Comments on: RTD on Torchwood

By: Torchwood blir mörkare (Går det?) | Myskoteket

Torchwood blir mörkare (Går det?) | Myskoteket — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:57:14 +0000

[...] Via: SFX [...]

By: MisterHat

MisterHat — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:10:18 +0000

msjaybee, I think you should wait and see what is going to happen rather than jump to conclusions. None of the main characters have been Confirmed apart from Jack and Gwen. There’s always a lot of rumours and stories around. I also slightly despair when teachers are so closed-minded. I wouldn’t want my kids taught by someone who is so ready to make their mind up without looking at facts first.
Nobody thinks paedophilia and child murder are ‘fun’ and C of E WAS disturbing, but there’s no evidence the new series will have any of those themes in it.
I’m willing to wait and see what RTD etc come up with before making my mind up.

By: Son of Solo

Son of Solo — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:43:26 +0000

Wow! RTD has finally sold out.

By: Draven-uk

Draven-uk — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:22:50 +0000

I always thought the first couple of series of Torchwood were pretty hit and miss affairs. Some good stuff, some terrible stuff. But I utterly adored Children of Earth. It had a dark, nasty paranoia with an almost Quatermass vibe to it. And it utterly shocked me in where it went – always good for a drama. But Torchwood going to the US gives me mixed feelings. And wasn’t Torchwood set up by Queen Victoria to defend Great Britain? So why would they be going to the US? Still, I’ll give it a go. And if they are gonna be in the US then they should at least bring back the legend who is James Marsters as Captain John.

By: DoctorWhoFan

DoctorWhoFan — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:16:17 +0000

One of the things I have always loved about Torchwood is that it was set in Wales.
I’m gonna miss that. I hope James Marsters comes back as Captain John.
Ianto and Captain John are my favourite characters.

By: Richard L

Richard L — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:49:07 +0000

They’ve got a convicted Pedophile in it Weis! Is that not enough to make you love the RTD and TW?

By: Weis

Weis — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:43:32 +0000

Can Torchwood really get more dark? Really? And how they are going to accomplish that? To kill Jack even more sadistically? What means of death or torture they haven’t used yet? And more important – does Mister Davies think that multiple deaths and suffering of his supposedly main personage equal drama? If so I would advise him to take another university course of writing. Because there are only so much horror clichés he can “creatively interpret”. And no, Mister Davies, while death of beloved personage may be dramatic or even tragic, in the CoE we had nothing of such sort. We saw thoughtless destruction of every little detail that made Torchwood a unique show, including personages’ characters. You can play with people’ fascination with social taboo (and exploring idea of inflicting deliberate harm on children is taboo, as is torture that Jack undergo), but that’s definitely not drama.
Torchwood definitely didn’t “found its feet” – more likely it was irreparably destroyed. Don’t deluge yourself thinking that CoE was huge success because it wasn’t. There are many, many disappointed fans and not only because of Ianto. Plot holes, severe lack of consistency and logic for example – another reasons for not considering CoE good writing. And this list may be continued.
Before CoE mister Davies promised that dedicated fans will be pleased and as it turned out big portion of them were severely disappointed. Just how he hopes to not disappoint them now if he weren’t sincere the first time round? No, sorry. I don’t trust him at all.
I really hope there will be somebody in the writers team who can restrain Mister Davies’ propensity for cheap drama, and who can bring at least semblance of logic and be creative without killing spree or making Jack suffer.

By: chicalem

chicalem — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:59:06 +0000

Thanks for this interview. i admire RTD so much and I loved COE. I’m really looking forward to this next series of Torchwood and I’m interested in RTD’s notion of Torchwood’s “Heartland”.

One of the things i loved most about the above interview though wasn’t necessarily directly about Torchwood – it was another example of what i regard as RTD’s honesty – his brutal truth-telling about spin. I loved his comments about it all falling into Jane Tranter’s plans… but if no one had bought it he’d have been saying ‘yep – it was dead’.

By: KaleyJ

KaleyJ — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:14:21 +0000

I’m confused… do we like RTD again now? Only – just about every post to every new Moffat episode of Doctor Who has ripped his era apart. Yet here comes Torchwood again and suddenly he’s back in fashion.

Surely people are not THAT fickle…

By: Torchwood4Fan

Torchwood4Fan — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:31:15 +0000

Very interesting interview. Thanks, SFX! I also think that Torchwood found its feet with Children of Earth. It was a nice show before but CoE was an amazing dark drama and I’m totally happy with the new Torchwood following in the same direction.

By: Richard L

Richard L — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:06:20 +0000

*cough*
RTD, you could try making Torchwood a good show?

Just a thought?

By: Russell T Davies Talks Torchwood Series 4 | Kasterborous Doctor Who News

Russell T Davies Talks Torchwood Series 4 | Kasterborous Doctor Who News — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:35:38 +0000

[...] a huge interview on the SFX website, Davies revealed little about the plot: “It’s too soon to give away the story, but I’ve [...]

By: Kal-El

Kal-El — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:55:32 +0000

I’m looking forward to it.

By: flippy

flippy — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:53:43 +0000

REALLY anticipating this. Not gonna lie: I liked series 1 and 2 best — the number of episodes was perfect, I like Monster of The Week eps and the larger team, and I miss the Hub.

But CoE was good, and I’m looking forward to seeing Jack and Gwen in a fresh setting.

By: msjaybee

msjaybee — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:39:56 +0000

I am a teacher. I have taught kids in my career that have been through what no-one, especially the young, should ever have to go through.

