"It got so freezing we wore our coats and shared one sleeping bag. When we woke up the next morning, a dog was pissing on our tent." Thanks for watching this mini-'Torchwood' retrospective! Be sure to hit that "like" button and leave any comment down below to appease the almighty algorithm!
The writing wasn't all that bad (probably some of the best sci-fi Chib has written) but wish they went with more graphic body horror for The Cyberwoman design like Tetsuo's arm at the end of Akira.
Prehistoric bird? This is my inner palaeontologist coming out, but pterosaurs like the one depicted in the episode were not birds - they weren't even dinosaurs. They were an entirely separate group of reptiles 👍🏻
I'm gonna partly let it slide because you COULD argue that it works in that pterosaurs are stem-birds, aka part of the group of reptiles that eventually led to birds. Even if birds are dinosaurs proper, pterosaurs themselves are in the same larger group of reptiles as dinosaurs, Ornithodira. And well, one of the ways to refer to them is "stem-bird", so yeah. :P Still, you're technically right. XD
It`s refreshing to find an online reviewer who doesn`t buy into the Channel Awesome and AngryVideoGameNerd style of "CRITICISM MEANS IRRATIONALLY HATING EVERYTHING POPULAR AND YELLING ABOUT IT!"
I havent watched it in a while, so maybe it's changed, but avgn never just irrationally hated popular stuff. Most of the games he covered negatively were generally accepted as shit, or were obscure stuff that no one would remember otherwise.
@@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502 I mean James Rolfe`s certainly improved as a content creator since he`s distanced himself from Doug.(Funny how that tends to happen,hmm?)
Could you imagine what those people who are like "Chibnall's Who is too PC" would say if they saw that design? Twitter would be in full meltdown mode lmao
@@mrdr0161He didn't either They write the story. They don't design the. Set They can give ideas, but the cyber woman is ultimately the fault of the Costume people
@@plantainsame2049 RTD came up with the idea to have the sexy cyberwoman. That was literally the entire plot of what he wanted the episode to be. The costume designers just did what they were told by their boss
@@mrdr0161 Doesn't seem like it was the plot Seems like they were trying to do a spooky story But torchwood is kind of incredibly Childish and not in a good way
I went back and watched a lot of Channel Awesome era "reviews" and your analysis is actually really thought out and tries to give insight into the works without needlessly nitpicking the material for *plot holes* that are actually just the show believing it's audience can infer things instead of wasting time with needless explanations. I have never thought you come at material immediately with bad faith and that's super valuable.
The problem with this statement tho is he completely missed why Ten was a bit aggressive with Rose about her dad and the highly implied and kind of stated reason why Lumic (for some reason I was blanking on his name and had to look it up through notifications) would convert the population in the prior review. I don't think that Mr. T made those criticisms with bad intentions but like anyone I think he missed something kind of obvious for whatever reason. This is why I don't like to throw the term "bad faith" around because it's genuinely possible that a person just missed something, which can just kind of happen.
The best thing about Army of Ghosts/Doomsday is that it gave us Bitch Fight In Canary Wharf. The worst thing about Army of Ghosts/Doomsday is that it's the reason why this episode exists.
"Here he comes in a ruddy grey tractor." DAMN! I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD NOW! Every episode of Torchwood will never be the same again when ever I hear that theme!
As I'm currently recovering all the episodes of _"Torchwood"_ , I've to say: this particular episode has became one of those who personally surprised me; the dynamic between Ianto and her girlfriend really kept me interested throught all the episode..!
Time for extracts from Stubagful's Snuggly Chibnall Time: czcams.com/video/XrfBGYcgTQA/video.html "I love the little skeleton in the jar!" "Oh my God, I've just noticed that!" "Why is there a skeleton in a jar?" "Why's she got fruit?" "In case she wakes up and wants some fruit." "I'm still reeling from that skeleton." "I know this probably didn't happen but I want a deleted scene where he's holding up the skeleton and going look at this, remember who you are!" "How has Ianto snuck a Cyber conversion unit and a part converted Cyber Girlfriend into the Hub without Jack noticing." "Wasn't it on fire?" "Yeah, exactly. Why did he bring this? What was he thinking?" "There's the skeleton in the jar again!" "The building was on fire, he was trying to get her out in a hurry and yet he had time to bring the entire Cyber conversion unit." "I imagine him running back in with a sack going: I need this Cyberman helmet and this chest plate." "You know the first thing a Cyber conversion unit does? The eye... and a bit of the handle." "It doesn't make sense." "The Hub's too small to have a chase sequence." "She must be taking half strides." "It's okay because they can't climb stairs." "You've got to have that scene where they gloat." "Oh, she's just made it!" "This is meant to be a top secret organisation and yet they just have the pizza girl wandering in." "I think what this episode is, it's an allegory for a VERY VERY messy break up." "Yes." "THE WORST!" "Literally the worst." (As a bonus from the end of his series 11 discussion): "Does anyone want to watch Cyberwoman again?" "Oh yeah, get it on. Piss on that tent!"
