TW Series 4 Announced - no American reboot, but it's going to be 'bigger and bolder than ever'

[a_silver_story]

Torchwood series 4 Announced


According to the quote in the article, it's going to be 'bigger and bolder than ever' (what? again? Bigger and bolder than ever ... again? FFS! 'bigger and bolder' doesn't exactly translate well. Look at Jurassic Park II and the TRex in San Diego! May have been bigger ... certainly wasn't 'better'.)

Thankfully not an American reboot (thank Christ they dropped that idea), but it will be a ten episode, three-way production between BBC Cyrmu, BBC Worldwide and American network Starz with RTD, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter in charge. Instead of being based in Cardiff, it's going to be all over the place in 'international locations'.

Just what the Torchwood fans wanted. Definitely. Without a doubt. I mean, one of the things we LOVED about CoE was that it wasn't in Cardiff, right?


Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why can't they just FUCKING. STAY. IN. CARDIFF? And WTF? Gwen's still in Torchwood? Does she lose her baby somehow? Surely Gwen isn't so irresponsible (okay - she's had her moments, but when it comes to kids, parents generally have some form of clarity) as to continue work for Torchwood with a dependent child? I mean ... it's not like she KNOWS RTD will NEVER EVER kill her ....

Maybe she'll just be wandering around in the background like Donna did in the End of Time, with no discernible or real reason for being there other than LOOK AT THE POPULAR ACTRESS! LOOK! WE DIDN'T FORGET HER AFTER WE BALLSED UP HER STORYLINE!

And JACK - sending Jack off-planet at the end of CoE always confused me. Cuz ... there was no way they weren't gonna bring him back. What a waste of my screen time.


JACK: I'm going. I can't ever return here. This planet is a graveyard to me.

[an appropriate amount of plot happens (though probably not very much, really)]

JACK: IMMA BACK, AND IT'S GONNA BE BIGGA AND BETTA THAN EVARRRRR!




Maybe series four will be Jack taking Rhys, Gwen and Baby around all the places he visited on his six months travelling after torturing his grandson to death.


Despite my instantly negative reaction, I will have to give it a go. There is the teeniest, tiniest smidgen of chance that it might actually be worth the time and effort. My biggest drawbacks are a) WTF NOT IN CARDIFF? WHY WHY WHY??? WHAT ABOUT THE RIFT?

REMEMBER THE RIFT???????

and b) RTD is writing again. Could he at least have a beta this time? Please? Maybe a continuation whiteboard to go with his new, shiny, US office?

Cuz ... srsly ... USA can keep him.



EDIT: As iantogodeo pointed out, there's no mention of Kai Owen or Tom Price. Maybe Rhys and Andy ran away together with Gwen's baby, and that's why it's vaguely sane for Gwen to still be with Torchwood. Rhys + Andy= Rhandy. CSI: Cardiff could still happen.

Comments

[a-silver-story.livejournal.com]

RTD is a good character writer but not so good with plot.


THIS.

This is what pisses me off most about RTD. He IS brilliant at human dynamics and writing dialogue.

He cannot write science fiction plots.

He can't.

We've had the same DW finale for every single one of his seasons, just with different characters. You look at the failure of some of his plot lines ... and you just think ... this guy wrote BBC3's Casanova. I LOVED Casanova. I have it on DVD, and if anyone says anything bad about it, I will beat them with it.

But dear god - that man should not have been head writer of a science fiction show. Science fiction should be primarily escapism, not REALLY REALLY REALLY REAL DRAMAZ. It should - that's why science fiction exists: escapism from the absolute SHIT of real life. I'm not saying that nothing bad should ever happen, that there should be no drama or anything, but there has to be a balance, and the scale, for this genre, as it is not plausible in any other (hence so many people loving it for fantasist and escapist qualities) should tip toward escapism: that there is hope for something better.

And whether Gwen is determined to be in Torchwood or not, it doesn't change the fact that she shouldn't be.

I don't see Torchwood working worldwide. I really just can't. It's not meant to be a big, massive, international operation. It was always that tiny team of renegades in the outpost in Cardiff. That's what gave the show it's character. Giving a show and new premise and a new character part way through it's run is a very bad idea. Why not just pitch a new show rather than destroying the old one?


The only way I can be certain my viewership of TW4 would be regular (I WILL watch the first episode) is if Ianto returns. I don't know if I could just watch it for Jack, because Jack would be ... well ... he'd just carry on without a mention of Ianto, and I'm not sure I could comfortably watch that.

[arixtotle.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I like the type of Sci Fi that has a lot of character interaction. I'm very big on characters and their drama and interactions. I actually think that Torchwood was a good mix of typical Sci Fi escapism and drama. The thing is that it's a sci fi show that takes place on earth so there's never going to be as much escapism as there is on Doctor Who or any other Sci Fi show that takes place off planet.

