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2 New TV Spots for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Shows New Footage of Bane, Batman, Alfred, Catwoman and the Bat-WingExecutive Producer’s Russell T. Davies & Julie Gardner Exclusive Interview TORCHWOOD: THE NEW WORLD
by Christina Radish Posted:November 5th, 2010 at 8:09 am
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In 2003, highly-regarded UK television writer Russell T. Davies and his producing partner Julie Gardner reinvented Doctor Who for a new audience. This regeneration of the sci-fi series led to huge ratings success and the creation of two new series, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood, which is now in development for its fourth season, and its first on the pay cable channel Starz.
In this exclusive interview with Collider, executive producer/creator/show runner Russell T. Davies and executive producer Julie Gardner talked about their new partnership with Starz, giving the much-beloved series a more global feel, and how science fiction is the perfect means with which to examine the human race. They also hinted at some story ideas and new characters for Season 4, discussed the strength of their new writing staff and revealed that they hope to take the show to the San Diego Comic-Con for 2011. Check out what they had to say after the jump:
The events of Season 3′s five-part mini-series Torchwood: Children of Earth, where the team faced their fiercest threat to date, resulted in the survival of only two of its members – former Police Officer Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles), who has since disappeared with her husband and child, and the mysterious Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), whose history spans across the centuries. When Season 4 returns in the Summer of 2011, it will have a bigger, more international feel, as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson is investigating a global conspiracy that will challenge the entire human race. When he discovers that the answers seem to lie within the secret Torchwood institute, he comes under attack in both the U.S. and U.K. and realizes that there are forces at work within every level of society that are determined to stop Torchwood’s return.
Here’s what they had to say:
Question: How did this collaboration with Starz come about for Season 4? Why now?
RUSSELL T. DAVIES: Well, Torchwood is a show that’s always stayed lively on its feet and always expanded, and this is just about as far as it can expand now. It’s a brand new audience and a brand new continent.
JULIE GARDNER: We moved out to L.A. a year ago, with BBC Worldwide Productions, so we were here just when the viewing figures were coming in from the U.K. for Children of Earth, and we were really excited by the reception that the title was getting. Russell had one particular story in mind, which we can’t talk about, that he was burning to tell, and it fit in incredibly well, within the framework of what Torchwood was going to be for Season 4. It just felt right, with us being in L.A. and since Children of Earth was straining to be more global. There were American characters in there and there was a big society throughout. It was a natural extension of everything we’ve done with the title.
What do you feel Starz will bring to Torchwood that fans of the show haven’t yet been able to see?
DAVIES: There’s a great ambition behind Starz to have contemporary pieces that are saying a lot about the world. As a drama, Torchwood is very ambitious. Starz is not after plain, domestic pieces, and we’d already started to do that with Children of Earth. That had a lot to say about society, and that’s what Starz latched on to. In terms of what we can do that’s new is that we can tell stuff on an international basis and have great American stories. A lot of it is going to be set in America and it’s going to have an examination of America, an ambition that’s American and a thrust that goes with this nation that’s very exciting and truly contemporary. Let’s be honest, certainly in the West, America is the dominant culture. It sends shockwaves across the whole of Europe. It’s a really interesting place to take the story, once you see what the story is. We’re coming to the story’s heartland by bringing it here. Starz offers an enormous stage, and the confidence and freedom to tell the story that we want.
Will it change the look and feel of the show at all, or will fans of the show still recognize what they loved?
GARDNER: They’ll completely recognize it, but we’re building on the work that we’ve done before. When you look at it season by season, the show moved from channel to channel every year. It’s always reinvented itself and always stayed lively on its feet. You can still recognize it. Even though from Season 1 to where we are now is a very, very different show, there’s a flavor there that is very consistent.
What can you say about Season 4 and where you’re going to take the series?
