Sunday, March 12, 2006

Erm...It Might Not Be 2006 After All

The latest issue of SFX magazine, out next week in News stands across Britain, reveals some interesting Torchwood news: the show may "do a 'Life On Mars'" and debut on BBC One next January, in the first week or so after the New Year. The magazine also hints that the spin-off could be paired up with Life On Mars on Monday nights to form a "Sci-Fi block". Hmm, interesting.

Monday nights in Britain usually see some low-brow ITV 'drama premeire', and except for the likes of Spooks (which now airs on Thursdays) and Life On Mars, BBC's Monday night output really doesn't have a lot going for it. Also, the high rated Coronation Street has a full two episodes airing on Monday nights. The greedy things. This probably explains why the BBC performs so badly in the ratings. Could Torchwood, a high profile spin-off, make all the difference?

Of note too is johnbarrowman.net. Olga (JB's dancing partner on Dancing On Ice) has a question and answer session now online, and in it one fan asks: "Has anyone suggested a cameo role in Torchwood?" Olga's answer to this is very very interesting : "That sounds a great idea , I would love to do such a thing , maybe I could be the Russian spy , I think my accent would suit the role!!! "

Does Olga have inside information off of JB? Is there a Russian Spy? Was it meant as a joke? Surely they'd never give Olga an acting role?!?

Now that would be worth seeing!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Someone on John Barrowman's official message board posted a link to here and mentioned this story. The webmaster (George) of the site vehemently denied the story. Aparantly he has the latest information and there are no delays in production or changes to when it will be aired. Yay! It would have been torture to have to wait til 2007 :)

curls said...

I hesitate to say, "Good work jack" when you bring such bad news, but it does look more and more like SFX are the only people out there who know what they are talking about. Unless we see some evidence of full-production within the next month, I'd say January it is.

Anthony Garnon said...

I hate being the barer of bad news around here...Sorry guys!

Anonymous said...

Sci-fi block? Here's the news: Life On Mars is a police show. A brilliant one, with a zinger of a central mystery, but it ain't sci-fi, however much some magazines would like it to be. It's the new take on the police format that has hooked audiences.

Also, just how would Life On Mars and Torchwood pair up? Life on Mars has colonised the 9pm slot and it won't be played earlier or later. We know Torchwood is post-watershed. With the Ten O'Clock News immoveable, that would mean Torchwood would be going out at 10:35pm. (And separated by another programme, so hardly a "pair").

Never mind that schedules are only ever finalised a few weeks before transmission (and not 10 months ahead). Never mind that Torchwood is 13 episodes, Life on Mars is 8. Never mind that Torchwood runs for 50 minutes, not the usual BBC hour and so it's much more likely to play on a Saturday night where the schedule isn't stripped into hours and half hours. Why let the known facts get in the way of a good rumour?

Maybe the person who suggested all this was in a Life On Mars style coma, hallucinating they were in 2007. That's the only excuse for SFX ruining their reputation for reliability.

Anthony Garnon said...

Nope...definately not in a "Life on Mars" coma. Just following current rumours, which suggest that the show will premeir on BBC 3 @ 10 and repeat Saturdays in England.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't meaning you, Jack (hey, you're doing fantastic work here, you and Kurly), but the person who started the rumours in SFX. And it still doesn't work even if it's on BBC3: 10pm is their fixed-in-stone time for EastEnders repeats on a Monday (and those repeats are among BBC3's highest rated shows). The only day without an EastEnders is Wednesday (and Life on Mars won't be going in the cursed Wednesday 9pm slot, bank on that). Bless you for reporting it (always good to hear the gossip) but I'd say this is pure speculation which doesn't quite fit the facts. Also, JB's webmaster has been shown to be a reliable source so far. My money's still on autumn/winter.

Anonymous said...

John's webmaster has confirmed he starts filming Torchwood not long after presenting This Morning, which is gonna be so funny! Hehehe I can't wait!

Anthony Garnon said...

Still, SFX magazine, more reliable than Dreamwatch! Now theres a magazine run purely on rumour. And yeah, I'm betting (and hoping) on a September launch too.