One of the best things Miracle Day did for Torchwood was introduce a new foray of established American writers to compliment the show's new Stateside style. While the franchise's original creator Russell T Davies was back on board to kick start the proceedings with its brilliant premiere episode, he opted to take the back seat throughout the rest of its troubled run, only rejoining to co-write its finale. This arguably contributed to the show's downfall as it lost all of its established charm and beloved Welsh wit but to make up for that (although it ultimately didn't), fans were treated to an episode by John Fay who had penned two installments of the show's previous critically acclaimed smash hit Children of Earth. New writers to the fold included Smallville and House contributor Doris Egan and writer and producer of The X Files John Shiban, so the show was definitely in safe hands with its new American family bringing their much needed and respective experiences in the worlds of cult, fantasy and science fiction drama to the Torchwood table. The star of the scriptwriting show, however, was Jane Epenson, who penned the majority of its episodes and is largely noted and respected for contributing the best of an otherwise pretty bad bunch. After a five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she was well aware of what works and what doesn't within the confines of this particular genre and if it wasn't for her inclusion in the line up, fans dread to think what the overall outcome would've been. The new writers helped to give Torchwood its new voice, though, and while it wasn't always a good one, it set the show off in its new direction and firmly established its place within the American televisual market. That was presumably the whole point of the collaboration in the first place and the show ultimately faired better across the pond than it did on its birthplace, no doubt owing to its ensemble of writers. Do you agree with this list? What were your highs and lows of Torchwood: Miracle Day? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