DAVIES: It’s just heartfelt, really. What I mean by that is that the central issue goes to the heart of every one of us and every family. The questions it asks will cut right beneath your everyday life of work, sleep, food and family, and goes right to the heart of who we are and why we’re here. I think we’ll challenge you and disturb you. It’s the intensity of that ambition that’s the most fascinating thing. That sounds really vague, but the moment you know the initial core concept, everything I’m saying will make sense and start to click into place in your brain. You’ll say, “Oh, right, I see where this is heading.” The questions never really stop. That’s the fun of it. A whole 10 hours is a long time for a story to roll, but there’s that much power behind it. It’s self-generating, really. It’s very exciting. It’s a proper, intelligent examination of some very big issues.
Are you going to do anything to allow for the fact that you could have people tuning in now, who haven’t ever seen the show before?
DAVIES: Absolutely! I’ve done it before. Children of Earth moved channels in Britain, so that was a new introduction for a whole primetime audience. And, I actually got experience doing that with Doctor Who, which I brought back after 16 years, for a new audience. I’m the perfect person to do it, really. I’m used to relaunching things and keeping the audience from the past, but always looking for a new audience. Every show should always do that. Every new season of a show should go out there and look for a new audience because all people should be watching.
Have you figured out how you’re going to do that?
DAVIES: The first episode was written last October, and that is the episode that Starz read and bought, so it very clearly didn’t push them away. We went into the meeting with Starz with them knowing nothing about the history and mythology of Torchwood, and it did not push them away. They came to it as new viewers, new readers and new producers, and leapt on board straight away. We’re delighted. It’s going to work, I promise.
What do you think it is about Captain Jack Harkness, and John Barrowman as an actor, that makes people want to follow him from season to season and network to network?
GARDNER: He’s just so charming. He’s fun and he’s got such a glint in his eye. He’s a proper swash-buckling hero.
DAVIES: He is an unusual mix of being matinee idol handsome and, at the same time, very modern. He’s an openly gay man, playing an openly omni-sexual character. You can’t say that of many shows, and he does that with such a glint in his eye, and so much cheek and charm.
GARDNER: There’s so much relish to him.
DAVIES: He does the role with so much joy that prejudice can’t even enter the room for a second. It’s just glorious.
How international will the story be this season? Will a lot of it be in America?
GARDNER: Yes, a lot will be. We have some U.K. settings and stories, and then a lot of it moves to America. That’s what we mean by international. There’s a big global threat at the heart of it, and we see the implications play out in those two countries, predominantly.
Are you going to be very specific to the locations you’re using in the States?
DAVIES: I hope so. The ambition is to shoot in Los Angeles, but that is yet to be confirmed. Any place can double up as a number of places. There will be scenes set in Washington, certainly, but we won’t go to Washington to shoot. No one does that anymore. But, we have a very experienced production and design team, so we’ll be able to do that. It’s exciting.
Often on this show, the humans are much more monstrous than the monsters are. Will that continue this season?
DAVIES: That’s very true! Yes, I think the show works very well as an examination of the human race because there’s not really many other races we can examine. So, yeah, it is about us. I think all great science fiction comes down to that, in the end. The best metaphors in Buffy came down to, “What’s it like to be in high school, as a kid?” It’s the same with Torchwood: The New World. It’s about us and our decisions and our lives, and how we live with each other and how we die with each other. That forms the core of the story.
With Captain Jack left in such a dark place at the end of Children of Earth, how much will that affect him now? Has he recovered from what he went through?
DAVIES: Yeah. He’s a man who’s lived for thousands of years, and he’s seen the beginning and the end of the universe. We will deal with it properly, sensibly and intelligently, but at the same time, the most important thing is to move on, as you would want for any of your friends. If your friend had suffered through a terrible time, you don’t want to be the friend who sits there and says, “Tell us about your terrible time, all over again.” Move on, look up, start a new relationship, and look towards the horizon and the dawn. There will be a lot of that with Jack as well.
How much time will have passed?
DAVIES: Torchwood will have been off-air for two years, so I think it will feel like two years have passed. The script isn’t that specific about it, but I think that two-year gap feels right.
How are the events of Season 3 affecting the writing of Season 4? Does it feel like you have a new canvas to write on?