Next Time: They return again after disappearing for 2 and a half year, In the victorian era, At Christmas time, With a none Doctor, And the Doctor stays for a Christmas roast without having to leave after saving the day, I am getting for The Next Doctor, Featuring their second animal pets, The Cybershades.
Fun fact: The Next Doctor was the first Doctor who story i ever saw, back in xmas 2008 i was only five years old, and my Aunt was visiting from a long way away, she recommended Doctor who to my family as it was the Hight of it's popularity with the Tennant craze. They told me to wait upstairs as they thought it would be too scary for a little five year old to sit through, but i got bored. I came back downstairs to the living room to re-join my family, and i distinctly remember glimpses of the Cybermen marching through the graveyard in the snow whilst sitting in my high chair. However, this episode wouldn't get me into Doctor who, rather a repeat of Smith and Jones on BBC3 the following year.
So honestly, it was the whole loyalty angle that fell completely flat for me in this episode, for a combination of reasons. Firstly, four episodes in is flatly too soon to have a betrayal episode have any weight, especially with what had been a background character. For his push/pull of loyalty to carry any weight he either needed to have been focused on more in a prior episode, or if he was just going to be part of the furniture then this needed to wait until near the end of the series so that he's become a steady calming presence before trying to pull this. This problem is exacerbated by how dysfunctional the team as a whole is. What the hell does "loyalty" and "betrayal" even mean with a group this freaking broken? There's just weight behind it at all.
Season 1 of Torchwood is a guilty pleasure for me. I can put it on and just have a ton of fun watching it. Cyberwoman is one of my favourite episodes from that series as it just feels like one of those B-movie horror films you watch to have a laugh with your mates. Really don't understand the flack this episode gets (aside from the questionable design). A great episode to give Ianto some character development
Way too forgiving of Ianto (in this review and in the episode). He lied, covered up, actively sabotaged his teammates and got people killed. How is he still employed after this?!
I thought it still made sense. One reason Gwen was employed was because she could handle alien knowledge. If Torchwood fired Ianto, it would be very difficult to fill that vacancy.
@@Talisguy At the very least he probably should have gotten a bit more of a clear punishment for what went down. What happened is alluded to once or twice but that's about it.
He kinda deserved a bullet, not gonna lie, but that’s just how I feel about it, he just really pissed me off in this episode, like killing Tanazaki and trying to convert Gwen should have been a bit of a turnaround point for him, where he starts doubting Lisa and his own goals in the episode, while there are some positives about the episode, the biggest glaring issue for me is the poorly executed group dynamic, it would have been more interesting if another in the group wanted to shoot him more than Jack did, probably Gwen or the other dude forgot his name, also Gwen should have held more distrust/distain for him given what nearly happened to her.
@@foxydev4056 as great as that drama is (assuming of course we're both thinking of "broken") it came out years after ianto died and the show had long since ended. You can't just fix something in post and erase the issue. This is not a criticism of broken, merely to say that despite how good it is it's existance does not fix the issues the show had, it just uses them to craft a good story.
Same reason why Owen was still employed after opening the Rift, or why Tosh was still employed after letting an alien into the Hub, or why Gwen was still employed after accidentally getting some civilians killed. Because Jack cares deeply about all of them.
16:37 - Yeah, what was it with Jack standing on top of buildings lmao But yeah, even with the silly looking design of the Cyberwoman itself, I still enjoyed the episode, one of my favourite ones from Torchwood
Ultimately the most disappointing thing about this episode is that ultimately the only Torchwood episode to use a villain from its parent show. And out of all the Doctor Who villains throughout the years the Cybermen would ultimately be perfect for a serious, dark, adult (as in actually adult not like a 'horny teenage' version of adult) take. Some of the most interesting and best Cybermen stories are where they go all-in on the dark disturbing nature of the Cybermen and what lengths humanity will go to survive. Hell, you could have even gone full R-Rated showing the bloody conversion process the dismantling of people, and the pain of people being turned from emotional humans to something much more horrifying. Instead, we get this...
the Sarah Jane Adventures was intended to be about a young doctor but was switched to Sarah Jane Smith got getting rid of the mystery in the Doctors backstory & Torchwood in the early development stages had the cool codename of Excalibur.
Honestly, series one is my favourite series or torchwood except for Children of Earth, its the funniest thing I've ever seen, like if Garth Marenghi's Darkplace was actually a real show with a budget.
I've been meaning to watch Torchwood properly for a while now, and it's juvenile early days has probably been one of the great obstacles. Your review of Cyberwoman might just change my mind - it's an interesting as hell concept, and I'd like to see it even if the execution isn't all there.
