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BBC Announces Adult Doctor Who Spin-Off

Posted by Zonk on from the who-isn't-for-adults? dept.

Dogtanian writes "The BBC has just announced a new 'Doctor Who' spin-off called 'Torchwood'. It is intended to be more adult in tone, and will follow a team investigating alien activities in modern-day Britain. Described as a cross between 'The X-Files' and 'This Life', it will feature Captain Jack, the bisexual time-travelling conman who featured in a number of recent Who episodes. The BBC are likely hoping that this spin-off will be more successful than 'K9 and Company'. The title is an anagram of a popular British sci-fi series, by the way."

27 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. The Anagram is.... by 8127972 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Doctor Who in case you missed it.....

    --
    This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
    1. Re:The Anagram is.... by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

      Really? Because I was gonna guess "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Good thing you came along and posted that or I would have been really embarassed.

    2. Re:The Anagram is.... by Darius+Jedburgh · · Score: 5, Funny

      You've obviously missed 'Hotrod Cow' which is the latest greatest thing to come out of the UK.

    3. Re:The Anagram is.... by SquadBoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      There is no 'h' in "Doctor Who". Try again.

      --

      Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
    4. Re:The Anagram is.... by just_another_sean · · Score: 5, Funny

      "There is no 'h' in "Doctor Who". Try again.

      I don't know how to answer this. I am really struggling here. I sense no /.-esque sarcasm yet, really, can anyone really be serious with that statement. Ah, /. can be so hard on me some days. I need a nap.

      --
      Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
    5. Re:The Anagram is.... by Onan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Okay, it's been about twenty years since I've seen any Doctor Who, so I can't comment specifically on this character, but...

      How does having a bisexual character constitute an "agenda" or "uncomfortable sexual baggage"? Isn't that just sort of a fairly realistic inclusion of the fact that actual people are sometimes gay or bisexual? In much the same way that people are sometimes female, or tall, or left-handed, and thus characters in stories sometimes also have these traits?

      Were you made similarly uncomfortable by Tom Baker's curly-haired-people agenda and baggage?

    6. Re:The Anagram is.... by MenTaLguY · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Speaking as someone who's seen the series, new and old... we don't even need to bring homosexuality or bisexuality or whatever into this...

      Tom Baker's characterization didn't totally revolve around the curly hair. Captain Jack, on the other hand, had very, very few scenes that weren't heavily sexualized.

      You could forget, sometimes, that Tom Baker had curly hair. By contrast, the way Captain Jack was written, it was pretty hard to forget, even for a moment, that he was continuously randy for anything vaguely warm and moving.

      It's even more glaring given that Doctor Who has historically been a show so foreign to sex that fandom has long speculated that the main character's species reproduces asexually.

      Now, that was a writing problem too, but I would have preferred something in the middle rather than having a main character almost totally dominated by his sexuality at the expense of other aspects of his development.

      --

      DNA just wants to be free...
    7. Re:The Anagram is.... by jangobongo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The "agenda" may belong to Russell Davies who admits, "Yes, I'm a gay writer," and goes on to say, "...to get hung up on it [the fact that Jack's bisexual] is almost too sad for words, frankly."

      The problem is that people are going to get hung up on that very fact. I predict that this spin-off wouldn't do well here in the U.S.

      --

      Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
    8. Re:The Anagram is.... by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I predict that this spin-off wouldn't do well here in the U.S.

      I've said this before but... Doctor Who will *never* do well with mainstream US audiences. Period.

      They tried it in 1996 with the Fox/BBC co-production, made a number of compromises for the American market, and it still didn't do very well.

      Put simply, if it were possible to make something called "Doctor Who" that did well in America, it wouldn't be Doctor Who. The BBC seemed to realise this with the new series, and didn't try to repeat their 1996 mistake (which isn't to say it was flawless, but not for that reason).

      Doctor Who will never be more than cult in the US, and it's unlikely that Torchwood would be either, with or without openly bi and/or gay characters.

      Personally, I'm not convinced about Torchwood; I felt the Captain Jack character was symptomatic of the (intentional) cheesiness running through the new series, but I'm not a rabid Who fan, so if it's crap I'll just not bother watching it. If it's good, then... great :)

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    9. Re:The Anagram is.... by pm_agapow · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Would you complain so loudly if the character was randy and heterosexual ...

      ... like many (if not most) mainstream sitcom characters?

    10. Re:The Anagram is.... by SquadBoy · · Score: 5, Funny

      No. I'm just an overtired idiot.