DAVIES: It does. Children of Earth left things almost formatless. They had no base, no authority and no mission, a lot of the time, except to survive. I thought that was very successful, and that is very much the template of the new Torchwood. They’re not working for the government. They’re not working for the police. They’re very much underground and trying to survive. They’ve taken extreme actions. They have friends, they have enemies and they have betrayals. I love that. What you saw in Children of Earth is the format now.
Do you know what sort of additions you’re looking to make to the cast?
DAVIES: We’ve got one script and very concrete storylines, so we know there are new regulars, new occasional guest stars and relatives of those characters. It’s all laid out, but we’re keeping it a secret. We’re keeping it close to our chests.
Being such a fan favorite for so many people, do you have any plans to ever bring James Marsters back to the show?
DAVIES: We love him! It could happen, but I’d have to say it’s not going to happen. I don’t want to raise any false hopes of people expecting that lovely man back on our screen. He’s so in-demand, he’ll be back in someone’s screen, any day now. He’s simply not in this story, but we love him.
GARDNER: He’s fantastic.
DAVIES: The fact that he’s willing to come back is just a huge compliment because the man is gorgeous.
GARDNER: In every way.
Can you talk about the writing staff that you’ve put together for this?
GARDNER: It’s exciting. It’s a good staff.
DAVIES: They’re just about the top names in the industry.
GARDNER: We started with Jane Espenson. We have such a shared viewership with Jane. We love all the work that she’s done, and she’s watched Torchwood in previous years. Then, we were able to get Doris Egan, who we loved from Smallville and House. I was working with John Shiban over here already. I’m a big fan of Breaking Bad and all his work on The X-Files. And, we invited John Fay back, who had done such good work for us on Children of Earth. There’s a mix of British writers and American writers for the next season.
How are you splitting up the writing?
DAVIES: The episodes are divvied up. I wrote the first episode. That’s all I can definitely say.
Do you plan out the over-arcing story, and then the staff splits up the individual episodes?
GARDNER: Yes. We spent four weeks with them, working through all of the stories. The way the episodes divide up is that you can see writers’ interests in particular characters or moments, so it’s very organic.
What are the advantages that the mini-series format gives you, in telling an ongoing story, as opposed to doing individual episodes?
DAVIES: I love it. I simply prefer it. The monster-of-the-week stories were brilliant, in their day, in Torchwood, but having discovered this new format, I think it’s more ambitious and intelligent. It allows you to stop and take pause and look at the world. Those ambitions are admirable. While I’m on the show, that will never stop. While the show keeps running, we’ll never go back to the week-to-week stories.
Does that help keep things more fresh for you?
DAVIES: Yes, it does, that’s true. When I was working on Doctor Who, it was always one-off stories every week and I wanted to do something different, so I started working on The Sarah Jane Adventures, which is the children’s spin-off of Doctor Who, and that’s one-off stories. I want different things on my plate and on my palate.
Are you going to take Torchwood: The New World to San Diego Comic-Con in 2011?
DAVIES: I would think so. We can’t promise anything, but yes.
GARDNER: We love going to Comic-Con, so we’d love to go.
What do you get from that kind of feedback?
DAVIES: It’s like nothing else in the world. It’s an enormous buzz.
GARDNER: It’s just fun. And, there’s such love of the titles. It’s lovely to be there.
DAVIES: They’re like us. We love these shows. They’re fellow geeks. That’s the brilliant thing. It’s a celebration of it. It’s fantastic.
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http://www.saveiantojones.com
Tip for the new viewers: don’t get attached to the characters. They will all die at some point in order to make “good drama”….
WHAT? A new relationship after years? My father died 5 years ago and my mother hasn’t even considered another man. Are they at least going to talk about it? Or once again, are they just going to ignore it. And why oh why are they calling it a brand new audience? I’m American. I’ve followed the show and Doctor Who. Don’t just assume that since you’ve come to the US means that no one here knows WTH you did to the original TW. I mean honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever read a review where RTD wasn’t ever arrogant. I’m a writer and I know you need to write for your audience and yourself in a nice balance. This interview makes it sound like he’s bucking the original audience and wanting to start new. For me, TW died at the end of season 2. (Everyone’s entitled to their opinion and mine is I won’t be watching as it doesn’t seem to be the show I fell in love with…)
I’m sorry for your mother, but not everyone waits years.
