Torchwood

There were apparently problems during the shooting of Torchwood - particularly the first block. These resulted in smearing of the video.

It was, I believe, supposed to have been shot 25p (i.e. the same frame rate as film) progressive, and not 50i (i.e. interlaced video)

There were particular issues with the Panasonic cameras originally used - and they switched to Sony HD Cam I believe. (In Torchwood De-classified the behind-the-scenes stuff has been Sony)

Don't know - but it could be the Panasonic cameras were not fully 25p capable (some cameras do a 50i to 25p conversion "in camera) - or if they were Varicams they may have had "frame rate" issues - as this camera can shoot at lots of different rates for over- and under- cranking effects.

I was watching in HD - and the smearing effects were present on the SD and HD versions as far as I could see - I don't think it was a function of the downconversion process.

A rather sinister and macabre episode this evening. It was more like The Hammer House of Horror! I certainly won't be heading to the Brecon Beacons anytime soon

I wonder if it was the same problem which made BBC Four's 'Fear of Fanny' so blurry (assuming it was a problem, and that they didn't intend it to look so messy). I watched it on DTT, but also saw a few minutes on an HD LCD set fed from an HD box.

I liked tonight's episode and I love Tosh even more. Poor Tosh, getting cutdown by Owen.

Another great episode (even though I'd half-guessed the "monster" from the trailer), and the blurring problems seem to be gone - must have been shot with the Sony.

David

Just seen the trailer for the finale next week. Looks very good! I've deliberately avoided reading any spoilers so this is quite a tempting trailer.

Clicky (Windows Media - 0.8Mb)

Sorry about the quality I had to compress to get it on here

Fantastic last episode of Torchwood tonight! Worth watching on BBC2 this Wednesday if you missed it... especially the last five minutes.

It was indeed an excellent double-episode finale. The only thing that confused me was:

The (subtle) clue was in Ianto's stopwatch comment at the end of an earlier episode. It was subtly understated (arguably, the 'harrassment' comment in ep1 might be connected too).

what time is it on BBC 2?

It's so difficult to check on bbc.co.uk, isn't it?

BBC Two - What's on - Weds 9pm