Owen seeing the conversion unit, knowing Torchwood One's fall, still gives me the same spinal chills as Jack hearing the Daleks' message in ''The Stolen Earth". Repeated viewing, same results. I watched 'Cyber Woman' back in 2006/7 as an example of Torchwood borrowing from Doctor Who in a lazy, deliberate way so my first viewings were coloured by cynicism...but in fairness the older it gets, the more the episode ages better. Cybertech does wonders for the appearance ;)
I haven't watched Torchwood at this point, Or in the past as a matter of fact, I've been always in favour on the revived series, The same goes for The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Id say give it a shot. its a bit Rocky, mainly in early season 1, but the characters writing is good and there plenty of genuinely great episodes. Also season 3 is the best thing on tv to come out of Dr whos revival and genuinely a masterpiece of storytelling.
It was already teetering, but this was the point where I essentially wrote off Torchwood as shit TV. :\ One thing that frustrated me about Cybus Cybermen is that they were essentially a robot with a human brain plugged into it, as opposed to a total conversion of the body and mind, as in the classic series. But that wouldn't work for the plot of this story, so they just flipped back to the old style again.
If "here he comes in a ruddy great tractor" is in Revolution of the Daleks I will squeal like a child. I doubt it'll happen though because Segun Akinola doesn't seem to want to use the same musical motifs that Murray Gold had. Unless it's a rights thing?
@@KillerMeme Doctor Who is better with big orchestral tracks imo. It's probably why "The Lighthouse" is the only piece of music from the new era I love (especially from the 3 minute mark). Oh and I unironically like the James Bond-style bit.
@@Adam-nb6im To each their own. I don't think one is better than the other - just different. Gold has more exciting tracks, but Akinola's felt more tailored to each story and even incorporated various cultural elements (like the haunting theme remix at the end of Punjab).
@@Adam-nb6im I loved akinolas cyberman theme, it was absolutely metal and really was the right call. I was getting really tired of the cyberman melody giving away them way too early. Akinola made the cybermen feel epic, especially during the 3 cybermen confrontation when jodie miscalculated ashad being alone. The drum beats and metal almost rock theme was amazing. It's a breath of fresh air, I'm quite tired also of the series 4 dalek theme, it's way past its welcome and feels like white noise now, even the series 1/2 dalek theme would be a good break, the trumpets are a bit too repetitive.
Oh god this episode is so, so silly, even for season 1 of Torchwood. LOL I mean what the hell were the costumers designer thinking! lol High heels? A thong? Anyhoo, I did grow to love Torchwood and that love was cemented in season 2 where the production value rose as did the scripts (also it did help they had a guest appearance by James Marsters as Capt John (who really upped the enjoyment stake for me) 2 was wonderfully enjoyable, but in terms of sci fi quality season 3 was outstanding. Children of Earth is the best bit of 'old school' TV sci fi that I'd seen in long, long while. Least said about season 4 the better though....
I think you missed the opportunity for a Futurama joke with Lisa removing her own brain. "The easy part was getting the brain out. The hard part was getting the brain out!"
Somehow I didn't think about it much at the time, but it is WILD in retrospect that this Doctor Who spin-off had 3 bisexual main characters (maybe even 4? Idk it's kind of ambiguous with Owen). That's 60% of them! That just doesn't happen! Makes it even more of a shame that this team set up (and the show in general) was so short lived.
Playing devil's advocate, Ianto has installed a "Cyber Conversion Unit" which is technology from a more advanced parallel world so I'm willing to suspend disbelief to an extent.
@@MrTARDIS omg, mr tardis himself! Thats a huge honour there, I get what you mean there, its quite possible when you think about it. I'm loving your December reviews they are terrific and really interests me, well done. You're a fantastic whotuber.
I think the big problem with this episode is that it's the fourth episode. Because it's the fourth episode, we don't have a lot of attachment to jones and therefore this "twist" isn't that shocking. Imagine if this episode was in season 2. When we would know jones a lot more and therefore would feel that twist a whole lot better.
Sexy Borg>Sexy Cybermen, no question Also, I think part of the additional problem with the Cybie in Pizza Girl dialogue outside of the lines themselves is just the overall presentation. I mean we got the the music, the kind of over the top crying and, oh yeah, THE FACT THAT SOMEONE JUST TRANSPLANTED THEIR OWN BRAIN INTO SOMEBODY. Like it's just ridiculous.
Oh, Christ.... The ep that made forgive Batman & Robin (1997) for all its sins. While that film was stupid, it was unabashedly stupid kind of fun (long as you have a Four Loko at bay RiffTraks style). THIS?? Total ass. The show was a hard sell enough for me as is on first view when I was in Junior year of High School (and the only think I ever liked of it was Barrowman's coat!) and this ep made it worse along with the series 1 finale* and the "Lets put a Kick Me Sign on UNIT as a pisstake on Bush and Blair era politics Every year since viewing it, I feel sorry for the. actress who had to get that gig (beautiful girl too) *Least the Brigadier never sacrificed thousands of Cardiff civilians just to get his beloved Doris back.
