In 2006, the Torchwood series had the onerous task of being the first spin-off from the legendary Doctor Who series post 2005. The main series had two seasons to introduce characters and concepts that would serve as an introduction to this spin-off, which would also be the first BBC series spin off to have an entire first season. With its desire to be more adult, does Torchwood manage to live up to its big sister?

First of all, the series opens with a shot that really struck me: a corpse bathed in blood. It's a shot that may seem fairly banal, but for a series in the whoniverse, it really sets the tone for what we're in for. The series doesn't start with dialogue or a funny montage about the life of a teenage girl, no, it starts with a victim who has lost her life. I think that sends a very strong message and is very stark when you go from Doctor Who to Torchwood.

This introductory scene is followed by some very interesting shots and dialogue. The most obvious is Jack's personality, which the viewer can understand from the first sentence the character utters. But that's not all: it also allows the series to take on a new dimension. It won't all be dark, it'll be fun too.

After the whole assassination sequence, we get to meet Gwen Cooper, the woman who will represent us this season. While her actions don't really stand out, it's still nice to see someone normal with a family. Normality and banality are so present that when the extraordinary happens, everything is rationalised. But I'm still puzzled that we don't explore Gwen more, even though the whole episode focuses on her and her obsession.

I don't have much to say about the other members. The episode doesn't manage to introduce everything at once, even if something that was really well thought out was showing their vices to show that they're deeply human and therefore fallible.

On the other hand, something really problematic about this episode is showing Owen behaving like a sexual predator without anything in the story showing him that what he's done is wrong and that he should suffer the consequences. Having already seen the whole series, I can understand why the writers wanted to make him a grey character, fluctuating between his role as protagonist and antagonist, but you can't let someone drug a victim to abuse her and pretend it's normal. I feel that if such an element is introduced into a story, it should be resolved in that story, or at least show that his behaviour will be dealt with in subsequent episodes. But here, nothing.

Script-wise, it's pretty good, even if I find it falls into the trap of exposition. Two scenes explain what Torchwood is, and both times it's just dialogue. Why not turn the plot so that Gwen discovers Torchwood through their actions? She would have been much more active and we would have had a much stronger episode. But hey, it's an introductory episode, we're introduced to elements and there are still a few scenes where we discover Torchwood through action, like when they drug a character to make him forget the last few hours, so it's not a huge problem, but they could've gone further.

I liked the character of Suzie, even if I found the plot twist centred on her a bit out of nowhere. There are no clues to help the viewer understand what's going to happen to this character. But I was very touched to discover this character who is so sad about everything and who has fallen into addiction. It's a mature subject that totally works with the idea of the series.

So, does this first episode manage to live up to Doctor Who? Well, I'm torn. On the one hand, the show manages to reinvent the universe, but on the other it makes a lot of missteps and gets a bit lost in the way it introduces things. I think the big problem with this episode is that it took 50 minutes to introduce Torchwood. I think a double episode would have been more relevant to allow us to dwell on more things.

Quite a good story! Herbert's presence and relationship with the Doctor is so great, I love it!

Doctor Who is a series that has always fascinated me, thanks to its ability to add to its edifice while keeping continuity consistent, with a few exceptions because it remains a time-travel series that is over sixty years old. I therefore find it quite interesting to revisit the early years of the series, a period when no one could imagine the future of the show, not even those who worked on it. However, the early days of Doctor Who remain controversial. The cause? An Unearthly Child, a story that divides fans, but which remains negatively criticised by some fans. I never asked myself what my real opinion was of this episode, all I knew was that I was having a good time watching it, without knowing why. So, once I look into it a bit more, what stands out about this story?

First of all, I have to tell you about the first striking element: the realism of the story. We're left with a real human vision that keeps its feet on the ground, which I think is an interesting way of introducing us to a science-fiction series, because it allows us, the viewers, to enter the Doctor Who universe gradually. The realism is reflected in the first part, which takes place in a school and then in a junkyard, with deeply human characters who are worried about a pupil, but it can also be reflected in the whole plot with the prehistoric men, which I'll come back to later, or in the piloting of the time machine, which is much more elaborate than it is nowadays.

Doctor Who... Doctor Who... If the beginning of the series had been all about the Doctor, it would have been a total disaster, in my opinion. We don't really understand who the Doctor is because of his unclear motivations and loathsome character. Fortunately, we have Susan, Ian and Barbara, who are the real main characters. I won't be able to explain it, but I find this group very touching and I care about them, probably because they are the humans in this group, where the Doctor, as an alien, is shown as inhuman and heartless. So, yes, I feel sad when Susan is sad, I feel bummed when Ian and Barbara get kidnapped. I found myself feeling for all three of them, which is already a very good thing, because the scenes in which they are in danger are no longer mere twists and turns, but real events that grab me by the guts.

The other key element of this story is the presence of prehistoric men. By way of introduction, I'd just like to point out that it's a good idea to exploit time travel by going back to the first steps of humanity, it's great to go to the furthest point. Otherwise, in terms of the individuals themselves, I really liked the fact that there were fairly recognisable archetypes. It's simple, but it works, so why deprive yourself? It doesn't take long to work out who's who, who has what role, and what the tribe's problems are. It immediately makes the story more interesting, because you understand it. And as I mentioned earlier, there's also a very realistic aspect to the prehistoric men, who don't always understand everything, don't have all the language terms and have very changeable moods. Where people see simple cavemen, I see characters who may not be very advanced, but who embrace the plot perfectly.

There are also a few positive and negative elements, which I'll list below. On the positive side, we have some pretty interesting action scenes, thanks to the characters, but also to the camerawork, editing and the whole atmosphere of the scenes. We also have a fairly pessimistic vision of time travel, where everything isn't perfect and no one has control over anything, and everyone becomes a victim of time travel. And on the negative side, I'd like to mention a few scenes of exposition that are unfortunately done through dialogue, as well as a very personal problem: I found it hard to tell the difference between Kal and Za's physical appearance, so sometimes I was confused when I thought I was following one character when in reality it was someone else.

Finally, what did I think of this first Doctor Who story? I'm very pleased with it. It's not done with the codes of our time, but that doesn't mean it should be bad. The story is full of good ideas and I'm pleased to see that my favourite series is starting out on a very good footing, with flaws that are really quite trivial compared to the positives.

It's quite a rich story, and I'm glad we've had three episodes. Once you get used to the idea that this isn't a traditional multi-Doctor show, you have a really good time. The episode manages to be fun while drawing interesting parallels about our relationship with animals, which is a great way of getting a message across.

I'd say it's a decent one. It doesn't have much going for it, but it's still very enjoyable. The Master + Rani duo is truly iconic.

It's a great caricature of the world we live in, whether in terms of politics, culture or voyeurism. The episode manages to be so rich in what it says. Obviously, a lot of the points are exaggerated, but I really enjoyed it.

It's a shame that the story goes in all directions and makes understanding the episode rather complicated. Otherwise, the Cybermen are terrifying and the ambition is clearly there.

So... Even though I always have a good time watching it, I have to admit that when I plug in my brain, it doesn't work too well. On the plus side, I love the concept of this new Doctor, seeing how terrible regeneration can be for a Time Lord, juggling periods of euphoria and depression. But the rest... The acting isn't up to scratch all the time, the story is really lambda, I wasn't touched by the characters present and the ending makes me want to tear my hair out. The potential is there, but there's a certain taste of unfinished business.