{"id":54580,"date":"2024-07-09T17:11:50","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T15:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2069039"},"modified":"2024-07-10T00:16:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T22:16:34","slug":"torchwoods-gareth-david-lloyd-id-definitely-go-back-it-changed-my-life","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/torchwoods-gareth-david-lloyd-id-definitely-go-back-it-changed-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Torchwood\u2019s Gareth David-Lloyd: \u201cI\u2019d definitely go back \u2013 it changed my life\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifteen years after Ianto Jones’s heart-wrenching death aired, actor Gareth David-Lloyd looks back on the beloved character. <\/p>

By Louise Griffin\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 09 July 2024 at 15:11 PM<\/p>

\n\n

When you think of Torchwood\u2019s<\/a> highly acclaimed mini-series Children of Earth, one scene sticks out above them all \u2013 Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd) dying in the arms of the love of his life, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).<\/p>\n

Not only did it devastate fans at the time, prompting petitions calling for Ianto\u2019s return and even a shrine in Cardiff\u2019s Mermaid Quay, it\u2019s one of the biggest lasting legacies of Torchwood, the Doctor Who<\/a> spin-off helmed by Russell T Davies. Fifteen years on from the fateful third season of the show, the shrine still exists and is regularly visited by fans, as well as having its own caretaker, Carol-Anne Hillman, who looks after the beautiful monument.<\/p>\n

Speaking to RadioTimes.com<\/a> exactly 15 years to the day after Ianto\u2019s death aired in Children of Earth: Day Four, David-Lloyd recalls: \u201cFirstly, we didn\u2019t know whether we were gonna get the third series. So to have the phone call from my agents to say that we would go again, we\u2019ve got a third season, was really exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said that it was only gonna be five episodes and at first, I was a bit disheartened. I thought, \u2018We were a 10 to 12 episode series.\u2019 And then he explained that it was going to be one linear story over the course of five days, and it was going to be one of the first television events where everything was going to be shown over a week. And that was quite exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then he said, \u2018And you\u2019ll be needed for three or four out of the five episodes,\u2019 at which point it sort of clicked and I thought, \u2018Right, OK. So it is his time.’\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cBy the time we got to season 3, I felt lucky to have got that far. So it wasn\u2019t a massive shock. Of course I was disappointed. I was going to lose a job and, you know, it created a real sort of a family atmosphere among the cast and obviously it was sad, but I felt lucky to have got that far without being killed off sooner!\u201d<\/p>\n