      Mod it down so that it just goes away, please.

      --

      Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
    11. Re:The Anagram is.... by ianpm · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually, I probably would. Dr Who should be sexless. Its not about that, nor should it be. The Sci-Fi is supposed to be the core of the show. Not who is getting laid with who (no pun, really, no pun intended).

      The bisexual thing doesn't bother me at all in fact. But it does irritate me slightly that Russel T Davis is using the show to "enlighten" everyone that being gay or bisexual is fine. Of course its bloody fine, but I don't care about it in my sci-fi. Well, not in Dr Who anyway.

      I have Lexa Doig for my sci-fi sex interest ;)

    12. Re:The Anagram is.... by SquadBoy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And you have no idea how much that cracks me up. But PLEASE mod it down.

      I should have my browser taken away if I've had less than 2 hours of sleep in the last 36. :)

      --

      Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
  2. Adult? Not really by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

    "BBC Announces Adult Doctor Who Spin-Off"

    And here I was hoping for some quality sci-fi T&A, a la US Spice Channel. Serves me right for RTFA, back to Seven-of-Nine for my sci-fi kitten-killing adventures.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  3. Torchwood? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Elisabeth, come in here!"

    "Doctor it's so dark in here, where are you?"

    "Over here in the corner."

    "I can't see.."

    "I have a torch in my pocket. Come and get it. Yes.. a little to the left.. yes, there it is. That's a good girl."

    *shriek* "That's your KNOB!!"

    "No baby, that's my TORCHWOOD..heh heh heh."

  4. First "Bad Wolf" post by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Am I the only one who isn't totally sold on Russell Davies' ability as a science fiction writer? The interpersonal drama elements of the new Who were well done, but pretty much all the sci-fi was rubbish. At least two episodes ended with some kind of big beam from the sky hitting the Tardis as a way of resolving the plot. One episode had the Doctor developing some kind of force field so the Tardis wouldn't get hit by Dalek missiles (how can you get hit by a missile when your ship dematerializes to travel through both space AND time?). And when it came right down to it, the whole "Bad Wolf" plot thread was a huge letdown at the end and didn't really make any kind of sense at all. I'm hoping the second season is better, but I get the feeling that will depend on its relying more on independent writers rather than Mr. Davies himself. The two-parter with the gas mask zombies was the best one, and the direction I'd like to see them go. Try watching a bunch of Philip Hinchcliffe-era episodes starring Tom Baker and you'll see how the new series really sort of pales in comparison.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
    1. Re:First "Bad Wolf" post by SeanTobin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, I rather enjoy the writing. As you said, the interpersonal elements are very well done. As far as any perceived problem with "some kind of big beam from the sky hitting the Tardis as a way of resolving the plot" you need to realize that that particular part isn't as important.

      Take what is quite possibly the world's greatest plot device - the Sonic Screwdriver (tm). There are many things that get in the Doctor's way. People, Daleks, the gap of the emotional understanding and motivations of the human species. Those are interesting challenges and make for good television. Opening a locked door isn't as interesting.

      The Bad Wolf plot was not a let down for me. Remember the episode where Rose saved her father and caused a temporal paradox (sorry if there is a better term, years of Star Trek have embedded that one in me.)? It showed that normally there is a limit that you can mess around with the timeline at. Again, it wouldn't be much of a show if you could just go back in time and accidently land the TARDIS on top of the creator of your greatest enemy before he creates them. What the Bad Wolf episode also showed is that those paradoxes can be resolved. What can be more dramatic than Rose desperately trying to get the TARDIS flying on what she knows may be a one-way trip to her death for the slight chance that she can do something to save "her Doctor."

      Again, simple matters of how to open a door don't make for good drama. Telling a crazed, alien-nanite infused, scared, lethal, 6-year old to go to his room in a convincing manner... Sacrificing yourself to time-eating demons to defend your (relatively) innocent companion... Flying the TARDIS into a Dalek ambush to turn certain death into a fighting chance for life... brilliant!

      --
      Karma: SELECT `karma` FROM `users` WHERE `userid`=138474;
    2. Re:First "Bad Wolf" post by PCM2 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I just watched "Pyramids on Mars" and "Talons of...". These had a great atmosphere and were fun to watch. But you ain't gonna convince me that these were science fiction. There was very little science fiction content, just a bunch of horror/science fiction cliches thrown together.
      Ouch. Harsh, but I guess I can't really argue with you there, if your definition of science fiction requires actual "science." (Except for Talons, maybe ... that little homonculous with the brain of pig sounded particularly nasty.)

