The Torchwood Institute - A Doctor Who and Torchwood Blog

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Sweepstakes

Sci Fi is running a Sweepstakes where you can win an iPod (and no, not the kind that Cassandra had on Platform One) and the Series 1 DVD boxed set if you answer a few trivia questions. They're actually challenging Doctor Who trivia questions as well, I found -- not of the "What planet are the Daleks from?" category...

I hope that it's a promising sign that they're running a competition at the half-way point of Series One airing on the Sci Fi channel, and that they're also running some additional banner ads, that they intend to purchase Series Two and beyond. (And as fitting for a blog with this title, I'm especially hopeful that they pick up Torchwood when the time comes, as I suspect that series will fit in well with their traditional audience as well.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Carrying a Torch

There's been some additional Torchwood Casting announced. Burn Gorman's name has been circulating for a while, and now we know the name of his character is Owen Harper.

What's completely new and exciting is that Naoko Mori will be joining the cast as Toshiko Sato. This is the second character to cross over from Doctor Who into Torchwood -- she had previously appeared in Aliens of London.

I'm going to be quite interested to compare and contrast Torchwood to UNIT. Russell T Davies mentioned in a DWM column that the real United Nations had told the BBC to no longer refer to the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. And that probably makes Captain Jack Harkness the Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart of the new series...which is an amusing thought...

K9 and Company

As has been rumored for a while, it looks like there's going to be another Doctor Who spin-off series. Torchwood for adults, and a new K9 animated series for the kids. The involvement of Bob Baker, as quoted in the Independent story, but also long-rumored, is also positive, as he's had a long involvement with Wallace and Gromit as well as originally creating K=9.

Welcome to the Torchwood Institute

I can tell from my server logs that people are searching for all things Torchwood after Tooth and Claw aired in the UK last weekend.

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here in the US, obviously, but we manage. I certainly recommend that you find an official site on the Torchwood House -- and if you find a page that needs a password, it's a pretty easy guess if you know the Royal that appears in Tooth and Claw. (You can also get that information from Mickey's website.

There are other Torchwood fan-run sites out there. We've got Torchwood TV, and there's The Institute and A Torchwood live journal community.

One of the strange things about being an American Doctor Who fan is seeing Doctor Who return to the massive mainstream popular success that we were always told it was, but here in the US it has picked up a little in its cult popularity since Sci Fi started to air the first season a few months ago, but it's still a niche show. It's bigger than it was a couple of years ago, but it is not anywhere near the same scale that it is in the UK. I think it's difficult for people in the US to realize how massive it is in the UK right now, and I imagine the reverse is true in the UK, where it doesn't have the same mass appeal as it would in the UK for a variety of reasons, but is still a very solid cult series.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Welcome to Torchwood House

There's a fresh site up for the second series of Doctor Who, currently airing in the UK. It's especially appropriate here at the Torchwood Institute -- just go ahead and make your plans the next time you visit Scotland to visit the Torchwood House.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Doctor leads Bafta Cymru winners

Doctor Who is winning awards again...

Congratulations!

Friday, April 21, 2006

Oddest places

I'm amused to see this picture of The Doctor and the Face of Boe in Engadget.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Torchwatch

We're seeing some more comments in the press about additional Torchwood casting now that there is a bunch of UK press on the UK launch of Doctor Who and Torchwood gets closer to shooting. this article mentions that Burn Gorman is going to be in Torchwood. I haven't seen him in anything, but I know people may have seen Bleak House or Layer Cake out there.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Canadian Torchwood

Well, it looks like they'll be getting Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood up in Canada.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Doctor Who Sci Fi Ratings

Here is some more detailed numbers, from the futon critic.

I consider it doing nearly as well as the season finales of Galactica and the Stargates to be doing quite well -- especially considering that it's the only new series airing on Fridays on Sci Fi, and all of the other considerations...

We'll have to see how the ratings continue.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Casual Reviews

One of the more interesting things is to read reviews of people not nearly as fanatical about Doctor Who as I am, and so Michael Rawdon's review of the first three episodes of the new series is quite interesting.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Even Krypton has a North

I love the news that Chistopher Eccleston is going to appear as Zod on Smallville. Great Doctor Who reference as well!

Why does everyone want to cast Eccleston as DC supervillains though, with the fan campaign out there to cast him as the Joker as well?