....Torchwood is ready?
Jun. 8th, 2010 10:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIt's official: Torchwood gets a fourth season. . Which I have mixed feelings about for exactly the opposite reasons part of fandom has, to wit:
a) Children of Earth, to me, was not only an amazing and brilliant bit of tv on every level, and I love it passionately, but also a great ending for the show. I don't need shows I love to go on forever 'n ever (yes, DW does and will, but it's flexible with the format that way and has certain in-built advantages); some stories are the better for an ending.
b) Right now, the Torchwood team I would be most interested in seeing, the above objection notwithstanding, would consist of Gwen and two, possibly three of the female Children of Earth characters plus Rhys and Andy. Jack would not be a regular but an a recurring guest star. This is definitely not what we'll get; I'm pretty sure that other than Gwen and Jack, all the new Torchwood regulars will be new, providing an opening for new viewers and thus accomplishing that thing RTD does so well, providing access to old fans and new fans alike.
c) I'm also somewhat doubtful that the high quality of Children of Earth will be maintained in a regular season, because imo, some of it was bound to the miniseries format. Though actually I'd be fine with a season 2 level quality; I 'm fond of TW's second season.
All this being said? A bigger part of me is happy. I love Gwen and Rhys (and where there is Gwen, there will also be Rhys). I'm fond of Jack. While they won't be regulars for the above named reason, I think there is a chance we'll see Johnson, Alice, Lois or Bridget again as guest stars, perhaps in mid or late s4 once the new team got established. Also, RTD has a knack for creating characters I'm both interested in and care for, so I don't doubt the new bunch will captivate me. Regarding the globe-trotting, I guess this will work out the way Highlander the Series handled its part American, part European finances, to wit, they always shot a part of the season in Vancouver and the other part in Paris, only in this case it will be partly Cardiff and partly Some Places In The US. (And we'll totally get the Eurominutes. *end of HL in-joke*) What's more, we might actually get to find out how Recent Events have impacted the world other than the UK. (Even it "just" means the US.) Lastly, I might sort of miss having RTD-writtten stuff on my tv, virtues and flaws alike. Not in the sense of wanting him back on DW, because I think headwriter renewal, much like Doctor regeneration, is a good in-built refreshing of the creative spirits of the show, and I also think RTD told all the DW stories he wanted to tell; but Torchwood, like the Sarah Jane Adventures, is a different narrative. The first two seasons of TW were as much Chris Chibnall as they were RTD, if not more so, because Chibnall was the actual headwriter while RTD was the background producer; part of the reason why CoE was different was because it was RTD's spin on Torchwood sans Chibnall. So seeing what he'll do with a regular TW season makes me feel anticipatory.
Speaking of anticipation, here are a few easy predictions:
1.) Part of the previous fandom will stick to their "only with Ianto is Torchwood Torchwood, and unless he's resurrected, I won't watch" and/or "Jack sacrificing his grandson destroyed his character, I won't watch!" resolutions. Another part, however, will watch simply to rant about how much they hate s4, no matter whether s4 will turn out to be mediocre, bad, brilliant or anything in between.
2.) Even if the very first scene consists of Jack shagging Alonso Frame senseless (which I doubt, unless RTD can get Russell Tovey on a regular basis; not impossible, considering their mutual admiration for each other, but still not very likely, given Being Human has a third season to shoot), there will be dire predictions that American money means no more omnisexual Jack, by which people will not mean "omnisexual" but "Jack having same-sex relationships". (Not the same thing. Seetrobadora's recent post about the difficulty of portraying bisexuals on tv in a het relationship without making the audience feel this devalues their same-sex relationship(s).) In fact, Jack will not have a regular boyfriend or girlfriend, though one or two episodes with Alonso visiting and/or a flashback to however long Jack wandered the universe trying to cope with what happened before returning to Earth, which could include the Alonso relationship, can be in the cards (guest starring should not be problem for young Mr. Tovey), but will flirt with both genders and the occasional alien through the season. Shipping for Jack/the new male characters will be more popular than Jack/the new female characters.
