Win Torchwood: The Official Magazine Yearbook
August 18, 2008 by Cynthia
Titan is tops when it comes to the official magazines of our favorite shows; Supernatural, Star Trek, Heroes, Stargate and their most recent edition, Torchwood! They pack every issue with great interviews, behind the scenes photos, detailed episode guides and fun facts and trivia.
Now Titan Books is publishing the best of Torchwood magazine together with five exclusive short stories in a full-color, hardback volume.
Torchwood: The Official Magazine Yearbook delivers behind-the-scenes secrets from the Hub, cast and crew interviews and a series two episode guide, this volume also contains five exclusive new Torchwood short stories to immerse readers in the world of the show, penned by the likes of Torchwood scriptwriter Joseph Lidster, Steven Savile (author of Titan’s Primeval: Shadow of the Jaguar) and Doctor Who novelists Andy Lane.
Want a copy? We’ve got five to give away courtesy of Titan Books! All you have to do is tell us why you love Torchwood in the comments below.
DETAILS:
Prize: 1 copy of Torchwood: The Official Magazine Yearbook to each of five winners.
US Residents Only
Deadline to Enter: Saturday, August 23 at midnight PST
Winners will be contacted by email(so be sure to leave a valid one) and prizes will be sent by Titan Books.
Wait — am I seriously the first post? That’s either awesome or slightly embarrassing (especially if I’m wrong).
Anyway, as a queer person, I love that the show has tons of plot relevant queer content without it ever being an issue. Also, it has a pterodactyl, and that’s just awesome.
Why do I like Torchwood? It’s unlike anything else on television. It’s clearly made by fans for fans. There are no good guys or bad guys, just semi-decent people muddling through the day and (they hope) keeping the mostly bad things away from the mostly good people. They fail as often as they succeed, but they try again the next day. In its own way, Torchwood is a ‘reality’ show, but it’s a good one.
Torchwood is the first sci-fi show to have ever caught my eye. I adore it because it broke that boundary for me and I haven’t felt myself in love with a television show in years. The character arcs are amazing and I felt myself in tears at the end of season two. I love that the show can be that moving.
The Torchwood universe, like the new Who universe works really hard to ignore so many gender, racial and social stereotypes. The protagonists are multifaceted, with as many flaws as virtues. The Hub is one of the most amazing sets ever built. I love the combination of cutting-edge tech, and sepia-toned items from the past, like stopwatches, and old filing cabinets. And there’s snark and charm, flirting and sex and fun, aliens and guns and all sorts of unexpected twists.
Torchwood is different from anything else on TV. It’s ridiculous and funny and sexy and completely entertaining! It’s a fabulous combination that has me glued to the screen every week and watching it over and over again.
While a long time fan of sci-fi, Torchwood caught my eye because it’s one of the few shows that refuses to have just blatant hero-types. Despite the fantastical, over the top storylines, the characters remain very interestingly real with each having their own shade of dark grey.
I came to the show from watching Dr Who and loving the character Captain Jack, so once I’d heard he had his own show I had to check it out. And it was love at first watch. It took elements from Who that I loved and presented them in a more adult context and the stories were engaging and entertaining. I ended up coming to love all the characters besides Jack, especially Owen Harper. Burn Gorman is one of the best actors on the show, but they are all fantastic. This was the first show that I’d cried over in a long time (eps like Out of Time from Season 1 and Exit Wounds in Season 2), and I loved the emotional impact the show has. Looking forward to see what they have planned for the future.
Why I love Torchwood:
Back in January, I hardly had any idea what Torchwood was. My dad thought it would be a good family night show to watch (we are all sci-fi geeks in my family), since I was huge Buffy and Angel fan and James Marsters was a guest star.
I became hooked on the storylines and the backstory of the characters. The quality of the writing is much better than some of the shows that are on in the US.
When the magazine first came out I remember searching every Borders and Barnes and Noble and getting stares of “What are you talking about?” and having to explain why Torchwood is so good.
This is a show where you don’t expect to relate to the characters, but yet in each one you can see a little bit of yourself.
I appreciate Torchwood for many reasons, the first being that it is a television show that isn’t afraid to illustrate life. It’s not always pretty, always happy, always ‘Hollywood’ shiny and clean. It’s not ‘Star Trek’ where the ships are pristine and clean and nothing ever goes wrong.
