Torchwood Miracle Day

The Doctor Who franchise so often seems drenched in tragedy and ill tidings across its story-lines.  No wonder then that this trait should be inherited by those series that have spun off from it, Torchwood is no exception.

Torchwood is essentially the life story of Captain Jack Harkness although the establishment of the Torchwood Institute pre-dates the events that would come to see Jack receive the gift of life.  Within the story arc of the Doctor Who series, Jack was a man like any other who died at the hands or, the plunger of a formidable enemy the Daleks, but it was Rose Tyler then companion of the Doctor who in a moment of weakness took into herself a power far greater than any she could ever hope to control, and in that moment she could see all of time and space.  She brought Jack back to life, but unable to control her power she poured too much life into his soul and he became immortal.

Throughout the fourth series through the actions of an unseen enemy the world would be subjected to Jack's power as the roles were reversed and all of mankind became immortal and Jack became the only mortal on the planet.  Throughout the series named 'Miracle Day' a number of events come to pass but ultimately it is the nature of Humanity that is portrayed in this series that I deem tragic.  The world is crippled by uncontrollable population growth as people stop dying all manner of measures are implemented to deal with what was first heralded as a miracle and came to be known as a curse.  If it is true to say that this 30 days challenge has overwhelmingly focused on death it is true then to say that this post is no different yet it looks at the issue from another angle.

One truly horrible scene throughout this series which I disliked was when the truth was unearthed in the 5th episode 'Categories of Life' that portrays our darkest nature.  I said in a previous post in this challenge that there were two entries that would reference the Holocaust.  The first was the story of the boy in striped pyjamas and the second is this post, for throughout this series of Torchwood the parallels with Nazi concentration and extermination camps cannot be denied.

I would include the single episode where this revelation is made but in order to feel the true scope and magnitude I think the whole series needs to be included so I attach the trailer below for this series: