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Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Torchwood)
Encyclopedia
"Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" is the first episode of the second series of British science fiction television
series Torchwood
, which was broadcast by BBC Two
on 16 January 2008.
The episode features a guest appearance from James Marsters
as Captain John Hart, Captain Jack's former colleague and lover, who comes to the Torchwood team as part of a plan to steal a diamond from a woman who was murdered.
Chris Chibnall
wrote the episode with the knowledge that Marsters wished to appear in the series, and has written the part of John Hart "absolutely" for him. The episode was filmed in Cardiff
in July 2007. "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" was seen by four million viewers upon its original broadcast, with an Appreciation Index
of 84, and was met with generally positive reviews in both the United Kingdom and United States
.
(John Barrowman
) returns to his team in spectacular fashion, walking into the middle of a hostage situation involving his team and an alien Blowfish, shooting the intoxicated Blowfish in the head. At the Hub, his team question why he left them, and he simply responds that he had found his Doctor and that he belongs at Torchwood. Harkness was last seen at the end of the Torchwood episode "End of Days", looking off-screen while the familiar sound of the TARDIS is heard in the background. The Torchwood team find him gone, and the place in a mess. He appears next in continuity in Doctor Who "Utopia
" (3.11), the first of three episodes that form a linked narrative, followed by "The Sound of Drums
" and "Last of the Time Lords
". (3.12-3.13)
The team is then alerted to a death near a multi-storey car park, where the team detect energy from the Rift
on the corpse. Jack, to even his surprise, gets a hologram message on his vortex manipulator from a person he recognises, and leaves the team to talk to him.
The person is Captain John Hart (James Marsters
), a fellow Time Agent and former lover of Jack. He is responsible for the death, and a public disturbance at a nightclub. After a passionate kiss and brief fight at the nightclub, John tells Jack that the Time Agency was disbanded and he has since undergone several rehabilitation programmes, before the team catch up with Jack and are introduced to John. John accompanies the team back to the Hub, where he tells the team of three cylindrical devices scattered throughout Cardiff, which he explains are radioactive cluster bomb
s, and he requires help to defuse them. Thus, they split into three pairs: Jack and administrator Ianto Jones
(Gareth David-Lloyd
) search an office block (during which Jack successfully asks Ianto out on a date), doctor Owen Harper
(Burn Gorman
) and technical expert Toshiko Sato
(Naoko Mori
) search a warehouse, and police liaison Gwen Cooper
(Eve Myles
) and John search the nearby docks.
It is clear that John has an ulterior motive; first, he paralyses Gwen and locks her in a crate telling her that if she is not found in two hours, her main organs will stop working and she would die. He then finds Owen and Tosh, shooting the former in the hip. After letting Ianto go, he finally confronts Jack, who realises that the bombs are an elementary 51st century confidence trick
. Jack throws the device over the building, and John pushes him off the roof in retaliation.
John returns to Torchwood, where he takes a pyramid-shaped object from the Blowfish in the morgue. Gwen (who was saved by the rest of the team) and the others arrive, including Jack, who survived due to his immortality
. They hold John at gunpoint, where he admits that the "bombs" will simply triangulate the location of a diamond he stole off a former lover. However, by using the devices and the pyramid, he discovers there is no diamond; John's former lover anticipated dying, and thus set a trap to kill her murderer. The device turns out to be a bomb which attaches itself to John and begins a ten-minute countdown.
Unwilling to be murdered, John handcuffs himself to Gwen, swallows the key and flees towards the car park. Gwen formulates a plan to use the Rift to kill Hart, but at the penalty of her own life. The team catch John on the car park where he entered and inject him with the team's DNA, thus confusing the device set to kill John. John then agrees to free Gwen and leave, but before leaving, tells Jack that he "found Gray", visibly disturbing Jack, who just asks his team to get back to work.
from his agent, telling him James Marsters was interested in appearing on the series. Chris Chibnall wrote the episode "absolutely" for Marsters, and wanted Hart to become a conflict for Jack Harkness. Marsters believed that Hart was somewhat of a doppleganger to Harkness. After scripting was complete, Marsters did not need to discuss with the directors because he felt the script was self explanatory.