I thought this was a weak episode but like day 1 it falls into so bad it’s good territory. Plus it’s not the worst episode of torchwood either, as that honour belongs to end of days
I rewatched season 1 recently expecting it to be irredeemably bad too but honestly most of what I saw was great ideas with a lot of potential let down by bad execution. I'm glad someone else saw that too. Now I just need to enact my sinister agenda of getting people to realise that Miracle Day wasn't that bad either
Miracle days issue is that the "torchwood" part of it is much less interesting that seeing how the world deals with no one dying. I genuinly think I would have liked it better as a stand alone mini-series with nothing to do with the Dr who universe. Obviously this would require a lot of rewriting from its current state though.
I loved Torchwood (surprise!), even though it did have teething problems. By the time it gets to S3 though, it is top class (we sort of skim over most of S4!). "Cyberwoman" dovetailed beautifully with the main continuity, whilst giving the show a great identity of its own. The costume was a bit OTT, but doesn't (in my opinion) spoil the story overall.
I can't be the only person who liked Children of Earth. Sure, the series was only written due to budget cuts, but the story more than makes up for the lack of budget, and the acting/CGI were phenomenal
Uh, what? I have never seen a single person who doesnt like children of earth, its one of the most universally praised prices of Dr who media ever. just look at its scores on IMDB or read the comments of literally any CZcams video that as much as mentions it. I have no idea what kind of rock you'd be living under to think liking it is at all an unpopular opinion.
It's a good thing. Showrunners get too much ego and think they can run a media universe when they can barely run Doctor Who. No one can effectively run multiple shows on television at once and have quality to the.
"It got so freezing we wore our coats and shared one sleeping bag. When we woke up the next morning, a dog was pissing on our tent."
Thanks for watching this mini-'Torchwood' retrospective! Be sure to hit that "like" button and leave any comment down below to appease the almighty algorithm!
When we woke up, there was a cybermat pissing on our tent
I'd pay cash money to hear that an an episode.
"METAL RAT, REAL PISS! METAL RAT, REAL PISS!"
Here he comes in a ruddy great tractor
The Better way to design Lisa would have been a homage to a Mondasian Cyberman, not a "metal" bikini...
Chris Chibnall - Creating half converted Cybermen since 2006
Guess we could maybe say that Lisa was Chibnall's first draft of Ashad.
Question is would Ashad in a cyberbra be more intimidating?
@@KillerMeme This comment was a joke, but now you planted that image in my head and I'm scared.
@@dawritersroom01 Lol.
@@KillerMeme tbh my man could make it work
So the design basically was just “one for the dads” mentality on set?
Shame tbh, they could have maybe done something better
The writing wasn't all that bad (probably some of the best sci-fi Chib has written) but wish they went with more graphic body horror for The Cyberwoman design like Tetsuo's arm at the end of Akira.
Gotta love those cybertits. 2006 was a weird time.
EDIT: I like your timing of the word "titillating"...
Prehistoric bird? This is my inner palaeontologist coming out, but pterosaurs like the one depicted in the episode were not birds - they weren't even dinosaurs. They were an entirely separate group of reptiles 👍🏻
I'm gonna partly let it slide because you COULD argue that it works in that pterosaurs are stem-birds, aka part of the group of reptiles that eventually led to birds. Even if birds are dinosaurs proper, pterosaurs themselves are in the same larger group of reptiles as dinosaurs, Ornithodira. And well, one of the ways to refer to them is "stem-bird", so yeah. :P
Still, you're technically right. XD
It was a faction of the theropods that eventually developed into birds, not the pterosaurs.
@@TheRealXboxNerd Gordon crashed into a wall again
@@TyrannoNoddy This is like saying a gorgonopsid is a "stem-ape".
It`s refreshing to find an online reviewer who doesn`t buy into the Channel Awesome and AngryVideoGameNerd style of "CRITICISM MEANS IRRATIONALLY HATING EVERYTHING POPULAR AND YELLING ABOUT IT!"
Makes me wonder if Mr. TARDIS' old reviews fall into this mindset.
@@OverlyPositiveFanboy Not too badly.
I havent watched it in a while, so maybe it's changed, but avgn never just irrationally hated popular stuff. Most of the games he covered negatively were generally accepted as shit, or were obscure stuff that no one would remember otherwise.
@@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502 I mean James Rolfe`s certainly improved as a content creator since he`s distanced himself from Doug.(Funny how that tends to happen,hmm?)
@@AspieMediaBobby No, James Rolfe hasn’t been funny in over ten years.
