Torchwood: Miracle Day (DVD)

I hate shows like Dr. Who, and any really British action, suspense or comedy film really. The only reason I got all the seasons of this TV Series is because the main character is gay! And, that's pretty unheard of either in Britain, and especially in Hollywood!However, the show really surprised me, the writing was tolerable to good, the direction was acceptable to good, but the acting and character development was surprisingly excellent, most of the time anyway. Although a few of the extra's were kind of bad.But, OMG, a gay main character! And, who didn't even try to hide it, just ingrained into the story!In any case, the story kept me entertained and watching. My final judgment is that this is truly a really really good TV Series!

I was a little miffed at having to purchase season 4 separately to have a full set that will play in my BluRay players. This played beautifully and satisfied my OCD need for the complete series. I had seen the series and knew what I was getting so there was no disappointment for me, I consider season 4 to be as entertaining as the first 3 seasons.

I love Torchwood, have seen all of the first three seasons and have been looking for Miracle Day. Since Netflix is not offering it on any format right now, I thought the Amazon Instant Video was a bargain over the DVD set, especially since I've got a Roku that plays Amazon Instant back beautifully on my TV. But between my not-so-great hearing and the often challenging accents on this show, I've always needed and turned on captions; and Amazon did not bother to include them with this set! I'm only halfway through the first episode and have had to rewind several times to figure out what has been said. Extremely tedious!Why on earth could Amazon not have supplied the captions for the hearing impaired??EDIT 2 March 2013: (subject also edited)I thought I checked some of the other episodes for captions after I started watching the first and didn't see captions for the other episodes, but now it appears that only the first of the Miracle Day episodes (Torchwood series 4) is missing the captions on Amazon Instant Video. I don't know if they added them after I started watching or if I just didn't see them when I first looked. The captions are present on episodes 2-10 all have captions now, but on at least half the episodes the captions are out of sync with the video, sometimes badly, and usually appearing well ahead of the dialogue, both on PC viewing and while streaming over the Roku. This resulted in (again) having to rewind a lot to catch details on what was happening. A couple of times the video would hang or restart during play, and the captions would temporarily be back in sync after that, then creep out again. As I've said, I've had other AIV purchases play back perfectly, on PC and Roku, with captions, so I'm not sure what the problem is here.Now that I've watched all the episodes, I can say that it was nearly as good as the first three seasons of Torchwood, and it was nice to see Mekhi Phifer, though I wasn't sure if the assorted actors would be a good fit. The story was ended with an open so that the team could possibly continue with Phifer, and with an interesting twist. All the actors comported themselves well.Miracle Day covers an extended crisis in which human beings spontaneously, across the globe, simply stop dying--regardless (almost) of what happens their bodies. The CIA and Torchwood become involved, at odds and in cooperation and back again, attempting to discover the cause of and solution to the crisis. Humanity's reaction covers a range from joy to despair, and complications develop quickly given that our population is already quite, er, "healthy". Like most of Davies' writing, the story touches on some thought provoking gray areas and controversial subjects and introduces us to possibilities most of us haven't thought about much. I part ways with Davies on whether there's an afterlife or not (I feel pretty sure there is). He does not make an overt statement about that in this series, but has in previous seasons, and it's a question that is of course looming large in the background in a story arc about death and immortality (manufactured and otherwise). Regardless, I still very much enjoy his work and the world he creates for us.