Originally, Captain John was going to come through the Rift on a "pandimensional surfboard" similar to the one found in the Doctor Who episode "Boom Town
", Chibnall changed it because the production team decided that "it would look cooler if John just calmly walked out of the Rift, as if it was the sort of thing he might do every day".
The episode was filmed in Cardiff in July 2007. The first meeting between Jack and John at the nightclub was written to be akin to a Spaghetti Western
. Instead of fighting, it was decided that they would kiss first, so that the audience "don't see it coming". The following fight scene was intended to be "sexy, rather than brutal", similar to the naked wrestling scene in the film Women in Love
. While the scene only lasted one minute on screen, much more was filmed, so much that it took a whole day to shoot. 80% of the acting in the scene was done by Marsters and Barrowman themselves, instead of stuntmen. The style of fighting was similar to what Marsters was used to, and was, according to stunt co-ordinator Tom Lucy, a cross between Western, martial arts
, and Bourne
.
The building used to film searching for one of the canisters was a British Gas
building in Cardiff. The scene with Jack falling off the building was performed by Curtis Rivers, John Barrowman's stunt double. Though Rivers made the stunt to make Jack "look good", Barrowman had to lie on a box over green screen. Marsters and Barrowman were used for filming close to the roof's edge.
also made inconspicuous special effects, such as extending the number of crates at the docks. The special effect used for the Rift was redesigned for the second series, due to a decision among the special effects team at The Mill that separate manifestations of the Rift appear different - in this case, orange and gold was used to make the Rift appear "warmer and more magical". The Mill also made three different types of holograms. The projection from Jack's wriststrap device was coloured blue to match earlier appearances, John's wriststrap projected a flashier, full colour image due to specifications in the script, and the golden hue in the projection of John's ex-lover was based on the prop.
The blowfish in the opening scene was intended by executive producer Russell T Davies to be "like Finding Nemo
, but evil" and the producer of the episode, Richard Stokes
, wanted the designs to be as flamboyant as "the lionfish in The Spy Who Loved Me
". The first designs of the costume were visibly different from the final design; the first designs were more fish-like than humanoid. After a humanoid design was approved by the production team, Millennium FX, who previously created the prosthetics for the Doctor Who and the first series of Torchwood, immediately sculpted the costume to Paul Kasey
's dimensions. Two versions of the mask were created; one was animatronic, which included mechanical fins, and one was used for the stunt where the blowfish was shot in the head.
figure was 84. After its original broadcast, an edited version was shown the following week on BBC Two. The episode was also aired ten days later on BBC America
.
picked "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" as their pick of the day on 16 January 2008, complimenting the "fast-paced plot" in contrast to the "puerile humour" and "[meandering] between soft porn and Scooby-Doo
" of the first series. In the same newspaper, on the following day, Keith Watson commented that the episode "was like watching Carry On
Up the Asteroids", but nevertheless stated that "as dramatic cocktails go, [its mix of gadgets, sci-fi gobbledegook
and louche libidos] was out of this world", and gave the episode four stars out of five. The Times
commented that the episode was "good, salacious, knockabout fun", the best thing about Torchwood that "everyday Cardiff hums alongside psychotic blowfish and time loops", and asked "when extraterrestrial push comes to intergalactic shove, how could anyone object to a series that begins with a blowfish driving a sports car?". The Guardian
stated that parts were "very, very, funny" and the episode was largely "a hoot". However, The Daily Telegraph
felt that the series fared better on BBC Three, but on BBC Two it was "both far too pleased with itself and surprisingly amateurish".
The episode also received positive reviews in the United States. The Chicago Sun-Times
summarised it as "gay and playful sci-fi fun" and compared it with Buffy the Vampire Slayers "good and efficient wit", and theorised that its rising quality made it "not hard to imagine it could be must-watch TV by season four", the Orlando Sentinel
stated it was "a bracing mix of campy comedy, chilling twists and sexual surprises" and commented that it "enlivens Saturdays", and the Sci Fi Channel
, who syndicate Doctor Who, called the script "excellent", commented that "Marsters and Barrowman's chemistry is just terrific", and lamented that the show only airs thirteen episodes per series, as opposed to the American standard of 24.
