Everything Changes

A solid introduction to be fair! I like Gwen, and the series begins as it means to go on, apparently, with Jack able to taste oestrogen in the rain and commenting on how at least he can't get pregnant again. Wild ride for sure

I really like this episode. It's basically Rose for Torchwood in that we're introduced to the world through the life of an ordinary woman. The plot is relatively basic, but as with the earlier mentioned Rose that's all you need for this intro.

S1E1

Everything Changes

8/10

And here we have it - the beginning of Torchwood. The mystery of Torchwood is setup, we follow Gwen's journey, and everything moves at a good pace. On rewatch, it holds up. Really loved the opening in the rain with Gwen watching the Torchwood gang do their thing. There's not quite enough to link Susie to the murders for the audience to figure it out before it's shown to us, but nonetheless it's an interesting confrontation between her and Gwen. Overall, solid start to the series!

On the one hand, this is a pretty solid introduction to what would turn out to be a pretty middling series, but certainly Torchwood would also go on to have its moments and then of course its life in Big Finish so it is hardly all that bad, either.

Gwen really stands out in Everything Changes, and I also like the general climate and energy of the pilot. It feels full of the ambition that would both enable the series to tell its best stories, and would constantly lead to missteps, too. I do feel the story is in a bit of a weird place, since it has to service new viewers, Doctor Who fans, and establish its tone all in one episode. It largely succeeds, but does do weird things like put a lot of mystery up around Jack, even though many viewers are going to already know a lot about this character from Doctor Who.

Still, it does a good job at catching and holding your interest. Everything Changes is a pretty strong introduction to any series.

RTD does a marvelous job of introducing some iconic characters to accompany the fabulous Captain Jack. Seeing the world through Gwen's eyes and having the story slowly unfold in front of her has some very spooky, fairy-tale qualities. The whole concept of the Torchwood base and a Cardiff based alien prevention squad is genius. A perfect set up!