Have you been longing for a return of the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood? Captain Jack himself, John Barrowman feels your pain. So much so, that he and his sister, Caroline E. Barrowman are actually writing a Torchwood comic book series for Titan and continuing to push for a revival of the TV show. Unfortunately, Barrowman has made some comments which seem to clearly suggest that Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat is stopping any new Torchwood stories from reaching TV.
Via Doctor Who News, here is a video from twitter user @typicalmadness_ from a longer video originally posted by @grantuchida
Oh lordy. pic.twitter.com/Ba936I4PZ3
— Jamie (@typicalmadness_) September 11, 2016
In case you’re not up on your Who news, Barrowman’s allusion is to the impending departure of Moffat after Doctor Who season 10, and the pending arrival of former Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall as the new showrunner.
Related: John Barrowman Talks ‘Torchwood’ and Shorts At Comic-Con
Moffat issued his response to Doctor Who News, and he was clearly not pleased by the turn of events as described by Barrowman. “You may be aware that John Barrowman has been saying, publicly, that I’ve been blocking a new series of Torchwood, said Moffat. “To be very clear – I haven’t blocked it; I wouldn’t block it; I wouldn’t even be ABLE to block it. I didn’t even know a revival had been mooted till I read about it on the Internet. As John perfectly well knows, it’s not my show and I could no more prevent it happening that he could cancel Sherlock. I am bewildered, and a little cross, even to be included in this conversation. For the record, I really liked the show (especially the third series) and would be very happy to see more – monsters and mayhem, why not? But the fact is, it has nothing to do with me. Please pass this on to the anxious and the angry – I’ve had enough hate mail now.”
It’s possible that Barrowman is simply repeating what he’s been told. But there are a few reasons why a new season of Torchwood hasn’t been produced in years. First, series creator Russell T. Davies went on extended leave to care for his long time partner, and Barrowman has been keeping himself busy as a series regular on Arrow for several seasons now.
But the biggest reason that Torchwood hasn’t gotten a live-action revival yet is Torchwood itself. Or more precisely, Torchwood: Miracle Day, the fourth season that was co-produced by Starz. It didn’t get the ratings that Starz hoped for, nor did it seem to bring in new fans for the series. Creatively, it really s*** the bed compared to the previous seasons, and it simply didn’t live up to the series’ earlier standards.
Make no mistake, Torchwood still has fans and admirers. It probably will be back at some point. But if Miracle Day had been better, it would have been back a long time ago.
