“Torchwood” will be back on television next summer in a couple of new homes, with Starz replacing BBC America as the sci-fi series’ American broadcaster and the characters perhaps leaving their Wales stomping grounds to reflect “the more international scope of the series.”
Then-“Doctor Who” showrunner spun John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness off into his own, more adult-themed series in 2006 (it debuted here in early 2007), about a covert British government team specializing in alien life. The show muddled through a first season that took the “adult” designation to mean “lots of sex and nothing but,” creatively improved in its second season, then took a massive leap forward with last summer’s “Torchwood: Children of Earth” five-night miniseries.
That miniseries ended with only two members of the team remaining: Jack and Eve Myles’ Gwen Cooper, and Jack was leaving Earth to cope with the losses he suffered during the story. Both Barrowman (who was attached to a failed attempt to produce a new US-based version of the series for Fox) and Myles will return, and other castmembers will be announced soon. Davies, who turned over the “Doctor Who” franchise to Steven Moffat, is still attached to produce.
The press release suggested the partnership with Starz “will allow Davies and his writing team to tell a more explosive and global story,” and noted that the series “has to date been located primarily in Cardiff, Wales,” suggesting Jack, Gwen and company might be traveling far and wide whenever he gets back to our particular globe.
It’ll be interesting to see Davies working with what sounds like a larger budget, as he and his team managed to work miracles on what the BBC could afford (particularly with the very explosive and global “Children of Earth”), but I had hoped that if the show came back, it would be with that same five-episode, five-night miniseries format.
I know there was controversy over the miniseries’ ending, so I’m curious to see how many of you are excited about more “Torchwood,” and how many wish that Captain Jack just kept wandering the stars.