US version Of Torchword in development!

[RoJoHen]

if John Barrowman is cast, it will be hard to see this as anything other than Torchwood S4, god the BBC better have first refusal deal in place with BBCWW for this kind of sitution.

Then again, from how I read it, it seems Barrowman may only be involved in the pilot. Perhaps as a way to pass the torch (no pun intended)...

 

[Chaos Descending]

if John Barrowman is cast, it will be hard to see this as anything other than Torchwood S4, god the BBC better have first refusal deal in place with BBCWW for this kind of sitution.

You do understand that BBCWW is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC, right? Every dime that BBCWW makes on this from Fox winds up in the hands of the BBC by definition.

 

[Chaos Descending]

if John Barrowman is cast, it will be hard to see this as anything other than Torchwood S4, god the BBC better have first refusal deal in place with BBCWW for this kind of sitution.

Then again, from how I read it, it seems Barrowman may only be involved in the pilot. Perhaps as a way to pass the torch (no pun intended)...

Well, it's impossible to say at this point, since there's no guarantee of even a pilot at this stage, let alone anything post-pilot.

 

[wamdue]

if John Barrowman is cast, it will be hard to see this as anything other than Torchwood S4, god the BBC better have first refusal deal in place with BBCWW for this kind of sitution.

Then again, from how I read it, it seems Barrowman may only be involved in the pilot. Perhaps as a way to pass the torch (no pun intended)...

that is one way to read it, would still make this show part of the Whoverse however, which is my worry.

 

[Starbreaker]

FOX, huh? Idiots.

 

[wamdue]

if John Barrowman is cast, it will be hard to see this as anything other than Torchwood S4, god the BBC better have first refusal deal in place with BBCWW for this kind of sitution.

You do understand that BBCWW is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC, right? Every dime that BBCWW makes on this from Fox winds up in the hands of the BBC by definition.

but does that mean BBCWW sells the show to the highest bidder in order to make more money for the BBC, or does it give the BBC first refusal, so we Brits can watch the show it stole from us.

Hopefully this never gets past pilot.

 

[Chaos Descending]

if John Barrowman is cast, it will be hard to see this as anything other than Torchwood S4, god the BBC better have first refusal deal in place with BBCWW for this kind of sitution.

You do understand that BBCWW is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC, right? Every dime that BBCWW makes on this from Fox winds up in the hands of the BBC by definition.

but does that mean BBCWW sells the show to the highest bidder in order to make more money for the BBC, or does it give the BBC first refusal, so we Brits can watch the show it stole from us.

Hopefully this never gets past pilot.

What do you mean, "gives the BBC first refusal"? BBCWW is the BBC!

Besides, I highly doubt that they are going to "sell" Torchwood to Fox, more like license it to them.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

If it's based in the US, how do they rationalize it with the original Torchwood charter? You guys tossed the Brits out before it was founded. I suppose were it to be based in the US, it would be a brand-new branch based on a more global charter. And if it's in the Whoniverse, they would also have to worry about UNIT at some point. The logical alternative would be to put it in Vancouver or Toronto, filming it there. Toronto has found success on CBS as the star city of "Flashpoint", so...

And I agree that putting it on FOX is suicide, with their track record for sci-fi. OTOH, it could be part of RTD's huge plan - do one series in the States KNOWING it would fail, then move it back to the UK anyway. It would have made much more sense putting it on Syfy, but they already have "Sanctuary" which is similar enough in concept.

Mark

 

[Starkers]

I really hate it when they do "US versions" of British shows. I mean, come on, can't they handle the vocabulary or what? It's like Life on Mars. Pathetic. It's not like Britain is a different planet.

The difference here is that unlike Life on Mars and other shows, all of the people who made the UK version are going to be making the US version.

The distinction is astounding.

Well Moffat was an exec producer on the US Coupling and that was, apparently, a complete disaster.

Why would there even be a US branch of Torchwood? This is something set up by Queen Victoria, I mean even if you factor in Torchwood India, well they only got independence in the 40s and they're still a Commonwealth country. An American organisation seperate from UNIT by all means, but Torchwood makes about as much sense as an MI5 series set in America.

 

[Joe Washington]

It sounds like this is going to be some kind of remake like the US version of Life on Mars. And this can not happen because it doesn't make a lick of sense. Making a US version of Torchwood which is a spin-off of Doctor Who is like making an UK version of Stargate Atlantis which is a spin-off of Stargate SG-1. You can't a remake of a spin-off without making a remake of the original show and you should only do that if your remake concept is good enough.

 

[wamdue]

You do understand that BBCWW is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC, right? Every dime that BBCWW makes on this from Fox winds up in the hands of the BBC by definition.

but does that mean BBCWW sells the show to the highest bidder in order to make more money for the BBC, or does it give the BBC first refusal, so we Brits can watch the show it stole from us.

Hopefully this never gets past pilot.

What do you mean, "gives the BBC first refusal"? BBCWW is the BBC!