I didn't watch any of the TV episodes of Miracle Day and avoided reading anything with spoilers. As soon as the Region 1 DVD was announced I ordered it and waited - and waited and waited and waited some more. I couldn't help thinking there was some kind of conspiracy to kill off the show, wondering why we couldn't watch it on iTunes or any similar service even long after it had finished its run. At the same time I was thinking that Americanizing these British offerings always seems to work against them. Going after the larger U.S. market, most of which doesn't have an appetite for British humor, via a network like Starz, means lots of sacrifices have to be made. Also, having read that Russell Davies put much of the writing in the hands of U.S. writers really gave me the feeling that this surely would be Torchwood's swan song. So, by the time the delivery from Amazon arrived I think I already might have hated it.I watched the whole series over the course of a week and, contrary to what had been going on in my head, enjoyed it. I also have to admit that I agree with quite a bit of the negative criticism that has been written in this forum. So my answer to that reasonable question "So why did you like it?" is: I don't know.The British Humor, that I've always loved, is almost totally absent. I felt that one of the early episodes (can't remember if it's 2 or 3) gets seriously bogged down and I agree with the writer who complained that Jack was underutilized. I felt the 2 American CIA agents - Rex & Esther - were weak links. Both "required characters" for today's market I guess: The fast-typing computer hacker who can quickly figure out how to get into the most secure locations and the crafty, everything-wise, good-looking hulk who operates is his own world. On the other hand the two "caricatures," Oswald Danes and Jilly Kitzinger more than make up for the CIA pair's blandness. Both Bill Pullman and Lauren Ambrose manage to deliver an odd kind of humor even while we were busy despising them.More than one person remarked on how seasons 1 & 2 were their favorites. And I find myself agreeing with that also. Perhaps it has something to do with us (viewers) being expected to get into fantasy land, suspending all kinds of realities, for too long a time at once. It's probably a lot easier to suspend sanity for a shorter - one, or at the most two-part - adventure. Or am I being too kind & should we let Russell Davies have it for either 1: picking the wrong writers, 2: Not keeping a closer eye on those that he did choose or 3: Not writing the whole thing himself? Maybe that would have been more logical since wasn't it he who dreamed up the whole thing?Still, after all the warts and illogical transitions from one episode to the next it still was a fun ride. I hope the series has a future. Though maybe it would be brighter if they returned to Cardiff and stayed away from L.A.

I used in a PS3, I have other Reg 2 blu rays and they work. Condition of item is good, fast shipping, returned to Amazon

The fact that Captain Jack Harkness was always getting killed in previous episodes tagged him as mostly ineffectual. His immortality factor is an easy-access crutch. His seeming death once in a while or a season should have sufficed. A more brazen display of martial arts or strategical skill would have offset these shortcomings to complement his irrepressible charm. With Miracle Day's latter episodes, Jack redeemed himself and finally lived up to his potential. Removing his immortality that season was a kick in the pants he needed to exemplify his hero status. However, I will always love Eve Myles' kickass Gwen Cooper, a true heroine.

I didn't like the way they put the audio descriptions on these DVDs, cos I am not blind or partially sighted... nor do I wish ever to be so... but it was annoying having the woman come onto the screen, saying things like 'Oswald Danes is strapped to the execution gurney' or something similar... when I can see that that is happening... that and there was no warning on the DVD packaging, and if there was a warning on the webpage it was very small!! Plus having just forked out £10 or so on the amazon prime video, only to find it’s being re run on BBC iPlayer for free, am not a happy bunny, with you lot at Amazon!!! As I hope you’ll understand?!

The englishness of it has gone but still enjoyable if you're not going to spend the whole series comparing it to the first 3 series. RTD still writes a good tale.Beware - right at the beginning of each episode RTD and John Barrowman talk about what's coming up in that episode and whilst there's no spoilers its bleedin' annoying - FF that bit!Rex, one of the new recruits as such is a bit angst-ridden but just about gets away with it. Jack takes a break and gets it on with another bit of eye candy which doesn't really matter to the story. Gwen glams up the hair but altho she's essential to the Torchwood world IF it was still set in the UK, having her in the US for the story jars somewhat - shes a complete contrast to the rest of the US characters. The girl who is the new computer whiz is a bit dipsy and at times plays the helpless blonde but again its not too OTT.So worth a look but not if you want an introduction to Torchwood and bear in mind it is very American.

Whilst still good, this is certainly not the best season in the Torchwood series. The premise was good: that, while everyone else suddenly became immortal, Jack reverted to being simply mortal again. What would you do, how would you react to suddenly being immortal? It was a great concept for a storyline, with plenty of scope to be brilliant, but somehow wound up being simply mediocre. Not a bad season, and worth a watch for sure, just not as brilliant or as stand-out as some of the others in the series!

Enjoyed the series in it's own right, but sadly not the same format as the previous three series. Sometimes found the pace moving too quickly to fully follow the storyline, of which some did not fit in.But then that seems to be the American way. Will probably get a better understanding on second viewing. John Barrowman and Eve still as good as ever, they held the plot together. Rees belongs in the series in his own right also. If you enjoyed all the other Torchwood's then you need to buy this one to keep continuity.