The Valley Of Death?

I had intended on posting this news yesterday, but the internet at home was down, so...damn.

As resident tv.com Torchwood editor here at Torchwood.TV I recently received an e-mail from a 'source' at that site informing me that the working title for Torchwood's first episode is "The Valley Of Death." I have absolutely no idea where this member received this information, so for now I advise readers to take it with a large dose of salt. Security must be very, very high on this script, and I doubt that the production team would let any Tom, Dick or Harry peek at it. Also, as far as I know, Cardiff (the home of Torchwood) doesn't have any valleys, so wouldn't it be hard for it to have a "Valley of Death?" Expect an official announcement on the episode title in a future issue of Doctor Who Magazine.

During recent press coverage the website kasterborous.com was nice enough to give Torchwood.TV a mention as one of its sources, calling us "another good blog." Well, Anthony Dry and Christian Cawley (kasterborous webmasters) we like your site too! It's great to have friends on other sites, and myself and Kurly look forward to working with yourselves in the near future. In the meantime, keep up the hard work!

That's all the news I have for today (it's been a quiet day, with all the focus being on Barbara Windsor's casting in Doctor Who). As soon as more news comes in, I'll be sure to post it here, and don't forget to post in the comments section if you have any news items that we might have missed. See you all soon.

The Man From UNIT?

The big question that everyone's asking lately is "how much will Torchwood be like U.N.I.T?" Alright, except that lonely guy in the corner, it's not a massively popular question, but still, it raises an interesting idea.

Can Torchwood escape the shadows of U.N.I.T?

Early indications show that RTD has planned a dark atmospheric military-type group, who give no second thoughts to sleeping with their comrads. We have no bumbling Sgt. Benton figure here, or even romantic Mike Yates. Torchwood will feature dirty characters, with dark histories and tortured souls. Unlike our friends in UNIT, these characters are not loveable rogues. From what we know so far, they're anything but.

When the facts do begin leaking from production I'm sure it will become obvious that these characters are almost anti-heroes. Jack Harkness will be our own 21st Century hero. He represent everything that modern heroes should - and should throw Torchwood the series firmly into the year 2006 with a bang.

But wouldn't it be a shame if he couldn't escape the past, and Doctor Who fans condemned him to death for being too similiar to UNIT? I hope that day never comes - because Torchwood is after all it's own show, with it's own mythology. It can escape Doctor Who's past and establish itself in audience's hearts.

I know it can.

Moving swiftly on (I'm sure my post above will cause a civil war in the Doctor Who Community!), http://www.johnbarrowman.net/ has recently run a competition open to anybody, to find the former home of John Barrowman in Glasgow. Pam Griffin's won the competition; putting a picture of the house up on jb's own forum.

Pam won a signed copy of Barrowman's "Barrowman Sings Cole Porter" CD for her efforts (the lucky thing!). Now, John - if you're reading this (and I'm sure you are dude!) - then surely your two fave torchwoodtv writers deserve signed CD's soon too...?

Torchwood institute of fine arts

We all have our own talents in the artistic arena. Some of us are musical, some of us are visual, some have a way with words, and the rest of us write Torchwood blogs. Wherever your talents lay, there is a table for you at the Torchwood arts and crafts fair.

Captain Jack has already found his likeness on a statue, a plushie and now Torchwood Wallpaper. There is lots of fan fiction online featuring the Captain, including this quick one set at Torchwood HQ. If music is your thing that's also an option, somebody at Outpost Gallifrey cooked up a theme song for the spinoff. (Also available here, if you aren't a member)

So far though, people have been making all the same sort of stuff that fans of any show do. So I am challenging Woodies to be more creative. I live right on the beach so my great craft idea has been to make Torchwood ashtrays out of burnt driftwood. I haven't found any buyers yet but it's still early days.

Torchwood jumps the shark

Now that the best days of Torchwood are clearly behind us, all of us fans will have to find something new. The show had a good run and we will always have fond memories of the groundbreaking program, but all good things must come to an end.

Source:http://stakesandstones.co.uk/

Ok yes, the above statement is a bit premature so lets just call this a brief hiatus. Because of the delay in the show's production, the daily dose of Torchwood you have come to expect here will be considerably more sporadic. For the next few months anyway I will only be posting as warranted by the news. After all, there are only so many ice dancing jokes one can make.

For those of you who are in tears now, there are a few other impressive Torchwood sites I would like to recommend to get you over the hump. The Institute is really coming into its own now with breaking news, multimedia downloads, screen caps and even fan fiction. TV.com now has a Torchwood section and forum coming to you straight from Cardiff. There are also all the same old standards I have previously mentioned. The one niche we are still patiently waiting for someone to fill is a Torchwood ringtones site.

Welcome message for all new Woodies!

Since the broadcast of The Christmas Invasion, this page seems to be getting hit on more than Captain Jack at the beach. So for all you newcomers who are just catching up on the Torchwood craze thanks for dropping in. Keep checking in from time to time for all the latest on the Doctor Who spinoff. For my dozen or so regulars who have been with me since the beginning I apologize for this redundant post.

Source:http://www.stakesandstones.co.uk

So I don't have to repeat myself on the page, follow the archive links in the column on the right to see what we have been talking about since October. They are backwards chronologically though, so scroll to the bottom and read up to avoid confusion. You probably got here from the Wikipedia page on Torchwood, so if you have read that you are already up to date on everything anyway and it basically serves as the FAQ for Torchwood. Many thanks go out to the generous people who keep up that page and thanks for linking to this site.

The only other place online I have found that is consistently updated with Torchwood information is The Torchwood Institute, it is a Live Journal community and has also been there from day one. Join them today and become a Member of the Innuendo Squad! Other names I have thrown out for fanboys and girls of Torchwood are Woodvians and Woodies. Any other suggestions are obviously welcome, then perhaps we can take a vote.

I don't claim to be objective, I don't claim to be any good, the only claim I make is that I enjoy writing about Torchwood. I have been a Doctor Who fan for over 20 years but will generally defer that topic to the thousands of sites that are already online. With Torchwood I saw an empty spot and jumped right in. Again, thanks for stopping by, now you too can help spread the Torchwood gospel throughout the countryside.

Torchwood Web Pioneers

Torchwood still has a relatively small presence on the World Wide Web. I suppose it is a rare breed who dedicates a page to a show that is still in pre-production. But of course I am not the only trailblazer out there who is already providing a site where Woodvians can surf.

Source:http://www.stakesandstones.co.uk/

All the established Doctor Who news sites are now covering Torchwood news as well. Outpost Gallifrey and UNIT News have both setup special Torchwood sections.

There are a handful of other Torchwood fansites around including The Institute, http://www.sylvestermccoy.com/torchwood/, and Torchwood.org.

The most thriving Torchwood community is perhaps at The Torchwood Institute on Live Journal. There is also some Torchwood talk at Torchwood Online plus chatter at all the usual Doctor Who forums.

My favorite of the batch however, which will no doubt provide months of entertainment until the show premiers is YTMND:Torchwood. Feel free to post any sites I may have missed in the comments below.