It’s closer to real life, nitty, gritty. Dirty, filled the little secrets that haunt real life; relationships that go somewhat wrong, and life being what happens while you’re busy making other plans.
It’s a human show about humans, even if they are fighting aliens and insanities entirely too close to home. It’s not about beating those odds and overcoming evil. It’s the journey taken and the lessons learned by the characters along the way. It’s dark and bright, clean and filthy, a grind that somehow beats them down to lift them up and makes them more than they thought they could be.
The characters take the -right- path, even though it’s not the easiest, not the one that makes them look the best. They slog through it because they love, honor, and protect. What more important lessons could there be for television today? Thanks, but I’d rather be Toshiko Sato than a blonde heiress, even with the ending of Season 2 in mind.
And it’s also a love story. It’s not just sex, though admittedly the actors fill the ‘sex appeal’ aspect well. It’s the love of one man for his people, and the love they have not only in return for him… but for what they do, and the planet and the people that they protect. It’s beautiful, touching, and heartrendingly sincere; something true and worthy of the human race.
How could I not love Torchwood?
There are so many reasons why I love Torchwood!
I love the CSI meets scifi quality about it. I love that it is actually SET in Cardiff, whereas the other two shows which I also love shoot there but dress it up to look like London.
I love that it has broadened my capacity for comprehending British accents.
I love the actors of Torchwood! They each bring so much to their characters and are able to make me feel, genuinely FEEL for them. Even as recently as Comic Con I was weeping during the Torchwood panel when they showed part of the series 2 finale bit with Tosh. But it is not just the acting, these people are lovely inside and out! They genuinely appreciate the fans and are just amazingly good people.
I love Torchwood for the stories as well. I love the action, the adventure, the emotion. I love the interaction between the characters and I especially love the character development. But one of my favorite parts is that you throw out labels altogether and just show love and affection. Ianto loved Lisa. Now he loves Jack. Tosh, well Tosh is complicated. LOL
Jack is just Jack. And it works.
I could go on forever, but I won’t. Suffice it to say, Torchwood Rocks! (That is Torchwood Cardiff, not other incarnations, unless later spinoffs do come about *grin*)
Why I love Torchwood,
I love the characters and how they all interact with each other and the writing really makes you care about what happens to them. Great storytelling combined with great special effects makes this a great treat for anyone who is a sci-fi buff.
I love Torchwood because the characters are flawed and beautiful; intelligent and incredibly foolish; full of hope and desire, and yet modern and cynical. They are fully human, and so we care about the arc of their story
Torchwood is an embodiment of all I love best in a series: rip-roaring action, believable characters who are developed as the show progresses, and plots that more often than not deal with human nature in the face of the strange, the bizarre, or the frightening.
It’s mostly the characters that do it for me. It’s rare that I grow attached to all characters of a given series, but I’ve done just that. Even Gwen, who has her more annoying moments from time to time, appeals to me as a character. They’re all flawed, they all make mistakes, they all get mixed up with themselves and each other, and in the end it’s their individual qualities that make or break the situation.
You can’t help but love Torchwood because of the odd looks one gets when discussing the juxtaposition of Captain Jack’s immortality and Owen’s zombie-like state, theories on why Weevils wear janitor uniforms, why Cyberwomen have high-heels and analyzing criss-crossed time-lines loudly in public.
Well, I love Torchwood for many reasons; the characters, the topics, the plots but I would have to say the greatest source of affection for this show comes from the fact it’s something I can share with my friends. We all love the show, we all adore John Barrowman and we have had the best times watching the series, hooting at the crazy plots and drooling over Barrowman and David-Lloyd’s portrayal of Jack and Ianto. Just being able to gather with friends and share something as fun as a sci-fic TV show is wonderful to me! So thanks to the TW people for allowing us to share their magic.
What’s not to like about Torchwood? It’s got everything: great characters, great stories, hot actors with sexy accents, epic guns, a pterodactyl, aliens, time travel, and most importantly, boy kissing. I really can’t get enough of 2 hot men making out. Thank you, RTD! Plus I’m learning British! I’m not tired, I’m knackered! It’s a waistcoat, not a vest! They’re braces, not suspenders! Thank you Torchwood for teaching me a new language!
Why do I love Torchwood? Well, in addition to great characterizations, the acting is superb, the storylines are amazing, the sets are just as incredible, and last but not least, the relationships between all of the characters are so complex and real despite all the craziness that goes on around them. It also doesn’t hurt that the cast are quite easy on the eyes, especially John Barrowman and Gareth David-Lloyd.
