Torchwood: Miracle Day
Torchwood: Miracle Day is the fourth and final series of the British science fiction television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running show Doctor Who.[3] In contrast to the first three series, which were produced by the BBC, the fourth series was a British–American co-production involving the BBC's drama production house BBC Cymru Wales for BBC Worldwide and the US premium network Starz. It was broadcast in ten episodes beginning on 8 July 2011 (U.S.) and 14 July 2011 (UK).[4][5]
Torchwood: Miracle Day
10
The central plot of Miracle Day is that suddenly no one on Earth can die, which impels increasingly troublesome legislative changes around the world as the global population soars.[3] In addition to a number of new American cast members and guest actors, showrunner Russell T Davies recruited several American television writers to write for Miracle Day, including Jane Espenson, John Shiban and Doris Egan. British writer John Fay also returned to write for the series, under Davies as head writer.[6] Production was partially divided along trans-Atlantic lines, with Kelly Manners producing in the US, and Brian Minchin in the UK.[7] The majority of the filming took place in Los Angeles, California, with two weeks of additional shooting in Wales.[8]
Although the series premiered to a high Audience Appreciation Index rating (85, considered "excellent") and solid ratings in the UK, American critics were on the whole less favourable to the series opener. Reviews on both sides of the Atlantic became increasingly mixed as the series went on. Several commentators felt the series would have worked better as a five-episode series, highlighting concerns with inconsistent pacing, dangling plot threads, and a repetitive feel to mid-series episodes.
The series has a 10-episode companion web series Torchwood: Web of Lies, referenced on the Starz website (but not on the BBC One website) related to the series.[9] It was available as an app from the iTunes Store,[10] and the first episode can be obtained for free, and was available on Starz's YouTube channel.[11] It is available in its entirety (without its interactive elements) in the series' DVD and Blu-ray releases. The series premiered on BBC America on 14 September 2013.[12]
Synopsis[edit]
On the same day across the Earth, the concept of death is suddenly nullified when it is found that people who have suffered mortal wounds or fatal diseases are unable to die. This is initially seen as a religious miracle, but the absence of deaths begins to strain medical resources and spread diseases around the globe; the world's governments estimate that unless something is done, the world will be unable to sustain the population growth within four months.
Central Intelligence Agency agents Rex Matheson, who had suffered a fatal accident but remains alive, and Esther Drummond discover the name "Torchwood" tied with these events and locate its remaining members, Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper. In bringing them to the United States, they find themselves pursued by agents working for an entity called the Families. Jack discovers that his own immortality has disappeared and believes this is connected to the events of the miracle. Jack brings Rex and Esther within Torchwood's folds.
The world governments institute a plan to bring those people that would normally have died from illnesses or injury into camps without exception. Torchwood infiltrates a camp and discovers the patients are actually incinerated in the camps. They reveal this to the world in the hope that the camps will shut down, but the world governments refuse, believing the camps to be a necessity; however, the news puts the world into chaos. Meanwhile, Torchwood continues to track down the Families, discovering they have many agencies across the globe. Eventually, Jack realises that the Families represent the descendants of the patriarchs of three Catholic families that he had encountered in New York City in the 1920s. These men were both frightened by, and covetous of, his immortality and bought him, using scientific tests and bloodletting to try to understand his condition. The Families have grown incredibly powerful since then and have been able to take advantage of the miracle to their own financial and political ends.