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
, which was broadcast by BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on 16 January 2008.
The episode features a guest appearance from James Marsters
James Marsters
James Wesley Marsters is an American actor and musician. Marsters first came to the attention of the general public playing the popular character Spike, a platinum-blond yobbish English vampire in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel from 1997 to 2004...
as Captain John Hart, Captain Jack's former colleague and lover, who comes to the Torchwood team as part of a plan to steal a diamond from a woman who was murdered.
Chris Chibnall
Chris Chibnall
Chris Chibnall is a British playwright, television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the science-fiction series Torchwood....
wrote the episode with the knowledge that Marsters wished to appear in the series, and has written the part of John Hart "absolutely" for him. The episode was filmed in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in July 2007. "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" was seen by four million viewers upon its original broadcast, with an Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
of 84, and was met with generally positive reviews in both the United Kingdom and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Synopsis
Captain Jack HarknessJack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
(John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
) returns to his team in spectacular fashion, walking into the middle of a hostage situation involving his team and an alien Blowfish, shooting the intoxicated Blowfish in the head. At the Hub, his team question why he left them, and he simply responds that he had found his Doctor and that he belongs at Torchwood. Harkness was last seen at the end of the Torchwood episode "End of Days", looking off-screen while the familiar sound of the TARDIS is heard in the background. The Torchwood team find him gone, and the place in a mess. He appears next in continuity in Doctor Who "Utopia
Utopia (Doctor Who)
"Utopia" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007 and is the eleventh episode of series three of the revived Doctor Who series...
" (3.11), the first of three episodes that form a linked narrative, followed by "The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" and "Last of the Time Lords
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
". (3.12-3.13)
The team is then alerted to a death near a multi-storey car park, where the team detect energy from the Rift
Cardiff Rift
The Cardiff Rift is a fictional wormhole in the science fiction television series Doctor Who and Torchwood, one end of which is located in Cardiff Bay, Wales. The other end is apparently floating freely through spacetime, and matter and radiation can pass through the Rift, allowing extraterrestrial...
on the corpse. Jack, to even his surprise, gets a hologram message on his vortex manipulator from a person he recognises, and leaves the team to talk to him.
The person is Captain John Hart (James Marsters
James Marsters
James Wesley Marsters is an American actor and musician. Marsters first came to the attention of the general public playing the popular character Spike, a platinum-blond yobbish English vampire in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel from 1997 to 2004...
), a fellow Time Agent and former lover of Jack. He is responsible for the death, and a public disturbance at a nightclub. After a passionate kiss and brief fight at the nightclub, John tells Jack that the Time Agency was disbanded and he has since undergone several rehabilitation programmes, before the team catch up with Jack and are introduced to John. John accompanies the team back to the Hub, where he tells the team of three cylindrical devices scattered throughout Cardiff, which he explains are radioactive cluster bomb
Cluster bomb
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller sub-munitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles...
s, and he requires help to defuse them. Thus, they split into three pairs: Jack and administrator Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television series Torchwood, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A series regular, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwoods parent show, Doctor Who...
(Gareth David-Lloyd
Gareth David-Lloyd
Gareth David-Lloyd is a Welsh actor best known for his role as Ianto Jones in the British science fiction television programme Torchwood.- Early life :...
) search an office block (during which Jack successfully asks Ianto out on a date), doctor Owen Harper
Owen Harper
Owen Harper is a fictional character played by Burn Gorman, and a regular in the BBC television series Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character last appeared onscreen in the Series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds"....
(Burn Gorman
Burn Gorman
Burn Hugh Gorman is an American-born English actor and musician. Burn is best known for his roles as Owen Harper in Torchwood and as William Guppy in Bleak House.-Personal life:...
) and technical expert Toshiko Sato
Toshiko Sato
is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" , Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood 2006 premiere episode "Everything Changes"...
(Naoko Mori
Naoko Mori
is a British-Japanese actress known for roles as Sarah, Saffron's "odd" friend in Absolutely Fabulous, Mie Nishikawa in Casualty, and Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood.-Early life:...
) search a warehouse, and police liaison Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off to the long-running show Doctor Who, portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles. The series' lead female character, Gwen has featured in every episode of the sci-fi programme to date as well as two crossover...
