....Torchwood is ready?

[selenak]

It'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. 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.

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

Starz are the makers of Spartacus: Blood and Sand which is meant to be really really homoerotic and full of fangirlservice. It also, however, got some fan outrage because I gather that they killed off the main gay character halfway through the season. All of which makes them a pretty obvious fit for the show.

[andraste]

I doubt it will be as good as Children Of Earth, simply because ... well, what is? I honestly think it's one of the top ten stories told in almost fifty years of Whoniverse. But like you, I would be satisfied with something as good as Season Two and will be glad to have RTD pen some more episodes.

The last con I went to had a Q&A panel with Gareth David-Lloyd. He was lovely, but unsurprisingly most of the time was taken up with Ianto fangirls complaining about Children of Earth, no matter how many times the actor said he was OK with his character being killed off. Since I wasn't sitting near a wall I had to bang my head on shoulder of the friend sitting next to me instead ...

[selenak]

Spartacus: isn't that what Stephen DeKnight is doing these days?

[selenak]

I feel for you (and the actor). BTW, given that you made two superb vids of s1 and s2 respectively, will you make a CoE one? (And of course a fourth season also means new vid material. *g*)

[jesuswasbatman]

Yes. Which gave me even more of a sense of historical irony when I heard about the row over the gay character death.

[andraste]

I feel for you (and the actor).

Especially since this must be how all his convention appearances go these days. He was remarkably patient.

BTW, given that you made two superb vids of s1 and s2 respectively, will you make a CoE one? (And of course a fourth season also means new vid material. *g*)

There will indeed be a CoE vid! I've actually had a song picked out since right after I saw it, but I was waiting to hear one way or the other about Season Four before I did anything. Not sure when it'll be out, mind you, since End of the World News took me over a year and I have to finish my Vividcon vid in the next few weeks.

[selenak]

Hooray for a CoE vid! I'm delighted.

I remember back when Heroes had just finished the first season and the actors did the world tour, every interview ever with Adrian Pasdar included the question "if you could choose a power, which would it be", and he was saintly patient as well. Poor Gareth L-D. will probably asked about Ianto's demise for the rest of his life.

[selenak]

Ahaha, yes. :)

[kindkit]

In my case, I probably won't watch because I think Children of Earth was the natural ending point for the story and anything else will be anticlimactic. I was already unhappy with the way "The End of Time" cheapened what Jack went through/did in CoE by suggesting that giving him a new boy to fuck would make everything fine again. And since the new series will be produced by a new network for a new audience, I doubt there will be any attempt at genuinely incorporating the gut-wrenching agony of CoE into the backstory. I don't want to watch a Torchwood that glosses over all of that.

Gwen icon!

[monanotlisa]

I can only grin and shake my head and nod, respectively.

That said, while I think TW Season 4 will indeed be nothing like Children of Earth, that's perfectly fine for me: CoE will always be a hallmark in my memory and stand as one of the most brilliant outings of British sci-fi tv. Then, there's the fact that my heart cannot take another season that dark: I tend to like my shows considerably fluffier than CoE, seeing as real life covers the pain and angst pretty well for me. ;)

Gwen icon!

[monanotlisa]

I can only grin and shake my head and nod, respectively.

That said, while I think TW Season 4 will indeed be nothing like Children of Earth, that's perfectly fine for me: CoE will always be a hallmark in my memory and stand as one of the most brilliant outings of British sci-fi tv. Then, there's the fact that my heart cannot take another season that dark: I tend to like my shows considerably fluffier than CoE, seeing as real life covers the pain and angst pretty well for me. ;)

Ánd a good one it is, too!

[selenak]

Oh, I agree, that on a regular basis instead of a five-part-story, the darkness of CoE would be hard to endure, and that's why I said I'd be fine with another season 2 style season. Still, I hope the depth of characterisation will stay, and that we will see some of the consequences for our characters and the world at large.