I'd link if I could find it, but the thread is a mile long. There's a good discussion on who_anon about the use of humor in series 1 and 2 Torchwood vs later. The difference being in the first two you were laughing with the characters, and in the later ones you're supposed to laugh AT the characters which is a more mean spirited type of humor. But that goes with objectfication and so on which COE and MD are rife with.