(Eve Myles
Eve Myles
Eve Myles is an award winning Welsh actress of stage and screen. She is best known to Welsh audiences for her portrayal of Ceri Owen in the BBC Wales drama Belonging, and to audiences worldwide for her role as Gwen Cooper in the science fiction show Torchwood, a spin-off from Doctor Who.-Personal...
) and John search the nearby docks.
It is clear that John has an ulterior motive; first, he paralyses Gwen and locks her in a crate telling her that if she is not found in two hours, her main organs will stop working and she would die. He then finds Owen and Tosh, shooting the former in the hip. After letting Ianto go, he finally confronts Jack, who realises that the bombs are an elementary 51st century confidence trick
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
. Jack throws the device over the building, and John pushes him off the roof in retaliation.
John returns to Torchwood, where he takes a pyramid-shaped object from the Blowfish in the morgue. Gwen (who was saved by the rest of the team) and the others arrive, including Jack, who survived due to his immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
. They hold John at gunpoint, where he admits that the "bombs" will simply triangulate the location of a diamond he stole off a former lover. However, by using the devices and the pyramid, he discovers there is no diamond; John's former lover anticipated dying, and thus set a trap to kill her murderer. The device turns out to be a bomb which attaches itself to John and begins a ten-minute countdown.
Unwilling to be murdered, John handcuffs himself to Gwen, swallows the key and flees towards the car park. Gwen formulates a plan to use the Rift to kill Hart, but at the penalty of her own life. The team catch John on the car park where he entered and inject him with the team's DNA, thus confusing the device set to kill John. John then agrees to free Gwen and leave, but before leaving, tells Jack that he "found Gray", visibly disturbing Jack, who just asks his team to get back to work.
Writing and filming
The development of the episode commenced when executive producer Russell T Davies received an emailEmail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
from his agent, telling him James Marsters was interested in appearing on the series. Chris Chibnall wrote the episode "absolutely" for Marsters, and wanted Hart to become a conflict for Jack Harkness. Marsters believed that Hart was somewhat of a doppleganger to Harkness. After scripting was complete, Marsters did not need to discuss with the directors because he felt the script was self explanatory.
Originally, Captain John was going to come through the Rift on a "pandimensional surfboard" similar to the one found in the Doctor Who episode "Boom Town
Boom Town (Doctor Who)
"Boom Town" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 4 June 2005. The Doctor, Rose and Jack travel to modern-day Cardiff and meet up with Rose's boyfriend, Mickey...
", Chibnall changed it because the production team decided that "it would look cooler if John just calmly walked out of the Rift, as if it was the sort of thing he might do every day".
The episode was filmed in Cardiff in July 2007. The first meeting between Jack and John at the nightclub was written to be akin to a Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
. Instead of fighting, it was decided that they would kiss first, so that the audience "don't see it coming". The following fight scene was intended to be "sexy, rather than brutal", similar to the naked wrestling scene in the film Women in Love
Women in Love (film)
Women in Love is a 1969 British film directed by Ken Russell. It stars Alan Bates , Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson and Jennie Linden. The film was adapted by Larry Kramer from the novel of the same name by D. H. Lawrence....
. While the scene only lasted one minute on screen, much more was filmed, so much that it took a whole day to shoot. 80% of the acting in the scene was done by Marsters and Barrowman themselves, instead of stuntmen. The style of fighting was similar to what Marsters was used to, and was, according to stunt co-ordinator Tom Lucy, a cross between Western, martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, and Bourne
Jason Bourne
Jason Charles Bourne is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the novels of Robert Ludlum and subsequent film adaptations. He first appeared in the novel The Bourne Identity...
.
The building used to film searching for one of the canisters was a British Gas
British Gas plc
British Gas plc was formerly the monopoly gas supplier and is a private sector in the United Kingdom.- History :In the early 1900s the gas market in the United Kingdom was mainly run by county councils and small private firms...
building in Cardiff. The scene with Jack falling off the building was performed by Curtis Rivers, John Barrowman's stunt double. Though Rivers made the stunt to make Jack "look good", Barrowman had to lie on a box over green screen. Marsters and Barrowman were used for filming close to the roof's edge.
