This Forgotten But Brilliant TV Show with 98% Tomatometer Is a Must-See for Every Sci-Fi Fan

In 2023, the Doctor Who series celebrated its 60th anniversary and has already returned with a new 14th season. Beloved by many generations, the show seemed to have fallen off the radar of mass interest in recent years, but is now experiencing a resurgence in popularity.

We will continue to see on screen the story of an alien who travels through time and space in a blue police box with earthly companions and associates, changing faces and characters and fighting injustice.

Throughout its history, the series has reinvented itself, survived years of oblivion and been revived, while always remaining an important phenomenon of popular culture.

The soft reboot of the cult series Doctor Who and the return of showrunner Russell T. Davies marks an important milestone in the development of the British science fiction series. The question is whether this will provide a chance for a Torchwood spin-off to be revived.

What is Torchwood About?

While the main series is aimed at a family audience and is sometimes reserved in its depiction of rather dark topics, Torchwood is specifically aimed at older viewers. However, Torchwood is much less known than Doctor Who and certainly doesn't deserve it.

The series centers on Captain Jack Harkness, a former mercenary from the 51st century, the Doctor's loyal friend and companion. He finds himself the leader of Torchwood, an organization that protects Earth (specifically Cardiff, of course), fights aliens, and preserves and collects alien artifacts.

At the beginning of the series, Jack leads a team consisting of medic Owen Harper, technical genius Toshiko Sato, Ianto Jones and Suzie Costello.

Torchwood is Similar to The X-Files, But Has Its Own Face

Despite the similarity of the idea to The X-Files, Torchwood relied not on characters, but on stories (one per episode) and a tense atmosphere.

The third season completely changed the formula: it made an emphasis on the characters and a growing sense of hopelessness. This brought Torchwood to the level of the best fantasy series of the 21st century, as confirmed by its 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The show was canceled due to significant cuts in the annual budget of the BBC's original production department, but the series continued in the form of several radio dramas.

Who knows, maybe the renewed popularity of Ncuti Gatwa 's Doctor Who will draw attention to Torchwood – one of the most underrated science fiction series.

Where to Stream Torchwood?

Seasons 1, 2 and 4 of Torchwood are available to watch on Prime Video and seasons 1-3 are available on Max.