I Am A TV Junkie

Click Here For The One Frame From the Torchwood Trailer I Have to Slam

Oh, c'mon. I loves me some Gwen Cooper, and Gwen Cooper would not do this.

Cute baby, not acting nearly enough, though. Look at that smile. Did no one give this baby the scene's context and her motivation?

Or, maybe this baby just sucks as an actor. Okay, who cast the baby that can't act?

Torchwood Set Pic -- Action Gwen With a Bazooka?

I know, I know, we call it a recoilless rocket antitank weapon now. I still like the word bazooka, though. Note Mekhi Phifer (Rex) hanging with our cast. He looks settled in, huh?

Only six months or so till Torchwood returns on Starz here in the US and BBC One in the UK. More as we get closer, much more once I get to Comic-Con, where I hope to get some access to the principles.

Hat tip to Ty Davies, I stole the pic from his Torchwood: Miracle Day page at Facebook. Visit that, will you?

More on Torchwood: The New World -- Spoilers Abound (Esther, CIA Laughs & a Pedophile)

See? Even Jack and Gwen are looking at the headline. They're thinking, "Esther? Who's named Esther anymore? And WTF is a paedo (british spelling) doing in our world?"

Since this is a spoiler-filled post, I'm putting the rest of it behind the jump.

And, btw, there's a new Starz Twitter account for the show, check it out at this link.

Starz Day for TCA: The First Poster for Torchwood: The New World

First of all, thank you to Eric Goldman at IGN.com who tweeted this image from the Starz panel at the Television Critics Association dealio. Click his name, see his tweets from the panel, which is happening right now (as I type this).

And the premiere date is narrowed down to Summer 2011, probably right after Comic-Con convenes, I would guess (if they're smart about it).

Also check Matt Roush from TV Guide, also at the panel, also a Torchwood viewer.

Extra thanks because it's Gwen and not that tool Jack Harkness (though he sent that one later on and it's here to the right). No I don't have a problem with Barrowman, far from it in fact. I do have a problem with Jack, though, documented at various spots on the blog.

Jack's not to be trusted. Sooner or later it'll be Torchwood or Jack's libido, and libido just might win. Or his fight or flight response will stick on flight and he'll disappear. Again.

He's a skeezer! Yeah, I know he's a man, but he's also a skeezer. That link, btw, is NSFW.

Oh, btw, Rhys (Kai Owen) is back for this series. Can't forget the relationship that grounds Gwen, after all. And one new character for the series will be Baby Boy or Girl Cooper-Williams. And, after that episode where Gwen was pregnant via alien in S2, who knows what might come out of her womb! In fact, I'll say it now: I predict complications for the Cooper-Williams kid. Certainly behavioral issues stemming from mom being an alien technology hunter but maybe ... more.

Writers announced for the upcoming 10 episode series (sticking with series, not season, as it's still a British show, at least to me) do not include Bryan Fuller (LINK) but do include Jane Espenson (everything that you love, too many to note here), Doris Egan (House), John Shiban (Breaking Bad) and the returning John Fay (episodes two and four of Children of Earth, don't hate him because he wrote Ianto's death scene, he was working under strict orders from above). Info per Mo Ryan at the Chicago Tribune.

I do realize, btw, that they're not new Gwen or Jack images, it was shot during the Children of Earth promo shoot. Still, I think I'm gonna make it my new Twitter background.

So thanks again, Eric Goldman from IGN.

Breaking News! Torchwood Returns ... to Starz! With Barrowman & Myles & Newbies!

Very very nice outside the box thinking. Congrats to Starz and Chris Albrecht and BBC Worldwide for getting it done.

Thanks to multiple sources including Hibberd, AfterElton.com and Ausiello for the heads up.

Of course everyone but Jack and Gwen are dead so there will have to be new cast members, they are TBA.

Here's a massive excerpt from the press release which you can read in full by clicking here:

"Torchwood" is a drama that puts extraterrestrial threats into a very real world, and asks how humanity deals with the danger - while fighting mankind's darkest instincts. The series' previous three seasons aired on BBC America in the U.S. and garnered record-breaking ratings for the network. Created by visionary writer/producer Russell T Davies, "Torchwood" has to date been located primarily in Cardiff, Wales. The new series will allow Davies and his writing team to tell a more explosive and global story, one that takes advantage of the unlimited narrative opportunities of a premium television service like Starz.

Davies and BBC Worldwide Productions' SVP Scripted Julie Gardner return as executive producers, with Davies also serving as show-runner for the new "Torchwood."

"We're committed to programming exceptional television that is entertaining, imaginative and provides a premium TV experience, and by any measure the new concept for 'Torchwood' fits that mandate," Starz, LLC, President and CEO Chris Albrecht said. "I've been part of successful partnerships with Jane Tranter and the BBC previously, and I'm very much looking forward to working with them again."

"'Torchwood' has attracted remarkable attention and loyalty in both the UK and U.S., and in this new partnership with Starz, the next chapter will not only reward our current fans, but also introduce new viewers to the most impressive installment yet," said Jane Tranter, EVP, BBC Worldwide Productions. "Chris Albrecht and his team are committed to delivering quality premium programming to their subscribers, also a core attribute of the BBC, and we are excited to be working with them as the 'Torchwood' adventure continues."

"Russell, Jane and Julie came to us with a compelling vision for the evolution of the 'Torchwood' saga that really takes the story into whole new areas," added Carmi Zlotnik, Managing Director of Starz Media – the production and development division of Starz. "The compelling story and characters this trio created provide a strong template for driving this narrative in exciting ways."  

Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning said: "We have a long history of working with many U.S. networks, but it is incredibly exciting to be working with Starz for the first time, as well as to be reunited with the best of British in Russell, Jane and Julie. 'Torchwood' will burst back onto the screen with a shocking and moving story with global stakes and locations that will make it feel bigger and bolder than ever"

More on this later. In the meantime we can do the dance of joy.

Might Torchwood Be Coming to the US Via Fox For 2010-11?

Big news today from Hibberd at THR Live Feed about the possibility of Fox picking up a version of Torchwood for the US market, possibly bringing John Barrowman to the US for his first series here since the short-lived Titans from Aaron Spelling and NBC in 2000.

No word on whether Gwen comes west as well, but I'm here to remind Russell T. Davies that it's not Torchwood without Eve Myles and he shouldn't even consider not bringing her along.

Yeah, I know there's a faction out there that doesn't care for Gwen. To them I say, "Screw you, she rocks." I myself don't really care all that much for Jack Harkness, personally, but you don't see me complaining about how he's a toxic bachelor times two (he's bisexual) with a God complex and a tendency to go off half-cocked (hehehe, I said half-cocked).

There is of course the option of setting an American Torchwood in Cardiff ... By The Sea, California. It's just minutes from my new home here in North San Diego County and on a body of water and it's called Cardiff ... what more do you want?

And I could get to location shooting in moments. I could stalk the whole cast and crew.