Special effects and animatronics
While the most noticeable special effect was John's entrance through the Rift, The MillThe Mill (post-production)
The Mill is a post-production and visual effects company launched in 1990 with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.The Mill's Film special effects subsidiary, Mill Film, won an Oscar for its work on the film Gladiator. The Mill was the first UK-based post-production company to set up...
also made inconspicuous special effects, such as extending the number of crates at the docks. The special effect used for the Rift was redesigned for the second series, due to a decision among the special effects team at The Mill that separate manifestations of the Rift appear different - in this case, orange and gold was used to make the Rift appear "warmer and more magical". The Mill also made three different types of holograms. The projection from Jack's wriststrap device was coloured blue to match earlier appearances, John's wriststrap projected a flashier, full colour image due to specifications in the script, and the golden hue in the projection of John's ex-lover was based on the prop.
The blowfish in the opening scene was intended by executive producer Russell T Davies to be "like Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...
, but evil" and the producer of the episode, Richard Stokes
Richard Stokes
Major Sir Richard Rapier Stokes MC was a British Labour politician who served briefly as Lord Privy Seal in 1951....
, wanted the designs to be as flamboyant as "the lionfish in The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
". The first designs of the costume were visibly different from the final design; the first designs were more fish-like than humanoid. After a humanoid design was approved by the production team, Millennium FX, who previously created the prosthetics for the Doctor Who and the first series of Torchwood, immediately sculpted the costume to Paul Kasey
Paul Kasey
Paul Kasey is an English actor who frequently plays monsters on Doctor Who and Torchwood.He has recently played the Cybercontroller, the Cyber Leader, Cybermen, a clockwork android, the Hoix, an Auton, a Slitheen, an Ood, the Anne-Droid and a member of the Forest of Cheem in Doctor Who, and Janet...
's dimensions. Two versions of the mask were created; one was animatronic, which included mechanical fins, and one was used for the stunt where the blowfish was shot in the head.
Ratings and later broadcast
The episode was watched by 4.22 million viewers and its Appreciation IndexAppreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
figure was 84. After its original broadcast, an edited version was shown the following week on BBC Two. The episode was also aired ten days later on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
.
Critical reception
MetroMetro (Associated Metro Limited)
Metro is a free daily newspaper in the United Kingdom published by Associated Newspapers Ltd . It is available from Monday to Friday each week on many public transport services across the United Kingdom.-History:The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres...
picked "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" as their pick of the day on 16 January 2008, complimenting the "fast-paced plot" in contrast to the "puerile humour" and "[meandering] between soft porn and Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
" of the first series. In the same newspaper, on the following day, Keith Watson commented that the episode "was like watching Carry On
Carry On films
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....
Up the Asteroids", but nevertheless stated that "as dramatic cocktails go, [its mix of gadgets, sci-fi gobbledegook
Technobabble
Technobabble , also called technospeak, is a form of prose using jargon, buzzwords, esoteric language, specialized technical terms, or technical slang that is incomprehensible to the listener...
and louche libidos] was out of this world", and gave the episode four stars out of five. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
commented that the episode was "good, salacious, knockabout fun", the best thing about Torchwood that "everyday Cardiff hums alongside psychotic blowfish and time loops", and asked "when extraterrestrial push comes to intergalactic shove, how could anyone object to a series that begins with a blowfish driving a sports car?". The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
stated that parts were "very, very, funny" and the episode was largely "a hoot". However, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
felt that the series fared better on BBC Three, but on BBC Two it was "both far too pleased with itself and surprisingly amateurish".
The episode also received positive reviews in the United States. The Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
summarised it as "gay and playful sci-fi fun" and compared it with Buffy the Vampire Slayers "good and efficient wit", and theorised that its rising quality made it "not hard to imagine it could be must-watch TV by season four", the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
stated it was "a bracing mix of campy comedy, chilling twists and sexual surprises" and commented that it "enlivens Saturdays", and the Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, who syndicate Doctor Who, called the script "excellent", commented that "Marsters and Barrowman's chemistry is just terrific", and lamented that the show only airs thirteen episodes per series, as opposed to the American standard of 24.