The American Success of Doctor Who

Considering how long it took the first season to cross over -- Doctor Who fans have long memories, after all -- it's very nice to see an article about the success of the Doctor Who franchise in the US.

It's interesting that the success of Torchwood on BBC America is what led The Sarah Jane Adventures to Sci Fi. When it first was in production, we were led to believe that Sarah Jane wouldn't be exported at all, and certainly a children's show is going to be an interesting sell on Sci Fi.

My favorite quote from the article is that Doctor Who has "a loyal viewership so fanatical that most of the show's entry on Wikipedia actually appears to be correct".

The other big part is that like Torchwood series two, the window between the UK and US airings of the next year of Doctor Who has shrunk a great deal. This is certainly a good thing -- for example, the window means that the cover of Doctor Who magazine won't be a spoiler, as it takes DWM a couple of weeks to get on the shelves over here.

Poll Campaigning

i09 is having a poll about What's The Most Underrated TV Show? Since Torchwood is on the list, you know what to do...

I mean, it's either that or Flash Gordon....

Today's Messed Up YouTube Video

This is very, very strange....

James Marsters on Torchwood

James Marsters makes his first appearance when Torchwood premiers on BBC America tomorrow. Good, interesting interview about his experiences.

Torchwood Series Two In US --- Tommorow!

In the shortest difference in the Doctor Who television franchise since the new series started up, new episodes of Torchwood start tomorrow on BBC America. The first episode is the James Marsters episode, to make the episode especially appealing to Buffy, Angel, and slash fiction fans.

My impression is that this series of Torchwood will be an improvement on last years -- so if you were one of those people that found the first series a disappointment, it might be worth trying again. And if you liked the first series, you'll probably continue to do so...

I know what you're looking for

Lots of people are hitting out site recently looking for James Marsters information -- and with him scheduled to appear in the first episode of Torchwood Series Two soon, we've got our first clip.

And really, we know that there won't be any need for slash fiction in this case, because the television show is definitely going there, presumably to the great enjoyment of the women (and presumably the gay men) watching the show...

I don't think this is what Doctor Who fans of five years ago would have expected though!



Torchwood Series Two starts airing in the UK next week and on BBC America at the end of the month.

Hey Kids, Did You Miss Me?

Some Torchwood trailers have shown up on YouTube -- which I figure isn't any problem linking to, so here goes....

From BBC America you have this one:



From BBC 2 in the UK you have this one:

Torchwood sets record for BBC America

Apparently Torchwood sets record for BBC America - this doesn't actually surprise me, since I think it's also been one of the most heavily promoted BBC America shows in quite a while. But it's still a good thing -- not just for Torchwood, but the Doctor Who "family" in the US generally.

It's even more the Doctor Who channel than I thought...

The episode of Graham Norton tonight that airs after the first episode of Torchwood on BBC America is an episode with David Tennant.

The airing of The Christmas Invasion tonight was hacked to bits though, to fit into an hour time slot with commercials. I mean, even The Song For Ten sequence was cut -- though at the same time, it's all easily enough obtainable in a complete form on DVD.

The Doctor Who Channel

It is really amazing -- with BBC America now airing Stephen Moffat's excellent Jekyll, and also giving heavy promotion to Doctor Who and Torchwood's upcoming runs starting in September, BBC America's Saturday night has been taken over by the Doctor Who family.

I finally watched the first two episodes of Jekyll, and it goes without saying that it is excellent. Moffat's episodes of Doctor Who have been some of the best, and so to see him take on this sort of material is excellent, and is a part of the resurgence of the UK's telefantasy tradition.

James Marsters In Torchwood

James Marsters previously of Buffy and Angel fame is going to appear in an episode of the second series of Torchwood, set to air on the BBC in 2008.

Pretty exciting casting news!

Torchwood America

Outpost Gallifrey Newspage reports that BBC America is running trailers for Torchwood, saying that it will start airing on Saturday, September 8th.

This actually makes a fair amount of sense -- I thought it was strange for a while that we wouldn't see Torchwood on American television until after Series Three of Doctor Who aired on the Sci Fi channel -- but I presume it'll be between when series two and series three air on BBC America.

Torchwood comes to America

Anglophenia confirms that Torchwood will be coming to America by way of BBC America as part of their Supernatural Saturday. It is also going to be the home for more Doctor Who repeats, and Jekyll by Steven "Hugo" Moffat and Life on Mars starring Doctor Who's mysterious Mr. Saxon John Simm.

