Honestly, this is a fantastic pilot.
Effortlessly sets up Gwen, the team, the world and poses an excellent mystery.
Suzie makes for a fantastic surprise antagonist with Indira Varma killing it in the role and, though the plot is thin, it effortlessly eases us into the murky world of Torchwood.
8/10
oh i just LOVE mr colchester, and the introduction of tyler paralleling gwens all the way back… wait… what do you mean this is s1e1 everything changes and not s5e1 changes everything…
Giving this another go, could not get into Torchwood the first time round. Gwen is an interesting character, Captain Jack for me is the embodiment of diminishing returns. The rest of the gang are not fully developed yet of course. Overall it was an OK introduction I guess in a very obvious ‘getting a new character & the audience into the world of the show’ way. But yeah, its still not very entertaining for me.
“Careful, that’s harassment sir.”, ouch. Plus the played for laughs scenes about basically using a drug to make strangers have non-consensual sex with you.
Yeah it really has not aged well.
It was bad when it was released.
And you’ve not even got to the alien sex gas yet 
I just really love the characters even if they are awful people. If you’ve never seen Children of Earth then you should carry on until that at least, it’s phenomenal.
Personally, this part doesn’t bother me at all compared to the bit with Owen. Ianto’s smile and the way he says it makes it obvious to me that he’s flirting back.
For me it’s about who its being said to given their on-set behaviour but thats probably a subject best left well away from.
This actually works really well as an introduction to the series.
It uses the Rose method, but instead of Rose Tyler meeting the Doctor, it’s Gwen Cooper discovering Torchwood.
Fun, intriguing, and definitely dark.
I already have favourite characters!
Just watched this again.
Yes it’s very similar to Rose, but then an awesome “rug pull” when Gwen gets her memory wiped.
It actually went up in my ratings now, as it does such a good job at introducing everything.
4.5/5!
Completely agree, as someone who has a few doubts about starting Torchwood, this episode absolutely delivered, and it’s safe to say I’m now a fan! (Even if I’m only on Countryside)
Oh no, Countrycide is just one giant “trigger warning”. Be warned!!
I’m halfway through it, and I’m actually really enjoying it!
Very gruesome, but very good!
OK, cool! Save it for the dedicated Club thread 
I’ll probably have a lot to say about it!
@deltaandthebannermen, this needs the story-discussion and torchwood tags. Thanks.
I’ve added them
As a Castellan it should be possible for you to do this yourself, just FYI 
Usually I can. But for some reason the pencil to edit that isn’t showing up on either this or Audio Club: The Wormery (which needs a story-discussion and sixth-doctor tag).
Possibly you can’t do it to the High Council’s posts?
Oh actually it’s because the “club” categories are restricted to staff only. Sorry, didn’t realise it stops you editing too!
Wrote an review for this episode.