Bullets 'n' Babes

Torchwood Begins Production

LONDON—Russell T. Davies, creator of the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood, told SCI FI Wire the British show began production earlier this month and is definitely darker than its predecessor. "I would call it modern urban sci-fi, really," Davies said in an interview here. "It's a little bit harder science fiction than Doctor Who is, although, again, it's very character-driven."

Torchwood stars John Barrowman as 51st-century con man Captain Jack Harkness, who was originally introduced last season on Doctor Who. The ensemble cast also includes Eve Myles, Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori. "It"s quite dark," Davies said. "But when I write something dark, I automatically make it sunny at the same time, because I think that makes the dark darker and the funny stuff funnier. So I still very much have my tone of voice in it. But there are more adult emotions at play. When you see it, it will all make sense, because it's very different territory to Doctor Who. It's not about fleets of spaceships and invading monsters. It's more about ideas, like 'What if you could read someone's mind?' It's quite X-Filesy in that way. The X-Files has been off our screens for far too long, and it's a marvelous show. So we've got elements of that in it, because it works. But at the same time, it's set in a Welsh city, with a bisexual con man from the 51st century at the helm, so you've automatically got something sexier and sassier and a bit wilder in places. We've actually got six scripts in at the moment, and they're marvelous."

Not surprisingly, Davies has already enlisted some of the writers who have worked on the past two seasons of Doctor Who, as well as a few new faces. "Toby Whithouse, who wrote the Sarah Jane [Smith] episode, 'School Reunion,' has written an episode of Torchwood that is marvelous," Davies said. "And there are a lot of new people as well, because, frankly, the best people are sticking with Doctor Who, because that's at the core of it. And we're bringing people with other skills onto Torchwood."

Davies added: "To be honest, just by being set in the modern world means it's a slightly easier show to write. The difficulty of Doctor Who is believing that you're in the world [in the year] five hundred zillion. But with a modern city, there are more writers who are well versed in the language of urban drama, so it's been easier to find writers for, and that's been paying off. It's not as effects-based, either. It's much more effects-light. There are a number of CGI shots per episode, but nowhere near the amount in Doctor Who. It's a lot more 'real' than Doctor Who is, but we're still sharing some of its sensibilities."

With two shows in production simultaneously, Davies admitted that his schedule is a bit hectic at the moment. But he added that he couldn't be happier. "I've actually got to start writing the next Christmas episode of Doctor Who, and we're starting to meet with the writers right now," he said. "That's why I would only ever write one or two Torchwoods every year, because there's a certain formula you can follow on Torchwood. But on Doctor Who, the wide-open skies are open to you, and it's much harder to write as a result, so there's never a moment when I feel I can relax when I'm writing Doctor Who. There's never a moment when I think, 'This is easy!' But that's fine. That's what I need to keep going!"

The second season of Doctor Who is now airing in the United Kingdom on Saturday nights on BBC1. The first season is currently airing in the United States on SCI FI Channel, Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. —Joe Nazzaro

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.ph ... 103&type=0

Markgway wrote:Kinda spoils it for the young Dr. Who fans who won't be allowed to watch.

grim_tales wrote:I remember when he presented kids quiz The Movie Game

degeneration wrote:Granted it is being aimed at an adult audience, but most of the rest of the episodes that were shown were pg-13 sort of rating.

bradavon wrote:

Markgway wrote:Kinda spoils it for the young Dr. Who fans who won't be allowed to watch.

That's the entire point silly, the writers wanted to write an adult show. Whether that needs swearing is another matter but I've not seen it so can't comment.

I'm recording it now to my HDR.

grim_tales wrote:I remember when he presented kids quiz The Movie Game

Why is that funny?

bradavon wrote:

degeneration wrote:Granted it is being aimed at an adult audience, but most of the rest of the episodes that were shown were pg-13 sort of rating.

It's the first show???

If you mean the separate but connect Dr. Who then yes 12A.

Markgway wrote:Apparently there's supposed to be f-words and homosexual kissing in there.