Could you imagine what those people who are like "Chibnall's Who is too PC" would say if they saw that design? Twitter would be in full meltdown mode lmao
He never designed this. RTD did
@@mrdr0161He didn't either
They write the story. They don't design the. Set
They can give ideas, but the cyber woman is ultimately the fault of the Costume people
@@plantainsame2049 RTD came up with the idea to have the sexy cyberwoman. That was literally the entire plot of what he wanted the episode to be. The costume designers just did what they were told by their boss
@@mrdr0161 Doesn't seem like it was the plot
Seems like they were trying to do a spooky story
But torchwood is kind of incredibly Childish and not in a good way
I went back and watched a lot of Channel Awesome era "reviews" and your analysis is actually really thought out and tries to give insight into the works without needlessly nitpicking the material for *plot holes* that are actually just the show believing it's audience can infer things instead of wasting time with needless explanations. I have never thought you come at material immediately with bad faith and that's super valuable.
The problem with this statement tho is he completely missed why Ten was a bit aggressive with Rose about her dad and the highly implied and kind of stated reason why Lumic (for some reason I was blanking on his name and had to look it up through notifications) would convert the population in the prior review.
I don't think that Mr. T made those criticisms with bad intentions but like anyone I think he missed something kind of obvious for whatever reason. This is why I don't like to throw the term "bad faith" around because it's genuinely possible that a person just missed something, which can just kind of happen.
The best thing about Army of Ghosts/Doomsday is that it gave us Bitch Fight In Canary Wharf.
The worst thing about Army of Ghosts/Doomsday is that it's the reason why this episode exists.
"This is not war, this is Cyberbullying!"
Bugger, That was clever.
I love bitch fight in Canary Wharf it’s absolutely brilliant and hilarious
The best thing about Cyberwoman is Snuggly Chibnall Time.
@@SegaNintendoGuy64 "The Cybermen are known for their cleverness."
"Here he comes in a ruddy grey tractor." DAMN! I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD NOW! Every episode of Torchwood will never be the same again when ever I hear that theme!
You saw that in Attack of the Cybermen back in 1985 when the Cybermen have partially converted Lytton before the Doctor kills the cyber controller.
This was such a welcome relief of a review.
As I'm currently recovering all the episodes of _"Torchwood"_ , I've to say: this particular episode has became one of those who personally surprised me; the dynamic between Ianto and her girlfriend really kept me interested throught all the episode..!
Time for extracts from Stubagful's Snuggly Chibnall Time: czcams.com/video/XrfBGYcgTQA/video.html
"I love the little skeleton in the jar!"
"Oh my God, I've just noticed that!"
"Why is there a skeleton in a jar?"
"Why's she got fruit?"
"In case she wakes up and wants some fruit."
"I'm still reeling from that skeleton."
"I know this probably didn't happen but I want a deleted scene where he's holding up the skeleton and going look at this, remember who you are!"
"How has Ianto snuck a Cyber conversion unit and a part converted Cyber Girlfriend into the Hub without Jack noticing."
"Wasn't it on fire?"
"Yeah, exactly. Why did he bring this? What was he thinking?"
"There's the skeleton in the jar again!"
"The building was on fire, he was trying to get her out in a hurry and yet he had time to bring the entire Cyber conversion unit."
"I imagine him running back in with a sack going: I need this Cyberman helmet and this chest plate."
"You know the first thing a Cyber conversion unit does? The eye... and a bit of the handle."
"It doesn't make sense."
"The Hub's too small to have a chase sequence."
"She must be taking half strides."
"It's okay because they can't climb stairs."
"You've got to have that scene where they gloat."
"Oh, she's just made it!"
"This is meant to be a top secret organisation and yet they just have the pizza girl wandering in."
"I think what this episode is, it's an allegory for a VERY VERY messy break up."
"Yes."
"THE WORST!"
"Literally the worst."
(As a bonus from the end of his series 11 discussion): "Does anyone want to watch Cyberwoman again?"
"Oh yeah, get it on. Piss on that tent!"
"Torchwood One: We are evil."
@@foxydev4056 ?
The costume though... The designers' libido ran away with them a bit I think.
_She's got a cyberthong_
Absolutely loved this episode on Torchwood. Feel so terrible for Ianto
Damn it... I haven't watched Torchwood, but I might have to take your word for it and give it a shot
I hope you have, I’m enjoying it so far
Next Time: They return again after disappearing for 2 and a half year, In the victorian era, At Christmas time, With a none Doctor, And the Doctor stays for a Christmas roast without having to leave after saving the day, I am getting for The Next Doctor, Featuring their second animal pets, The Cybershades.
Fun fact: The Next Doctor was the first Doctor who story i ever saw, back in xmas 2008 i was only five years old, and my Aunt was visiting from a long way away, she recommended Doctor who to my family as it was the Hight of it's popularity with the Tennant craze. They told me to wait upstairs as they thought it would be too scary for a little five year old to sit through, but i got bored. I came back downstairs to the living room to re-join my family, and i distinctly remember glimpses of the Cybermen marching through the graveyard in the snow whilst sitting in my high chair. However, this episode wouldn't get me into Doctor who, rather a repeat of Smith and Jones on BBC3 the following year.
