The other Capt. Jack

In the midst of a TV famine, the BBC has served up a show to sink your teeth into. Torchwood is a fun new show, and the Season One DVD is even better, packed with special features that keep the good times rolling.\n"Torchwood," a spin-off of the popular BBC show "Doctor Who," tells the stories of a team of investigators assigned to monitor Earth's paranormal activity. The team is led by the charismatic Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who cavorts around Britain capturing ghosts, aliens and other supernatural creatures. He is assisted by a small team, each of whom fills their own role very well.\nNot just a show for sci-fi fans, "Torchwood" is a wonderful cross between "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "CSI:" and "Men in Black." What sets it apart from those shows is its decidedly adult tone and its refusal to shy away from TV land mines such as language, gore and themes of bisexuality and racism. Occasionally silly and campy, the show is best taken with a grain of salt, especially when seeing the classic makeup-and-latex monsters.\nA powerful show, the DVD also packs some powerful special features. Every episode has a commentary with different members of the cast and crew, and unlike other DVDs, the commentary is interesting enough to warrant watching each episode again. In addition to the commentary and the standard deleted scenes and outtakes, each episode has a short documentary that originally aired during the show's commercial breaks. The "Torchwood Declassified" documentaries are boiled down into a few minutes of goodness, highlighting features such as the making of the monsters and the creation of the pimpin' "Torchwood" SUV.\nA great show, "Torchwood" never fails to deliver an action packed hour with great cases, clever dialogue and entertaining character drama. A good buy and well-worth tuning into BBC America for, its new episodes are a saving grace in the rerun-strewn TV landscape.