted by chiefthe at 11:09 AM on July 28

Dr. Who, even the Captain Jack episodes, isn't necessary to do before watching Torchwood. Definitely watch the other Torchwood seasons before CoE.

I started watching Torchwood before I saw the Capt Jack Dr. Who episodes. I watched some of them after having already gotten started with Torchwood, though. It's nice to have the additional backstory, but Torchwood presented self-sufficiently enough that I didn't feel as if I'd missed anything vital.

To elsietheeel's point, but somewhat reversed, I didn't really get why everyone thought Jack was so miserable on Torchwood until I saw him on Dr. Who. Different perspective. [shrug]
posted by desuetude at 11:10 AM on July 28

Generally, the more you know about the Doctor Who Universe, the more there is to appreciate in Torchwood (this would include the original series of Doctor Who, to a point). However, this background knowledge is by no means necessary to appreciate Torchwood on its own terms. I would say to watch things in any order you see fit. Later, after you've watched more Torchwood/Doctor Who, you can return to COE with a different perspective, but go ahead and watch it now if that's what you'd like to do.
posted by pemberkins at 11:13 AM on July 28

Thanks all.

Ok, so the ESSENTIAL viewing is prior Torchwoods. That's 21 hours, and $100.

And the SUGGESTED viewing is Doctor Who first season (for the Captain Jack Episodes). That's 10 hours and $60.

At that point, I can put in the five hours to view COE.

Or just view COE, then backtrack, then view COE over again (extra five hours) to pick up the subtleties I missed the first time without the context.

I can't help but think of what else I could do with those 41 hours, but....sigh..... :)
posted by jimmyjimjim at 11:20 AM on July 28

Whatever else you watch first, definitely watch CoE last. I think watching it first will likely spoil the others to a degree.
posted by scalefree at 11:25 AM on July 28

Yeah, scalefree's right. Several of my friends have serious issues with CoE and some of us might not have watched/gotten as into Torchwood if we'd known how it was all going to end up.

If you're in the States you can rent the series from Netflix -- you can even watch most of the Dr. Who episodes with Instant Viewing, which saves you return time on the DVDs.
posted by katemonster at 11:44 AM on July 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

Dunno if you have Netflix, but if you do, most of the DVD releases of Doctor Who (and all of the modern ones) are available for instant streaming; you can probably just dive right in with "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" and understand most of it. Jack also appears in a few other Doctor Who episodes: the awesome three-part Series 3 finale ("Utopia"/"The Sound of Drums"/"Last of the Time Lords") and the slightly less awesome two-part Series 4 finale ("The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End"). I'll leave it to others to say how much of his story there is needed to understand "Children of Earth", not having seen it myself.
posted by Johnny Assay at 11:49 AM on July 28 [1 favorite has favorites]

I can't help but think of what else I could do with those 41 hours, but....sigh..... :)

Think of it like this: the Eccleston stuff shits on the Torchwood stuff, so you're actually adding value.
posted by biffa at 12:01 PM on July 28

Whatever else you watch first, definitely watch CoE last. I think watching it first will likely spoil the others to a degree.

Whooooeee, yes.

Also, the tone is so completely different -- it would be a poor introduction to Torchwoodland anyway.
posted by desuetude at 12:07 PM on July 28

Nth degree agreeing that you MUST watch the season 1 and 2 Torchwood's first! And I agree that Jack is more "human" in his Dr Who appearance than when he is on Torchwood. Enjoy!!
posted by Hanuman1960 at 12:44 PM on July 28

*Yeah - what they said :-)

COE stands on it's own, but is much more enjoyable after watching Torchwood.
If you absolutly must save some time - I say you could get by with just the second season of TW, then COE.
Dr Who, while fun, and set in the same universe, and has Jack in it, isn't required in my mind...
posted by niteHawk at 12:58 PM on July 28

To add a contrary opinion: If I were you, I would watch CoE IMMEDIATELY because it is incredible and amazing and some of the best sci-fi I've ever seen on television.

You can tell I really think so because I used bold face.

I would then only go back to seasons 1 and 2 of Torchwood if you really, really liked the characters, as those seasons simply weren't that good. With the time you save, go back to the first season of the new Doctor Who and savor it all the way through.
posted by jbickers at 1:38 PM on July 28

The time commitment is a big issue. My husband and I (both old skool Whovians from the Pertwee/Baker eras on) hadn't watched any new Who at all other than part of the first season. We got S3 of Who for Christmas last year and alternating between that, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures--which you don't need to watch for TW stuff at all--and occasional movies, we're done with S3 of Who, S1 of SJA and 2/3 of the way through S1 of TW here at the end of July.