Some months pass, and the world slides into a financial depression. Torchwood recognizes that the Families manipulated events just prior to the first day of the miracle in Shanghai and Buenos Aires, two points on opposite sides of the globe. With information from Oswald Danes, Jack realises the Families have found the Blessing, a literal blood line that runs between these points through the Earth, and that they had sent a quantity of Jack's blood from his previous bloodletting into the Blessing, which "rewrote" his immortality across the rest of humanity as a defensive mechanism. The team splits up between Jack and Gwen, and Rex and Esther, to investigate both points. Both teams find the Blessing in full control of the Families, and agents there note the only way to revert the miracle is to reintroduce Jack's now mortal blood into the Blessing from both ends. Rex reveals he had transfused himself with Jack's blood prior to their arrival. However, a member of the Families fatally shoots Esther, meaning she will die if the miracle is reversed. However, Gwen advises Rex not to stop, and simultaneously, Rex opens a wound and Gwen shoots Jack, and the blood enters the Blessing from both ends, ending the miracle. As the two facilities begin to collapse, Rex helps Esther to escape, but she dies in the aftermath, while Jack has regained his own immortality and escapes with Gwen. Later, as the world deals with the concept of death again, and Torchwood attends Esther's funeral, Rex is shot at by a Families mole in the CIA. However, he finds that he has become immortal, like Jack.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Early development rumours suggested that the fourth series would be a reboot of the show, and that it would air on Fox Network in the United States. However, the deal with Fox did not go through and a new co-production deal with Starz was officially announced. Torchwood creator and executive producer Russell T Davies clarified the focus of the series, stating "it's very much the next step. It's not a new version, it's not a reboot. We're simply moving countries."[14] The series was first announced with the title Torchwood: The New World,[4][15][16] though this was revised to Torchwood: Miracle Day later in development (The New World became the title of the first episode). The second executive producer, Julie Gardner, described the new series as being absolutely ready "to welcome in a new audience".[17] Series writer Jane Espenson clarified further, describing the series as strictly "a continuation of the UK show".[18]
Writing[edit]
Miracle Day was developed through a collaborative plotting, with individual episodes subsequently assigned to individual writers. Gardner and Davies spent four weeks alongside their writing staff working through the complete story. Writers subsequently elected to write those episodes which reflected their particular interests in certain themes or characters.[19] The writing team chose to revise each episode before the first scene was shot; writer Jane Espenson felt this would give the series a much tighter feel and greater overall continuity.[20] In writing Children of Earth and Miracle Day, Davies found his preference for the mini-series format and has stated Torchwood will not return to the "monster-of-the-week" stories typical of the show's first two series, finding the new format "more ambitious and intelligent".[19]
Broadcast[edit]
Miracle Day was first shown on Starz on 8 July 2011 in the US. On 9 July 2011 it was shown on Space in Canada,[63] and on UKTV Australia in Australia.[64] It was first broadcast in the UK on 14 July 2011 on BBC One. On 19 July 2011 it was announced it had been bought by Eleven, a Network Ten Australia free-to-air digital-only channel,[65] but as of 23 November 2012 has not broadcast it. Different edits were produced for the US and UK broadcasts. According to writer Jane Espenson, the only differences are "a 10 second trim in the UK version of ep.3 and a three-second cut in the UK ep.6."[66] The actual cut for episode 3 for UK airing was 30 seconds.[67]
Critical reception[edit]
American reviews were mixed. The New York Times described the show as "a letdown" and the Los Angeles Times describing it as "repetitive".[68]
Though Guardian reviewer Dan Martin had initially responded warmly to the series, his later overview of the series was more critical. Despite showing promise with its opener, Martin states that it is an "understatement" to say that Miracle Day has proved divisive with audiences. He recommends that the story would have worked better as a five-parter in the style of Children of Earth, as it seemed that the plot was stretched thin. Other criticisms focused on Jack's relatively minimal role, the unclear direction of the Oswald Danes storyline, the lack of an alien presence in the series, and the show's expectation that the audience care for Rex and Esther, whom they have not had a chance to get to know. Commenting that "the series seemed to spend weeks looking at the consequences of the Miracle, running away from unnamed baddies, extraditions, deportations, and dangling character arcs", he does however commend Davies for the innovative transatlantic production behind the series: "Perhaps the best way of looking at Miracle Day is as a first attempt. Taking a cultish British programme and giving it a cash injection and a platform for a global audience is a brave move."[69]
After the series finale Martin further notes that "Children of Earth ended with a resolution that could have very easily wrapped the series up." Miracle Day, however, ended with several cliffhangers, which Martin found strange in view of its unfavourable reviews and the fact that Davies was not sure he would do any more Torchwood.[70]
Charlie Jane Anders for io9 expressed some continuity concerns that are raised by relating Miracle Day to Doctor Who, the parent show of Torchwood. As Miracle Day seemingly supposes a catastrophic worldwide phenomenon lasting at least from March to May 2011, it seems quite incompatible with the world of Doctor Who, where in Steven Moffat's 2011 series, companions Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) are based in this exact time period without any mention of the problem, or evidence of global catastrophe elsewhere. Anders comments that in the past, the two shows had always "maintained a fairly tight continuity".[71]