That’s exactly the way it should be with Jack – he’s going to live forever, he’s going to lose everyone he cares about – either he learns to move on despite the pain of loss and find happiness again or he says stagnant and goes insane.
Allonsy, it seems like everytime I read an article on Torchwood you are there making negative comments. If you dislike the thought of a new Torchwood season so much, why do you continue to follow what is happening? Just let those of us who are looking forward to it, look forward to it! It may be good. It may be bad. But we will not know til it comes out and we see it.
I, for one, look forward with great anticipation!
Thank you Connie, you summed it up in a nutshell. Torchwood is here to stay.
I personally love Torchwood! I really like watching John Barrowman. He is funny, sexy, and the story of Cpt. Jack Harkness is one I’m looking forward to continuing! So I will be watching Starz next summer for Torchwood 4!
See it’s interviews like this that make people loose interest. If your going to change it that much why not just write a different program. You are going to loose more fans than gain i fear! Torchwood hasnt been the same since tosh and owen, CoE moved on too quickly from their deaths and know your forgetting it even happend. what about Ianto. and is there any need to have so much of it in america. Torchwood is cardiff.. its not american! Im rather pissed about it. if it wasn’t for Jack/ JB i wouldn’t bother ruining the torchwood i once loved by watching the new series!
I’m trying going to go into this with an open mind, but so far the interviews I’ve read aren’t looking good. I’m American and I’ve been a TW, DW, and TSJA fan for years–not all Americans are part of this “new audience” (and, er, Starz is not a massively watched channel here, BBC america probably gets more views). It sounds to me like its going to be a completely new show, except that two of the characters (Jack and Gwen) just happen to make vague references to the old show every now and again. In my opinion, Chris Chibnall, who served as head writer on Torchwood, should be the one leading the series into the future. He did great work for the series, and was responsible for the amazing episodes Fragments and Exit Wounds, and most of the others. I love RTD for his work on DW, but Chibnall was the one who made me love Torchwood.
Now that they are in America I’d love to see them bring in Dr Grace Holloway (Daphne Ashbrook) from the 90′s Dr Who tv movie as a regular or guest on Torchwood, especially given just how much RTD seemed to have taken from the tv movie into his time relaunching and running nuWho. It’d be nice to see him give a little something back in that regard.
I am crazy about John Barrowman but I will not be watching Torchwood.
I really hope Jack turns up in Doctor Who, I adore him, but the more I read about the ‘new’ Torchwood, the less I want it, especially after the crap called CoE
I’m looking forward to next year and the re-vamped Torchwood. But I want to see Jack back on Doctor Who. Perferable in a epsoide with River in it.
Jenn, i totally agree with you and i so love River Song.
Ok people , let’s get a grip. Torchwood is a amazing show. Bravo the cast and crew for bringing a different kind of Sci-Fi show to the forefront. I myself am lookinf forward to a new season.
For all the negitive comments, you know you can’t stop talking about it because (deep down inside) you guys are also looking forward to seeing the new season of Torchwood.
If you really didn’t like the show , you wouldn’t be writing anything about it. US or UK.
Mr Davies , Ms. Gardner, Mr. Barrowman and Ms. Miles take a bow and thank you for coming to the US.
Also,” Children of Earth” ROCKED!!!!
Ok people , let’s get a grip. Torchwood is a amazing show. Bravo the cast and crew for bringing a different kind of Sci-Fi show to the forefront. I myself am looking forward to a new season.
For all the neagitive comments, you know you can’t stop talking about it because (deep down inside) you guys are also looking forward to seeing the new season of Torchwood.
If you really didn’t like the show , you wouldn’t be writing anything about it. US or UK.
Mr Davies , Ms. Gardner, Mr. Barrowman and Ms. Miles take a bow and thank you for coming to the US.