Maybe Gwen will just be a supporting character? I doubt it but there is the hope. Or Rhys ends up as a stay at home dad. There are parents in special ops and other government agencies that go all over the world and do missions. It's not too far from reality if she does end up working at Torchwood still.

I will admit that bringing in new characters can kill a show. I mean, House got so much worse when they started to bring in new main characters. The only reason that it's even slightly good is because they still have the old characters running around and showing up every once and a while.

That's Jack's character though. He'd go on without talking about Ianto or anyone else he's lost because that's how he copes. I'd see it as OCC if he started to talk about Ianto to others constantly. Now if we scenes of him alone where he's looking at a picture of Ianto and looks sad or something then that would be in character.

[a-silver-story.livejournal.com]

I don't mean talking about Ianto constantly. I don't mean wistful gazes into the middle distance at the mention/scent of coffee. I'm talking about the scenes of him alone with a photograph, or a memento. But chances are, we won't get that. And if we do there'll be no real significance to it.


And there was the right balance of escapism and sci-fi in TW S1+2 = CoE was just ... no. It was death, and hopelessness and despair and there was no chance of saving the day - not really. You were left hopeless and hanging, having just seen the mass slaughter of hundreds of people - including one of the main characters - the painful and traumatising death of a defenceless child (brought on by his own grandfather) and witnessed all those screaming children being dragged away from their parents and bundled into buses. There was nothing to feel good about. There was nothing to remind you that maybe there is hope. I watched Torchwood for its balance of escapism and drama - CoE was a very, very painful slap in the face and taints the genre.

And a sci-fi show on earth can have much escapism as it once. It's a sci-fi show. The whole point is anything can happen.

And it's all very well that there's parents in special ops and government agencies - but the point of Torchwood is that there is no chance of you surviving long. And with Gwen, it's not about protective people - it's about her doing what she wants, even if she leaves a her child without a mother when simply stepping back and saying 'my child comes first' could save so much grief (and terrible Gwack sequences).

[arixtotle.livejournal.com]

I honestly think RTD is good enough with character writing to understand we need something like that. I also think (hope) he's smart enough to know that making Jack 'all better' right away would lose a lot of fans and since he already lost fans due to Ianto's death that he wouldn't risk it. Then again, I could be completely wrong since he's shown in the past to make some rather stupid decisions.

Yeah, I didn't like CoE that much and I agree with every point you said. It was more an action show with a few aliens then a sci fi one. When I say Torchwood 999 times out of 1000 I mean seasons 1 and 2 since I'm one of those people who denies CoE's existence.

And anything does happen in Torchwood. I mean, the only thing in all of the Whoniverse where I went "WTF? How does that work?" was Owen coming back to life in season 2. Everything else in DW, TW and SJA makes sense in a psudoscientific way except that. It really proved that anything could happen. There's just slightly less escapism since it is based in a place people can go.

But Gwen will do what she wants no matter what. >_> I dislike Gwen a lot actually and I do think she should stay home with her kid I just know that it's not completely inconceivable and 'wrong' for her to keep on in Torchwood. In other words, if it does happen I can see RTD's reasons behind it even if I don't agree fully.

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

I honestly think RTD is good enough with character writing to understand we need something like that. I also think (hope) he's smart enough to know that making Jack 'all better' right away would lose a lot of fans and since he already lost fans due to Ianto's death that he wouldn't risk it. Then again, I could be completely wrong since he's shown in the past to make some rather stupid decisions.

Um no, I think RTD is so full of himself that he wouldn't see losing more fans as a potential risk. He can't have been so stupid that he didn't realize how cut up the fandom would be over Ianto, yet he did it anyway. He will do exactly what he wants with the new show, translation Gwen the super hero rides again and if anybody complains or criticizes then he'll just scoff at them and tell them to watch Supernatural for the pretty boys.

[mercury-pheonix.livejournal.com]

*jumps in briefly*

Besides the fact that it being a small group based in Cardiff giving it its own unique character, it also made it relatable, and the small stories focused on the people made it different from the big spectacle of Doctor Who.

Plus, Torchwood is sanctioned by the Queen, therefore placing its jurisdiction only where the Queen has power (i.e. not very far, and certainly not America), plus we already have UNIT to do the internation shindig, so why not just have the "Jack And Gwen Join UNIT And Have A Jolly Good Time Rocking Around The World" show and be done with pretending it's still Torchwood?

Also, I felt that Cardiff itself was its own unique character within the show, an essential ingredient. Like Buffy needed to be un Sunnydale to be Buffy, as Angel needed to be in LA to be Angel, so Torchwood needs to be in Cardiff to be Torchwood.

OK, I lied, that wasn't brief, but if you want a longer version still, here it is: http://mercury-pheonix.livejournal.com/22538.html