Torchwood: Miracle Day
 

This is going to be a bit of a mardy thread.
But I have to get it all out.

For months I'd understood The new Torchwood series would air for the first time on my birthday (as you know, 1st July).
Turns out it's actually a week later - 8th July.
No idea why, that date has absolutely no significance?!
I can only assume it is a misunderstanding.
But one which stands, regardless.

Second grumble. The trailers released.
Now all this time I have not moaned about it being a US/ UK collaboration. But the trailers have reminded me why I am so precious about Dr Who and Torchwood. They weren't American.

Now, I am not anti Merkin.
If I was, I wouldn't post here.
But put yourself in my position.
Every movie with aliens is big budget. Every big budget movie is American. Therefore every alien threat is US-centric. At best we get a shot of Big Ben being blown up.

Star Trek was American (although they tried). Star Wars was American. That's the way life is - it's not wrong or unfair, but if you grow up in a country which is a visual aside, it rankles.

Dr Who is British.
It is often set on other worlds.
This series it opens in America.
But Britain is the focus, and where it always comes back to.
It's exceptional for us and we adore it.

Torchwood was set in Cardiff. Because there is a rift in time and space there (possibly caused by The Doctor tbh). But here is the Torchwood trailer.

Back to America being the focus, being the centre of the world. Maybe you are. But for those of us living on the fringes, our lives are just as meaningful and important. And it's sad to lose Cardiff as a place that things happen, given this was the only high-rating series where that was so.

And after all that bloody whining, guess what I can't wait for?
A week after my birthday!!!! A new Torchwood!!!

Hey Sundae did you read the Moffat interview recently? he wants Jack Harkness back in Who :)


http://gothamist.com/2011/04/21/stev...producer_o.php

Oh I'd adore seeing the Captain with the "new" Doctor.
Please please please.

I know right!?

(knight)

He'd break him if it was a whole night.

Hahahaha.

I dunno, he seems pretty wriggly. Like trying to get ahold of soap.

That's the lube.

*nods sagely*

Most likely.

(mikely)

Dr Who....? Dr Barrowman!
 

The above from the STV website.

He's been promoted to Doctor!

Swoon

And yes, I am still smarting about America getting Torchwood first (must be due to promotional clashes). But Dana might be able to help me a little bit there. At the very least it will stop me being so lazy about modern developments - I've really allowed myself to be left behind.

10 parts? Excellent! For some reason I thought it would be shorter.

Funny, because I was hoping for 13!
But I'm greedy.

According to Digital Spy the version we'll get will be slightly different to the version the US will get. Some stuff that the BBC is not happy about showing will be cut, and some stuff that won;t gel with an American audience will be cut from theirs.

Whether that means the full on sex scenes won;t make it to our cut, or if they're talking about the product placement (which of course the BBC can't show) is not clear. But Starz is a cable channel and so has a lot of freedom over what it shows, whereas the Beeb has to toe a tighter line. And we all know Auntie can be a little stuffy about sex.

I intend to watch both the US airing and the Uk airing, so will be interesting to see what the differences are.

Me too, me too!

FINALLY!
We have a release date.

For the few Merkins interested (and hopefully anyone who watches it for the first time and comes to this thread) we are getting it AFTER you, so no spoilers please.

Thursday 14.07.11

The BBC have acted shamefully imho.
Starz have amazing trailers and have been advertising it and the release date for MONTHS. The most recent one is region specific, and that has me champing at the bit as I can't even watch it on YouTube - grrrrrr!

The Beeb have a nothingy trailer (a countdown against a blank screen!!!!) and have only told people when they can watch it two weeks in advance. Would they have done that with Dr Who? With a costume drama? With an American import? NO.

Am I biased?
Hell, yes.
Am I right?
Errrrm.... Maybe? It does seem a throw away of money not to promote something on BBC1.

I'm really annoyed with Starz just now. The bastards cancelled Camelot!

