They're making more Torchwood! Tentative yay!

I thought I'd already posted this, but it seems I hadn't. Hey! Russell T. Davies (perhaps you've heard of him) is no longer unemployed! The big gay Welshman-turned-Los-Angeleno and former showrunner of Doctor Who (perhaps you've heard of it) has announced that a ten episode series of Torchwood will be born from a collaboration between BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide, and American cable channel Starz.

Torchwood made history in 2006 as the first proposed Doctor Who television spin-off to actually happen (previous suggestions, including Jago and Litefoot, K-9 and Company, and Rose Tyler: Earth Defence, thankfully didn't make it very far). As RTD's interviewer in the above link says, the series ran for one season of thirteen episodes on BBC Three, a second season of thirteen on BBC Two, and a mini-series of five episodes shown over five nights (known as Torchwood: Children of Earth) on BBC One. I can't think of another show that could have survived all these format and channel changes and not at all seemed like it was failing. Doctor Who, for instance, would lose the large portions of the general public it relies upon to be considered a success if it started changing around its format. Torchwood can survive with a small fanbase which will follow it wherever, as well as new viewers who've heard it's actually good this season.

Vote Dalek?

If they were playing fair, print media in the US/Australia/Canada would have waited until now to announce the results of the UK general election so it accompanied the right Doctor Who episode for those who don't know how to use the internet. "But what relevence does Doctor Who have to the UK election?" I hear you cry. Everything, at least superficially. When Gordon Brown starts publicly talking about David Tennant being his favourite Doctor instead of the economy or whatever, you know that Doctor Who has reached unprecedented levels of influence. This article sums up and provides links to most of the shenanigans. In response (to the shenanigans) Lawrence Miles suggested a "Simple electoral reform: the party with the most Doctor Whos in its election broadcast wins. (The BNP may have to exhume William Hartnell.)" Oh, and Britain's main television guide magazine thing, the Radio Times, brought back its "Vote Dalek" (What does that mean? Is that really what the Radio Times wants voters to do?) cover idea from 2005, this time allowing readers to choose the cover whose Dalek (2010 design) colour corresponded to their party of choice. In response, the Green Party released this ad (after the jump).