Torchwood

So I've been watching the new Dr Who and enjoying it well enough, and getting into season 2 there's a bunch of intriguing mentions of "The Torchwood Institute". Unfortunately, I watched an episode of Torchwood season one and it was terrible, and from all accounts it doesn't get any good till season 2. So, is it worth starting in season 2? Or are there individual season 1 episodes I should watch to get the backstory? They have season 1 at the local video store so that's no trouble. Or should I not bother at all?

And is there a point in Dr Who I should get to before starting Torchwood? I just finished season 2 disk 2.

Thank youse all :) I really shouldn't be asking more questions before answering my mail (the point of a poll was to avoid having lots of comments to reply to) but I want stuff to watch! (Video store doesn't have disk 3, dammit)