 As reported earlier, initial results of Torchwood's debut on Australia's Network Ten has rated well among viewers—even though it's scheduled opposite Battlestar Galactica on pay TV. This has in part been aided by press coverage which, with the odd exception, has been more interested in writing about the Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies, or socially progressive connections, than in submitting reviews about the series on its own merits. But surely some of the initial success of the programme has been because of Ten's own initial support of the show. Not only have Ten financed an aggressive print and television ad campaign—which has employed Eve Myles and John Barrowman in new material—but the Torchwood website there is bigger than, say, the current size of the Canadian Broadcasting Company's Doctor Who website. In addition to hosting all the Torchwood Declassified episodes, it's been generating its own unique content. Top on that list are a couple of fresh interviews with cast members Eve Myles and Naoko Mori. Meanwhile, the first week of broadcast attracted print coverage of John Barrowman as well as Eve Myles. (Be warned, though, that the Eve Myles interview vaguely spoils elements of Series 2.)
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the Sydney newspapers did also praise the content of the episode on its
merits, in addition to talking about Who, RTD, and John Barrowman's
sexuality.
But, remembering back, I also quite liked Ep 1 and then started to go right off
the series as it progressed. It will be interesting to see how the reviews and
ratings hold up as the weeks progress.
Certainly though, Ten has done everything it could to make Torchwood a
success. It will be an interesting case-study, because on one hand English
drama is virtually unheard of on Ten (or any other Australian commercial
network apart from the Seven Network), but on the other hand Torchwood is
a blending of the two types of programming Ten has really developed its
profile around over the past 10 - 15 years: "young sexy" soap/dramas
(Melrose, OC etc etc), and "spooky" dramas (X Files, Supernatural, Medium).