’s been a long, long wait for the return of Torchwood, but star John Barrowman, who plays Capt. Jack Harkness, promises it will be worth the wait when the series returns on July 20 for consecutive nights on BBC America in a five-episode mini-season called Torchwood: Children of Earth. And if it does well, we could expect more (more on that later).

“If I were to describe the progression since series one, I’d say [season] one we were like a toddler who was learning how to crawl,” Barrowman said in an exclusive interview. “And [season] two we were walking, and now [season] three we’re running. We have totally found our feet. …

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Cutting the new series of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood to five shows from 13 felt like “we were being punished”, its star John Barrowman has said.

The third series of the sci-fi show - which began on BBC Three before moving to BBC Two - will now be shown on consecutive days on BBC One.

Barrowman said other shows moved to BBC One “and they don’t get cut”.

The BBC said it wanted to create “a powerful sense of event” with Children of Earth, which will start on Monday.

Barrowman told the Radio Times: “I’m going to get a little political and I’ll probably get into trouble for it.”

He said Torchwood’s first series had been “the most successful show on BBC3 - ever” and, as a result, had been moved to BBC Two where “we were beating shows that had been on BBC Two for a long time”.

“The decision was made to go to BBC One and then we were cut - from 13 episodes down to five.”

‘Very special’

Barrowman said the new episodes were “incredible, I have no doubt about that”.

“But personally, I felt like we were being punished.

“Other shows move from BBC Three and Two to One and they don’t get cut.

“So why are we? It felt like every time we moved we had to prove ourselves.”

But the show’s writer and creator Russell T Davies told the magazine: “Part of us thought, ‘we could do another 13 episodes, we’ve learnt how to do that, and the second series was better than the first’.

“But why not change it?”

He said if the show was made in the US, “they’d try to keep it going for seven years, doing the same thing every week”.

He added: “It’s the British audience we make these for.

“And I don’t think audiences are remotely lost by a change in format.”

A BBC spokesman said: “We wanted to create a powerful sense of event when the show came to BBC One and so talked with the show makers about a story that could run over five consecutive days.”

This was something “very special” that had only been done before with 2008’s five-part thriller Criminal Justice and Iraq-based drama Occupation, shown earlier this month.

Torchwood: Children Of Earth follows the alien-chasing team as they battle for the future of the human race against the fiercest force they have encountered.

source: bbc.co.uk

The BBC have launched their new Torchwood: Children Of Earth website. It includes the brand new trailers for the show which will begin broadcasting on Monday 6th July at 21:00 0n BBC One.

The entire series will be shown in five consecutive parts over the week.

Children Of Earth promises to be an epic adventure for the remaining Torchwood team. John Barrowman stars as Captain Jack Harkness, alongside Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper and Gareth David Lloyd as Ianto Jones. The three Torchwood members are forced underground as they are hunted by the government following the mysterious possession of the world’s children by a force known only as “456″.

The Torchwood website will be updated as the story unfolds with more video clips and photo galleries, you can check it here: BBC - Torchwood - Official Torchwood Children Of Earth site

In conjunction with tomorrow’s American debut of “Doctor Who: The Next Doctor,” the first of five “Doctor Who” specials that will conclude the tenure of both star David Tennant and producer Russell T. Davies (you can read my review here), I spoke with Davies about saying goodbye to the character he helped resurrect, and about the upcoming miniseries “Torchwood: Children of Earth,” which BBC America will be airing July 20-24.

Davies called me as I was finishing up the third episode of “Children of Earth” — an exciting, epic story in which Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and his team deal with alien invaders who can make our world’s children do whatever they want — and so our discussion begins with that.

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TORCHWOOD star John Barrowman, above, will be joined by a host of stars in this year’s New Theatre pantomime.

The production of Robin Hood will run from December 12, 2009, until January 24, 2010.

Starring alongside Barrowman will be comics Andy Jones and Don Maclean, actor and singer Pete Gallagher, actress Malinda Parris and ITV’s Dancing on Ice stars Natalia Pestova and Alexei Kislitsyn.

Tickets cost from £9. Call 029 2087 8889 or www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

source: walesonline.co.uk

BBC America has announced their Comic Con panels, and it includes a very big “get” – David Tennant appearing at the Doctor Who panel. This is of course the final year Tennant is playing The Doctor, in four specials that will end with him passing the torch to new Doctor, Matt Smith.

Tennant will appear alongside writer/executive producer Russell T. Davies at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego. They will take part in a Doctor Who panel along with executive producer Julie Gardner and director Euros Lyn, Sunday July 26, 10:00-11:00am PT.

Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood is also returning to Comic-Con, with star John Barrowman (”Jack Harkness”) appearing on a panel also featuring Davies, Gardner and Lyn. Sharing space at that panel will be the new BBC America series, Being Human. Creator and writer, Toby Whithouse, plus lead actors Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow and Aidan Turner, talk about the inspiration for the show and what it’s like to play three twenty-somethings with secret double-lives – as a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost.

BBC America also notes that the UK comedy The Mighty Boosh, which will be airing its three seasons on Adult Swim, will also have a Comic-Con panel, Friday, July 24, 4:45-5:45pm, with creators-stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, along with actors Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher and Dave Brown appearing.

