Torchwood Season 3

[Paulhanselluk]

Just seen the season 2 finale of Torchwood, and I have to say WOW , what an ending, and I was just thinking, where does everyone think it will go now?, as we know Jack will be in Doctor who again at the end of Who's next season.

NB- Please use spoiler tags, in respect of the non-UK members

 

[Theta Sigma]

DoctorWhoNews.com has picked up a report from TV Guide saying that there will be a third season for Torchwood to begin filming in August to begin tranmission on BBC1 next Spring (in the UK).

However only five episodes have been confirmed, which will consist of a five part story to be shown over one week. TV Guide has been told there could be more.

The TV Guide report includes a quote from Executive Producer Julie Gardner:
"We've decided to do a five-part mini-series, one big story that will run during one week, I wanted to make a really big noise about the show."

 

[Theta Sigma]

Torchwood season 3 gets mentioned by Andrew Mercado in yesterday Sydney Sunday Telegraph in a paragraph that also mentioned two other shows of special interest to Doctor Who fans:
"ABC British mystery series Jonathan Creek will film a Christmas special (its first in several years), cult sci fi series Blake's 7 is returning for two new episodes (after its 1981 finale) and Torchwood will have only five episodes for its third series."

 

[Paulhanselluk]

Latest info I have been able to get of hold says thats torchwood will be a taking a Hero's style approach to seasons, with them being much shorter (in volumes so to speak), so season 3 may only be 5 episodes but that may mean season 4 will not be far behind it.....

 

[Theta Sigma]

As reported at DoctorWhoNews.com, the latest issue of Torchwood Magazine has revealed the umbrella title of the five episodes that makes up season 3 - Children of Earth.

It is understood to be directed by Euros Lyn.

 

[Theta Sigma]

BBC Press Release (warning it includes a spoiler for Season 2 and plot point for season 3):
BBC - Press Office - Filming under way for new series of Torchwood

Peter Bennett replaced Richard Stokes as Producer and the five episodes of season are written by Russell T Davies, John Fay and James Moran.

 

[Aerilon]

I watched the season 2 finale today online.. There are a few season 2 episodes I've yet to get ahold of, but generally don't think I've missed much.

Spoiler: hidden

I figure Owen would die at the end of the season, being that he is already dead. Didn't see Sato being killed off though. Odd thing is, I swear I've read somewhere that both of these two are going to be in season 3. Odd?

I have also read that they are only doing six episodes (which sucks), and that they are going to continue with Torchwood the same time they go back to Doctor Who, running them side by side. This means we'll be waiting till 2010 before we see either of them again (x-mas specials aside).

 

[Theta Sigma]

Four new cast members has been announced:
Lucy Cohu, Susan Brown, Cush Jumbo and Rik Makarem.

Details about their characters:
Cult - News - New 'Torchwood' cast members revealed - Digital Spy

 

[Theta Sigma]

Here is an update of casting in season 3 as reported by Torchwood Magazine 11:
Nicholas Briggs (who has done voices for the parent Doctor Who series including Daleks and Cybermen. Unlike Doctor Who he gets to have his face shown in Torchwood).
Nicholas Farrell
Katy Wix
Rhodri Lewis
Ian Gelder
Charles Abomeli
Hilary Maclean
Scott Bailey
Melanie Barker
Crisian Emanuel
Patrice Etienne
Rachel Ferjani
Phylip Harries
Ashley Hunt
Christopher James
Anna Lawson

 

[Theta Sigma]

In an interview with Lucy Cohu, Times Online revealed what character she is playing in season 3:

Spoiler

Jack's daughter

 

[Theta Sigma]

Season 3 trailer:
YouTube - Torchwood: Children of Earth - HD Exclusive preview - BBC One

 

[Theta Sigma]

To Australian viewers:
UKTV has picked up Children of Earth,:
C21Media:
"Torchwood: Children of Earth, which has been picked up by BBC Entertainment in South Africa, as well as UKTV in Australia and BBC America in the US."