@@tardisglitch547 cool, my first doctor who story was planet of the dead.
So honestly, it was the whole loyalty angle that fell completely flat for me in this episode, for a combination of reasons. Firstly, four episodes in is flatly too soon to have a betrayal episode have any weight, especially with what had been a background character. For his push/pull of loyalty to carry any weight he either needed to have been focused on more in a prior episode, or if he was just going to be part of the furniture then this needed to wait until near the end of the series so that he's become a steady calming presence before trying to pull this. This problem is exacerbated by how dysfunctional the team as a whole is. What the hell does "loyalty" and "betrayal" even mean with a group this freaking broken? There's just weight behind it at all.
Agreed. Definitely should have been nearer to the end of the series, to have more of an emotional impact.
@@mahfuzurchowdhury2765 Especially because Owen makes a point of it in the finale if I'm remembering rightly.
Season 1 of Torchwood is a guilty pleasure for me. I can put it on and just have a ton of fun watching it. Cyberwoman is one of my favourite episodes from that series as it just feels like one of those B-movie horror films you watch to have a laugh with your mates.
Really don't understand the flack this episode gets (aside from the questionable design). A great episode to give Ianto some character development
I was expecting this but I wasn't expecting you to be so positive. Well done.
Way too forgiving of Ianto (in this review and in the episode). He lied, covered up, actively sabotaged his teammates and got people killed. How is he still employed after this?!
I thought it still made sense. One reason Gwen was employed was because she could handle alien knowledge.
If Torchwood fired Ianto, it would be very difficult to fill that vacancy.
@@Talisguy At the very least he probably should have gotten a bit more of a clear punishment for what went down. What happened is alluded to once or twice but that's about it.
He kinda deserved a bullet, not gonna lie, but that’s just how I feel about it, he just really pissed me off in this episode, like killing Tanazaki and trying to convert Gwen should have been a bit of a turnaround point for him, where he starts doubting Lisa and his own goals in the episode, while there are some positives about the episode, the biggest glaring issue for me is the poorly executed group dynamic, it would have been more interesting if another in the group wanted to shoot him more than Jack did, probably Gwen or the other dude forgot his name, also Gwen should have held more distrust/distain for him given what nearly happened to her.
@@foxydev4056 as great as that drama is (assuming of course we're both thinking of "broken") it came out years after ianto died and the show had long since ended. You can't just fix something in post and erase the issue. This is not a criticism of broken, merely to say that despite how good it is it's existance does not fix the issues the show had, it just uses them to craft a good story.
Same reason why Owen was still employed after opening the Rift, or why Tosh was still employed after letting an alien into the Hub, or why Gwen was still employed after accidentally getting some civilians killed. Because Jack cares deeply about all of them.
I do recall seeing this way back when I was young and for some reason I had forgot it till now.
Hi mr Tardis 💘 your content can't get enough of it in fact😆grear work keep going next Blake 7? 😏
16:37 - Yeah, what was it with Jack standing on top of buildings lmao
But yeah, even with the silly looking design of the Cyberwoman itself, I still enjoyed the episode, one of my favourite ones from Torchwood
Ultimately the most disappointing thing about this episode is that ultimately the only Torchwood episode to use a villain from its parent show. And out of all the Doctor Who villains throughout the years the Cybermen would ultimately be perfect for a serious, dark, adult (as in actually adult not like a 'horny teenage' version of adult) take. Some of the most interesting and best Cybermen stories are where they go all-in on the dark disturbing nature of the Cybermen and what lengths humanity will go to survive. Hell, you could have even gone full R-Rated showing the bloody conversion process the dismantling of people, and the pain of people being turned from emotional humans to something much more horrifying.
Instead, we get this...
It was "R-rated". The whole show was rated 15 in the UK which is R in the US I believe.
Ultimately
@@Adam-nb6im That's movie ratings. TV ratings in America, this should translate to TV-14.
That’s weird how both kids shows (DW and TSJA) were more mature and adult than the actual mature and adult show.
the Sarah Jane Adventures was intended to be about a young doctor but was switched to Sarah Jane Smith got getting rid of the mystery in the Doctors backstory & Torchwood in the early development stages had the cool codename of Excalibur.
If you’re looking at Cybermen in spin-off media there’s a free Bernice Summerfield audio called Silver Lining. Only half an hour long.
When we woke up, there was a dog pissing on the tent
Great now I can’t get the tractor thing out of my head when hearing that now
The original lone cyberman
I watch Torchwood for the first time in November and I thought cyber woman was good except for the costumes which is just metal lingerie
I wondered why Domino's stop delivering to the hub!
How did Lisa transport her brain while she is using it?
Honestly, series one is my favourite series or torchwood except for Children of Earth, its the funniest thing I've ever seen, like if Garth Marenghi's Darkplace was actually a real show with a budget.