Below is BBC AMERICA’s Comic-Con Panel and Signing Schedule:

Friday, July 24
4:45-5:45pm The Mighty Boosh: creators-stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding along with actors Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher and Dave Brown will be on stage to discuss the magical, bizarre and exciting world of The Boosh, currently airing on Adult Swim and released on DVD by the BBC two days before the convention begins. The San Jose Mercury News describes the show as “an acid-trip fantasy-comedy [that] is seriously deranged and seriously funny.” Room 6A

3:30-4:30pm The Mighty Boosh signing in the Autograph Area.

Saturday, July 25
3:00-4:00pm Being Human: creator Toby Whithouse and actors Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow and Aidan Turner signing at the BBC AMERICA booth (#3629).

7:30-10:00pm Torchwood/Doctor Who: Key talent from both shows introduce the last episode of the five part series Torchwood: Children of Earth and an advance viewing of Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead, the first of four specials starring David Tennant. Room 6A

Sunday, July 26
10:00-11:00am Doctor Who: actor David Tennant, writer/executive producer Russell T Davies, director Euros Lyn and executive producer Julie Gardner discuss their creative process and experiences working on BBC AMERICA’s Doctor Who with exclusive clips and a Q&A session. Ballroom 20

2:15-3:45pm Being Human/Torchwood: Being Human creator Toby Whithouse and cast members Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow and Aidan Turner, are on stage to give an inside look at BBC AMERICA’s U.S. premiere sci-fi drama about the lives of three twenty-somethings and their secret double-lives – as a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost. Following that actor John Barrowman, creator/writer/executive producer Russell T Davies, executive producer Julie Gardner and director Euros Lyn talk about the making of the epic five-night television event Torchwood: Children of Earth as well as take questions from the fans. Room 6BCF

source: tv.ign.com

If and when BBC decides to order a fourth season of “Torchwood,” executive producer Russell T. Davies says he’ll be ready to go.

The man responsible for bringing “Doctor Who” back to television and making it a smash success said he expects good things to come from so-called “mini-season” of “Torchwood” that comprises of the show’s third season. The cast, which currently includes John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones, had to say good-bye to two other cast members last season, Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori, whose characters of Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato were killed off.

The special comes the same time as the show’s parent, “Doctor Who,” also took an abbreviated season, leaving overall Whoniverse audiences asking for more. A lot more.

The latest miniseries, “Children of the Earth,” is set to premiere on BBC America in the United States July 20, around the same exact time it will air on BBC. It will run over a five-day week, and then be available as a DVD release a week later.

Davies said it will depend how the show does this season on whether or not BBC will order more, but “Torchwood” has been a hit with British and American audiences alike, actually picking up BBCA’s strongest ratings for a scripted drama.

The latest season welcomes Peter Bennet to the production team that already has Davies and Julie Gardner, and all five episodes are being directed by Euros Lyn. Davies wrote the first and fifth episodes with the middle episodes written by James Moran and John Fay.

Davies said he has the fourth season mapped out already, and likely could go another six years beyond that. While it would be typical parlance to say that depends on whether or not the remaining actors will stick around, it seems the Who universe has a way of continuing on, even when there has been significant cast changes. So time will tell whether “Torchwood” has that same type of staying power as “Doctor Who.”

An ordinary day becomes a world of terror, as every single child in the world stops. A message is sent to all the governments of Earth: We are coming.

But as a trap closes around Captain Jack, sins of the past are returning, as long-forgotten events from 1965 threaten to reveal an awful truth. Torchwood are forced underground, as the government takes swift and brutal action. With members of the team being hunted down, Britain risks becoming a rogue state, with the mysterious and powerful 456 drawing ever closer.

Captain Jack (John Barrowman), Gwen (Eve Myles) and Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) are helpless, as events escalate until humankind faces the end of civilisation itself.

Torchwood has now made the move from BBC Three to BBC Two, with the new instalment, Torchwood Children Of Earth, finding itself on BBC One.

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“How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?,” the reality television program that sought an actress to play Maria in the recent West End revival of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s The Sound of Music, will make its debut on BBC America June 7.

The BBC series, hosted by Graham Norton, will debut on the American cable network at 10 PM ET; check local listings. “Maria?” will follow the finale of “Any Dream Will Do,” which airs 8-10 PM ET; that reality program sought a title player for the London revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

“When legendary musical composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer David Ian were launching a new production of The Sound of Music in London’s West End, they decided the best way to finding a leading lady for the iconic role of Maria was to hold a contest to let the British public pick their new star,” according to press notes. “In auditions, thousands of potential Marias will be whittled down to just ten finalists who will then perform each week for Andrew Lloyd Webber and a panel of three expert critics - including David Ian, one of the biggest theatre producers in the UK; John Barrowman, ‘Torchwood’ star and musical theater leading man; and Zoe Tyler, a tough vocal coach. Each week, one singer bows out of competition until only four singers remain for the grand finale. Of the four, only one can be Maria!”

Visit www.bbcamerica.com for more information.

source: playbill.com

There’s a new extended trailer for Torchwood: Children of Earth. Check it out below!: