Could there be more Torchwood in store?
Torchwood writer Phil Ford has called for a comeback for the Doctor Who spin-off during Russell T Davies’ second reign.
The returning showrunner, who oversaw shows like Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures during his first run on the show, has confirmed the return of spin-offs – but it’s currently unclear what form they’ll take.
Torchwood originally ran from 2006 to 2011 and Ford, who has written for Doctor Who as well as both spin-offs, would love to see it back in action.
“I’ve always wanted to see more done with UNIT. I’ve always thought there’s stuff we could do with UNIT there,” he said, speaking to RadioTimes.com ahead of the release of his new Target book based on his 2009 episode ‘The Waters of Mars‘.
“And, of course, I think there’s every case for bringing back a version of Torchwood. But the thing about Doctor Who is the universe is so huge over all these years, over 60 years, there’s so many places you could go to to develop spin-offs. But I honestly have no idea what is going on in the great man’s mind so we’ll have to wait and find out.”
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Asked if he thinks there’s real scope for Torchwood to return, Ford said: “I think there’s every chance. Even if it was going back in time to an earlier iteration of Torchwood, which in fact we did do in the show. But absolutely, I don’t see why we couldn’t do that. It’s science fiction, it’s Doctor Who, you could do all sorts of things – as I’m sure will happen!”
As recently as last year, Eve Myles, who played Gwen Cooper in Torchwood, denied rumours of reboot, saying she hadn’t been approached.
However, she added that, given the chance, she and Captain Jack Harkness actor John Barrowman “would jump back into Gwen & Jack tomorrow”.
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Davies recently spoke out after it was heavily rumoured that, following Doctor Who’s new distribution deal with Disney Plus, more spin-offs would be commissioned.
Speaking about why it’s the right time for him to return to Doctor Who, Davies told GQ: “I thought – with no criticism whatsoever towards the people who were running it at the time, because they were running it within the BBC’s measures – it was time for the next stage for Doctor Who.
“I thought the streaming platforms are ready, the spin-offs are ready; I always believed in spin-offs when I was there. I did Torchwood as a spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures as a spin-off.
“Those spin-offs declined when I left, and I can see why. And I very much left after 2008, when the money became scarce. I think that’s fair enough for the public service broadcaster that the money is spent on other things.”
Five new titles join the #DoctorWho Target novel collection for its 50th year, and all are available to pre-order now! 📚 Which book will you be picking up first?
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) January 19, 2023
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Ford first wrote the 2009 episode ‘The Waters of Mars’ for Doctor Who, and he’s returned to the terrifying story to write a novelisation for a series of Target books.
“It was great fun to go back there,” he said. “I don’t think I’d actually watched it again since it was first [broadcast] but I know a lot of people say how much they enjoyed it.”
He added: “I think the thing about ‘The Waters of Mars’ is, when we started talking about it, we always wanted it to be scary and it really was!”
Phil Ford’s novelisation of ‘The Waters of Mars’ will be released on 13th July. It’s available for pre-order here.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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