I’ve just heard that intro and now I need to watch torchwood
Torchwood in the US on HBO Max I don't know where you can watch Torchwood in UK
@@charlesfranze3571 it’s on bbc iplayer😂
I've been meaning to watch Torchwood properly for a while now, and it's juvenile early days has probably been one of the great obstacles. Your review of Cyberwoman might just change my mind - it's an interesting as hell concept, and I'd like to see it even if the execution isn't all there.
Owen seeing the conversion unit, knowing Torchwood One's fall, still gives me the same spinal chills as Jack hearing the Daleks' message in ''The Stolen Earth". Repeated viewing, same results.
I watched 'Cyber Woman' back in 2006/7 as an example of Torchwood borrowing from Doctor Who in a lazy, deliberate way so my first viewings were coloured by cynicism...but in fairness the older it gets, the more the episode ages better. Cybertech does wonders for the appearance ;)
I haven't watched Torchwood at this point, Or in the past as a matter of fact, I've been always in favour on the revived series, The same goes for The Sarah Jane Adventures.
It's a good show. The first season is a bit rocky but the characters are solid.
Id say give it a shot. its a bit Rocky, mainly in early season 1, but the characters writing is good and there plenty of genuinely great episodes. Also season 3 is the best thing on tv to come out of Dr whos revival and genuinely a masterpiece of storytelling.
Next December, you ought to do one on Sarah Jane!
I won’t lie, I think Torchwood is legitimately solid man.
I’ve been watching Torchwood for the first time recently. Next one I need to watch is Ghost Machine
It was already teetering, but this was the point where I essentially wrote off Torchwood as shit TV. :\ One thing that frustrated me about Cybus Cybermen is that they were essentially a robot with a human brain plugged into it, as opposed to a total conversion of the body and mind, as in the classic series. But that wouldn't work for the plot of this story, so they just flipped back to the old style again.
If "here he comes in a ruddy great tractor" is in Revolution of the Daleks I will squeal like a child. I doubt it'll happen though because Segun Akinola doesn't seem to want to use the same musical motifs that Murray Gold had. Unless it's a rights thing?
Think it’s Akinola prefers to do more subtle underlying tracks instead of the orchestra level sound tracks that Gold would tend to do
@@KillerMeme Doctor Who is better with big orchestral tracks imo. It's probably why "The Lighthouse" is the only piece of music from the new era I love (especially from the 3 minute mark). Oh and I unironically like the James Bond-style bit.
@@Adam-nb6im To each their own. I don't think one is better than the other - just different. Gold has more exciting tracks, but Akinola's felt more tailored to each story and even incorporated various cultural elements (like the haunting theme remix at the end of Punjab).
@@Adam-nb6im I loved akinolas cyberman theme, it was absolutely metal and really was the right call. I was getting really tired of the cyberman melody giving away them way too early. Akinola made the cybermen feel epic, especially during the 3 cybermen confrontation when jodie miscalculated ashad being alone. The drum beats and metal almost rock theme was amazing.
It's a breath of fresh air, I'm quite tired also of the series 4 dalek theme, it's way past its welcome and feels like white noise now, even the series 1/2 dalek theme would be a good break, the trumpets are a bit too repetitive.
Next time on Cybercember: Hail to the CyberKing, baby
Missed opportunity to call this episode: Womb of the Cybermen.
Did I miss just how the brain was exchanged between to two?
Gonna be honest, I forgot this was a thing, and didn't expect it here.
Oh god this episode is so, so silly, even for season 1 of Torchwood. LOL I mean what the hell were the costumers designer thinking! lol High heels? A thong? Anyhoo, I did grow to love Torchwood and that love was cemented in season 2 where the production value rose as did the scripts (also it did help they had a guest appearance by James Marsters as Capt John (who really upped the enjoyment stake for me) 2 was wonderfully enjoyable, but in terms of sci fi quality season 3 was outstanding. Children of Earth is the best bit of 'old school' TV sci fi that I'd seen in long, long while. Least said about season 4 the better though....
I think you missed the opportunity for a Futurama joke with Lisa removing her own brain.
"The easy part was getting the brain out. The hard part was getting the brain out!"
Ive never been in a relationship but i cant see my parents telling each other stories about a cat pooing on their campervan.
I love the sex gas episode. It's so dumb.
Somehow I didn't think about it much at the time, but it is WILD in retrospect that this Doctor Who spin-off had 3 bisexual main characters (maybe even 4? Idk it's kind of ambiguous with Owen). That's 60% of them! That just doesn't happen!
Makes it even more of a shame that this team set up (and the show in general) was so short lived.
I've yet to see this series, but I'm still planning it.
