US Torchwood To Play It Straight?
There’s a report in Entertainment Weekly that the U.S. version of Torchwood – should it get picked up – will have a Captain Jack with more narrowed sexual interests. That does not please Captain Jack himself, actor John Barrowman.
Digital Spy reports the current Desperate Housewives guest-star “The last thing I would want would be for Jack to become this
heterosexual, straight hero. He’s an omnisexual guy. He likes men,
women, aliens, whatever. I think we should continue going down that
route.” He went on to say that if this is the case, it would foster a “big discussion” between creator Russell T Davies and his producing partner Julie Gardner. Davies, who is also an executive producer of the series, is a well-known gay and lesbian rights advocate, as is Barrowman. The actor did not say he wouldn’t be available for the series, nor did he say he’d resurrect the role if asked. Since the pilot is still in the script stage, nobody’s asked. However, Barrowman notes both Davies and Gardner said “there will be no Torchwood without John Barrowman as Captain Jack.”
So it might come down to which the Fox network wants more: Torchwood with a straight Captain Jack, or Torchwood without John Barrowman.
However, Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat told the British newspaper The Guardian “I imagine that kids would love to see Captain Jack meet the new Doctor.”
But if that happens, it won’t happen this season.
In an announcement calculated to surprise absolutely no one, Doctor Who executive producer Piers Wenger confirmed the series been renewed for the 2011 season, it’s 31st overall and sixth post-revival. A new now-mandatory Christmas Special will be served up between seasons.
Diamond Comic Distributors just promoted our friends at IDW to “Premier” status. Essentially, that means IDW’s titles – which include the ComicMix line as well as Transformers, Doctor Who, Angel, Star Trek and a great many others – will now appear in the highly valued front portion of the monthly Diamond catalog. This is a much desired position, and marks the first time a publisher has joined this elite group (Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, and DC) since the whole Premier thing started almost 15 years ago. There are various programs that make it more convenient for retailers to order IDW’s books that will be implemented later in the year.
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made Scottish actor David Tennant a big star while Tennant helped take the new incarnation of the venerable British series to greater success after relaunching with Christopher Eccleston. In many ways, they needed one another so when Tennant received numerous other acting opportunities, his schedule grew complicated. Then, as was inevitable, he announced he was moving on.
What is it with Stuart Townsend and characters with swords? First, he leaves the role of Aragorn early in the shooting of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and now we hear that he’s out of the role of Fandral in the adaptation of Marvel’s Thor. AP cites that old standby, “creative differences”. Fandral will now be played by Joshua Dallas, who was in the Doctor Who episode “Silence in the Library”.
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