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60 Days left and I'm thinking about the format of TW: MD. Fans who have seen Torchwood from the start will know that series 1 and 2 were in a "monster of the week" format, new threat that was presented and dealt with in each episode and the episodes aired once a week. Then series 3 was COE and they changed that. Instead the show was presented in 5 episodes that told one overarching story and was aired on 5 consecutive days. COE was also a considerably shorter series only 5 episodes as opposed to the previous 13 a series. Next we have TW: MD which will be like COE in that it will tell one story with one treat over the series but it will do so in 10 episodes that air once a week. Today I want to chat a bit about the pros and cons of each format.

MotW (Monster of the Week) is a very popular format that has been proven to work and work well. It is also handy with providing jumping on points for viewers as well at being more accommodating to the casual viewer. There is something good about being able to watch an episode here and there even if you cannot tune-in every week.

The second format, the COE format we're gonna call ACC (All Consuming Crisis). The obvious advantage with this method is more time to tell a single story. There is only so much you can accomplish in one or two episodes, whereas with an entire series dedicated to one fight you can get more in depth with the drama.

Each also have their drawbacks. MotW is obviously an issue with time, you are limited in how complicated your story or crisis can get because you have ultimately an episode (or two) to resolve. With ACC you have the issue of variety, you are only telling one story and a lot of times that means the whole series is hit or miss. Torchwood fans are very opinionated about whether COE was hit or miss and the fact of the matter is, one bad episode in a series of 13 is a lot less complained about than an entire ACC story people take issue with.

With TW: MD the creators have decided to go for the ACC format. It's going to be one giant epic tale told over 10 episodes. I am glad that even thought they chose this format we are getting more than 5 episodes. Parts of this excite me, for instance,we get a huge story that is more movie and  big production like, that's nice. Also, I think American viewers really enjoy the big overarching stories, complicated mysteries that take a whole series to unravel. It makes a lot of sense to do it in this format I think.

But, and there is a but, if I'm being entirely honest, I missed MotW while watching COE. I missed how every threat is not necessarily a world wide mega-crisis. And I missed the lighter moments of the story, not as many cheeky moments when kids are being used as drugs, you know? And here's where people are going to disagree with me maybe...I feel like, when a story is so big and all consuming we lose small moments with the characters. We miss getting to know them and we don't get to enjoy them as much. Is that just me? I felt like even thought we learned new things about Jack in COE we were mostly told and not shown. There were big reveals but they were sort of out of no where, we were blindsided and we were too wrapped up with saving the world to worry about how it really effected him. I think it's a matter of telling and not showing, we get more time for a story but less time for the subtle character developments.

All that being said, I am in love with everyone working on this project. I trust the actors and creators and I am definitely keeping a positive attitude, even if my reflections come off negative at times. If anyone can fit in everything we got in Series 1 and 2 as well as COE it's this team.

How about you? Do you prefer one format to the other? Do you think MD in this format is a good idea? Am I completely off the mark about losing character development in bigger stories? xx

<3Dana

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Tammy a.k.a SOUL1essHarpy
5/10/2011 12:11:57 pm

AGREED!

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