TV Club: Torchwood - End of Days

TV Club reaches the end of the first series of Torchwood, the demon Abaddon has been summoned and it is truly the End of Days. What are the true intentions of the enigmatic Bilis Manger?

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4 Likes

@deltaandthebannermen you had put this in the Audio Club. I thought about commenting on it before I moved it, that would have granted me an exclusive badge. But I was a good mod and did not use my powers for evil!!!

6 Likes

Love this one. Surely, maybe they bite off more than they can chew in terms of CGI Abaddon, but it feels properly epic to me. Bilis Manger is a really charismatic villain

6 Likes

I adore this episode, it’s so cool and epic and just so much fun to watch.

I love Bilis too

6 Likes

So this is how series 1 of Torchwood ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

Did anyone even for a second think we wouldn’t get a patented “Jack Harkness exaggerated coming back to life inhalation” at the end? It’s his whole schtick! (Well almost, but I don’t see Abaddon getting brought down by innuendo)

I am not really sure why people think Bilis Manger is such a good villain…

2,5/5 :star: from me for the Kaiju rampage of Cardiff

6 Likes

Yeah, it’s just a big guy thinking he could snatch Jack’s soul but overestimated how much he could suck out and just couldn’t take it anymore. Nope, no innuendos to be found here.

6 Likes

This episode’s an absolute mess but I kind of love it.

Gwen gets some great material, I love Bilis even if he is dropped unceremoniously.

But christ, it really needed to pick one story line and stick to it

6/10

6 Likes

Yeah, this finale is fine. Pretty underwhelming, to be honest. CG Abaddon is an uglier Beast, and Bilis, as much as I find him creepy, is just not in this much. The tension between the team members is the best part, easily.

It’s a 6/10 from me.

End of Days aims for epic, emotional, and explosive, but ends up rushed, muddled, and strangely small. While it gives us some fine character beats—especially for Gwen, Owen, and Jack—and boasts a chilling performance from Murray Melvin as Bilis Manger, it fails to build up or sustain real finale-level stakes. Abaddon is a damp squib of a monster, the reset button is hit far too casually, and the pacing doesn’t do justice to either the personal stories or the larger narrative.

A finale that wants to be the end of the world, but feels more like a therapy session hijacked by a half-rendered demon.

You’re welcome to read my full review below (spoiler alert!):

4 Likes

I love this one. Prior to this, none of them knew Jack was immortal either, and that is so sad…

And then he leaves for 3 months (or a week- depends on the source).

In both situations I think the team should’ve been a bit more hostile to his lying and abandonment.

Also Abaddon just looks like a big Fallout Deathclaw lol

6 Likes

Now that you say that, I can totally see it.

4 Likes

Of all the Torchwood innuendos, this is surprisingly one of the most innocent ones tbh.

(I’ve just read a book where a character purposefully similar to Ianto is infantilized and refers to other characters as “mummy” sooooooooo, it can always be worse :melting_face::melting_face:)

6 Likes


Visual comparison. Love my Torchwood Deathclaw like a son

I also once met GDL whilst dressed as a vault dweller so yay!
(Everything changes- apart from war, War Never Changes)

6 Likes

I just finished my rewatch of this and yeah it is bad. Sorry but there is just too much going on and it just doesn’t make any sense. Don’t like Bilis either.

Some positives. Gwen is good in this. I like that Owen gets fired even if it is just for a short moment. I like Andy and Ryhs but they need more time on screen.

I rate this 2/5

9 Likes

I am not much of a Finale Person, while I get they exist and there is certainly Appeal, especially when it’s a great one, they often fall a bit flat with their Ambition and do more than they really can chew on. This Episode is kinda a good Example of that, and yet I still quite like it. It is messy. Yes, that CGI Monster hasn’t aged too well, and I don’t think it would have looked all that great even back then, and yet I do think it’s kinda a perfect Finale for Series 1 of Torchwood. This Series certainly needed to find its footing and can be at times quite messy with a great Idea but a poor Execution of said Idea.
Of course there is a bit too much happening, and ideally I would have taken a ‘Less is more’-Approach, but there are some genuinely great Bits to it in particular with our Characters such as Gwen for example. A bit of a mess, but one that I enjoyed watching quite a bit.

6 Likes