Torchwood cut 'like punishment'

Cutting the new series of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood to five shows from 13 felt like "we were being punished", its star John Barrowman has said.

The third series of the sci-fi show - which began on BBC Three before moving to BBC Two - will now be shown on consecutive days on BBC One.

Barrowman said other shows moved to BBC One "and they don't get cut".

The BBC said it wanted to create "a powerful sense of event" with Children of Earth, which will start on Monday.

Barrowman told the Radio Times: "I'm going to get a little political and I'll probably get into trouble for it."

He said Torchwood's first series had been "the most successful show on BBC3 - ever" and, as a result, had been moved to BBC Two where "we were beating shows that had been on BBC Two for a long time".

"The decision was made to go to BBC One and then we were cut - from 13 episodes down to five."

'Very special'

Barrowman said the new episodes were "incredible, I have no doubt about that".

"But personally, I felt like we were being punished.

"Other shows move from BBC Three and Two to One and they don't get cut.

"So why are we? It felt like every time we moved we had to prove ourselves."

But the show's writer and creator Russell T Davies told the magazine: "Part of us thought, 'we could do another 13 episodes, we've learnt how to do that, and the second series was better than the first'.

"But why not change it?"

He said if the show was made in the US, "they'd try to keep it going for seven years, doing the same thing every week".

He added: "It's the British audience we make these for.

"And I don't think audiences are remotely lost by a change in format."

A BBC spokesman said: "We wanted to create a powerful sense of event when the show came to BBC One and so talked with the show makers about a story that could run over five consecutive days."

This was something "very special" that had only been done before with 2008's five-part thriller Criminal Justice and Iraq-based drama Occupation, shown earlier this month.

Torchwood: Children Of Earth follows the alien-chasing team as they battle for the future of the human race against the fiercest force they have encountered.

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New 'Doctor Who' companion announced

21-year-old Karen Gillan has been named as the new companion for series five of Doctor Who.

The Scottish actress will star alongside Matt Smith, who takes over from David Tennant as The Doctor in series five of the long-running cult show.

"I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor's new companion," said Gillan. "The show is such a massive phenomenon that I can't quite believe I am going to be a part of it. Matt Smith is an incredible actor and it is going to be so much fun to act alongside him – I just can't wait to get started!"

Gillan previously appeared in Who as a soothsayer in the series four episode 'The Fires of Pompeii'. Her other credits include The Kevin Bishop Show, Rebus and Stacked.

Of Gillan's casting, new executive producer Steven Moffat said: "We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up. Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it. A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too."

Rumoured contenders for the role of Matt Smith's assistant had included Lily Allen, Kelly Brook, Georgia Moffett and Skins star Hannah Murray.

Filming on the new series will begin in July for transmission around Easter 2010. Tennant's final episodes will air this Christmas.

'Doctor Who' returns to BBC America

At BBC America, the Doctor is finally in. The net has acquired the five "Doctor Who" specials that will finish showrunner Russell T. Davies' run on the venerable Brit sci-fi franchise that starred David Tennant as the Doctor.

"The Next Doctor," the series' Christmas special, will air at 9 p.m. June 27, and the next spec ("Planet of the Dead") is set for July. Dates and times for the final three shows are to be determined, but the next incarnation of the show is already in the works, with Steven Moffat (who worked on the Davies version) as showrunner and thesp Matt Smith as the Doctor.

"Doctor Who" has aired on Sci Fi for four seasons, with BBC America preeming Davies' spinoff series "Torchwood" (which will continue) and running the parent show a season late. "Torchwood" will air as a five-episode cycle this year, as well, starting in July.

Due to a quirky international sales arrangement, BBC America will continue to air the U.S. preems of ITV's dinosaur-filled sci-fi adventure series "Primeval" -- "Doctor Who's" chief ratings rival in the U.K., recently optioned for a bigscreen feature by Warners.

The net's "Who"-centric summertime launches will segue into the rest of its sci-fi heavy lineup, which includes the previously announced fantasy series "Being Human" (six hourlongs, produced by Touchpaper TV and BBC America, starting July 25) about the relationships among three characters: a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost. The net has already made a deal for the not-yet-aired second season of the show.

Also on the sked: "Survivors," which follows the last members of the human race after a deadly virus has wiped out 99% of the population.

BBC America doesn't have a traditional upfront -- the net acquires comparatively short seasons of Brit programs and airs them year-round, sometimes combining them to make a U.S.-length season. Because of the way BBC Worldwide is funded, BBC America has to outbid any interested Stateside nets, even for programming that appears on its sister network in the U.K. The unique structure has occasionally resulted in a success story for BBC America that has turned into a success story for another net when the time came to renew the show.

For "Doctor Who," the reverse would appear to be true. The net has back a quintessentially British show that BBC Worldwide America prexy Garth Ancier wishes had always been on BBC America (he came onboard after the deal was made).

"If I'd been here," Ancier said, "we wouldn't have sold it, to be quite honest."

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BBC Developing a 'Dr. Who' Movie

We might get a Dr. Who movie, and very likely, it would star David Tennant, the actor who really helped resurrect the series on the BBC in the past few years. Tennant recently filmed his final episodes of the series, and Matt Smith will take over the role for the next official season. But it could be that a movie was part of Tennant's thinking all along.

The BBC (via Filmonic) reports that, "Tennant will firstly appear in three [Dr. Who] specials, starting with The Waters of Mars in November. Meanwhile, Doctor Who may be heading for the big screen after a spokeswoman for BBC Films confirmed that “a script is in development”.

Now, that doesn't mean a movie will definitely happen or that Tennant will star. It could be Smith, I suppose. But this series doesn't have a concrete timeline, where stuff that happened when Tom Baker was the Doctor in residence has anything to do with what Tennant encountered. So that means, a movie franchise could live independently of the TV series.

And if you look at it from the Beeb's perspective, if you're going to launch the first Dr. Who movie in over 30 years, you would probably want to use arguably the best guy to play the character rather than an upstart who is really an unknown quantity.

There's no question the prospects are better now for a movie than they have been in a long time, and there's no question that the film is decidely a more interesting proposition with Tennant in the TARDIS.

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