Well trained for Torchwood

The man leading the team who will be responsible for the look of Torchwood is Ed Thomas. We have already seen examples of his work on Doctor Who in his redesigns of the TARDIS console room, the Daleks and now the Cybermen. The same team that has already designed Captain Jack's gun, wristwatch and Chula ship, are now dreaming up all sorts of new gizmos for the spinoff.

Source: Grab from BBC DVD extra: Designing Doctor Who

In this press release from the BBC, Thomas explained why he looked at the TARDIS interior and thought, 'Hmm, could do with a bit of coral.' Then getting his fuel from many Dalek jokes perhaps, he did the impossible and turned the pepperpots into a scary monster yet again. He told the story to NEWS.com.au, recounted here, about a pair of his own Daleks who nearly scared him to death.

Thomas is also a bit of a B-movie king, with his resume including the bloodthirsty Viking warrior film Berserker, the chic gang flic Glory Glory, Merlin: The Return starring Rik Mayall, (yet another Gwen the Great connection in this film!) and he has even explored the cowboy ghost genre with The Meeksville Ghost.

But perhaps Thomas learned everything he ever needed to know about the business while working on the film Breeders. This horrible British film of 1998 about aliens coming to Earth with only one thing on their mind should never be confused with the horrible American film of 1986 with the same name and premise. Edward's expertise on designing sex-craved aliens may never come in handy on WHO but lets hope he can put it to good use in Torchwood.