I found the alien child abuse and child murder on Children of Earth deeply disturbing. Now, with the news that S4 is to have a paedophile as a central character and that it is to be darker, I have made up my mind that ‘New’ Torchwood is not for me.

I do not find the concept of children being harmed entertaining. Neither do I empathise with those who cause that harm. Of course I accept the inclusion of the less savoury aspects of life in cop shows, they are based on real life. My reason for watching sci-fi is to escape from reality; I have to deal with ‘reality’ too often within my profession.

So no thank you, RTD. For me, paedophiles and darkness do not entertainment make.

I am an ex-Torchwood fan.

By: minorityreport

minorityreport — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:54:57 +0000

Charlie Brooker is a god. A grumpy god, but a god nonetheless. Torchwood is complete pants. I watched the first series, wasn’t really sure why, but had to bail in series two, I couldn’t take it anymore. And all the Children of Earth can’t make me change my mind

By: swe_emilia90

swe_emilia90 — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:04:52 +0000

I totally agree with badblokebob. I fell in love with the very first series of Torchwood, and I still enjoy those two first series immensly. Then along came CoE, and things obviously changed – but not all for the worse.

Sure, Ianto is a great loos to the show, but I am enough a sci-fi geek that I will watch the new series despite of character losses. Because it is a great show, and CoE took it places I never imagined it would go.

As I said, I still enjoy the first series, and I also find myself re-reading the tie-in books which are, frankly, quite amazing. It doesn’t mean that a new series of Torchwood will ruin what it was before. Call it ‘classic’ Torchwood or whatever, but I won’t let the show’s development scare me away when I know it could be the most amazing sci-fi drama out there.

//end of rant

By: AntipathyArtisan

AntipathyArtisan — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:58:21 +0000

Oh yeah. Children of Earth was astonishing drama. Really hope that they can keep that quality/intensity going

By: AntipathyArtisan

AntipathyArtisan — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:55:11 +0000

Sorry strictlybecca, but i’d say RTD got it spot on with that comment. Restarted is the operative word here.

For the first series, on the story side, he brought in a new Doctor, new companion and a back to basics ethos with a backstory that basically got rid of a load of old Who continuity. He gave the show a new focus by weaving the human stories of the companions into the Doctor’s fantastic adventures and so gave the show a relatable grounding that it had sometimes lacked before. Production-wise he oversaw a series of 13 episodes of 45 minutes, a complete break from the previous formats used and managed to bag a reasonable budget from the BBC. By the end of his tenure he’d made the show one of the BBC’s flagships and inspired countless (often dire, admittedly) Saturday family dramas.

Considering that the only prior attempt at regeneration for the Doctor had been the TV movie five years previously (unless you count the Children in Need spoofs), I really don’t think him saying ‘from scratch’ is too far fetched either

By: strictlybecca

strictlybecca — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:52:02 +0000

“But I restarted Doctor Who in 2005 from scratch, so I know what I’m doing.”

I’m sorry, but this grates so terribly. RTD has this habit of saying things that just really annoy the hell out of me – from scratch? Really? So you got rid of that whole concept of the alien in the blue box flying around with random people saving the Earth from aliens unknown? And got a whole new original one? The innovation of the program wasn’t RTD’s; what made it a beloved program was what it already had. Admittedly, RTD had the genius idea to start it all up again, but to say he did it from scratch (as if no cast or crew or any other person had a hand in it) is just so incredibly arrogant that I barely got through the rest of his answer to that question!

By: badblokebob

badblokebob — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:18:50 +0000

I can't wait to see this popping up on some Torchwood 'fan' groups. "He thinks Children of Earth was when Torchwood found it's feet? No, it was when he ruined the show! It wasn't even about Torchwood any more! And he killed Ianto omg how could he kill Ianto omg poor Ianto.." blah blah blah etc into oblivion. God I hate those Torchwood 'fans'. Anyway, in the world of people who can appreciate decent drama... this is all very exciting. Children of Earth was first-rate TV by any measure, so I look forward to seeing what RTD & co can come up with one story told over twice the length -- series like Damages and Dexter and, of course, The Wire really show what levels of plot and character complexity can be reached with such a form, and I hope the Torchwood follows in that mould.

By: Tweets that mention RTD on Torchwood -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention RTD on Torchwood -- Topsy.com — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:12:48 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Richard Hughes, sandi. sandi said: INTERVIEW Russell T Davies talks Torchwood: http://bit.ly/bpcYzh [...]

By: Ian Berriman

Ian Berriman — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:01:43 +0000

Thanks, but I was referring to the sustained mickey-taking it received (probably based just on the first episode) on YOU HAVE BEEN WATCHING, not that piece of writing.

By: geeky monkey

geeky monkey — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:38:22 +0000

Ian, Charlie Brooker didn’t slag off Spartacus – he loved it:

“here’s the surprise – after a disappointingly slow (yes, slow – despite the constant sex and violence) pair of opening episodes, Spartacus starts to improve exponentially until somewhere round episode five, where you stop enjoying it ironically and start to enjoy it outright.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/may/22/charlie-brooker-screenburn-spartacus

By: Shuggybarr

Shuggybarr — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:31:59 +0000

Quite agree with RTD on Spartacus. Became an excellent show. Even Charlie Brooker changed his mind once he got past the first couple of episodes which to be honest do make it look like a p1ss poor version of 300 but well worth sticking with. Latter half of the first season is excellent. Just don’t go overboard on the sh@gging & swearing and Torchwood will be in good hands.