Torchwood: Miracle Day - Pre transmission discussion

spara, it's on a small, but growing, channel with no more than 20 million subscribers. Hardly a "mass US audience".

Will we get it on the iPlayer?

Yeah, it'll likely be on BBC One over here.

Interesting Interview at Collider with RTD and JG about Torchwood Series 4.

A couple of interesting bits, spoilered for your protection:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Very interesting - Thanks for the link Patrick

Casting Update from the Anglophenia Blog...



When Torchwood finally marks its television return next year, there will be a couple of new faces. Deadline reports that Mekhi Phifer will portray the tough-yet-funny CIA agent Rex Matheson. The American film and TV star, whose most recent work includes roles on ER and Lie to Me, will play opposite main characters John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper). Crash alum Arlene Tur has been cast as surgeon Vera Juarez.

As previously seen on BBC America, the new season of Torchwood is slated to premiere on the Starz network in the U.S. and on BBC One in the UK next summer. Series creator and executive producer Russell T. Davies offered a few hints about The New World last month, adding that it will briefly draw from its predecessor, Children of the Earth.

HA! Mekhi Phifer gets fired from Lie To Me and immediately bags Torchwood while the Tim Roth starrer gets cancelled. There's irony for you.

Great, he's a very dependable pair of acting hands.

*is excited*

Sid Seadevil wrote:HA! Mekhi Phifer gets fired from Lie To Me and immediately bags Torchwood while the Tim Roth starrer gets cancelled. There's irony for you.

Great, he's a very dependable pair of acting hands.

*is excited*

Me too. And it appears we can add Bill Pullman to the cast as well.

Zoltar wrote:Me too. And it appears we can add Bill Pullman to the cast as well.

Bill Pullman!The news just keeps getting better.

Pullman starred in one of my favourite films, the Zero Effect (the only example, pre-Sherlock, of a successful updating of the Holmes mythos, albeit with names changed) and is one of those actors like Michael Gambon, who makes things watchable simply by his presence (yes, I'm looking at you Independence Day).

So that's incredibly good news.

The Zero Effect was, and remains, an overlooked gem. And I absolutely agree with your assessment of Pullman. This is by far the most unexpectedly wonderful Torchwood news yet.

Lee Carey wrote:Pullman starred in one of my favourite films, the Zero Effect (the only example, pre-Sherlock, of a successful updating of the Holmes mythos, albeit with names changed) and is one of those actors like Michael Gambon, who makes things watchable simply by his presence (yes, I'm looking at you Independence Day).

So that's incredibly good news.

Yep, basically sums up the reaction I had as well.

Big Press Release, including title.

BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Worldwide and US premium entertainment network, Starz Entertainment, today announced new cast, plot and character details for the new series of hit BBC ONE hit drama Torchwood. This highly anticipated new series will have the title Torchwood: Miracle Day and will premiere this July.

ER and Lie To Me star Mekhi Phifer will play Rex Matheson, a C.I.A. operative who joins forces with Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper to fight a global conspiracy that reaches from Washington to Wales and the slums of Shanghai whilst Bill Pullman, best known for his big screen roles such as While You Were Sleeping and Independence Day will take on the role of Oswald Danes, a convicted child killer who survives his own execution to become the most infamous man on the planet.

Also making their Torchwood debuts are Alexa Havins as Esther Drummond, a deskbound C.I.A employee who dreams of active duty and who suddenly finds herself running alongside Jack, Gwen and Rex; and Arlene Tur as Dr Vera Juarez, a Washington D.C. surgeon, who ends up on the frontline of medical care on “Miracle Day” advising the government think-tanks on the best course of action for the world’s population.

The plot of Miracle Day is the most explosive Torchwood storyline yet. One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging -- they get hurt and sick -- but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight. With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four months’ time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?", he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.

John Barrowman and Eve Myles will return in their roles as Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper respectively.

The 10-episode instalment has been written by a team led by Torchwood creator, Russell T Davies, and produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Davies and BBC Worldwide Productions’ SVP Scripted, Julie Gardner, return as executive producers with BBC Worldwide Productions EVP Jane Tranter, and BBC Wales’ Bethan Jones. The series has been commissioned by Controller BBC Drama, Ben Stephenson, and Starz President and CEO, Chris Albrecht.

BBC Worldwide, having previously distributed Torchwood to territories such as Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, Israel, Russia and across Latin America will distribute the new series to broadcasters globally.

While previous series were based on location in Cardiff, Wales, this new instalment will feature locations in Wales, the US and around the world.

The series was originally commissioned and produced in 2006 by BBC Cymru Wales, with the latest high octane series, Torchwood: Children of Earth capturing UK audiences of more than 6 million.

Okay. I'm now officially stoked for this.

There's a lot to be excited about in this.

Consequently, I'm excited. If this works well, this might be the third way of getting a Brit series to play in the States.

Agreed. And I'll add as a personal aside the I'm always more than happy to see Bill Pullman cast against type.

Sorry, but I liked it when it was set in Cardiff. Loads of SF series are set in London, loads are set in various parts of the States. Only one, Torchwood, was set in the Welsh Capital, and was proud of the fact. Now Torchwood is just another anonymous SF series. I think it is losing something.

I don't know Cat, Cardiff still plays a part in the proceedings according to the press release, and although the show is now a US co-production it's still safely in the hands of RTD and Dames Julie and Jane - so I don't really have any worries about it losing its unique identity.

I have to admit- although Bill Pullman is an excellent actor, I've never seem him play a villain. I'm slightly worried by that. Still, as fantastic as Children of Earth was, RTD gained a lot of cred (for me at least) in advancing Torchwood.

Thus, like Sid, I'm also officially stoked about this.

I wouldn't overly worry about Pullman playing an unsympathetic character, Patrick. As you said, he's a great actor so he'll probably relish the opportunity to cast off the "Nice Guy" image he's been shackled to for decades.

I note the press release states it premieres in July. I can't help but wonder if the timing for that was driven by the knowledge that Doctor Who Series 6 was being split into two halves, with the summer hiatus in between.

That would certainly make sense. It certainly helps ensure there's a continuing Who inspired televisual presence during the gap.

By the way - I wonder how things stand for any possible interaction between the two series at some point in the future? Would there be any potential rights problem to that happening, given that Torchwood is now a co-production?

Sid Seadevil wrote:That would certainly make sense. It certainly helps ensure there's a continuing Who inspired televisual presence during the gap.

By the way - I wonder how things stand for any possible interaction between the two series at some point in the future? Would there be any potential rights problem to that happening, given that Torchwood is now a co-production?

That's a good question. I can't speak to the legal hurdles between characters crossing from one series to the next, given Torchwood's co-production status. However, I do recall reading at Keith Telly Toppings blog last month sometime that the Moff had not ruled out the possibility of Capt. Jack making a return to Doctor Who. So, it's at least on the minds of the folks responsible for the shows.

That's interesting news - and it's good to know that the Moff isn't entirely intent on putting distance between characters from RTD's era. (Although granted, Jack is a Moff creation). Although the Doctor himself might be a little bit of an uncomfortable fit for the decidedly darker and more adult oriented format.

But certainly that isn't a problem with other characters - as the inclusion of Martha illustrated.

Sid Seadevil wrote:I wouldn't overly worry about Pullman playing an unsympathetic character, Patrick. As you said, he's a great actor so he'll probably relish the opportunity to cast off the "Nice Guy" image he's been shackled to for decades.

Or he might just subvert it. A bad person who seems like Mister Nice Guy on the surface. In either case, I definitely think he can go dark. Can't wait to see what he does with the role.