 

[Theta Sigma]

To Australian viewers:
UKTV fasttracks Children of Earth (the following link has plot details):
http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2009/04/uk-tv-fastracks-torchwood.html

No exact date but the article says it will be in June.

 

[Theta Sigma]

To Australian viewers:
Clarrisani posted the following over at Torchwood Australia regarding Children of Earth:
"If you have UKTV, watch the Torchwood S2 finale next Tuesday at 9:30pm. There may be something after either it or Declassified. A short little something. My source isn't 100%, but if it is true my source tells me it is good."

 

[Theta Sigma]

To Australian viewers:
UKTV has rescheduled Children of Earth to July:
rescheduled to July : TV Tonight

 

[Theta Sigma]

New trailer:
YouTube - Torchwood: Children of Earth 2 minute trailer

 

[Theta Sigma]

The BBC has released the Press Pack for Children of Earth (with plot details):
BBC - Press Office - Torchwood Children Of The Earth press pack: introduction

 

[Theta Sigma]

To Australian viewers:
In promoting Children of Earth, the Showstoppers page on the July issue of Optus Magazine has an interview with John Barrowman.

It says that Children of Earth reveals more of Jack's past and John was asked how much does he know. He says that he does know more than the public but he still gets surprised. He says that he does not want to know everything because he wants the surprises to come from Russell T Davies and the writers saying it is more interesting for him as an actor.

In the final question, "How into the mythology of the series are you?", he answered, "I'm as big a nerd as anymore!"

Since it was unknown the exact date of when Children of Earth will in the UK at the time of going to print, the magazine says to look for the screening times at the Torchwood UKTV site, UKTV >> TORCHWOOD CHILDREN OF EARTH.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Children of Earth will be on in the UK on for five consecutive nights on July 6-11.

In Australia, Children of Earth will be on UKTV mere hours after its UK broadcast of each of the episodes, starting from Tuesday July 7 8:30pm.

UK TV fastracks Torchwood: Children of Earth :TV Tonight

It will be a busy couple of weeks from now for Torchwood as the new radio plays are on BBC Radio 4 next week before the broadcast of Children of Earth.

 

[Theta Sigma]

3 x 1

Children of Earth Day One:
The 804th televised Whoniverse episode (notwithstanding mini-episodes).
Very mysterious beginning in 1965 Scotland.
This is the first Torchwood episode written by Russell T Davies since the series' first episode Everything Changes.
Very epic feel and certainly feels different to the previous episodes.
Very interesting characters in Rupesh and Lois. It is too bad what is ultimately revealed of Rupesh.
Johnson looks very devious.
Peter Capaldi, who was in Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii last year, makes another appearance in the Whoniverse here as Home Office civil servant John Frobisher in a very good performance. Notwithstanding the BBC Charter forbidding TV episodes making story links to non-TV episodes, this Frobisher is probably not intended to be the Doctor Who comic strip companion of that name.
Russell T Davies has been good at writing domestic situations and here we get to see Jack and Ianto seeing their respective families.
Jack sees his daughter (!) Presumably Jack's daughter's mother was Jack's bride seen in the wedding photo at the end of Something Borrowed.
For Ianto it was amusing that the car got stolen while visiting his sister's family.
The opening episode of Children of Earth becomes very good towards the end when the bomb exploded in Jack's body.
The chanting of "We are coming" from children around the world was very eerie but more so when they added "Back" at the end.

EDIT: It has just been pointed out to me that Jack's daughter's mother may not be Jack's bride from that photo as it looks like it was taken in the 1900s-40s.

 

[Theta Sigma]

3 x 2

Children of Earth Day Two:
The 805th Whoniverse episode.
Very very good writing debut to Torchwood by John Fay.
Gwen sure had good piece of the action with her use of her gun. In a trailer it included the close-up of Gwen firing her gun. Glad to finally see it in proper context here.
Amusing Gwen and Rhys in a potato truck.
Lois as a character is blossoming very well here.
The rescue of Jack is spectacular especially with Ianto using a fork-lift truck to get him out of there.
Day One was of a high standard but Day Two managed to slightly surpass it.

