Ohhhh god let the shipwreck begin not liking the sound of this at all!

He also raises some questions regarding how it will be received on both sides of the pond. “The very interesting thing will be, what if it does well on Starz but doesn’t do well on BBC1?”

Well, there you go, folks. It’s as I said all along, RTD has sold Torchwood out from under us to Starz. And for all those who will disagree with me, consider this: the BBC is going to show this programme well after its US transmission which means that pirate copies, both physical and online, will be available. Those who don’t want to be spoiled by waiting will inevitably get their hands on these which will inevitably lead to less viewing figures than the BBC would have liked.

With “Children of Earth” the smartest thing the BBC did was limit the number of episodes to five, and run them over the course of a week as an “event”. People were intrigued, and watched a programme they might not have normally seen because the brevity of the run allowed them to be fulfilled fast and within a week.

With a ten-part run for series four I fear those viewers will simply not watch all the episodes because they just can’t be bothered to invest in ten weeks’ worth of storytelling rather than, say, ten consecutive days’ worth. And with that decline in viewers the BBC will look for every excuse to ease its dwindling budget and thus pull out of the show, “selling” it completely to Starz who will have built up a much more loyal fanbase in the States since the show is, as we have been told, much more American now. Then, once that happens, Starz can sell Torchwood to whatever channel coughs up the dosh… but it ain’t gonna be the BBC, I can tell you that now. It might be Sky or Sky Atlantic, it could be SyFy in the UK or even Channel Four (as they have bought the ten-episode series “Camelot” from Starz).

So, I predict that Torchwood might be well-received initially but it won’t carry its audience figures through the full ten-week’s… and remember, we are talking an adult show rather than something like Doctor Who where children are much more obsessive in following their favourite programme from week to week and it is on during a period when families traditionally go on holiday… like Doctor Who, Torchwood is much better suited to cold, winter evenings when people purposefully stay inside to be entertained.

I truly believe that RTD will stay with the show for the next series and then bow out, alongside Eve Myles (though possibly not John Barrowman), paving the way for Torchwood to be a completely American-based show.

Well what a complete dissapointment….
I saw the title, and thought, just for a second, that mabye RTD had seen the light and decided that nothing was worth sacrificing Torchwood to the americans for another series…..

Unfortunatly it seems this is the exact opposite

Without RTD, who has it seems most definetly sold us loyal british veiwers out, I daresay that starz will americanize torchwood completly – I mean they will probably make up an entire new one that was actually american all along and set up in the war of independence of something ridicules….

I for one will be sticking with BBC1 and watching it on release – however it has obviously been a massive mistake to show them at different timings – who waits when they could see it at the click of a button anymore?

I’m looking forword to watching it on the 9th in canada.

I personally will be reserving judgement until i have seen it,whenever the BBC decide to show it that is!!!

some cheery pills needed people…lets see first!

@MWAnderson
Sold it out from under us? What are you talking about?

I wish people would stop moaning and just watch the thing when it comes out.No one on the show owes us anything. The fact it’s continuing is a good thing.

Sold us out, absurd, get a grip people!

@TWWL
Thank God for someone with a bit of common sense. Agree completly

I’m still really looking forward to the new series, I know that people arent liking the Americanisation of the new series but I think it might make a nice change to mix it all up a bit. I really dont want RTD to leave TW though! I always loved him as a Who writer and now the SJA has disappeared and next Torchwood :’(

Torchwood Miracle Day Airdate Confirmed:

@TWWL Actually the producers of Torchwood do owe the British fans of the series something – thanks for our support in keeping the series running for nigh on three series and making it the success it is today. People like you really don’t get it, do you?

Actually, TWWL is right: they don’t owe us anything. Lots of shows have lots of fans and even they get cancelled despite being successful. The only real reason the show had been recommissioned for a fourth series was due to the international success of Children of Earth, not really because of the popularity of the show amongst the British fans.

@MWAnderson
Ooh, hush. This is the bitterest argument I’ve seen since everyone was picking sides in the RTD vs Moff battle. I agree with @TWWL: we should watch first and THEN decide what we think. THEN you can all go off and argue and I’ll sit at my TV and watch a new series of Torchwood with glee.

@TSG
Another bit of common sense. Can’t we just all be glad it’s actually being made, they could have cancelled and then where would we all be!