So what do you think? I'm still not sure that a US version of the show would preclude new eps of the British version, it's possible Barrowman could do both though who knows what that would do to story continuity.

I want more Torchwood but I also like how the BBC executes the format back in Wales. I'm conflicted.

You?

Learn more about my local Cardiff by clicking here for a clip.

Torchwood Creator Suggests Ianto Fans Calm Their Nerves With Supernatural Eye Candy

Russell T. Davies, I just adore you. We should really have coffee in West Hollywood at the Starbucks on Santa Monica across from the gym near La Cienega and watch the boys go by, we'd have a crackin' good time.

Today, Russell suggests to Ausiello at EW and Ianto fans in general ways they can quell that anger, saying, "There’s a risk that some people won’t come back to watch now that Ianto’s gone. I thank them for watching the show and I recommend they go watch Supernatural, because those boys are beautiful. And don’t tell me they’re brothers. [Laughs] Not in my mind."

I also run an endless loop of "those Winchester boys aren't really related" fan fiction in my head when I look at them.

Russell, you're in LA, just pick up the phone and call. We can bring Julie Gardner with us if you like. Lunch with all three of us and then off for coffee and cruising after, just us boys.

More from Ausiello:

Question: One of my readers wondered if you were under pressure to de-gay Torchwood and that's why you killed him off.

DAVIES: I think you can forget about people picking up gay rights as an issue. It's rather like children picking up nursery blocks and waving them in the air but having no idea what it entails. We’re talking about issues in my entire life here, not just one small television program. If they did research they’d go and look at the history of gay and lesbian characters that I have put on screen. They should simply grow up, do some research, and stop riding on a bandwagon that they actually don’t know anything about.

See, I don't need to defend the man, he's perfectly able to defend himself.

Let's be done with this Ianto's death is a hate crime meme, okay? You work for Torchwood? There are consequences for that. Get used to it.

When Eve Myles becomes Wales' first female action film star (and don't you LOVE, even LURVE, Action Gwen?)we'll lose her, too. It will be sad, but it will eventually happen. And it should. You don't need to see one person play one role forever and they don't need to play one role forever. It destroys one's career.

Ask Jennifer Aniston.

Torchwood -- The Politics of Children of Earth: Government Hits, Surveillance State and Blank Pages

And civil servants v. elected officials. Don't forget that classic struggle. Our old school Mr. Dekker certainly doesn't let his fellow civil servant John Frobisher forget that.

Peter Capaldi (above left, with Prime Minister Brian Green, played by Nicholas Farrell) plays Mr. Frobisher, a hard-working bureaucrat that has see the elected officials whose bidding he does come and go, but he's reminded by Dekker (Ian Gelder, left) about elected officials and their transience in the first hour of Children of Earth.

So, he takes matters into his own very capable bureaucratic hands and puts things in motion, things that include wiping Britain's records of the 1965 visit to Scotland from another realm, disappearing the memory of twelve orphan children and then tracking down those that might betray the plan by utilizing the most extensive network of closed-circuit security cameras in the world and finally, killing those whose allegiance can not be counted on.

Collateral damage includes a huge part of a major Welsh city 132 miles away, damage that was ordered by the British government, ordered from what is technically another country, England, and carried out in order to shut the mouths of just three people.

Of course, those three people work outside the government and beyond the police. And they can't be contained. Or handled. Or silenced. Unless you silence them forever. We know that one of them can't be stopped, and as long as the other two are alive he'll never be contained. They are labeled  enemies of the state. Terrorists.

They are Marginalized. Dehumanized.

And just like the blank page order that gets suggested by Frobisher, approved by the Prime Minister, then ordered to carry out by Frobisher to his personal assistant Bridget Spears, there is distance created from the instruction to commit acts to the carrying out of those orders.

As is the conversation between Gwen and one of the government hitmen in the ambulance at the scene of the hub explosion.

"Who do you work for, " she asks twice before he shoots him in the foot.

"The government. I'm working for the government, I'm just following orders ... I just do what I'm told."

It makes it easier to kill.

Even your favorite Cardiff constable PC Andy is used to get to his old partner Gwen, despite his assurances and then exclamations that "Gwen Cooper is not a terrorist." Fortunately he's smart enough to know that he's right, despite being scooped up by Frobisher's team of assassins near the blown-up Hub and used to find her home, now empty as pregnant Gwen and daddy-to-be Rhys surf a wave of raw potatoes in the back of a delivery truck to get to London to address their government leaders.

Gwen goes right to the source to get answers, even she being more confident than trepidacious, almost not believing that the government that she has working alongside would be targeting her for death based solely on her knowledge of particular State secrets.

Then Ianto reminds us, when he meets up with sister Rhiannon and her laptop and car, that he considers himself a civil servant as well. At that point you really have to think about the people that are placed in positions of power, inside or outside official structures.

What are their intentions? Is a man's allegiance to himself, to his family, to his benefactor, his religion or to the greater good? 

We know Ianto's allegiance is to the memory of his Torchwood London colleagues, to Lisa Hallett, to Tosh and Owen, to Gwen, and ultimately (for some otherwordly spiritually-tinged reason) to Captain Jack both by love and the tenets of the Torchwood rebuild led by Harkness post-Canary Wharf.

Finally, toward the end of this second day of Torchwood, we have this exchange between Frobisher and Prime Minister Green. The PM has already instructed Frobisher, who has in turn instructed his personal assistant Bridget Spears to delete the files and burn the evidence of that day in 1965 when a group of young orphans were left without the protection of their government. 

Once again, enough distance from the order so that both those who implement the directive and those who ordered it can claim distance from the act itself.

Frobisher, just as he turns to leave the PM's office says, "I just wanted to say how grateful I am sir ... I know that I am somewhat of a middle man in these affairs, I just wanted to thank you for trusting me with the responsibility."

"All I've done," Green says, "is put you on the front line. That's what the front line is for, John. First to fall."

Your heart sinks.

Finally, there is just one person with the political, moral and ethical will to do the right thing, a young woman who happens by chance to be in the right place and what many might consider the wrong time.

Meanwhile, Lois places herself on the front lines. Young impetuousness? National duty? Curiosity? It's your call why she does it.

Lois Habiba, after all, "didn't sign the Official Secrets act to cover up murder, and I didn't take the job to commit treason on the second day ... and if you lot Torchwood, if you're the alien expert, and they really are coming tomorrow, why does Mr. Frobisher want you out of the way all of a sudden? "

Conflicted but smart, and still untouched by the cold collective hand of a government in fear of the unknown, a government that has turned their collective backs on science.

Watch a preview of tonight's episode in a clip after the jump.

See It! New Doctor (Bow Tie), New Companion and Friend of the Blog with Torchwood's Eve Myles

And here they are below left. They start shooting today, per Lizo Mzimba, the entertainment reporter from BBC News.