Besides, I highly doubt that they are going to "sell" Torchwood to Fox, more like license it to them.

so why is it that when BBC WW saved Primeval, it ended up on ITV & the BBCWW channel Watch, and not on the BBC?

If it's based in the US, how do they rationalize it with the original Torchwood charter? You guys tossed the Brits out before it was founded. I suppose were it to be based in the US, it would be a brand-new branch based on a more global charter. And if it's in the Whoniverse, they would also have to worry about UNIT at some point.

Torchwood India stayed in operation after Jack shut it down, so no reason Torchwood: USA could have done the same.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Why couldn't there be a Torchwood USA branch? There are things called "international treaties", ya know.

Americans have military bases all over Europe to boot. I figure that Torchwood in the USA is no different than the US Air Force at RAF Lakenheath, or the US Navy at Yokosuka, Japan.

so why is it that when BBC WW saved Primeval, it ended up on ITV & the BBCWW channel Watch, and not on the BBC?

I don't know, you tell me! Where was the BBCs "first right of refusal" on that one?

 

[Starkers]

but does that mean BBCWW sells the show to the highest bidder in order to make more money for the BBC, or does it give the BBC first refusal, so we Brits can watch the show it stole from us.

Hopefully this never gets past pilot.

What do you mean, "gives the BBC first refusal"? BBCWW is the BBC!

Besides, I highly doubt that they are going to "sell" Torchwood to Fox, more like license it to them.

so why is it that when BBC WW saved Primeval, it ended up on ITV & the BBCWW channel Watch, and not on the BBC?

If it's based in the US, how do they rationalize it with the original Torchwood charter? You guys tossed the Brits out before it was founded. I suppose were it to be based in the US, it would be a brand-new branch based on a more global charter. And if it's in the Whoniverse, they would also have to worry about UNIT at some point.

Torchwood India stayed in operation after Jack shut it down, so no reason Torchwood: USA could have done the same.

Yes but Torchwood India would have been set up whilst India was part of the Empire. The concept of Torchwood arose long after the US left the Empire.

 

[RoJoHen]

It's possible with events like those in "Children of Earth," where the aliens threatened the entire planet, that Torchwood felt an obligation to branch out. Or maybe the USA said, "So...who are these Torchwood people that saved the day? We want our own!"

 

[Starkers]

Why couldn't there be a Torchwood USA branch? There are things called "international treaties", ya know.

Americans have military bases all over Europe to boot. I figure that Torchwood in the USA is no different than the US Air Force at RAF Lakenheath, or the US Navy at Yokosuka, Japan.

Yes but there aren't RAF bases in the US. The CIA operates in the UK, but there isn't a UK branch of the CIA, if that makes sense.

 

[Chaos Descending]

It's possible with events like those in "Children of Earth," where the aliens threatened the entire planet, that Torchwood felt an obligation to branch out. Or maybe the USA said, "So...who are these Torchwood people that saved the day? We want our own!"

Yeah, and since Children of Earth and The End of Time clearly established that the US runs the UK (and maybe the whole world!!!! BWAH HAHAHAHAHAH!) in the WhoVerse, why not? x 1,000,000

 

[Starkers]

It's possible with events like those in "Children of Earth," where the aliens threatened the entire planet, that Torchwood felt an obligation to branch out. Or maybe the USA said, "So...who are these Torchwood people that saved the day? We want our own!"

Yeah, and since Children of Earth and The End of Time clearly established that the US runs the UK (and maybe the whole world!!!! BWAH HAHAHAHAHAH!) in the WhoVerse, why not? x 1,000,000

We just wanted the Americans as patsys

Even if American wanted its own similar agency, why would it be Torchwood? More likely it would be some offshoot of Homeland Security like Stargate's Homeworld Security.

 

[RoJoHen]

Maybe NATO got involved. I dunno.

 

[wamdue]

so why is it that when BBC WW saved Primeval, it ended up on ITV & the BBCWW channel Watch, and not on the BBC?

I don't know, you tell me! Where was the BBCs "first right of refusal" on that one?

hence the worry, and why the BBC needs to be informed in this from the get go.

As for why there would be a Torchwood: USA, if you recall Yvoone at Torchwood London still talked about the empire, so I think in the past Torchwood has taken a different view on the empire than the rest of the world, plus if you are a group of people searching for alien artefacts and stopping alien invasions, can you really afford to ignore the USA simply because it was never part of the empire?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I've said many times that Torchwood is much more to typical US tastes than Doctor Who. We like stoic cops in SUV's over spastic guys running around in phone booths.

It sounds like this is going to be some kind of remake like the US version of Life on Mars. And this can not happen because it doesn't make a lick of sense. Making a US version of Torchwood which is a spin-off of Doctor Who is like making an UK version of Stargate Atlantis which is a spin-off of Stargate SG-1. You can't a remake of a spin-off without making a remake of the original show and you should only do that if your remake concept is good enough.

I don't see any problem with it, it's like saying you can't enjoy Frasier without having seen Cheers. Torchwood really doesn't need Doctor Who to work IMO.