They are releasing it on the same day that the last Harry Potter movie comes out?

I was an HP fan from the second book (sorry, have to say it because I'm that petty).
But as far as the films go, all I can say is Harry Who...?

Miracle Day.
That is all.

I have only seen about half of one of the movies (can't remember which, but know it wasn't the first). I thought it was rather good.

Checked out the 'rents copy of the Radio Times today.
Yay! JB & Eve on the cover. Looked airbrushed to all hell, weird when they're naturally attractive.
Still, maybe the budget doesn't cover photoshoots and they had to use their action figures...?

Oh, no. Here is proof they didn't.
Clip from the photoshoot from the Radio Times (official BBC magazine)

Looking forward to The Lost Files on Radio Four on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Apparently a shock in store for Ianto fans.
Oh blimey, didn't the Beeb get enough stick last time?
Still, Gareth David-Lloyd appears in all three (not a spoiler, it's in the listings!) so at least they don't kill him again on Monday.

It's on at student o'clock. 14.15.
So I'll be home to listen to it, woohoo!
I might relisten later on catch-up though. Mum doesn't grasp that as the radio is a purely audiotory medium, you need to be able to hear the words to keep up with the plot.

I told my DVR to record the series, but I just noticed that it hadn't caought episode one. I programmed that one manually; hopefully it will be up to speed for episode 2.

Hi folks,

My name is James, and I'm actually working with Starz to reach out to fans excited for Torchwood: Miracle Day - glad to see folks are looking forward to it! One quick point:

As a heads-up, Starz is actually going to be streaming the premiere of Torchwood: Miracle Day on their site starting at 12:01 AM ET/PT this Friday, July 8th - that way, you can catch the premiere even if you've got other plans (or even if you aren't a Starz subscriber yet)! Here's the link; feel free to share it with your friends:

http://bit.ly/TWMiracleDay

We've also got a Foursquare page up and running - check it out, follow us, and stay tuned for some big news coming soon!

https://foursquare.com/torchwood_starz

Like I said, I'm working with Starz - if you have any questions about Torchwood: Miracle Day, just let me know!

Welcome James, we have temporarily suspended our "no links on the first post" policy.

James - from my own personal point of view; which episode has the most Barrowman nekkidness? And man-fucking?

Nah, don't worry, I'm not really asking. If you are who you say you are (not paranoid, but this is the internet) then I respect that Starz are all-out on the promoting. And no point in suggesting you stick around either...

We have some die-hard Torchwood fans here and are trying to convert.
So you can probably tick us off and hit up a less-informed board.
I don't mean that as a rejection, just that we have this in hand.

Go for it.

I must not pounce on the StarzMan and shout rude words about the cancellation of Camelot. I must not pounce in the StarzMan and shout rude words about the cancellation of Camelot. I must not... Etc :-p

Massive Torchwood fan here, but watching it in the UK so not exactly your target viewer:-) am quietly confident that if anybody can convert our rabble to Torchie devotion it's Sundae.

Appreciate the effort though. Good luck with your mission!

Watched it.
Had to.

Enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing it on the Beeb though - there were places I needed subtitles. But that's probably more about my hearing problems/ poor computer sound than accents.

There were only two things that grated slightly.
UN-SPOILERY:

I already addressed one in a response about the trailer. Miracle Day was approached purely from an American POV - at least in the clips section. Couldn't we at least have had a BBC Wales shot?

And second, the ridiculous heels Esther had on to go scrambling about in. Five inch? And she was preparing to walk up ladders? If this is normal in America I will eat JimHelm's hat. At least Gwen & Tosh wore heels they could run in, even if I couldn't.

I'm not petty in an uber-fan sense, I just says what I see.

I will watch again.
Mum came home on a break from house-sitting and I had to surrender the PC half-way through the episode. Which is a bit like your parents coming home from a night out and switching channels to watch the football. But at least in this case I could go back to the beginning after she left.

