Well, we're getting closer and closer. Can you believe that the last new episode of Torchwood aired in the US on April 4 of last year? I'm really jonesing at this point, it's almost paralyzing!
(BTW, more on the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, in a couple days. I loved it, but then I do love a good Christmas story and though many of you think otherwise, I found Murray Gold's music in this ep particularly complementary. In fact, the opening strains of music make the episode for me.)
Much new stuff today around the web, but I can only point you toward a couple of items as time's a wastin' and there's a clip after the jump to get to, so let's get moving.
First, The Stage UK has deemed this Torchwood week. In their TV section over the next five days you'll have all the scoop you can handle. Today, Russell T Davies is interviewed and here's a tasty nugget:
A lot of the familiar elements of previous series seem to be written out in the first episode, as well.
Yes. That’s partly me coming back to Torchwood as
well, having not written for it since the very first episode, although
I’ve always been very hands on with it. If we were going to set up a
worldwide thriller, the Torchwood team were way too strong and
comfortable. They have a great big car and a great big super base and
they’re hard to damage. So that was the first impetus I went into it
with — to get rid of everything that makes them comfortable. It’s
marvellous from episode 2 onwards, because they’re literally on the
run. And Rhys [played by Kai Owen, who only briefly appears in episode
1] becomes a part of that.
They’re absolutely stripped down, no money, no resources, nothing.
It just makes it, frankly, a better thriller. They were just too strong
before. That’s fine when they’re fighting great big aliens, but this
ups the stakes.
A little spoilery, but maybe just enough to get some adrenaline flowing through you, huh? There's also something from the weekend from the Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall (big fan of the Whoniverse, btw) with another RTD interview and some Doctor Who discussion including ...
I'm unclear on the timing of this: were these five
specials always designed to end David Tennant's time in the role, or
did that happen after you started doing them?
No, we always knew they were going to be his last specials. It was
his choice. When Steven Moffat took over the show, of course David
wondered if he should be continuing, because of course Steven will be
the most brilliant showrunner in the world.
It's funny, we've now all moved on, for the most part. We all feel
that we've done the right thing. There's not one moment where we'd want
to use a TARDIS to go back in and do over again. It's been good, it's
been healthy, no regrets. If the handover had gone wrong, I would have
felt terrible. We've protected the show, and kept it enshrined for the
people in the UK.
I've only seen two of the specials so far, but there's
this recurring theme about The Doctor not wanting to take on a new
companion because of what happened in "Journey's End."
Poor Donna Noble.
You're a bastard, by the way.
Ha ha ha! He just called me a bastard. Ha ha ha ha!
Great to see Russell and the cast supporting their stuff with US press. It always encourages me when I see BBC America getting the stars of the Beeb out there in OUR ether.
Mo Ryan from the Chicago Tribune has some Barrowman action at her blog, as she asks the star if there's a chance he runs into the Doctor again before David Tennant's farewell to the tardis:
I had to ask Barrowman if there is a chance that Captain Jack
and Tennant's Doctor will meet again, before Tennant's run as the Doctor is
over (the BBC is doing a total of five "Who" specials to end Tennant's
run; two of them have aired in the UK, and those two specials air on
BBC America June 27 and July 26).
Barrowman's answer: "All I
can say is, at any time, the Doctor may call upon Jack or run into
Jack. Never say never" to Tennant's Doctor seeing Jack before his time is up.
Speaking
of "Children of Earth," I watched the first hour of it, and it's very
good. It's a concentrated dose of everything I like about "Torchwood,"
which is a spinoff of "Doctor Who." It's action-packed and fast-paced,
though it contains "Torchwood's" trademark wit and flirty banter.
When
I told Barrowman I thought Part 1 hit the ground running and only got
more intense throughout the hour, he said that, compared to the other
episodes, which air on five consecutive nights, "that's only a 5 out of 10" on the intensity scale.
Yes, Mo Ryan got a screener of the first hour. I didn't. She works for the Chicago Tribune. I work for me. You can do your own math on that one.
Speaking of the first hour, BBC One has released a new trailer for the first night, and it's after the jump.
I'm very much looking forward to this. For me, it's the biggest TV deal of the Summer.
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