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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."

10 of 330 comments (clear)

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

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

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    This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
    1. 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.

    2. 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
    3. 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?

    4. 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.

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      DNA just wants to be free...
    5. 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?

    6. 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.
  2. 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."

  3. 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...

  4. 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.

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    Stick Men