HIT sci-fi series Torchwood, starring Scots actor John Barrowman, is set to move to BBC One for its next series – but will be reduced to just five episodes.

And the Doctor Who spin-off, which originally started on BBC Three before being transferred to BBC Two last series, may run all five episodes – which will be linked – in one week as a mini-series.

Barrowman will return for the new series as Captain Jack Harkness, alongside co-star Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, and is expected to start filming the new episodes in August.

Fans of the show will be unhappy at the reduced run, but the higher profile nature of the move to BBC 1 should make up for the loss of episodes.

“We’ve decided to do a five-part mini-series, one big story that will run during one week,” the show’s executive producer, Julie Gardner, told US listings mag TV Guide.

“I wanted to make a really big noise about the show.”

source: dailyrecord.co.uk

The good news for Torchwood fans is that the series will be back for a third season. Writing is underway and filming is set to begin in August. The bad news: the BBC has only ordered five episodes, and the future of the series seems to be in question.

Torchwood executive producer Julie Gardner told TV Guide, “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.” It’s still unclear when or how the five episode mini-series might be aired in the U.S. Torchwood remains the most-watched show on BBCAmerica, but apparently isn’t drawing sufficient ad revenue to cover its production costs.

Gardner was tight-lipped about casting, saying only that fans, “will be pleased.” Star John Barrowman is definitely returning as Captain Jack Harkness, but it’s expected that Owen and Toshiko (played by Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori) will stay dead. What’s unclear is whether Gwen (Eve Myles) or Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) will be back. It’s been rumored that Doctor Who star Freema Agyeman will return as Martha Jones.

Rumors also say that the producers and BBC are struggling with Torchwood’s identity. Originally conceived as a spin-off from the family-friendly Doctor Who, the series has been much darker and dealt with more adult themes than its parent show. The pressure to draw a wider audience could result in a revamp that makes Torchwood more appealing to Doctor Who’s legions of younger viewers, but abandons some of its darker and adult storylines.

source: blogs.delphiforums.com and tvguide.com

“It’s always emotional to say goodbye to people.”

Most of the time, Eve Myles, Torchwood’s no-nonsense Gwen Cooper, bounds around like an over-excited puppy. On stage at the Rift Convention, she overcomes her apprehension at facing her first convention appearance by regaling fans with tales from the set of Torchwood that quickly have the audience in the palm of her hand. But, as she tells Carole Gordon in a quiet moment later in the day, filming Torchwood was not all fun and games. Losing two of the characters from the show at the end of the second series, people who had over the course of filming become and remain her good friends, was a deeply emotional experience – and one that will continue to affect both her and Gwen.

The second series of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood ended with the aptly-titled episode Exit Wounds, with Jack’s long-lost brother Gray attempting to destroy Jack, the Torchwood team, Cardiff and, just for good measure, the rest of the planet. Jack is buried alive for a couple of millennia while the rest of the team try to save the world. So, just a normal day at Torchwood then. Except that, on that day, both Owen and Toshiko die heroically as they battle to defeat Gray.

Not surprisingly, for Eve Myles and the rest of the team, these were difficult scenes to shoot.

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Eve will be starring in a new series with Freema Agyeman called Little Dorrit. Here’s a photo of Eve in it and an article with some information.

source: totallytorchwood.blogspot.com

THE SKINNY: Can’t get enough of the Science Fiction worlds of DOCTOR WHO? Well then you are in luck because on Sept. 16, TORCHWOOD THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON arrives to U.S. stores. Also, BBC Video will release TORCHWOOD THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON on Blu-ray Disc (6-disc set) on the same day!

This will be a five disc set containing all 13 new adventures of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and his alien-fighting team – Gwen (Eve Myles), Owen (Burn Gorman), Tosh (Naoko Mori) and Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) – as well as more than three hours of bonus material. The second season features tons of guest star appearances including Freema Agyeman (DOCTOR WHO), Alan Dale (UGLY BETTY) and James Marsters (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER).

The new episodes take the Torchwood team on journeys to the 51st Century and World War I. The team battles a rogue Time Agent, investigates alien sleeper cells, saves a stranded creature from horrific abuse, and comes face to face with an entity that may well be Death itself.

BONUS FEATURES

* · The Lives and Deaths of Captain Jack
* · Torchwood Declassified Cut-downs 13 episodic behind-the-scenes features
* · Deleted Scenes
* · Outtakes

source: ifmagazine.com

Eve is up for Best Actress at the TVQuick and TVChoice Awards (along with Catherine Tate from Doctor Who). You can vote for her here!