 

[Theta Sigma]

To Australian viewers:
For those who missed out on the nightly/daily repeat screenings UKTV will have a catch-up screening of the first four episodes of Children on Earth on Saturday July 11 4:15pm before showing the final episode at 8:30pm.

 

[Aerilon]

I have heard good things about the two (out of five) episodes thus far. I'm going to wait until they've all been shown though, and will then watch them one after the other.

 

[Theta Sigma]

3 x 3

Children of Earth Day Three:
The 806th Whoniverse episode.
After appearing in Doctor Who & The Sarah Jane Adventures, Lachele Carl finally turns up here in Torchwood as newsreader Trinity Wells.
Written by Russell T Davies and James Moran. Peter Capaldi again appears in a script written by James Moran as Capaldi was also in Moran's The Fires of Pompeii.
Quite fun seeing the team as thieves.
Good seeing the lenses that Martha wore in Reset now being worn by Lois.
Very eerie the children pointing at the sky.
Lois mentioned a (fake) private conversation with Frobisher. Good one.
The dialogue between Frobisher and 456 is very captivating.
What a shock on what Jack did in 1965.

 

[Theta Sigma]

3 x 4

The 807th Whoniverse episode.
Written by John Fay.
Finally got a complete picture of what when on in 1965.
Very shocking on seeing a child in the 456 container.
Having provided the voice of the Daleks and Cybermen among other things in the parent Doctor Who, Nick Briggs finally appears in the flesh as Cabinet minister Yates.
Watching the Cabinet meeting as they discussed on the method to select children is disturbing and terrible.
Although at the behest of Gwen, Lois was very good in speaking up at the Cabinet meeting.

Spoiler

Very very sad that Ianto dies towards the end of this Day. In hindsight I should have expected it as Ianto had expressed his anguish, in the previous Day as well as the radio play The Dead Line, about him becoming an old man while Jack still looks young.
Ianto's death has hit the right emotional impact. Tears from my eyes was not immediate but it did come some hours after seeing his demise.
Goodbye Ianto.

 

[Aerilon]

Well, I said I'd wait until it had all aired before I watched any of it. And I did just that. I've been sat here for the best part of five hours, just watching the five hour long episodes of Season 3.

Spoiler

I really didn't expect there to be any major deaths, especially Ianto. They've not long killed off Tosh and Owen, and then they done away with Ianto too? Whilst (as said above) I didn't cry, I did think of it as a very sad moment, which gave me the 'crying feeling', if that makes any sense.

Spoiler

Also, Gwen is the only member of Torchwood that is left alive, at least, on Earth. Mid story, I thought Lois would be taken on, but now that Jack has left, this pretty much says 'no more Torchwood' for me. Not unless Jack comes back to Earth to continue his life, after Gwen has had her child, but to be honest, now that he has left, everything has been left open. Either this is the end of Torchwood, or they are going to continue with it in a year or two..

Still, I thought the entire plot was good, as was the storyline and character development. I did expect to see a bit more of the 456, and more of a 'battle' at the end, though to be fair, I don't think this storyline was ever going to be about huge battles. It was more about morals and such than anything else.

 

[Theta Sigma]

TV Tonight has reported that Children of Earth has gotten very good reviews in the US as it airs there from July 20:
Torchwood: US reviews :TV Tonight

Variety said it best with its review:
"Spread over five nights, it plays like an expanded version of what “The X-Files†movies should have been."

 

[Cylon]

I have just watched the first 2 and i have to say i am impresed i havnt really liked the previous seasons but this is enjoable. I am looking forward to watching the rest.

 

[Cylon]

Ive seen them all now, i thought they were very good.
I am not sure whether they will make anymore series though.
The ending sparked an ethical debate in our family about whether Jack did the right thing.