Lizo is the same guy who took the win out of my sails when he had the exclusive on Karen Gillan's casting as companion Amy Pond (what's THAT an anagram for?). I, as you know was hot for Hannah Murray from Skins getting the role. She's a very pretty girl though, this Karen Gillan, and ginger, and I bet Catherine Tate is somewhere smiling about that part of it all.

More from the article at this link. Moffat is quoted and everyone seems to be thrilled to be on the job in Cardiff, which is my future vacation home location if you guys would just buy a whole lot of the stuff from Amazon items that I icon out in my posts. You don't think I'm looking to get rich, do you? Not a chance, I just wanna be on the prowl in Cardiff to bring you all the Whoniverse happenings as they happen.

And if you had bought thousands of copies of DVDs from those links I would have been there with my Facebook pals from the UK, all great supporters of the world of Doctor Who/Torchwood/ The Sarah Jane Adventures and the upcoming show Russell will write about a blogger from Southern California who time travels and finds himself for some reason working as a valet for The Face of Boe.

It's called Boe/Bua and it stars ... well, me. It's a comedy, btw. I'm still waiting for that call, BBC. I'm home all the time, and you must be able to get my mobile number, seems other people do who I don't know. Like that woman who keeps telling me via recording that I could be paying less for my car insurance.

(It could also be called Boe & Joe, which is kind of catchy, dontcha think?)

In my absence, friend of the blog Ty Davies and proprietor of the best Doctor Who universe page in all of Facebook was at the event and has the pics, but oddly none of him with the lovely Eve Myles, which I was hoping for (mostly for his sake, sorry wife Donna).

About the pic above, I like a nice bow tie. How about you? I still think a Doctor young enough to be my son is creepy, but at least he's a natty dresser.

But all that running with a bowtie around your neck? Matt Smith, you'd better get your sweat glands removed.

Above right, see Jonnie Eades (far right), another friend from the FB world and huge fan (and I believe his son,center, though it might be a nephew too) get their copy of the DVD set for Children of Earth signed by the stars.

Jonnie and Ty met for the first time that day. The Doctor, Capt. Jack ... they bring people together.

Photo right by Ty Davies. If you're really nice (and you will be, I'm sure) and friend him on FB you might get to see the rest of his pics.

I got mine from Amazon, pre-ordered. It releases on the 28th here. Support my habit by clicking the link and buying it there with a low-price guarantee.

         

Video -- Torchwood Hour Six -- Huh?

I just found a link in my Google news alert for Torchwood telling me that you can watch the sixth hour on this website with the suffix attached to the URL that leads me to believe that the servers are based in Crackistan.

There is no hour six.

Do not be duped.

Or go find the link if you want as bunch of malware installed on your computer. 'Cause I bet that's all you're gonna get.

US Premiere is July 20, BBC America HD.

Maybe.

If your cable company complies. Do they? Time Warner has still told me nothing.

After the jump, stars Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd are interviewed before the series by the BBC's Breakfast program. Only very minor spoilers, nothing you don't know from the trailer, not to worry.

Video -- Do Not Look Here for Torchwood Spoilers, We Start July 20

My blog, my rules.

I'm trying to do a solid for the fans out there that don't have the wherewithall to have already seen the first night of Torchwood Children of Earth, as it aired in the UK last night.

And, I must suggest that you take great care in surfing the web today as the Brits have seen the first hour and there's stuff all over the place.

I will only say that the reviews that I've seen so far have been outstanding. And the ratings, per the Guardian, indicate that over a quarter of the British television audience watched the first hour, that's 5.9 million viewers.

Anyhow, until it airs here I'll have nothing but previews and trailers and as usual nothing that will harsh your enjoyment. Please let the people who are telling you this story tell it to you in the way they deem the most effective. They're trained professionals who know what they're doing.

Knowing what will happen ahead of time doesn't really make you more clever than the rest, it just means you have more time on your hands.

In the meantime, after the jump the Torchwood gang has a laugh at Eve Myles' expense. Very funny, you gotta click over to see it.

Video -- Three Days Till UK Torchwood Premiere: Eve Myles, Kai Owen, Barrowman, Radio Plays

And, I have links for the BBC 4 radio plays that I thought weren't available to US audiences. Apparently they are, fortunately. At the end of the post.

So, the official difference between coming soon in the UK and coming soon in the US has been established.

It's 14 days.

So it's not actually a day and date concurrent airing in the US and UK! You can wait two weeks, right? You can't? What, are you 12, is the adolescent in you screaming "No daddy, I wanna see Torchwood now" like some petulant little Veruca Salt in front of a flock of geese that lay golden eggs?"

Yeah, I know. Me too!

More in the last couple days from The Stage UK from their Torchwood week series of interviews, including Eve and John getting us all pumped for the five-night sci fi thriller of an event. But first, let's go to Kai Owen, our loveable British bear Rhys, the luckiest guy in all of Cardiff (he got Gwen, who I certainly want by my side when the rift causes its usual chaos.

The Press Association:

The Welsh actor, who plays Gwen's love interest Rhys, said the cast are just waiting for the go-ahead.

"Waiting for the nod, hopefully it will be happening - nothing has been confirmed yet but I'd do it forever, it's a brilliant job," he said.

Kai continued: "I mean, it gets better after that first episode as well, it makes you want to watch the other four and they get better and better and better, episode five is so phenomenal, so it's got to happen again."

So there's that.

Next Eve talks about a more vulnerable Torchwood in her interview with The Stage's Scott Matthewman:

It seems a much more vulnerable Torchwood this year.

It’s great. The more challenges Torchwood has to face, the funnier it gets. You put a challenge in front of them, and they have no choice but to overcome that obstacle. The way they overcome some of those obstacles this year is very funny, very cheeky, they break the law. They do what they have to do to do their job. Whatever it takes. Because the consequence is saving mankind.

Talking of the humour, the level of humour just in the first episode does seem to be a contrast from the latter episodes of Season 2.

Yes, Well, there was such a heavy ending last year with everybody in mourning. With the first episode, there’s so much danger, and so much exposition for the rest of the series. Everybody knows how Jack is now, everybody knows who Gwen and Ianto are. You’ve just got to chuck the humour at the audience so that it balances out the horror of what’s to come.

And finally, back to the intrepid immortal Captain Jack. Barroman comments on returning to the show without two good friends in tow, again to Matthewman:

How does the team dynamic feel now that you’ve lost Naoko Mori and Burn Gorman?

Eve, Gareth and I will always miss them. That’s one thing we wanted to make sure in the show, that we have a little moment. Because they were there with us since day one, and they were part of of the beginning of Torchwood, and they’ll always be part of Torchwood. Although they’re not there physically, they are there in spirit. And they do get mentioned at times throughout. Just as at the end of the last series of Doctor Who, where it was Tosh who had created the time bubble to save Gwen and Ianto. So there are little bits like that all the time.

Finally, with a hat tip to AfterElton.com today, we have links to the BBC radio plays that serve to pump you up for the miniseries, and you can click directly to the BBC Radio 4 site for that at this link.

