What next?

[stuffphile]

 I've been wondering what kind of speculative thoughts other fans are having about series 4, and Doctor Who.

Does anyone else share my suspicion that the reason Torchwood series 4 is still up in the air, is because TPTB are keeping it under wraps 'til after the  Doctor Who end-of-year specials?

Also.

Comments

[curriejean]

Oh man. I'm not caught up on Who, so I can't make a judgement, but ... superficial indeed. Ew. I hope not. :P

[kholran]

If that happened, I think I would burst into tears, vomit, and throw my television out the window, not necessarily in that order. I haven't seen the photo, but I remember back when I was pretty new to both DW and TW, that special was one of the first I saw, and I definitely entertained the thought "Hey, he kind of looks like that other guy on TW". If that even comes back to haunt me, I will go Hulk Smash on something in my house.

[lefaym]

In The Writers' Tale, RTD reveals that he wanted to bring Midshipman Frame back in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, and that he planned to kill him off there. I've wondered if he's simply doing that in Tennant's finale instead.

It would be terribly cruel to pair Jack up with yet another lover who is going to die prematurely, so this does scare me. But I doubt that Frame will actually be set up to "replace" Ianto -- because Tovey is currently involved in Being Human. His role fills a similar function to Ianto in Torchwood-- ie, the kick-ass-woobie type character who gets lots of funny lines, and to put in in a similar role in DW/TW would just be a bit much, I think.

[stuffphile]

Oh boy. More dying?

What I imagine is a throwaway dig at Jack's character that would be clear to people who've seen TW, but not necessarily the whole audience. Not anything that would have permanent storyline consequences.

I just wouldn't be surprised if RTD used the chance to get another kick in while he can. I know it's already filmed, but he's obviously been unhappy with TW since before he wrote CoE.

[lefaym]

I think the thing that scares me most is that we'll just see the same happy-go-lucky Jack as before on Doctor Who -- regardless of what they do with Midshipman Frame.

[stuffphile]

As sad as that would be, I could actually accept that, as long as they make it clear some time had passed for Jack. If they don't, I would think it a bit of a cop-out (oh god, my regionality is showing), but that's still better than MEANNESS in the writing. Which I do think CoE shows plainly. ("Secret science fiction super base"? HUH.)

Do you think there'd be a difficulty in having Jack act in a different way that he always did on Who, without going into what caused the change in demeanour on screen? If they seriously wanted to avoid mentioning CoE, they might have had Jack revert because of that.

[jovialien]

I wouldn't worry too much, Midshipman Frame is only back because RTD fancies Russell Tovey.

I'm serious, check out a writers tale. He wanted to bring him back for Journeys End but couldn't justify it. (He also wanted to find an excuse for midshipman Frame to lose half his clothes but didn't quite manage that either.)

[lefaym]

Actually, I think it was because Tovey was doing Being Human at the time they were filming JE, and so wasn't available.

[fide_et_spe]

Oh dear, that is such a depressing thought. I tell you what really bothers me now is JB's comment about a new piece of arse for Jack. He had already filmed the DW at that point.

[stuffphile]

Sometimes I think JB's mouth is engaged while the brain remains on stand-by. Eheh. NOT THAT THIS ISN'T TRUE OF MANY PEOPLE. *cough*

But, though I don't think it has any bearing on what will or won't happen in future series of TW, the very thought worried me seriously. Because, Jack, and whoever is writing TW next ought to take a lesson from CoE, IMHO, and not try to put Jack in a relationship ever again. Let him stick to casual liasons, but please, let us not have to go through "why didn't you tell me?" / "I tell you everything" AGAIN.

[fide_et_spe]

I agree about JB, sometimes I think he says what the people around him want to hear, then sometimes he has a kind of tourettes moment. Thing is, I do the same thing, at work meetings usually, so I know what it's like

[stuffphile]

While a series about TW in the past is a neat idea, I don't think I'd be happy if it meant we would get no continuation. I want to know where Jack goes from here. They should write Torchwood novels about Jack's past, though. And even pre-series novels with the team could be good. And novels all about Ianto (and his stopwatch/TARDIS/coffee machine).

Relationship thing indeed. I have qualms about every possible type of romance/relationship that Jack could have, in a new series. It seems like natural progression from Jack getting broken so utterly would be for him to try to do things in an entirely new way. Do you think he might not use what happened with Ianto as an excuse to be a broody loner immortal again?

If they give him a new love interest only to write badly again, as with Ianto, it would be horrible. It would be even more horrible if they gave him a new love interest and wrote it well.