Torchwood comes of age?

The Stage
Although a broadcast date has yet to be set, the third season of Torchwood looks to be shaping up very nicely, with a new teaser trailer having surfaced on Australian television yesterday as the second series finished its run there.

And bless the BBC for putting the trailer up on the Torchwood website for British fans to have a gander at — and for allowing folks like us to embed it on our own sites:



On the evidence of this, are we seeing a series that has finally come of age, to fulfil the potential that’s been there since day one to become a truly adult drama?

Torchwood has been something of an errant child that in effect we have seen grow up throughout the two seasons transmitted thus far. The first series was a naughty child, a juvenile that thought jokes about sex were funny and that swearing made you sound cool. It didn’t.

The second series was a massive leap forward - a more consistent approach to storytelling and plot, seeing Torchwood through awkward teen into confident young adult, really coming of age in the final episode that saw two members of the team gone forever. Torchwood learnt how to experience death at a very personal level, and in that moment became an adult. There were some misfires here and there, but we all have off days.

This has all prepared the series for Children of Earth. The trailer looks classy, it looks intelligent. It has the feel of Edge of Darkness or Spooks, with a tense, edgy undertone. Could Torchwood finally be about to step out of the shadow of Doctor Who and be taken seriously as a show in its right?

Torchwood: Children of Earth will be broadcast on BBC1 this summer