Start with Asylum, then proceed to Golden Age and then finish up with The Dead Line. 

Finally, at ThisIsSouthWales.com, they have the cutest li'l story about the cutest li'l girl named Aimee Davies who was plucked from a Gorseinon schoolyard to play Ianto's niece in the series. There's also the cutest li'l picture of her and Eve on that page that you gotta see. What a cutie!

And, not to ignore the li'l boys, there's something at Barry Today (home of our friend Nessa and the gang from Gavin & Stacy) about a cute li'l boy named Luke Perry (no, not THAT one) who also has a role in this series playing Ianto's nephew.

So, I guess there's lots from the Jones family in this epic tale, which all starts in the US on July 20. While I am still quite flummoxed by not seeing any member of the cast on a US chat show or even the showbiz shows, I will do everything I can to get you to watch it.

July 6 thru 10, BBC One and BBC HD.

July 20, possibly in HD if your cable or satellite provider isn't too lame. BBC America.

Hey Time Warner Cable, what's the deal, people? Yes or no?

After the jump, over six minutes of Eve Myles being interviewed by the folks at Digital Spy UK. It's only somewhat spoilery in the most general sense, so be slightly warned.

Video -- Torchwood Children of Earth Behind the Scenes, Gareth David-Lloyd Interview

What's up with Eve Myles' mouth? Nasty grill, huh? You'll have to watch the behind the scenes clip after the jump to find out.

More Torchwoody goodness today. (It's giving me a TorchWoody, dontcha know.)

Today at The Stage UK, Gareth David-Lloyd is in the spotlight. Here's a taste:

It’s quite unusual to see a gay couple in a BBC1 drama that isn’t specifically about them being gay.

Absolutely. The normality of having the Jack-Ianto relationship as one of the focal points of the show, and the way it’s treated with indifference — it’s just there — I think is great. A lot of shows are made about being gay, and they may have gay couples at the forefront. Here, it’s just not an issue. It’s not pushed in your face or anything, it’s just another relationship. I think that’s quite important.

The relationship has changed quite a bit over the last couple of series. After all, when the series started, Ianto was keeping his cybernetic girlfriend in the cellar.

I think Ianto used Jack’s attraction to him to manipulate him, up until the Cybergirl episode. They were probably doing things just before any of that happened, so that Ianto could gain his trust and manipulate him into helping with his hidden agenda. Then, when he loses Lisa, he’s completely stripped bare in front of the team, basically. All he’s got left is Torchwood, all he’s got left is Jack. And when Jack gives him a second chance, he’s got something he can be part of, something that defines him. Throughout this series, Ianto’s fears are that he’s going to lose all that again. And how easy can it be to have a relationship with someone who can live for ever? He’s got all these doubts in his mind, these worries. In a thousand years’ time, will Jack even remember him?

Clip after the jump. July 20 through the 24, BBC America.

2 Clips -- Gwen-Centric Torchwood Children of Earth Trailer From Australia

Click here to watch at DoctorWhoHD.com.

Very intense:

"There's one thing I always meant to ask Jack, back in the old days.

"I wanted to know about that Doctor of his, a man who appears out of nowhere and saves the world ... except sometimes he doesn't.

"All those times in history when there was no sign of him I wanted to know why not, but I don't need to ask anymore.

"I know the answer now.

"Sometimes the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame.

"I'm recording this in case anyone ever finds it so they can see ... you can see how the world ended."

Next month on BBC America, BBC One and UKTV in Australia.

After the jump, a new promo clip with RTD and Barrowman and the gang from BBCA.

By Special Request w/Video -- Kings Returns June 13, Dirty Sexy Money July 18

My favorite Oaktown Girl (Hey!) requested info that I happen to have, so I'm sharing it with all of you.

First, the Dirty Sexy Money news ... the remaining eps, per HitFix.com, begin airing on Saturdays beginning July 18. That's when the remaining eps of Eli Stone finish airing which happens in the same time slot that Pushing Daisies is currently airing (as of last night, at 10 pm).

Kings is back sooner, but of course we have more episodes in the can of that than any of the individual ABC run-off dramas. Kings returns June 13 with their sixth of 13 eps.

And, just for those who are itching for it, NBC has Merlin coming in on Sunday June 21 at 8 and The Philanthropist (James Purefoy, Mmmmmm) starts on Wednesday June 24.

Before Kings comes back I'll do a catch-up post for those like me who were put off by the constant schedule changing and the finding out that it wouldn't be more than one season (because it won't be unless all of a sudden it becomes the most popular leisure time pursuit in the nation very quickly).

And I'll have a lot more on The Philanthropist as well, which co-stars Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) and Neve Campbell. There's a panel at the Paley Center (a reasonably priced panel, btw, $20 for non-members, info at this link) that I might attend the night before the premiere.

And finally, I have clips from The Philanthropist and Merlin after the jump. By the way, the witch in the Merlin clip, under all that makeup is Torchwood star Eve Myles, one of my personal favorites (image right).

Also know that I'm holding my interview with Anthony Head until we get close to the Merlin premiere. I'll put that up the week it debuts.

One more thing ... The Listener premieres on NBC on June 4. More on that show this week. As soon as I find out more about it. For starters, he's a guy with telepathic abilities. Okay, but what else? I'll find out.

Torchwood Magazine Exclusive: Barrowman on Secrets Revealed

I just got this in from Ricky at Torchwood Magazine, which btw you can find at your better bookstores and much better newsstands (like my better newsstand locally at South Coast Plaza) and some comic book stores, but unfortunately not MY comic book store.

(Not that I own it, I just go there to look at action figures. And place the ones outside the blister packs in compromising positions to the delight of the salespeople there.)

John Barrowman tells them in the issue out now:

The new Torchwood story drags up a lot of people's secrets, and we all like to see that, don't we? It's the kind of story that, once you start watching it, you will be hooked. Even if you've never seen Torchwood before, you're going to fall for these characters, and you're going to go with them on an amazing journey that will be the biggest rollercoaster ride of their lives.

We've already heard from John and his and Ianto's relationship is key to the plot in this five-part miniseries event.

Barrowman really is great at selling his projects, not that I don't enjoy the Torchwood because as you know I do.

But reading, watching and listening to him promote his shows you realize that he would have made a great ad copywriter or publicist. Of course he would have wasted all that scorching hotness that the camera just eats up.

You can subscribe to Torchwood Magazine at this link and buy the Torchwood Annual from Titan Magazines through an Amazon link that I'm posting below. Thanks again for the support, I might be able to buy half a season of one of my fave shows on DVD by, say, 2019, so that's always appreciated.

Finally, because I never did include it in a post (it resides in my right hand column for a while) here's the BBC trailer for Torchwood: Children of Earth, this summer (July?) across the networks of the BBC all over the world.

And, for those of you who need a little Eve Myles fix, check her out on Masterpiece Classic on PBS in Little Dorrit. In fact, you can do that online at the new PBS Video website, at this link. You can watch that, Frontline, Nova, Lehrer ... all their great content, on your schedule.

