The Most Perfect Timing

Sci-fi wire, the Sci-fi Channel's news service, today continues with its Torchwood headlines, suggesting that the station is gearing itself up for broadcasting series two of Doctor Who. If that's the case, there's a strong possibility that immediately after that series finishes, America could bare witness to the very first series of Torchwood too. Anyway, here's a quick interview with Russell T Davies (we should talk about him more, cos he's fantastic at what he does). The full interview can be read here.

"It all sort of gradually came together. I actually vaguely pitched the idea for the program to [executive producer] Julie Gardner before Doctor Who, when we were working together on a production of Casanova. We both love science fiction, and we used to talk about shows like Buffy [the Vampire Slayer], and one of the great joys of working together was discovering that we both loved that sort of material. She said, 'Wouldn't it be great to do that sort of thing in Britain?' So I pitched the opening scene there and then in an e-mail, and she said it was marvelous. So after Doctor Who became a success, we began talking about it."

"We also had an enormous response to John Barrowman, who just became a star overnight in a supporting role. People just loved him, and he had been a star-in-waiting for many years, so we were lucky to have grabbed him at the right time."

"We only ever booked him for five episodes. I mean, a bisexual con man from the 51st century: Did you ever think that was going to work? On paper, I had doubts about it myself. So I thought, 'Oh, five episodes of that will do!' I thought he would run out of charm by then. But he turned out to be the most extraordinary success, which was John, I have to say, and all of the writers loved writing for him."

In other news, issue# 370 of Doctor Who Magazine comes out next week in the UK, and we're promised some Torchwood news inside. And there's been suggestions that episode seven of this year's Doctor Who, "The Idiot's Lantern", may have yet more Torchwood references, so as ever, keep your eyes and ears peeled folks!