Also,” Children of Earth” ROCKED!!!!
Sorry for the spelling
Another opinion here. Could be really good to venture out to the rest of the world. Could be a disaster since there’s no place like Cardiff. Either way, I think I’ll save my opinion…until AFTER I’ve seen the first episode at least. Can’t base an opion on just the hype. Kinda like saying you don’t like chocolate because you don’t like that particular color of brown. There’s just not enough info and that’s the way the producers like it. Give us enough info to start a buzz and watch the fans take off with it. And awaaaay we go.
I can’t wait for the new season of Torchwood. The new Dr. Who leaves a lot to be desired, so I am anxious for Captain Jack to return. My only regret is that it will be on STARZ. That is a pay channel here in America. If TW is broadcast not on BBCAmerica, which is not a pay channel, most of us will be left searching the internet for free episodes….not exactly what I am looking forward to. Unfortunately, because of this, the audience in America may not be as large as expected.
I started watching Torchwood backwards, beginning with COE. I got hooked and went back to buy the first two seasons on DVD. Did I like COE? I found it intriguing, but I also thought the writing was erratic. As a writer myself, even if only the dreaded fanfiction, I know that actions such as killing Ianto and Stephen, Owen and Tosh, must help move the story forward or have a purpose such as engaging the viewers’ emotions. I would say that the ending of Tosh and Owen was fantastically done, with purpose and meaning. However, the death of Ianto served no real purpose other than to get rid of the character. It really didn’t move the story forward and, to my mind, took away the shock and impact of Stephen’s death at his grandfather’s hand.
Will I watch Torchwood: The New World when it finally airs on Starz? Naturally. I wouldn’t miss watching John Barrowman chew up the scenes for the world. Will I like it? I won’t be able to address that until I see it. Am I hopeful? Frankly, I’m not. My current philosophy is prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
As to RTD, he does give arrogant and self-centered interviews. It is a pity, but has been his MO for years. I don’t expect to see anything else from him. He has never had any real respect for the fans that made him rich and famous, so why would I expect him to start now?
OH YOU LEGEND.
You literally just took everything out of mouth – and explained exactly how I feel far better than I could have!!
(I even admit to being a fanfiction writer myself…)
One personal note I have to add – my view on RTD is even more tainted because I am from New Zealand, and who can forget his careless comment that “Someone sits in New Zealand, types out a f*cking rumor and I spend the next three days dealing with that rumor.” … aside from the lovely language… it’s just pure arrogance. Truly.
Still, I will be watching New World as I adore John Barrowman – and like you, Liz, I will be hoping for the best, but lowering my expectations.
Hmm…quite a lot of negative comment here despite no one having seen 4 yet, though I accept that if you didn’t like CofE then Torchwood new style probably isn’t for you. Davies is about big human themes coming together – DW 10 was the most human Doctor in the series ever – so Torchwood is increasingly going to examine the legacy of Who on the lives of ordinary people. There’s a lot of potential here and I think he’ll pull it off.
5736.0 Rassilon Era (028)
Sunday, 10th of November, 6026 Anno Mundi Vulgaris
Sunday, 14th of November, 2010 Common Era
@ 9:35 Universal Time Coordinated.
Greetings Fellow Gallifreyans!!
To “ExParrot” do you not realise that
“The Eighth Doctor” Serial “The Enemy Within” or “Enemy Within”
Serial No. 156 Serial Code TVM (“TV Movie”)
although set from
Thursday, 30th of December, 1999 Common Era, 20th Century
to Saturday, 1st of January, 2000 Common Era, 21st Century
was actually released in North America
on Sunday, 12th of May, 1996 Common Era, 20th Century!!
It has been over 14 years!!
Daphne Ashbrook (Doctor Grace Holloway) might not still be acting.
And before anybody can say anything about
“when the 20th century REALLY began”
here are a couple of things.
Yes, there was no A.D. 0 .
And nobody talks about 0 B.C. .
In order for the 1st Century B.C. and the 1st Century A.D.
to have 100 years each they must BOTH have a year zero!!