      Is Quatermass not sci-fi, then? Because that's what a lot of the Tom Baker and Pertwee era Whos seemed to be modeling themselves after. There were some rockets in the Quatermass stories, granted, and some theorizing, but not a lot of science, really.

      Anyway, what's interesting is that I seem to remember early interviews in which Davies was quoted as saying he thought Doctor Who worked best as a horror show. Can't find them now, though.

      On the other hand, the Empty Child/Doctor Dances had great science fiction content. And I thought Long Game and Unquiet Dead also had some good science fiction content.
      "Empty Child/Doctor Dances" was clearly my favorite. "Long Game" had some good content, but again it was one of two out of a total of just thirteen episodes in which the plot was resolved by yet another cheap sci-fi plot device -- blowing up the big, unintelligible blob-monster at the end. (Historically, the Doctor hasn't really confronted all that many blob-monsters in the past.) "Unquiet Dead," similarly, had a glowing alien energy-being at the end. I mean, come on -- compare that to, say, "Seeds of Doom" or "Robot," where the stakes were raised as the plot progressed. By comparison, a stationary monster in a cellar (or top floor, whatever) just isn't that dramatic.

      To me, that's one of the natural necessities of action or suspense drama: raising the stakes. But Russell seems so enamored of his characters that he never bothers to do it. There's something wrong at the beginning of the episode but we know that, by the end, the Doctor will figure it out and right it. You seldom get the impression that the Doctor or Rose are in any kind of danger, with the possible exception of the cliffhanger episodes ("Empty Child," again, being the most effective). But the cliffhangers get resolved in the first minute of the next episode in such a lame way that if they keep it up, nobody's going to pay attention to those either. I mean, come on -- "Haha, doesn't work on me after all, I'm an alien"? Fine then, time for me to head to the refrigerator to make a snack...

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
  5. I wish I was present when they pitched this.. by Elphin · · Score: 4, Funny

    "OK, lay it on us, what's your idea?"

    "well, there's this bisexual time-travelling conman...."

    (awkward silence)

    "...and that's it!"

    "Brilliant! Here's a bag of moneys!"

  6. Ugh... by MudButt · · Score: 5, Funny


    will feature Captain Jack, the bisexual time-travelling conman

    Just when you thought British TV couldn't get any worse...

  7. Uhhhh yeah... by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 4, Funny

    So... BBC is going to do an "Adult" show called "Touchwood" with some bi-sexual Captain, his K9 and Company... ....

    And this is somehow NOT one of the signs of the Apocalypse.

    Very well then.

  8. Who meets Are You Being Served? by whovian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Jack: I'm measuring the Tardis for The Doctor for a block transfer computation. Would you give me a leg up, Mr. Humphries?

    Mr Humpries: Why, YES, I'd be delighted!

    --
    To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
  9. End this ambivalence! by ettlz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The new series was good, but plagued with ambivalence. On the one hand, the Doctor makes jokes and the soundtrack plays the occasional circus melodies. On the other, he's a dark, damaged bugger of a Timelord (who may or may not have designs on his impressionable young companion), there are scenes of torure, talk of prostitutes... I for one welcome our grown-up over— no, Timelords. Now let's get rid of the pretence that this is some children's show and make it something challenging and credible*.

    *Yes, I know this is fiction, but I think you catch my drift.

  10. Queer as Folk by Aexia · · Score: 4, Informative

    Queer As Folk

    You realize that was originally a British series... and as it happens, created by Mr. Davies...

  11. Government Beaurocracy by turgid · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is what you get when you let a Public beaurocracy do anything. They get it half right.

    Bisexual is good. Man is bad. Who wants to look at an ugly man? Men are ugly. If it were up to a private organisation, it would feature a beautiful bisexual woman. Women are beautiful. Men are ugly.

    Damn beaurocrats.

    What's more, being a Brit, I have to pay for it by law :-(

    If I want to watch the bisexual women on the commercial channel, I have to pay even more.

    Damned government beaurocracy.

    --
    Stick Men
  12. Re:Plot problems. Questionable writing. by ettlz · · Score: 4, Funny
    Why would the Autons, the Rift, the Slovenes, the gas creatures, and Rose's home all be in Cardiff?

    That sounds like the start to a bad joke, with the punch-line "because they've just been to Swansea".

  13. Yea, baby, I'm dimensionally transcendental by volpone · · Score: 3, Funny
    "You're what?"

    "I'm bigger on the inside than I am on the outside. Rrrowrr."