Sometimes I get hooked on shows outside of the main networks. I speak of Doctor Who and Torchwood which air on BBC America and Project Runway on Bravo.
A friend of mine has been a Who (New Who, btw, not the originals) fan for years and has bugged me tirelessly to check it out. I always put it off because I have vague memories of the old series that my dad used to watch and back then I wasn’t as into the sci-fi as I am now. I’ve come to accept and embrace my inner geek. Anyway, the old series never appealed to me so I wasn’t very interested in the new series of Who.
Of course, I’m kicking myself now but what can you do? Anyway, I highly recommend throwing all three series of Doctor Who into your Netflix Queue or borrowing it from a friend, or if you’re independently wealthy, you can buy the DVDs (my one and only complaint is the price of the DVD sets. $60 to $80 for a thirteen episode season? WTF?)
The new series has two new Docs, Christopher Eccleston (who was fantastic in 28 Days Later and is also in “Heroes”) and David Tennant (Whom Potter fans will recognize as the bloke who played Barty Crouch Junior in “Goblet of Fire”) and oh the adventures they have. It’s amazing, bittersweet, hilarious, strange, intriguing, creepifying, and so much fun.
I honestly cannot say enough good things about it.
Same goes for its spinoff, “Torchwood.” The spinoff is darker and sexier - more adult fare rather than the family fare Doctor Who mostly is. Torchwood follows Captain Jack Harkness, a former Time Agent who now heads up the Torchwood Institute, which, according the the IMDb is “…a renegade criminal investigation group founded by Queen Victoria to battle hostile extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.” It’s just as fantastic as Doctor Who although in the first series, it did stumble a bit as they tried to find their footing. But I’m about 3/4ths of the way through the second series and there hasn’t been a single misstep. Both shows are currently airing Saturday evenings on the Beeb.
Finally, I hate to admit that I’m hooked on Project Runway. Something about watching a bunch of catty designers bitch and moan their way through a bunch of weird challenges just floats my boat and I don’t know why. I don’t particularly follow the fashion world - closest I’ve ever been to it was going to a Lexus fashion show in Pebble Beach where I met Malcolm McDonald which thrilled me more than seeing the clothes. But I do really enjoy seeing the final products these designers turn out from seemingly nothing. The season finale is coming up on Wednesday, March 5th. I can’t stand the little weasel but I hope Christian wins.
I’ll probably talk more about these shows in posts to come because I love them so much. Until then, check out Who and Torchwood. You won’t regret it.
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***Possible spoilers from past episodes in this post.
Tonight is the series finale of Torchwood. In the UK. We’re a couple of episodes behind here in Yankeeland. So why am I posting about it now? Because by the time it airs on BBC America, it will already have been downloaded or streamed to fans on this side of the pond. I am impatient. I need a James Marsters fix and the fact that he happens to be the guest star on the last episode of one of my favourite shows is just a big old bonus for me.