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NEWS FLASH: 'Torchwood' to Starz

Torchwood lives!

And not in the Americanized form that Fox was considering, either.

The juicy scifi-sex-comedy-drama-adventure sensation is returning in its original format seen here on BBC America -- but it's moving to Starz, which is eager to make noise in premium cable.

(And doing it these days with treats like Party Down and Spartacus.)

Ambisexual immortal anti-alien team leader/hottie John Barrowman is back in action (he was involved in the busted Fox try) as square-jawed Captain Jack Harkness, along with Eve Myles' key everywoman butt-kicker Gwen Cooper.

Not much of their team is otherwise left after last year's bloody good 5-hour miniseries Torchwood: Children of Earth, which scared the bejesus out of even jaded TV critics with the tube's only viscerally terrifying portrayal of an alien invasion (without many onscreen aliens, to boot).

If you haven't seen Children of Earth, grab the DVD or Blu-ray, stream it from Netflix, download from Amazon or iTunes -- do what you must, but get ready to be riveted. This is adult drama at its finest.

(Catch other Torchwood episodes in a 6-episode mini-thon on BBC America next Monday, June 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.)

Starz said in Monday's press release that new Torchwood would arrive as a 10-episode weekly series next summer, when it also returns in the UK on the BBC. Back on board are series originator Russell T. Davies, who rebooted Doctor Who into the 21st century before spinning off Torchwood to address more adult themes, plus his right-hand producer Julie Gardner.

This is a smart move for Starz, coproducing an established cult fave that's got an audience rabid enough to drop the dough to subscribe to Starz for this show alone.

We'll see whether this means Torchwood will now get a premium channel budget. But the press release hints at filming in the U.S. and other locations, which seems to indicate a broader picture for the Cardiff-based series.

So we don't know if Wales film crews will get more work. But we do know we'll have more amazement to watch.

A year from now.

5 Comments

SharonGS said:

This is terrific news. Starz may broadcast unedited versions, unlike BBC-America, and I've been eager for new episodes to follow up Torchwood: Children of Earth. So glad there are other Torchwood fans out there.

June 7, 2010 6:23 PM

Angela said:

Missed Torchwood, and Torchwood-Children of the Earth, but I do have Netflix, so Yay! I'll definitely check it out after reading your glowing recommendation!

I don't have Starz...yet?

But! For those who have Netflix, Starz is streaming live for free on the Netflix site, or to your TV if you're so lucky. The only caveat is that you have a (newer) PC. It won't run on my 2 year old Dell, or on a Mac, period. Hope Netflix changes the Mac thing soon.

[Diane here: Actually, Netflix does work on a Mac, so long as it has an Intel chip. Streams fine on my 2-year-old MacBookPro.]

This Starz live TV on Netflix may be old news for some, but I just found out last weekend and I hope this helps some Torchwood fans who can't afford to add another premium channel to their package.

Oh! And Party Down is lots of fun and streams for free on Netflix too.

June 7, 2010 9:50 PM

gene said:

Yet another bone-headed move by BBC, which has ensured that Doctor Who and Torchwood stay obscure in the US, instead of the phenomena they are in the UK. Now BBC's hiding its output on Starz(!)

I've dumped cable altogether in favor of the bountiful treasures that abound on streaming Netflix ($9/mo), plus OTA. That's about all I have time to watch anyway, and cable has gotten much too expensive.

Yes, Netflix works fine on a modern Mac.

That said, I'll here recommend my fave Doctor Who's, written by Donald Moffatt: "Blink," "The Girl in the Fireplace," and "Silence in the Library." These walk that delicate DW tightrope almost perfectly.

June 9, 2010 4:14 PM

angela said:

Diane and Gene, I should clarify. Netlfix streams fine on my Macbook Pro, too, except for the Starz *Live* TV stream option. I can get all other shows like Torchwood, or any option that says watch *Instantly*.

But Netflix says Starz Live TV won't work unless you have a PC. They need to fix that! :-)

[Diane here: Angela, I believe that limitation has something to do with Starz using a kind of Digital Rights Management that Windows supports and Mac perhaps doesn't. I've encountered that with some other TV-streaming sites.]

June 11, 2010 7:23 PM

gene said:

I went to "Starz Play" and tried "Bolt" and "Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" -- both worked fine on my iMac.

http://movies.netflix.com/WiContentPage?csid=1

June 14, 2010 6:55 PM

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Diane Werts has been glued to the tube since she can remember, growing up in a household where the TV came on first thing in the morning and stayed on till bedtime and beyond. She worked for the USA Film Festival, then for The Dallas Morning News writing about everything from Shakespeare to macrame art to rock music (and has the hearing loss to prove it). She moved to New York's Newsday to edit their glossy TV magazine, then returned to writing about television, specializing in its stranger permutations. She's a past president of the Television Critics Association.

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