Hugs & kisses to Dani for introducing me to the world of TV online.
And as I've already paid for this via a TV Licence, and cannot subscribe to Starz, I am guilt-free.

*grins*

I'll be watching tonight. Can't wait!

I'm not digging the male CIA agent. Hopefully he'll grow on me.

I wonder if (spoiler) Jack is now the only non-immortal, or if he has just been changed the same way as everyone else, and is therefore immortal in the same way.

He's my least favourite character so far. Though I did feel sympathy for him in a few places. I'm hoping his character will level off a bit soon.

About to listen to the second Torchwood play.
It's the third one that apparently has the revelations about Ianto.

ETA - we found out a bit more about him today.
He had some lovely poignant words.
Can't blooming wait til tomorrow!

Spoiler: I think Jack is now the only mortal. He can be hurt (as we've seen) and I bet he can die too. It would be a tricky thing to test though!

Re-watching Miracle Day (of course!) I'm not really warming to Rex.
But even if he's pushy/ aggressive/ annoying it's still good to see characters in the Dr Who family who aren't white. We had Mickey of course, and Toshiko. But Rex is a lead.

It's not anything to do with racism or political correctness, just that 85% of our population is Causcasion. Which means only 15% of prgrammes need to feature a non-white character to be representative.

Pfffft. Nice to have American sensibilities so not all black people on TV are rappers or athletes.

Martha (Doctor Who) was a trainee doctor. She was also the Doctor's companion: the biggest role in the show aside from the Doctor himself. In The Runaway Bride, Catherine Tate's character was getting married to a high flying business type (who happened to be in with the spider lady) who was black. He's played a couple of roles in Doctor Who if I remember right. I think he also plays David Mitchell's boss in Peep Show

John Luther (Luther), played by Idris Elba (of The Wire fame) is lead detective in serious crimes. Kwame Kwei-Armah played a paramedic in Casualty, whilst Chiwetel Ejiofor played the lead role in the recent bbc drama, The Shadowline, playing opposite Chris Eccleston: Ejiofor was the investigating detective, Eccleston the criminal (the unassuming 'flower man')- there was also a young black actor playing a newly released crime boss's driver who was not remotely gangster like.

And the ghost in Being Human was a black lass (Lenora Chrichlow) one of our up and coming, highly respected young actors. I think she was also in White Teeth.


That's just the handful I can think of off the top of my head.


[eta] sorry, my mistake, it was Naomie Harris who appeared in White Teeth, Chrichlow was in Sugar Rush. Then there's Sophie Okonedo, who starred in Dirty, Pretty Things, along with Chiwetel Ejiofor.


Oh yeah, and BBC's Merlin has a black girl playing Guinevere alongside a white Arthur.

Yeah, but we all know those aren't real black people, because they don't speak Ebonics. ;)

Hahahaha. true dat.

I stand corrected!
Quite right too.
In my defence I watched none of the middle section, they were completely off my radar.

I suppose it's a good thing that I hadn't noticed the skin colour of the others.

Well.
Episode 5.
Blimey.

No spoilers, just to say there have been some clever red herrings.

Okay.
I know what they took from him now. And it wasn't what I thought (just blood, not those two years).
I hope *that person* doesn't have any attitude about what happened back then.
Jack only left him! He murdered Jack and let other people murder him AGAIN AND AGAIN before he had an attack of conscience. I'm pretty forgiving, but I draw the line at murder.

Seems to me like Angelo got in touch with The Tricksters.
Nasty boy.

T:MD started out really kinda slow, but really started to gain steam 'round episode 4.

The two main surprises for me regarding last night's episode were Jack's mentioning of The Doctor, and the appearance of Nana Visitor. I was like "Kira?"

Saw her name in the credits (I was a Deep Space Nine Fan) didn't see her in the show.

Oh shit.
Yes I did.
Goodness. I did think I recognised the voice!