And because I get mail when I don't mention Gareth David-Lloyd (his website at this link), I'll include him as I say all our Torchwood leads have been spotted in Cardiff recently. Good chance they'll all be around when Doctor #10 regenerates into a kid that needs a good haircut.

PBS Schedules BBC Little Dorrit, Starts Sunday March 29

The UK Guardian says, "The BBC has dramatised a fable for our times."

Of course, they got a little lucky with that. This series started in Britain not long after the begin of our economic meltdown and both the financial and entertainment press noticed that congruence.

Here's the trailer for Little Dorrit, based on the Dickens novel, starting March 29 on PBS, though you should check your own TV listings as there are occasionally variations.

The cast is major, MAJOR indeed, and readers of this blog will recognize Eve Myles from Torchwood, Ruth Jones (how I love me some Ruth Jones) from Gavin & Stacy, Freema Agyeman from Doctor Who, Russell Tovey from Being Human (soon on BBC America), Judy Parfitt, Matthew Macfayden and Tom Courtney, among others.

Click here for full cast. Clip after the jump. Behind the scenes image above from BBC.com.

2 Clips -- Eve Myles at NY Comic-Con: "I Had a Ball Out There!"

 

So, it's love. Love between a Welsh actress and the crowd at New York Comic-Con.

And why not? She's beautiful, she's charming as all get out (most actors are, I know) and she's on a big US cult hit. I don't have to tell you that, though. BBC America audiences have made Torchwood the highest rated series in BBC America history.

So, who else is in "love?"

How about Kent Gibbons from Multichannel News?

Myles - described by the creator of Torchwood and the related, revived Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies, as “one of Wales’s best-kept secrets” - used her wit and Welsh wiles to do something difficult. She pleased a room filled with 500-plus fans of the show while not really revealing anything important about the upcoming season. Now that’s cheeky.

Yet she declared New Yorkers the “cheeky, cheeky monkeys,” after an audience member in New Yorks Jacob Javits Convention Center dropped an F bomb in inviting her and Torchwood director Euros Lyn out for a night of, um, carousing.

Of course she did let a few behind-scenes secrets out, including that co-star John Barrowman (Capt. Jack Harkness) “farts a lot.” That wins a crowd over fast.

(snip)

Myles, who sweetly stepped off stage at one point to accept a gift and offer hugs to the two fans who brought it, responded ever so politely when a female fan called her gorgeous. “I’m so coming back to New York!” she declared.

The welcome mat will be out.

Who else? That answer and a clip from the event, after the jump.

Torchwood S3 -- "Cheeky" Eve Myles, Euros Lyn at NY Comic-Con Promise "Action"

They promise all kinds of action. And I know you've seen the trailer already so you know that Jack and Ianto get in at least one big snog before the shit starts to hit the fan.

Or maybe it's because the shit hits the fan.

From the trailer (see it in my right hand column under "Stuff I'm Loving" or click here) our outside the government, beyond the police favorites

Torchwood comes to us and to the Brits at the same time this year, some week at the end of June or the beginning of July. I get it, they can cut down a bit on the ol' torrenting thing and hopefully boost their numbers for this five-hour miniseries event.

(So, if they can do that, why aren't we seeing the Doctor Who specials this coming year in the same way? Does BBC America get first crack at these? Do they do to SciFi in 2010 as part of the Intern Who first season? What's the deal? And why aren't we being filled in? If you wanna cut down on the illegal downloading, I say get the product to the people who want it ASAP, like they're doing with Torchwood.)

(And furthermore -- yes, this is the second parenthetical paragraph in a row for those of you counting -- why doesn't BBC Worldwide save first run Who in the US to build a night of programming on their US flagship station? I would be making it the centerpiece of my schedule!)

So, what about this miniseries, and further ... what's up with all the kids in the adult-focused Torchwood? Director of the miniseries, Euros Lyn (above right), had this exchange with io9.com:

Doctor Who is unique in that it focuses towards children, and Torchwood is more adult, but in this new trailer that we just saw, there are children. What new aspects did that bring to it? How much did it change it, do you think?

LYN: I think Torchwood's very much an adult show, but I'm certain that kids are going to be staying up until 9 o'clock to see it, because it's gripping and terrifying in the same way that Doctor Who is. They do share a huge amount of territory.

Yeah, I wasn't pleased with that answer, either. But with the show having moved from BBC Three to BBC Two after the first series and now to BBC One for this five-parter, one has to wonder what's going on here. 

More with Lyn and Myles from NYC after the jump.

Well, I Guess I Must Apologize to Fans of Brit TV Director Euros Lyn

So, when I said that people wouldn't be particularly interested in pics of Euros Lyn, I was wrong.

Comment under my post about Lyn's appearance with Eve Myles at NY Comic-Con:

I'll have you know Euros has a bit of a fan-club of his own, so we'd certainly appreciate a pic!

Well, Graeme. I've done you one better. Cheers!

Also, an image from The Girl in the Fireplace, one of my fave Doctor Who episodes, which he directed.

And if you're going to NY Comic-Con and you're bringing a camera, please drop me a note so I can beg you for a few images from the event.

Torchwood's Eve Myles, Director Euros Lyn at New York Comic-Con

So our pals overseas continue to come visit us. If you're in New York on Saturday Feb. 7 and wanna stop by the Javits Center with a few hundred thousand of her other US fans, please do so and then run to your computer and upload all your info and pics to me and I'll post it all here.

Because I've been to New York once in the last twelve months and I'm not going back, not even for this.

(San Francisco's WonderCon would be another story altogether. It's a story that also ends with my not showing up, but it's a different kind of not showing up that involves my meeting some guy in a cute way in a bookstore -- actual legitimate bookstore -- and ... you don't need to know the rest.)

And excuse me for not posting the pic of Euros Lyn, but honestly you wouldn't know him if you tripped over him while scouting locations in Cardiff, now would you.

They'll be talking Torchwood: Children of Earth and signing things, for those of you who like things signed.

I think getting things signed by people actually makes me lose them. I stopped getting people to sign things years ago when I noticed the stuff disappearing.

BBC is really trying to get their people out here to do promo in the States, this is a good thing. More awareness = more viewers = less I have to coerce people to watch my favorite shows to keep them on the air.

New York Comic-Con site at this link.

Torchwood BBC America site at this link. Needs to be updated, kids!

My favorite Eve Myles fan site at this link.

I Just Finished Part One of Little Dorrit, Am I Blowing Your Mind?

Am I? Blowing your mind? Because usually the closest I get to Dickens these days is rewatching The Unquiet Dead episode of Doctor Who to see Eve Myles pre-Torchwood.

(And the Gelth, of course.)

And the closest I usually get to the classics on TV is vintage Bewitched (not the black and white years but anything after that, and especially Serena episodes, that's what I call a classic).

