AMERICAN TORCHWOOD TORCHED?

BBC Worldwide Productions has released a statement concerning their attempt to bring an American version of 'Torchwood' to the airwaves here in the States:

“BBC Worldwide Productions and the FOX Broadcasting Company have mutually agreed not to progress together with a 13-episode serialized 'Torchwood' format. We are currently in discussion with several interested networks.”

"It's very much ongoing and very much alive," said Jane Tranter, who is the executive VP of programming and production at BBC Worldwide.

I was on the fence about this. On the one hand, I figured as long as they created all new characters to man the Torchwood US hub, fine. Toobworld could handle the new series. John Barrowman said that he wanted to portray his character of Captain Jack Harkness in the new series, rather than have the producers recast the role. And that would be excellent news - I can never get enough of Captain Jack on my TV!

But if the Captain was recast, then it would have been bye-bye 'Torchwood US' - send us a postcard from whichever alternate TV dimension that took you in.

Then again, I've always seen the Torchwood Institute to be a strictly British organization, even if it is outside the government as Captain Jack claimed.

I could have worked around that though, if I was working on the script. This Torchwood hub could have only just recently arrived in America; it could have been the Torchwood that had gone "missing", which Captain Jack hopefully figured would eventually turn up. Some kind of cross-dimensional slide, perhaps, and when it returned, it was now in the United States of America with the original staff dead or still missing and so a new American team would have to be assembled. That would have been my wish-craft, anyhoo.

Tranter sounds hopeful that they can find another home for the American version of 'Torchwood', and maybe they will. It would certainly fit in with the Syfy Channel, and being on Spike or FX would give them greater freedom to keep their edge.....

BCnU!