Captain Jack Harkness himself, John Barrowman announced on a BBC radio talk show Sunday that popular sci fi series ‘Torchwood’ would finally be returning in the form of a series of audio dramas by Big Finish, entitled ‘Torchwood: The Conspiracy’, the first installment of which will be released in September 2015, with the remaining five chapters following monthly, beginning in January 2016.
‘Torchwood’ is a secret force dedicated to protecting Earth (especially the city of Cardiff, Wales) from alien menaces. The series, created by Russell T Davies, originated as a spin off from the massively successful ‘Doctor Who,’ but almost immediately garnered a devoted fan following all its own. Unfortunately, the writers’ mantra “kill your darlings” was followed a little too closely, as fans fell in love with the ensemble cast, only to see most of them killed off as the series carried on, the arguably most devastating of which came in the third installment, subtitled ‘Children of Earth,’ The popular series appeared to die with a whimper with the BBC/Starz collaboration ‘Miracle Day’ which was an attempt to Americanize the series.
The focal character in ‘Torchwood’ is Barrowman’s Captain Jack, an immortal rogue described as “A companion to the Doctor, a rogue Time Agent, an immortal, a dangerous con-man, and very good at parties.” Barrowman, who currently co-stars as Malcolm Merlyn on The CW hit ‘Arrow,’ will reprise his role in the first chapter of ‘The Conspiracy’, written by David Llewellyn. Subsequent chapters will showcase other members of the Torchwood team, yet to be announced.
Producer James Goss expressed, “’Torchwood’ has been a ratings success on nearly every BBC channel, and it’s one of the few UK series to translate to America. It’s already been a series of iPlayer-topping audio plays, and we are thrilled to continue it. It’s just so exciting to be starting off the range with a drama starring John Barrowman – he lept at the chance to display a whole new side to Captain Jack.”
Executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery added, “It’s fantastic that we will be bringing Captain Jack back to life (for perhaps the thousandth time!) with Big Finish. There are many new ‘Torchwood’ tales to be told and I can’t wait for Jack and his team to defend the Earth once again. I am very grateful for the continuing faith that both the BBC and Russell T Davies have shown in us and very excited to enter into a new world for Big Finish.”
The first chapter is available for preorder now. Or you can subscribe to the entire series.
Are you excited to revisit Cardiff and the Torchwood team?
Source: Big Finish