It’s Torchwood Miracle Day; But not for another 6 days in Torchwood’s home, The UK?

Bookmark this on Delicious

So the 8th of July has finally arrived and tonight, if you’re in America and subscribe to the cable channel STARZ you’ll get your first taste of new Torchwood for almost TWO years! The story sounds intriguing;-

One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging -- they get hurt and sick -- but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight.


With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four month's time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?", he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.

It’s certainly an ambitious idea and a worthy way to follow the magnificent Torchwood: Children of Earth, which turned the third series into a 5 part single story told each night from Monday to Friday. But there the problems lie. Cuts in the BBC budget led series three of Torchwood to go from the 13 episodes of seasons 1 & 2, to the 5 season mini-series that was Children of Earth. Whilst it cannot be denied that the format made for a great show the fact remains that getting promoted to BBC , but then having the show cut from 13 to 5 episodes upset many. John Barrowman is even quoted as saying he felt like they were being punished.

So now we come to Miracle Day. The ante has certainly been upped with the addition of Bill Pullman (Independence Day) and Mekhi Phifer (E.R, 8 Mile) to the cast as well as locations around the world. This has come at a cost however as the 10 episode 4th series is a co-production between the BBC and Starz. Starz are premiering the show (after much publicity) tonight, but the BBC isn’t showing it until next Thursday. This has upset many of the shows’ UK fans who feel they are being poorly treated despite helping the show become such a success when it aired in its home market. There have even been threats for mass downloads (illegal downloads) of the show; which could severely affect the ratings for the show when it airs in Britain. The concerns have been taken seriously enough that Eve Myles (who plays one of the main two original characters Gwen Cooper) responded with much empathy saying:-

“These people have waited just over two years for this next season. You know, they’ve waited long enough. I wish I had the ten episodes here and I can invite them to my house and we could all watch them together. You know, tonight. Unfortunately, my house isn’t big enough and I only have one.......... Yeah, I’d like to say that if I had something to do with it that this wouldn’t be happening. But, sit tight, because it is a fantastic ride.”



Whilst it may seem like a lot of fuss over nothing, the nature of fandom is to treat the object of your affection like its your own and shows often try to cultivate those feelings to build a solid foundation and of course make extra cash on licensing and such. Making them wait 2 years for a new series and then showing it in another country first is kind of a kick in the teeth and with this being the internet age avoiding spoilers for the next six days may not be as easy as you’d think.

Here’s what the fuss is all about...