TORCHWOOD is back. Glossed up, glitzed and repackaged, but essentially and, thankfully, pretty much the same.
I doubt I was the only one who thought, oh no, here we go.
The Americans spot a series they like, decide to whisk it across the Atlantic and throw dollars at it.
But, seemingly, you can take Torchwood out of Cardiff but you cant take Cardiff out of Torchwood.
For those who think I am talking alienspeak, Torchwood is a spin-off of Dr Who now in its fourth series.
And, yes, I must be one of the few on the planet who has given up on the good Doctor and decided that if I was dicing with Daleks or any other non-human geeky types, Id rather have Captain Jack and Gwen on board than the current Doctor who is simply not my style.
But back to my candle-holding for Torchwood.
I confess my interest flickered in this BBC TV alien chasing thriller when they ditched half the cast at the end of series three and I wondered why, other than for greenbacks, did the show need to go Stateside.
Did we really need bigger names, a faster pace or a wider world in which to hunt aliens or fight conspiracies?
Theres surely more than enough going on in good old eccentric Britain, the only place where the quirkiness of Captain Jack in his ancient RAF coat and the Welsh fieriness of his only surviving side-kick Gwen, (played by Eve Myles) could seem right at home.
The flight to the US has certainly welded them even closer together. But then it would, wouldnt it as soon as they took one look at the CIA types so stereotypically played in these shows as the nearest things weve seen to aliens so far.
Bill Pullman is the best American addition to the cast playing the child-killer Oswald Danes who survives an execution on what becomes known as Miracle Day.
Danes survival kicks off the whole premise of this new series. What happens to the planet if everyone stops dying? And Pullman presents it with mesmerising chilliness.
The early episodes offered a few gruesome moments with severed heads and hands blinking and twitching as they stayed inexplicably switched on to life.
But it was more comic book than horror and Im clinging on to that in the hope that the American style juggernaut doesnt drive Torchwood into a layby. Though if it were a Welsh layby, that would be fine.
Im missing the commonsense warmth of Kai Owen as Gwens husband, Rhys Williams, the only real anchor in a mad world of time travel and immortality.
But they have to bring him back somewhere. After all, theres the baby to consider.
That said, a baby thats being brought up in a remote house on the Welsh coast, stacked with guns and with a mum who bawls at walkers who knock on the door to ask the way is probably going to get used to alien life forms.
You see? Its all remarkably daft, but in the current series at least we get a side-on look at an interesting issue. Just what would happen if we did have our very own Miracle Day? Bring it on Torchwood!