And while there was no A.D. 0
there were also no A.D. 1 to A.D. 524!!
The first “A.D. year” was A.D. 525!!
Also, the first year of the first decade of the 21st Century Common Era
was 2000 Common Era!!
So Mr. Trebek, your question is flawed and the answer is 11.
Sorry about going “off topic”.
But please remember to petition The Torchwood Team
@ captainjackharkness@hotmail.co.uk
about having Torchwood Series/Season Four or
Torchwood Four or Torchwood: The New World
based in Vancouver, Columbia, Canada
and about keeping Midshipman Alonso Frame!!
I wonder if Ianto Jones can come back as a holograph??
Still, with SCI-FI anything is possible!!
Thank you and Allons-y!!
The Professor Dalen Rune.
5736.0 Rassilon Era (028)
Sunday, 10th of November, 6026 Anno Mundi Vulgaris
Sunday, 14th of November, 2010 Common Era
@ 9:35 Universal Time Coordinated.
Greetings Fellow Gallifreyans!!
To “ExParrot” do you not realise that
“The Eighth Doctor” Serial “The Enemy Within” or “Enemy Within”
Serial No. 156 Serial Code TVM (“TV Movie”)
although set from
Thursday, 30th of December, 1999 Common Era, 20th Century
to Saturday, 1st of January, 2000 Common Era, 21st Century
was actually released in North America
on Sunday, 12th of May, 1996 Common Era, 20th Century!!
It has been over 14 years!!
Daphne Ashbrook (Doctor Grace Holloway) might not still be acting.
And before anybody can say anything about
“when the 20th century REALLY began”
here are a couple of things.
Yes, there was no A.D. 0 .
And nobody talks about 0 B.C. .
In order for the 1st Century B.C. and the 1st Century A.D.
to have 100 years each they must BOTH have a year zero!!
And while there was no A.D. 0
there were also no A.D. 1 to A.D. 524!!
The first “A.D. year” was A.D. 525!!
Also, the first year of the first decade of the 21st Century Common Era
was 2000 Common Era!!
So Mr. Trebek, your question is flawed and the answer is 11.
Sorry about going “off topic”.
But please remember to petition The Torchwood Team
@ captainjackharkness@hotmail.co.uk
about having Torchwood Series/Season Four or
Torchwood Four or Torchwood: The New World
based in Vancouver, Columbia, Canada
and about keeping Midshipman Alonso Frame!!
I wonder if Ianto Jones can come back as a holograph??
Still, with SCI-FI anything is possible!!
Thank you and Allons-y!!
The Professor Dalen Rune.
“Move on, look up, start a new relationship, and look towards the horizon and the dawn. There will be a lot of that with Jack as well”
Ok, so i get that Jack is going to live for a very long time and is obviously going to move on, im not naiive, but why am i getting the feeling that this may turn into GWAK?
The fact that Rhys/Kai Owen hasn’t been mentioned (in anything i’ve read- if he has, correct me) & have we forgotten the baby Gwen was having? I don’t know, I am a bit put off because Ianto was my favorite character… but i get that he had to go to show the emotional effect/ losses that they face.
The news that Jack is moving on isn’t actualy new because of Allonso(Russell Tovey).
The way RTD worded it and made it sound like the fans should just get over it by now makes him even more un-popular in my world. (My opinion- they can be different for everyone).
Also, i get that expanding is needed to succsseed in business and that shows need to get bigger to captivate audiences and gain viewers but really, Torchwood and Doctr who are the only really good tv progrmmes BBC Cymru/ Wales has – bar the Welsh ones such as Caerdydd, Pobol Y Cwm, Pen Talar (which are popular but mostly with Welsh speaking viewers despite the subtitles). Was moving Torchwood to a completely new country really THAT needed? I could understand keeping it up in London affter COE but AMERICA? I will never understand that move…
Im not trying to be negative or whatever and i am looking forward to watching the new Torchwood just to see where the story goes but in MY opinion, R.T. Davis will never gain back the fans he lost from COE with the new one- still i could be wrong ’cause thats just my opinion.