I would watch the hell out of that show, they are my favorite characters.

Strax is easily the best of the trio, I'd watch it for him if nothing else. But Jenny & Vastra are also a delight to see interact with other characters.

cool, I ended up seeing some of it before Who and thought it was weird, might give it a second try later into Tennants run.

Torchwood is a very mixed show. Its not particularly great in quite a lot of places but when its good its VERY good.

When do you think is a good time to start it?

That's the problem, it's one of those series that you need to have seen all of to get the most out of.

Season 1 is so-so, I have friends who really like it but I wasn't hugely impressed.
Season 2 is much better.
Season 3 (Children of the Earth) is excellent, but kinda runs off the impact of the last season's end.
Season 4 (Miracle Day) is so-so. The fact it was American-made works both in and against its favour.

As long as you're aware of the characters you should be fine as far as Doctor Who viewing is concerned. Although season 4 has a cameo from the rest of the cast which again, kinda ties into the end of Torchwood s2. It's nothing you can't read up on in about 30 seconds if you aren't bothered about spoilers though :lol

Okay, I think I saw some of Miracle Day before and was confused as hell. :lol So I guess Ill try to watch some of it later when I ahead of Who.

Also fair warning that Torchwood is a more explicit and graphic series than anything Doctor Who has done. For me, that kind of turned me off the show.

Explicit as in everybody bangs and snogs each other left and right. And they drop the occasional f-bomb :lol

Oh yeah, there's that too. The first season in particular is just "sex and aliens" half the time :lol