3.) There will be Gwen bashing. Doesn't matter whether she'll be the actual leader of the new Torchwood or will hand over leadership to Jack again, whether she'll respond to Jack's return with a hug ("that slut, did you see her making the moves on him already?") or emotional distance ("how dare she be so mean to him after all he endured - typical for Gwen, being such a bad friend!"), whether we'll see her happy with Rhys and the baby or in the middle of a family crisis, there will be Gwen bashing.
4.) There will be lots of new fanfic. Mostly of the denial nature and/or "s4 if Ianto were there", but some of it will actually deal with the situations and the new characters as given. But there will definitely be much fanfiction. This is a good thing.
a) Children of Earth, to me, was not only an amazing and brilliant bit of tv on every level, and I love it passionately, but also a great ending for the show. I don't need shows I love to go on forever 'n ever (yes, DW does and will, but it's flexible with the format that way and has certain in-built advantages); some stories are the better for an ending.
b) Right now, the Torchwood team I would be most interested in seeing, the above objection notwithstanding, would consist of Gwen and two, possibly three of the female Children of Earth characters plus Rhys and Andy. Jack would not be a regular but an a recurring guest star. This is definitely not what we'll get; I'm pretty sure that other than Gwen and Jack, all the new Torchwood regulars will be new, providing an opening for new viewers and thus accomplishing that thing RTD does so well, providing access to old fans and new fans alike.
c) I'm also somewhat doubtful that the high quality of Children of Earth will be maintained in a regular season, because imo, some of it was bound to the miniseries format. Though actually I'd be fine with a season 2 level quality; I 'm fond of TW's second season.
All this being said? A bigger part of me is happy. I love Gwen and Rhys (and where there is Gwen, there will also be Rhys). I'm fond of Jack. While they won't be regulars for the above named reason, I think there is a chance we'll see Johnson, Alice, Lois or Bridget again as guest stars, perhaps in mid or late s4 once the new team got established. Also, RTD has a knack for creating characters I'm both interested in and care for, so I don't doubt the new bunch will captivate me. Regarding the globe-trotting, I guess this will work out the way Highlander the Series handled its part American, part European finances, to wit, they always shot a part of the season in Vancouver and the other part in Paris, only in this case it will be partly Cardiff and partly Some Places In The US. (
Speaking of anticipation, here are a few easy predictions:
1.) Part of the previous fandom will stick to their "only with Ianto is Torchwood Torchwood, and unless he's resurrected, I won't watch" and/or "Jack sacrificing his grandson destroyed his character, I won't watch!" resolutions. Another part, however, will watch simply to rant about how much they hate s4, no matter whether s4 will turn out to be mediocre, bad, brilliant or anything in between.
2.) Even if the very first scene consists of Jack shagging Alonso Frame senseless (which I doubt, unless RTD can get Russell Tovey on a regular basis; not impossible, considering their mutual admiration for each other, but still not very likely, given Being Human has a third season to shoot), there will be dire predictions that American money means no more omnisexual Jack, by which people will not mean "omnisexual" but "Jack having same-sex relationships". (Not the same thing. See
trobadora's recent post about the difficulty of portraying bisexuals on tv in a het relationship without making the audience feel this devalues their same-sex relationship(s).) In fact, Jack will not have a regular boyfriend or girlfriend, though one or two episodes with Alonso visiting and/or a flashback to however long Jack wandered the universe trying to cope with what happened before returning to Earth, which could include the Alonso relationship, can be in the cards (guest starring should not be problem for young Mr. Tovey), but will flirt with both genders and the occasional alien through the season. Shipping for Jack/the new male characters will be more popular than Jack/the new female characters. 3.) There will be Gwen bashing. Doesn't matter whether she'll be the actual leader of the new Torchwood or will hand over leadership to Jack again, whether she'll respond to Jack's return with a hug ("that slut, did you see her making the moves on him already?") or emotional distance ("how dare she be so mean to him after all he endured - typical for Gwen, being such a bad friend!"), whether we'll see her happy with Rhys and the baby or in the middle of a family crisis, there will be Gwen bashing.
4.) There will be lots of new fanfic. Mostly of the denial nature and/or "s4 if Ianto were there", but some of it will actually deal with the situations and the new characters as given. But there will definitely be much fanfiction. This is a good thing.