I didn't know people hate Torchwood season 1 and 2 I like Torchwood season 1 2 and 3
I do know chris chibnall want this to be episode 10 of Torchwood not episode 4
It honestly would’ve been a much better placement. The story being so early in the run is something that hinders it a lot.
how does one transplant their brain into another human body? head size, blood type, nerves, brains and time are things
Playing devil's advocate, Ianto has installed a "Cyber Conversion Unit" which is technology from a more advanced parallel world so I'm willing to suspend disbelief to an extent.
@@MrTARDIS omg, mr tardis himself! Thats a huge honour there, I get what you mean there, its quite possible when you think about it. I'm loving your December reviews they are terrific and really interests me, well done. You're a fantastic whotuber.
I think the big problem with this episode is that it's the fourth episode. Because it's the fourth episode, we don't have a lot of attachment to jones and therefore this "twist" isn't that shocking. Imagine if this episode was in season 2. When we would know jones a lot more and therefore would feel that twist a whole lot better.
i miss torchwood
Sexy Borg>Sexy Cybermen, no question
Also, I think part of the additional problem with the Cybie in Pizza Girl dialogue outside of the lines themselves is just the overall presentation. I mean we got the the music, the kind of over the top crying and, oh yeah, THE FACT THAT SOMEONE JUST TRANSPLANTED THEIR OWN BRAIN INTO SOMEBODY. Like it's just ridiculous.
Oh, Christ.... The ep that made forgive Batman & Robin (1997) for all its sins. While that film was stupid, it was unabashedly stupid kind of fun (long as you have a Four Loko at bay RiffTraks style).
THIS?? Total ass. The show was a hard sell enough for me as is on first view when I was in Junior year of High School (and the only think I ever liked of it was Barrowman's coat!) and this ep made it worse along with the series 1 finale* and the "Lets put a Kick Me Sign on UNIT as a pisstake on Bush and Blair era politics Every year since viewing it, I feel sorry for the. actress who had to get that gig (beautiful girl too)
*Least the Brigadier never sacrificed thousands of Cardiff civilians just to get his beloved Doris back.
What episode are you talking about
10 years? Wow.
I thought this was a weak episode but like day 1 it falls into so bad it’s good territory. Plus it’s not the worst episode of torchwood either, as that honour belongs to end of days
I don't think the building in the background was the Doctor Who experience then. That didn't start until Matt Smith was The Doctor.
Any idea if you'll do a third one of these review series? Maybe the master.
Out of time is my favourite torch wood series 1 episode manly because of how griping it is
Chekov's Pteranodon got a pay off.
I rewatched season 1 recently expecting it to be irredeemably bad too but honestly most of what I saw was great ideas with a lot of potential let down by bad execution. I'm glad someone else saw that too. Now I just need to enact my sinister agenda of getting people to realise that Miracle Day wasn't that bad either
Miracle days issue is that the "torchwood" part of it is much less interesting that seeing how the world deals with no one dying. I genuinly think I would have liked it better as a stand alone mini-series with nothing to do with the Dr who universe. Obviously this would require a lot of rewriting from its current state though.
I like the intro tbh
I loved Torchwood (surprise!), even though it did have teething problems. By the time it gets to S3 though, it is top class (we sort of skim over most of S4!).
"Cyberwoman" dovetailed beautifully with the main continuity, whilst giving the show a great identity of its own. The costume was a bit OTT, but doesn't (in my opinion) spoil the story overall.
I’m sorry at times I think Captain jacks theme is some of the best if not the best musics from the the whole Whoniverse it just gets me going
Your "Current Partner"? Hmm sounds solid :D
How Chibnall could write 5 main characters so perfectly but couldn’t do 4 still I can’t understand haha
I can't be the only person who liked Children of Earth. Sure, the series was only written due to budget cuts, but the story more than makes up for the lack of budget, and the acting/CGI were phenomenal
Uh, what? I have never seen a single person who doesnt like children of earth, its one of the most universally praised prices of Dr who media ever. just look at its scores on IMDB or read the comments of literally any CZcams video that as much as mentions it. I have no idea what kind of rock you'd be living under to think liking it is at all an unpopular opinion.
I like Cyberwoman
Shouldn't this episode be released tomorrow as it takes place after the events of Doomsday??
He's not doing 'Doomsday' as he already did it for Dalekcember.
@@will8994 oh yes of course! It's a Dalek AND Cyberman story 😆😆😆😆 I retract my complaint
As a gay tween watching this, I got the metropolis reference of the design but that was about it...
Literally the only good Chibnall episode and it wasn’t even on doctor who and he needed a partner for writing the script
He did some pretty neat episodes in Series 2, in my opinion.
Oooooooh, so that's why I never heard of this episode before.
Oh yes this story I forgot it existed.
You know, it makes me sad that there aren't Doctor Who spinoffs anymore.
Even classroom got cancelled
It's a good thing. Showrunners get too much ego and think they can run a media universe when they can barely run Doctor Who. No one can effectively run multiple shows on television at once and have quality to the.
👍👍❤️
Just cuz I think it’s funny, I’m the 420th like.
Her design is so bad 😂