One thing to watch out for with Torchwood: watch it while you're eating. It's what they call post-watershed TV in the UK, meaning it's on after the kiddies are expected to be abed so you can have more 'adult' content. Most people focus on the sex in Torchwood, but by American TV standards, some of it is stomach-churningly violent. There's one episode I've seen referred to online as the Wales Chainsaw Massacre. Plan your viewing accordingly.
posted by immlass at 1:40 PM on July 28

Argh, that should be DON'T watch Torchwood while you're eating. Editing fail.
posted by immlass at 1:41 PM on July 28

Seconding the Netflix. $17.99 (or whatever I pay, I forget now) a month to rent all the episodes of everything is totally worth it. I'm getting COE in the mail today, huzzah!

For the record, I watched Torchwood before DW and survived, but I'd probably watch all of seasons 1 and 2 of TW before seeing COE.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:54 PM on July 28

While I can't help but think that you'd enjoy the COE DVD more with some background, you seriously do not need to watch the whole first season. Or seasons after the first season. Find a streaming source that will allow you to watch some episodes (unless low-res really bothers you) and just see a few of season 1. If you establish who characters are, and what a few key words are all about, you'll get more out of COE, but once you've got a few episodes for baseline, I'd just get on with it.

disclaimer - I haven't seen COE, or every single episode of season 2, so I'm not basing this on knowledge of particular plot points, just the general sense that, despite the fact that I liked the show, every single episode of two seasons is just not worth watching.

Enjoy your DVD!
posted by aimedwander at 8:54 PM on July 28

disclaimer - I haven't seen COE, or every single episode of season 2, so I'm not basing this on knowledge of particular plot points, just the general sense that, despite the fact that I liked the show, every single episode of two seasons is just not worth watching.

Things happen in CoE. That's all I'm saying. Watch the others first.
posted by scalefree at 9:22 PM on July 28

All right, I'll be the dork who picks out specific Torchwood episodes that would bring you up to speed for the events of Children of Earth. Bear in mind that you'd be missing a ton of nuance by just watching these, but you'd basically understand everything in CoE after watching:

1x01, "Everything Changes" (pilot episode, intro to everyone)
1x05, "Small Worlds" (several themes appear here that are later echoed in CoE)
1x10, "Out of Time" (good episode, provides motivation for some stuff in the finale)
1x13, "End of Days" (S1 finale)
2x01, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (S2 opener, very fun)
2x04, "Meat" (kind of an iffy episode, but contains a plot development that will show up in CoE)
2x12, "Fragments" (backstory and lead in to the finale)
2x13, "Exit Wounds" (S2 finale)

This list doesn't include several good episodes ("They Keep Killing Suzie," "Captain Jack Harkness," "To The Last Man," "Adrift") and it cuts out a huge plot development mid-season 2 that will make bits of the last two episodes confusing. The episodes covering this development are 2x06 through 2x08, but if you're in a hurry, just watching 2x07 will get the point across.

Also, I'm of the opinion that even if you've purchased Series 1 and intend to watch it all, you can go ahead and skip "Random Shoes."
posted by brookedel at 4:33 AM on July 29

If you don't really care about watching Torchwood 1 & 2, I think selected episodes would be fine before CoE. If you do intend to watch the first two seasons of Torchwood...well, CoE is going to be awfully spoilery, if you care about such things.

Torchwood is so character-driven, I think it would be a shame to go into it already aware of how the characters ended up.
posted by desuetude at 6:28 AM on July 29

Is Children of Earth even that good that it's worth sitting through Torchwood? Because I had no interest in season 2 after watching season 1. (And I like Doctor Who.)
posted by smackfu at 7:28 AM on July 29

CoE is polarizing. People love it or hate it. I really hesitate to say more, just that it's extremely eventful.
posted by scalefree at 7:45 AM on July 29

Is Children of Earth even that good that it's worth sitting through Torchwood? Because I had no interest in season 2 after watching season 1.

I don't really watch Torchwood much as a rule -- but from what I've seen, the one armchair review of Torchwood that made sense was, "okay, imagine if someone took all the fanfiction you see online, where all the characters sleep with each other all the time, and actually made that the show."

CoE struck me as being a little more story-centric, as opposed to the "fanfiction yay" tone I get from the other episodes.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:53 AM on July 29

Is Children of Earth even that good that it's worth sitting through Torchwood? Because I had no interest in season 2 after watching season 1. (And I like Doctor Who.)

IMO, Children of Earth is so good that it bears virtually no resemblance to the first two seasons except for the fact that it has the same people.
posted by jbickers at 9:48 AM on July 29

Fanfiction ugh....maybe back to square one.....I'll stick with COE....
posted by jimmyjimjim at 10:23 AM on July 29

As for the cost issue, Play.com has some good deals on sci-fi box sets right now. You can get Torchwood seasons 1+2 for £40, and season 1 of Doctor Who for £13 - delivery is free.

I'm on my way through season 2 of Doctor Who right now and haven't gotten to Torchwood yet, but there's definitely a lot of entertainment in the first season. Eccleston is brilliant as the Doctor (though I'll admit, so is David Tennant).
posted by Bukvoed at 5:18 PM on July 29