I love Torchwood because, as a gay person, I love seeing people onscreen who are not heterosexual … and it isn’t a big deal. It just is. I also love it because it’s fun and yet deals with the big issues in life.
I’ve always been a huge sci-fi fan, so when I had heard about the show from some friends I decided to watch it, and I was not disappointed. From the very first time I watched Torchwood, I loved the show. It pulled me in immediately and the characters definitely grew on me. I found myself anticipating the new episodes week after week.
The stories that are in each episode are great, and really help show what each character is like more and more. They all make the same kind of choices that we have to and deal with what happens after that. It’s pretty close to real life, with the added alien factor to it all. It’s easy to find a way to relate to them in different kinds of ways, which is pretty cool.
Torchwood has wonderful stories, great action, and a brilliant team. I adore that it doesn’t pull punches. The diverse sexuality of the show is refreshing.
Ada
Why do I love Torchwood? What don’t I love about it? It’s an amazing, engaging, always entertaining show. You’ve got amazing and frankly quite gorgeous actors, a spectacular secret base, and the beautiful city of Cardiff as a backdrop. The characters may have an extra-ordinary job, but yet they’re very easy to relate to. I feel a special bond with Toshiko, so much that I actually mentioned that in a graduate school application essay!
The only bad thing is the agony of waiting for each new episode, each new magazine, each new tie-in novel. Each and every story in Torchwood is so compelling and fascinating it’s hard to pull away from their wonderful universe and re-enter the real world.
I love Torchwood because it’s part of the Doctor Who-verse enough to throw some of the DW characters in (like their appearance in the last DW series finale, and Martha showing up in the last series) but it also does its own thing. It doesn’t try to be “characters having adventures” but really deals with the day-to-day issues of humans dealing with aliens. It’s never pretty and they have to deal with real-life drama and consequences.
Oh, and they actually have real sex scenes — better than those on any other show. We’ll never get to see the Doctor getting it on, but we’ll see plenty of Jack and Ianto, and that’s fine with me.
I love Torchwood because it combines all the elements I love in a good TV show: humor, action, suspense, great characters, and a new plot each week without losing an overall narrative. The mix of all the writers leads itself to different aspects of each character without losing their integrity as what they have been in previous episodes.
Because it’s what the world would actually look like if it ever made contact with hostile aliens and the task of defending it was left to ordinary humans.
Because it reconnected me with a childhood love who I was previously reluctant to get involved with again after so many years – Doctor Who.
Because it introduced me to an entire community (mostly comprised of sexually fluid amazing writers) of like-minded sci-fi fans online who I never would have met without it.
Because it’s what everyone would be watching, if everyone were smart.
There are many things I love about Torchwood but my favorite aspect is the multi-faceted characters on the show; each having their own back story. Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Owen, and Tosh are all incredibly different from each other but each character is rich and complex. I loved how Torchwood developed the characters as each series progressed, giving us viewers a glimpse inside their minds.
Torchwood also combines action, suspense, drama, humor, and romance very seamlessly. This makes the show very enjoyable to watch and provides a little something for everyone.
A great part of Torchwood is its portrayal of homosexuality and omnisexuality to an extent. Male, female, alien, whatever; the Torchwood team doesn’t care. They go for it if there’s a connection.
I love Torchwood and I can’t wait for the next series!
Torchwood is like crack, addicting as all get out with a short high that leaves users feeling vaguely dirty afterwards. It is at times pure genius and at times pure badness. Sometimes it has subtle acting with nuanced performances and sometimes it’s so melodramatic I can hardly believe it. Its science is absolutely barking mad and the relationships are all so extreme I would think those involved would die just from the stress of keeping them active. It taps into the most Mary Sue-ish fantasies yet ties it all together in the fantastic ability of John Barrowman to make us believe anything about him.
Torchwood is the id of a fan gone wild, it is cracktastic in such a pure form that sometimes it scares me and yet I cannot bring myself to look away and I constantly yearn for the show when it’s gone. Simply, I love Torchwood because I can’t not love it.
I love Torchwood because it is all the things that American television is not – imaginative, unusual, sarcastic and funny, dark and a bit violent, great science fiction and unashamedly sexual. Nice to have a show where the cute boys kiss and the network doesn’t blow a gasket.
This contest is closed and winners have been notified by email
Thanks for entering!