Instead of my usual Sunday morn ritual of watching SNL before I get out of bed even (thank the Gods of Tech for DVRs) I sat at my desk and watched the first of the fourteen-part Dickens adaptation of Little Dorrit .

Why? Well, a lot of my UK TV faves, first of all. Especially Ruth Brown (above), who is upcoming in episode two. In this the first stanza we spend a lot of time with Doctor Who companion Freema Agyeman (top) as Tattycorum (image above). 

Later on we get to see the aforementioned Myles as Maggy, which should be interesting. She plays a very Dickensian character, a life-long resident of the debtor's prison whose childhood illness brought developmental disorders. She has the capacity of a 10-year-old.

Brown plays Flora, the kind but somewhat overbearing childhood love of Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfayden from Spooks, known in the US as MI-5).

I can't promise I'll see the whole thing through. Or, maybe I'm not as shallow as I think.

As this is a WGBH-Boston Co-Production, I presume we will see this on Masterpiece Theatre next year.

And given the current financial condition of the country, Little Dorrit is especially prescient, per Toby Young at the Independent:

So far, the only unqualified beneficiary of the credit crunch has been Little Dorrit, the BBC's new 14-part costume drama. When this serial was given the go-ahead, the head of BBC Drama Productions couldn't possibly have known just how relevant a story about a young woman raised in a debtors' jail would be.

Watch the BBC trailer after the jump.

We Get Letters, and From Tyrone S. Davies at That, and About Swansea!

What? You don't know Ty? Click here if you're a Facebook member, read the page, and then join, it's that easy, folks.

But, back to Ty. As you'll remember, I posted the pic below right with the story about how RTD was dream-casting the Doctor Who movie (should it happen) with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

 I mentioned that my Swansea beauty of choice was Eve Myles from Torchwood, which elicited this note from Ty:

Always good to say Hi to you Joe! However, I do need to correct your article on Swansea beauty Catherine Zeta Jones (do you know, were the same age! I quite possibly attended school events with her, true story) in Doctor Who.

Well ... you said that it was Swansea beauty Catherine Zeta Jones but you preferred Swansea beauty Eve Myles (marvellous taste & the only woman that I would leave my marital bed for!! Dont tell my Donna that!).

Now Eve is from Ystradgynlais, which is not only a great Scrabble score but 14 miles away from Swansea (26 miles from my hometown of Llandovery). Online, it is listed on some places as Swansea but it isnt.

As being so Welsh it is unreal, I love that I can correct you on this & have an excuse to say Shumai, Which means 'Hiya' in Welsh!

And, of course, Ty, Shumai also refers to a tasty little Chinese dumpling thing.

But I do stand corrected, and delightfully so.

Mmmmm ... Shumai.

Sorry, I digressed.

Eve (top of post) is wearing an I Love Cardiff t-shirt, and you can get one as well by clicking over to this link and ordering one.

Mention this post when you do, then they won't be so pissed off that I stole their pic.

And joining the Tyrone Davies Apprciation (the E is invisible) Society at Facebook is a must do.

Some Doctor Who Morning News -- TV Choice Awards, Freema's New Role, Zeta-Jones?

What the hell am I writing about Catherine Zeta-Jones for?

I'll tell you why. NO, I'll let the Sun tell you why (read at your own peril):

Doctor Who creator Russell T Davies is desperate for Welsh beauty Catherine Zeta Jones to star in a film version of the BBC1 hit.

The award-winning writer, 45, said he would love Catherine, 38, to be David Tennant’s sidekick on the big screen. He added: “Being from Wales myself, I’d love to have Catherine Zeta Jones as a companion for the Doctor.”

But he insisted no one could replace David Tennant, 37, as the Time Lord.

He said: “To have anyone else would be inconceivable.”

How to interest Zeta-Jones in the role? Tell her the tardis is real and could actually take her back in time so that she could be sleeping with a man more age appropriate.

Speaking of appropriate, the get-up illustrated above would certainly not be appropriate for the Planet of the Ood now, would it.

After the jump, a doppelganger for the Swansea beauty (but not THE Swansea beauty, in my world that's Eve Myles) in a clip from the Channel 4 UK series Star Stories, which is running right now on BBC America.

But first ...

The Press Association (UK):

Doctor Who and EastEnders were the big winners at a TV awards ceremony.

David Tennant, 37, won Best Actor for the second consecutive year for his role as the Time Lord. And Catherine Tate, 40, picked up Best Actress for her turn as the Doctor's companion Donna Noble and the BBC One sci-fi show itself was named Best Loved Drama for the third year.

EastEnders beat its ITV rivals Coronation Street and Emmerdale to Best Soap at the TVQuick and TVChoice awards, hosted by comedian and actor Ben Miller.

Kinda like their People's Choice Awards, I guess.

And, finally, about a departing member of the Whoniverse, finally the official announcement on casting for Law & Order: UK, featuring the lovely Freema Agyeman from the Daily Mirror:

Doctor Who beauty Freema Agyeman is to head a British cast for ITV's remake of hit US crime show Law & Order.

Former Corrie star Bradley Walsh and Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber are also on board.

Freema is to play "hardworking, strong-willed" prosecutor Alesha Phillips in the 13-part first series, which starts filming later this month.

So it's official. I'll miss Martha Jones, but this is a huge opportunity for her (and for Jamie Bamber) and I'll try to check her out on that show.

Clip after the jump.

The Scene? Cardiff. The Event? Torchwood Series Three

And although it's only five hours of programming (instead of the expected 13) I can still get all jazzed about it, can't I?

BTW, to anyone who wants to fly me to Cardiff, I have absolutely nothing to do until October, so just send the ticket and make up the couch for me and I'm on my way.

I stole the pic above from The Tardis Legacy, another one of the great Doctor Who/Torchwood/Sarah Jane blogs from the UK. I hope they accept this link in exchange.

WalesOnline.co.uk:

The show’s star Eve Myles was surrounded by cast, crew and fans as filming for series three of the Doctor Who spin-off got under way in the city’s St Mary Street yesterday.

The Swansea Valley-born star, who plays Gwen Cooper in the BBC show, said it had been a busy morning. She said: “It’s exciting to be filming again in Cardiff. We’re very sorry for the disruption we’re causing but at least nothing paranormal is happening today!”

In the past few weeks, the film crew has already been spotted at a range of locations across Cardiff and shooting is set to continue throughout the city until the end of November.

More pics, from Life, Doctor Who & Combom, at this link (including Rhys!).

I love Eve Myles. Sure, the blonde bombshell is something to behold, but there's also something just so fine about a dark haired beauty with knowing eyes and an inviting smile.

Yes, I'm still gay. Not to worry.

After the jump, a montage of Torchwood clips and pics from the TorchwoodForum.co.uk MeetUp in Cardiff by YouTube user 8bulletproof8.

Shocking!!! Torchwood Series Three Becomes a Week-Long Miniseries

This just sucks so hard!!!

Now, to find out why, and I have a couple sources.

