...to get your votes in for the TORCHWOOD.tv Reader Awards, so what are you waiting for? All you've got to do is copy and paste this survey, and send the results through to the usual email address. You have until noon on Wednesday to get that in to me, before the final votes will be counted, double checked and revealed sometime on Friday.
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In the meantime, can I bring to your attention the efforts of one group of fans who were so unhappy with the conclusion to Children of Earth (SPOILERS for anybody who hasn't seen it yet) that they've decided to start a petition of sorts to bring Gareth David-Lloyd and his now deceased character Ianto Jones back onto the show for the proposed series four.
So far their fundraising has helped raise over £3,000 for the BBC's Children in Need. A massive congratulations to them and their efforts thus far.
Want to save Ianto Jones? Clicky clicky here.
UPDATE: A press release from the organisers of the petition:
IS IANTO JONES REALLY DEAD?
FANS RALLY TO RESURRECT TORCHWOOD CHARACTERFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fans around the world cried out in grief and frustration when Ianto Jones, a major Torchwood character, met an untimely and unexpected demise. Those who were shocked by the popular character’s death in last week’s Children of Earth season three mini-series on BBC1 are not taking it lightly or quietly. The movement to save Ianto Jones began mere moments after he died, thanks to networking communities such as LiveJournal, Twitter and Facebook.
The campaign is everywhere, it seems. The website www.saveiantojones.com had over 18,000 hits at the time of this writing. There is a movement to send coffee to the BBC offices in Wales, following in the footsteps of successful fan campaigns such as peanuts for Jericho, pencils for the US writer’s strike, and Nerds for Chuck. A LiveJournal community set up to coordinate activities can be found at http://community.livejournal.com/savecoffeeboy, Twitter hashtags include #saveiantojones and #bringbackianto, and Facebook groups are too numerous to list.
It’s not all new media, though. Fans are being urged to send postcards and letters to Russell T Davies, creator of the series, and to the BBC. A number of letters suggest a means of enabling Ianto's return – Torchwood is science fiction, after all.
However, it is important to note that this is not just a campaign to reinstate a popular character on a television show. This is a campaign with a heart and the desire to do good, so at http://www.justgiving.com/iantojones fans are donating to Children in Need in the name of Ianto Jones. They are also using the campaign as a platform to communicate to Gareth David-Lloyd, in the most public way possible, just how much he and his character are loved and admired.
And it’s only just getting started. Children of Earth garnered huge ratings for BBC1 when it aired in the UK. BBC America counts Torchwood as one of the highest-rated shows in its history and will air the mini-series over five nights from July 20, 2009. The power of the internet means that some overseas fans have already heard about Ianto Jones’ death, but there are still many more that have yet to be shocked by the news. It is only to be expected that more fans will join this ground-swell of public protest, although it remains to be seen how the BBC will react to the campaign.
One thing, however, is certain. The fans do not intend to let Ianto Jones go quietly into that good night. They are not going to give up a favourite character without a fight.
For more information, contact Carey-Anne Shiel:
saveianto@yahoo.co.uk -- + 44 (0) 7749 770 147 -- www.saveiantojones.com
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Updates to follow throughout the week, which happens to be my last as a contributor to this lil' old site. Sob!
7 comments:
I've exchanged e-mails with Carey-Anne. I'm not saying anything else.
RTD: You know the campaign to send [packets of] coffee [to the BBC] to save Ianto's life? There's a campaign, because he was a coffee boy. But do you know how many packets of coffee they've received so far? Nine.
From:
http://io9.com/5324964/we-asked-russell-t-davies-our-most-pressing-doctor-who-question
We've only just seen this in the last few days so be on the lookout for coffee from the NW USA. Seattle and Portland are huge coffee and Torchwood "hubs" so once the postal system gets a move on you should be seeing more.
Laurel N. - Portland, Oregon
Good for these fans !
I was disgusted to see Ianto killed, and believe that any new Torchwood Series should feature Captain Jack, Ianto and Gwen.
Crazy not to - now that the BBC have discovered for the umpteenth time that the Series is more popular than they thought it was.
iv signed something on facebook so i hope it works IANTO LIVES!
minxlaurel: It's great the fans are reaching out in such a fashion but be aware: First... sending coffee is a waste of money. Any time a food item is sent, it's promptly thrown out. It's treated as hazardous material in some places. I'm guessing a business such as the BBC would treat it as such. So you be better off making a donation to Children in Need under the 'we're donating money so you'd better do what we want' program that Carey-Anne has set up. At least your money won't go to waste and it all goes to a good cause.
Second: Ianto is gone. And unless he appears as a ghostly apparition or maybe even in another fantastic context, he won't be back.
I'm not trying to be mean or weaken the impact of this character dying... but it is time to move on. What would Ianto want us to do?
I love the passion that folks are showing about TW. However, it is not up to the BBC to determine who lives and dies. It's up to the writers and producers. Sending peanuts to CBS to save "Jericho" had to do with CBS' decision to cancel the show. I can't imagine that any amount of coffee would make the BBC attempt to force RTD to bring Ianto back...it just doesn't work like that.
I do love the idea of contributing to charity in Ianto's memory. That is a very sweet and touching tribute to a great character, and GDL's portrayal of him.
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