Talk:Torchwood/GA2

GA Review

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: Grandiose (talk · contribs) 18:50, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

I'll be undertaking this review. The first point to note is the number of unsourced statements in the article that I consider sufficiently controversial/possible to source to merit a citation at GA ("direct quotations, statistics, published opinion, counter-intuitive or controversial statements that are challenged or likely to be challenged, and contentious material relating to living persons"):

• The first series includes content rarely seen or heard in the Doctor Whofranchise, including sex scenes, same-sex kissing, and use of extreme profanity in several episodes.

• Due to the level of interest in the show from younger audience members, despite the adult themes, the BBC decided to craft the second series such that a "child-friendly" edit of the shows could go out at 7 pm (pre-watershed). This had the effect that many of the more adult themes ceased to be central to the main episode plot, so they could be more easily edited out for the child-friendly edition.

• Series 3 was produced by Peter Bennett. Series 4 is produced by Kelly A Manners, with UK filming produced by Brian Minchin, producer of Series 4 and 5 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The series also shares Doctor Who's production designer, Edward Thomas. Music for the series is composed by Ben Foster and Doctor Who's composer Murray Gold, with composerStu Kennedy assisting on Series 4.
• In lieu of full-length title sequence, the opening sequence of the show's first two series are composed of a voice-over monologue by Barrowman as Harkness, establishing the show's premise. The show's theme tune plays over this monologue and the additional intertitle. As in Doctor Who (2005–present), it is written by Murray Gold. (a partial citation would suffice here)

• This reflected the in-universe story of Adam psychically inserting himself into the team members' memories as a long-standing member of the team.
• However, Suzie was killed off at the end of the first episode with Gwen taking her place on the team, Suz
• the military base scenes in "Sleeper" and the booby-trapped abandoned warehouse scenes in "Fragments" were filmed at RAF Caerwent, near Chepstow, south Wales.
• Torchwood explores several themes in its narrative, in particular LGBT themes. Various characters are portrayed as sexually fluid; through those characters, the series examines homosexual and bisexual relationships. The programme also addresses issues around existentialism, the nature of human life and the absence of a traditional afterlife, and the corrupting nature of power.
• The magazine emulated Doctor Who Magazine in combining behind-the-scenes features with original story content in the form of a serialised comic strip and short stories; as the magazine's run progressed, the original fiction became more predominant. The magazine was discontinued in early 2011 after two-dozen issues.
• Titan published six issues of a monthly Torchwood comic book in 2009 for North American markets; the comic consisted of reprints of the magazine's comic strips and short stories, and was cancelled in the wake of the parent publication folding.
• Accompanying the main series of Torchwood are a series of novels. The books are published in paperback-sized hardcover format, the same format BBC Books uses for its New Series Adventures line for Doctor Who. These novels were later released, abridged, as audiobooks. Several audio-exclusive readings have also been produced. To date all of the core cast members from the first two series have narrated at least one abridged or audio-exclusive reading.
• In its third series, the Doctor Who parody Nebulous also began to parody Torchwood, with references to "baby dinosaurs falling through a hole in time" and "the sheer amount of paranormal activity in the Cardiff area alone ... starting to threaten the Earth's plausibility shield".
• Satirical impressionist television series Dead Ringers also parodied Torchwood, with Jon Culshaw playing Captain Jack and Jan Ravens as Gwen Cooper. The sketches parodied the level of sex in Torchwood, claiming "we never deal with an alien unless at least one [of the team] has shagged it", and describing the lack of motivations of the characters. It also parodies the bisexuality of the characters and the melodramatic personality of Jack, who in the sketch walks extremely dramatically, swinging his coat about himself. (unless in ref 101)
• According to the overnight figures, the mini-series garnered an average rating of 5.88 million viewers. According to official figures, published by Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), all five episodes of the mini-series garnered more than 6 million viewers, with the fourth episode gaining the largest audience.

• In Israel, the first 3 series aired on yes Stars Action and currently available on HOT V.O.D services, in HD also.
• Miracle Day has only been shown in Australia on UKTV but not as yet on the ABC although the series is available on DVD and Blu-ray home video formats.

• The Europe section

• Series two began airing on Space on 8 August 2008 and series three was aired on Space over five consecutive nights in July 2009. Space has since broadcast series 1 and repeated series 2. The series also airs in high definition on HDNet.

• Miracle Day is sometimes repeated on Starz InBlack.

This is a lot and I realise it will take some time to complete: for that reason, I am placing the article on hold for seven days but if there has been progress by that time I will keep the article on hold and provide a fuller review. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 18:50, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

In light of the large amount of work needed, and the 12 days that have passed since the above comments, I think the best thing would be for me to give as much feedback on some of the other criteria and close the review as a fail - it can be renominated once the concerns are addressed.

Layout/balance - summary style suggests that the "Themes" section is too short: even where a subpage exists, it should provide a decent summary of that content. This should be expanded (and referenced, as above). The "Parodies" section is given too much space, by contrast; it forms a relatively small part of what the reader is interested in. Reducing some of the detail would be a big improvement there. Overall structure seems fine.

Images one non-free file, which has, apparently, been reviewed and kept before (it might be good to link this on the file description page).

Prose - no significant problems.

Neutral, stable - no concerns.

Referencing - the citations needed are given above. Remember the text of citations can remove ugly and unnecessary block capitals. The following other references need further attention (more details, fixing, or tidying): #4, #6, #12, #37, #38, #41, #42, #48, #56, #58 (needs better source), #73, #114, #151, #171, #178, #179.

Lead - decent length, but needs a fuller mention of themes, international broadcasts, and radio/audio book adaptions.

Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 14:31, 27 April 2013 (UTC)