TV Guide (which I can link to now that it's no longer owned by Newscorp):

John Barrowman will return as the dashing bi-sexual adventurer. Though keeping more details close to the vest, executive producer Julie Gardner vows that fans "will be pleased with the casting." That better mean Eve Myles is returning!

Fans, however, may not be so happy with the mere five hours slated for next season. "We've decided to do a five-part mini-series, one big story that will run during one week," says Gardner, adding, "I wanted to make a really big noise about the show."

So far, the BBC has only green lit these five hours, but there could be more, we're told. When (or even whether) BBC America will run the mini-series has yet to be decided.

Yes, I know, that doesn't really explain why. I also have this, from Behind the Sofa. It's from a comment on the site, and it is actually lifted from another location, so digest this info AYOR:

The reason for the 5 episode Series 3 of Torchwood is basically budgetary. In January 2007 the BBC failed miserably to get the licence fee settlement it requested and planned for. Budget cuts have been made all over the place, and inevitably one of these is Upper Boat.

During the financial year 2007-8 there were 2 production teams working full time. This roughly equated to 9 months filming Doctor Who, 9 months filming Torchwood and 6 months filming SJA. For the financial year 2008-9 there will be just one team which will produce SJA (April - August), Torchwood (September - December) and Doctor Who (January - March).

AFAIK (editor's note, I don;'t know this acronym, either - JB), the plan for 2009-10 is to go back to 2 teams, with a full Series 5 of Who and a full Series 4 of Torchwood, hopefully as well as SJA Series 3.

Owing to the enormous amount of spin-off merchandise etc, what the BBC have had to do is ensure that the programmes get made, whilst at the same time making more out of less. Therefore both Torchwood Series 3 and the Doctor Who 2009 Specials will be marketed as *event television*.

So that's the info I have. I will continue to glean additional information from all sources and get back atcha!

One additional note, if Freema is working on that series The Survivors, from the creator of Primevel, will she have time (or the inclination) to be in these five episodes? I've also seen mention that Noel Clarke (Mickey from Doctor Who) may join the team.

Conjecture, I know, but compelling conjecture.

And, also, a quick note to Brits -- The licence fee is a bargain. What's your prob?

In the meantime, remember, it's just these three standing alone in the Hub, wondering what's next. And now, we are as well.

"Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn't Keep Screaming!"

And Tosh says to Owen, " Because you're breaking my heart." And that's when I lost it. And if you felt the same way, you can experience it again all over as I've posted the clip after the jump.

What Torchwood does better than any show I've seen recently on the tube is that they get you all wrapped up in thrills and then on a dime they turn and just make you sooooo sad. Catherine Tregenna did it in this season's Meat episode and here it is again in this ep from Chris Chibnall.

(This is the last of Chris Chibnall in Torchwood's writer's room for a while, he'll be showrunner for the Law & Order UK franchise upcoming, and he turned in a fine final scene to a good if not great episode. I wasn't so keen on the brother storyline, it seemed a little forced and they certainly didn't let us know Gray much besides that he was tortured after Jack lost him and was awfully pissed off. And I guess bringing back Marsters was fine but I prefer the episodes where its just the crew and the residents of Cardiff dealing with that nasty li'l rift.)

So we have Jack, Ianto, Gwen, and Rhys left, and this certainly does leave the door open for the return of Martha Jones to the Torchwood hub (close your eyes real tight and wish really hard for Freema's return) and the need for Ianto to upgrade his skills or pick up a new tech person.

I am accepting all rumors about new cast members in the comment section. And click over the jump for the clip.

Okay America, Do You Love Torchwood Enough to Fly to the London Convention?

Okay, what if Barrowman doesn't show? Will you go then?

Because he's not showing. I'm guessing that he's either gonna be on TV hosting a quiz show that weekend or singing somewhere or guesting on any number of UK shows or rescuing London theatregoers (certainly a Tom Cruise move, albeit without all the Xenu stuff).

Barrowman's busy, that's the point.

IFMagazine.com:

“The Rift” is a one day convention in Porchester Hall in Central London on Saturday, April 26, 2008.  Confirmed guests include:  Eve Myles, Gareth David Lloyd, James Marsters, Alan Dale, Richard Stokes (producer) Chris Chibnall (writer) and James Moran (writer).  Guests will be signing autographs, taking photographs, doing Q&A sessions and panel discussions. As a special treat the evening will be topped off by James Marsters giving a live concert which will surely bring down the house!

Or, you could just click over the jump to the clip on Marsters singing Birth of the Blues at the Celtic Blues Festival in Cardiff from November last year.

Gwen Cooper's Got the Wedding Bell Blues

Uh oh! Oops! Did I tell you the one about the Torchwood agent who got bit by a shape shifter?

Well, gotta go watch this episode. Thanks, Spence, for the pic.

Making the Best of My Busted Weekend With RTD's The Second Coming, Torchwood

So, what did I do yesterday while the throngs engaged in all things Who yesterday? I watched the Russell T. Davies TV mini The Second Coming. Well, the first part of it, anyway.

Great TV. Christopher Eccleston plays a regular ol' bloke Steven Baxter who suddenly has the Son of God thing thrust upon him right there in the middle of Manchester and has a really rough time explaining to his family and friends that he's not crazy or injured or Satan.

You can't keep your eyes off Eccleston when he's in front of the camera, he demands your attention with all his quirky eye and mouth stuff, but then draws you in with a great performance, just mastering his dialogue.

And Lesley Sharp, who I had never seen act until I popped this in the DVD player (thanks, Bill!) is just blowing me away as Steven's unrequited love and the most ardent critic of his revelation that he is "God made of flesh on this Earth."

I also watched last night's Torchwood episode, Meat, written by Catherine Tregenna (last season's Out of Time and the penultimate ep of the first series, Captain Jack Harkness) and once again was blown away by how this show turns on a dime from thrills to pathos.

Just like in Sleeper two weeks ago, there's a moment you're fearing that some alien entity is going to do harm to your favorite team member and the next you're in mourning for that entity's loss or lot in life and looking for a way to save their humanity or yours or at least do the right thing.

More, including the requisite clippage, after the jump.

We Gotta Talk About That Amazing Torchwood Ep Last Night

Yes, I loved it, but I will also say that I have found something remarkable in just about every episode. And it's not always the same kind of "something remarkable."

For example, I loved Countrycide because it turned out in the end that it wasn't an alien at all that was stripping the flesh from those people, it was their neighbors. I liked the idea that the crew went out to investigate and it wasn't their milleau at all.

I loved Random Shoes, because it was a great character study and, if the truth be known, there's a bit of Eugene Jones in me (like there is a little of Elton Pope from the Doctor Who episode Love & Monsters in me as well).

But when I started reading UK blog reviews of last night's episode, Sleeper, after it aired on BBC Two, I had a sense that the naysayers would be coming around to giving this one the props that I feel all the episodes deserve.