This is not too far off of what I expected, especially given what we already knew about the canadian airdates.


And just as important for those of you that don't get BBC America, this clears the way for Torchwood to get an inevitable DVD release in this region as well. I'm also hopeful that we'll see a DVD release of both series of Life on Mars as soon as that finishes an airing on BBC America.

(first spotted by torchwood.tv)

Canadian Airdates

I saw a message on the DWIN mailing list that the third series of Doctor Who will air in Canada starting in June. That's the same timeframe as it is airing on the Sci Fi channel -- and I suspect that will also mean that we get a near simultaneous release of the inevitable series three DVD boxedset as the UK.

Perhaps more interesting is that the CBC have given a fall airdate for the first series of Torchwood. It is typical for new UK tv series to take about a year to cross over, and that looks to be similar with Torchwood even with its relationship to Doctor Who. My suspicion is that's going to end up to be the same timeframe as any American distribution deal, because the Region 1 DVDs are unlikely to be one country only.

Torchwood in US update

As part of Julie Gardner's interview on Radio Wales she was asked a question about Torchwood in America. While she didn't confirm any sale, she did say that she hoped that it would cross over in the new year. That matches up more or less with my expectations.

When will Torchwood air in the US?

With articles like this appearing in some of the American press, I don't think the question is whether or not we'll see Torchwood distributed in the US -- just a matter of when.

I think the interesting observation is that the CBC in Canada hasn't made any announcements with regards to when they're airing Torchwood either, to my knowledge. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some desire to have them on roughly the same schedule in both countries; after all, the release date of the DVD will presumably be the same region wide. And I suspect the DVD release is the bigger concern as far as BBC Worldwide goes -- I know that the DVD releases have been very important to their Doctor Who plans.

My instinct and hope is that we'll see it sometime in the spring -- roughly at the same time of year as the Christopher Eccleston Doctor Who series aired this year.

Of course, what I really wonder is if there's going to be any way for the Sarah Jane Adventures to cross over. My thought might be that it will be DVD only... (I am confident that it'll make it on DVD, as there are enough Doctor Who fans that will want to buy it.)

Torchwood Renewed

In a sign that the Doctor Who universe is still going strong, Torchwood has been picked up for a second series. This time, it is going to be on BBC Two instead of BBC Three, a higher profile station.

I'm hopeful that a second series announcement means that it will be more likely that we'll hear news of an American sale of Torchwood soon. And just as important, the related DVD announcement. As we haven't heard much about the Canadian broadcast either, I'm very curious if there is a connection.

With Doctor Who finishing the 2006 series on the Sci Fi channel next week, we'll have a very short window where we'll be completely caught up with the UK as far as that series is concerned.

Official Business

Now that Torchwood has launched in the UK, the official http://www.torchwood.org.uk has an interesting flash design. I'm sure at least one person will go here when they meant to go there...

Torchwood Countdown

The official Torchwood Site appears to be a bit more open to non-UK types.

Obviously, the UK countdown is in full force -- and Torchwood.TV is able to cover that UK side of things quite completely. I'm extremely jealous!

I have heard a couple of bits in the various reports that make me wonder about how well we'll be able to get it over here in the US, and in what form. I've no doubt that the eventual DVD release will be the same as the UK release. But if the episodes are 50 some minutes long instead of 45 or 46, there will inevitably be some cuts to add commerical time. And that'll be true if it ends up on either Sci Fi or BBC America.

I'm also a bit curious about exactly how strong the language is -- is it going to be more severe than we'd likely see on Sci Fi? Does this mean there is going to be editing for language as well as time?

This will all be resolved in time, I'm sure -- and I imagine we're looking at several months until we see any sign of a US broadcast for Torchwood.

Torchwood on a Bus

Torchwood.TV has some images from the bus campaign for Torchwood in the UK.

One of the things that we definitely miss here in the US is where you can run across Doctor Who or Torchwood on busses or billboards.

UK Torchwood Airdate Reports

According to the always-worthwhile Torchwood.TV , Torchwood will start airing in the UK on BBC3 on Sunday, October 22nd at 9:00 PM. Even if it's not exactly correct, all indications are that late October will certainly be when it starts airing.

Of course, we don't have any idea yet when or where Torchwood will cross over to a US or Canadaian broadcaster. My optimistic instincts say that it'll be closer to six months like this season of Doctor Who or Life on Mars.