New Season on BBC America Gives Me a Torchwoody

(Yes, I realize that this is a pic of the Torchwood cast with Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones, and she doesn't show up till later in the season, but I saw it and I couldn't resist posting it. I'm very excited about this season, so excuse my getting a little ahead of things.)

Yeah, nothin' like two hot men approaching each other like it's the shootout at the OK Corral then sticking their tongues down each other's throats, and then beating the crap out of each other before pulling weapons (unfortunately actual guns and not the other thing that shoots) on each other.

(And if any of you big strong heterosexuals got squirmy about it, all I can say is, "See how it feels?")

Yes, Torchwood got off (I said got off, hehehehe) to a great start Saturday. Captain Jack returns from his vacation with the Doctor and Martha with renewed vigor, and once again having the sense of humor he forgot about last season.

But who can blame him, really. Would you have a sense of humor if you spent every day trying to micromanage the rift in time over Cardiff, you were a single horny guy like Jack without an outlet and you spent your days giving orders, but not fun orders, to Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd), who looks like he'd be a lot of fun out on the town (and at home as well).

Well, Jack takes care of that rather quickly.

Video after the jump.

Torchwood Interviews With Barrowman, Myles, Davies, More After UK Press Premiere

In prep for tomorrow's Torchwood series two premiere, you might wanna check these out.

I wish I could have them for you here, but they're from Digital Spy (click that link and a new window will open with the video) in the UK and there are no embed codes.

John Barrowman (a nine-minute interview) is asked about a possible musical episode of Torchwood and professes his love for the musical episode of Scrubs, but says, basically, "You gotta ask Russell."

Russell T. Davies (another nine minutes) talks about the press premiere and watching with an audience, which he enjoys but says, "It's a very false audience," meaning that the press and invited guests are there for free and gets plied with drinks. And, he talks about a possible Doctor Who motion picture and his boyfriend, who he calls the most patient in the world.

He also talks about the renewed lightness in tone for Torchwood in this series and how it opens up the show.

Eve Myles talks about Gwen Cooper's first series naivete and her growth arc in the narrative. And she talks about the upcoming Gwen/Rhys nuptials, which she says was the most fun to shoot in this series.

And I could go on (Gareth David-Lloyd and Kai Owen), but you can watch them all yourself.

And then make sure that you catch the series premiere tomorrow night on BBC America.

My Favorite TV Night is Now Saturday, No Thanks to US TV Nets

No thanks, indeed, because the shows that I look forward to most in the week these days are on BBC America on Saturday night, and they all come from BBC Wales as well.

For me, the real excitement these days is all about Doctor Who and Torchwood, which is surprising when you think about it, because a few years ago our American TV networks abandoned Saturday nights.

Also surprising because I do not have a history of being a big sci fi guy at all. Consider that the first sci fi series I watched regularly was The 4400 and I just started at season three I've certainly made the leap with gusto. I lept from that show to Heroes, and then from there to an interest in Torchwood that led to my watching a couple eps of Doctor Who to get a sense of the Captain Jack Harkness spinoff character which has led to my loving the latter show as well.

But frankly, these two shows have, for me, so transcend the genre that I just think of them as great TV shows. And, when I really stop to think about what I love about them both, it's (obviously) the writing.

The Torchwood episode Out of Time is a great example of this. In brief, airplane passengers from 1953 fly through a rift in the space/time continuum in Cardiff and fortunately, the Torchwood crew is there to help them with what turns out to be a confusing and scary change, not only of scenery but of values, social mores and the passengers' realization that practically everything and everyone that they know is no longer there.

The episode by Catherine Tregenna is sentimental and heartbreaking and exciting and brings the sci fi home, which is to say it isn't about outer space. It's about people out of place and time, and it's wonderful in that way.

In fact, the best Torchwood episode of season one, in my estimation, is Countrycide (which I've mentioned previously), and it's my favorite because it's an episode of a purported sci fi show where the twist is that the phenomenon that they are investigating has nothing to do with aliens or technology at all. It just had to do with the sick and twisted residents of a small Welsh hamlet who had a hankering for some human flesh. I didn't expect that, and it completely blew me away. That ep was written by Chris Chibnall.

BTW, both writers come back for series (or season, for you conforming Americans) two.

And don't forget if you're a fan to stop by the Torchwood fan blog at www.Torchwood.tv which is an excellent resource.

Now, onto Doctor Who, I do realize that I am only 44 years late in coming to the show (well, a little less if you consider when episodes started airing in the States). That doesn't make me any less exuberant about it. I've been scarfing down everything Doctor Who I can find, from episodes on the tube (at one point in my TV market on three different channels) to those little bits of gold you can find buried all over YouTube to the fansites and forums and message boards, etc.

And now, after seeing all of the first series since its 2005 return to TV with Christopher Eccleston and all of the second series with David Tennant, I will say that there is joy to be found in each representation of "The Doctor." Very different but both compelling.

And we've previously discussed my highly unlikely little crush on Billie Piper, the Doctor's companion Rose in the first two series.

But once again, it's about the words on the page. And performance, especially from Piper and Tennant, who have crackling chemistry -- enough chemistry that every time a Doctor Who movie is mentioned in the UK press it is also mentioned that Piper would or should return for it.

I must strongly suggest, especially to people that have not previously been fans of the genre to check this stuff out, especially those of you in the States who are struggling to find new content during this writers' strike.

I particularly loved an episode called Love and Monsters from series two, an episode that in fact has much less of the Doctor and Rose than usual but is a great story that coincidentally is once again about people out of place, although this time living in their actual time.

Someone at YouTube made this homemade trailer for the episode, and I add it below.

LINK

"The 21st Century is When it All Changes, And You've Gotta Be Ready"

If you click over to your On Demand or VOD channels, you may be able to find a 34-minute preview of the new BBC America series Torchwood. I would strongly recommend that you check it out.

It looks like a lot of fun, with the requisite amount of scifi/fantasy stuff and some intrigue. And it has a very charming performance at the center of it by a man named John Barrowman that is pretty well known in the UK but not much here.

Of course, Torchwood is a spinoff from Doctor Who (and also an anagram of the Doctor Who title, btw), which I've never seen a single episode of throughout it's run on various channels and in syndication over the years, but from what I can get from a BBC America behind-the-scene featurette it comes out of the writers of Doctor Who looking for a new venue to tell stories different from what they are used to.

Barrowman's character, Captain Jack Harkness (a character that was introduced in the Doctor Who series) is an American who is supposed to be long dead. Myles' police officer character Gwen happens upon the Torchwood team investigating an "incident" and further investigates to find out that the crew involved are catching aliens (of the space variety, not of the Lou Dobbs variety) and scavenging the tools the aliens use to prepare Earth for the 21st century, which gives us the tagline that I used here as a headline.

I don't have much more yet on this as I've only seen 34 minutes of the first episode, but I'm going to check it out on Saturday nights on BBC America as American TV networks have decided not to compete on that night.

LINK

I think you'll like this. I'm looking forward to it.

Watch John Barrowman explain what this show is about at this link (a new window will open).