Torchwood: Why it may not come back on television

For a long time, fans of the popular Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood have been eager for its return. But is it now too late for it to come back?

Ever since Miracle Day finished back in 2011, fans have been eager for a brand new season of Torchwood. It’s not surprising, either. The finale of Miracle Day resolved a great deal, but it also left a lot more open, and gave us quite the cliffhanger.

But since then, there hasn’t been a single additional story of Torchwood, at least not on TV. We’ve had books, comics, and even an official continuation of the series on audio with Aliens Among Us. But while many fans are pleased to be getting any fresh Torchwood content, many others simply want a brand new TV season.

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At this point, however, it’s not looking likely that it will happen. Here are a few reasons why.

Actor availability

This is something that’s really key to the whole thing. Virtually everyone who worked on Torchwood has moved onto other projects. To give you an idea of exactly how busy everyone is now, it took almost three years for Big Finish to tell a Torchwood story set during the first two seasons with the full original cast. And even then, they had to record on separate days.

Of course, a new Torchwood season doesn’t need everyone from the original cast, right? Just John Barrowman and Eve Myles.

Well, that could actually be a problem. Because even Eve Myles has been busy working on other projects, most notably Welsh series Keeping Faith. And even during the production of Aliens Among Us, her availability was so limited that she barely featured in it. (If you haven’t listened to the series yet, you’re probably wondering: why’s Gwen so heavily featured on the cover for the first box set? There’s a reason for that.)

Now Eve Myles has been eager in the past for a Torchwood return on television. And she has enjoyed working in the audios. But if she’s not available for a full season of audio drama, something much quicker to make than on television, then how likely is it she’d be up for a full season on television? Or even something the length of Children of Earth, at just five episodes?

Barrowman would still be eager to work on Torchwood again. But for many fans, Gwen was Torchwood. She wasn’t just the central character, but the key point of view, too. So with just Jack left, is that really what the fans want?

Torchwood has continued in other media, most significantly in audio series Aliens Among Us. But will it ever come back to TV?

Photo credit: Torchwood/Big Finish Image obtained from: bigfinish.com

A certain former showrunner

In 2016, Barrowman strongly hinted that the reason Torchwood wasn’t coming back was because of a certain showrunner of another show. Now, with that showrunner gone, nothing can stop Torchwood coming back, right?

Well, honestly, no. Because, despite Barrowman’s very strong hints, let’s be honest: Steven Moffat never had anything to do with Torchwood. If that were the case, we wouldn’t have had Miracle Day. (Your mileage may vary on whether or not that might’ve been a good thing.)

No, from the very start, Torchwood has always been Russell T Davies’s baby. And that’s never really changed.

The reason that this is important is that over the last six years, we’ve heard plenty from Barrowman and Myles that they wanted Torchwood to come back. But we’ve heard virtually nothing from Russell. And it’s Russell more than anyone else that’s key to bringing Torchwood back.

We can only speculate on why he hasn’t decided to do just that. It might be due to personal reasons, or that he’s wanted to focus on other projects. Or it might simply be that he’s moved on. Not completely, perhaps. He was considerably involved in working with Big Finish for Aliens Among Us, after all. But as far as the TV series is concerned, it’s very possible that he’s done working on it.

A complete reboot?

If Torchwood ever did come back, at this point, its looking likely that it would be in almost a completely different format. There’d be an entirely new cast, although John Barrowman might still be involved. And it may not even have the involvement of the show’s original creator. So if it did come back, it might not even be what the fans wanted in the first place.

Right now, however, it looks like Torchwood’s had its day. At least as far as TV is concerned. It will live on for the fans in other media, especially in the audios. (Seriously, if you haven’t listened to Aliens Among Us yet, do so asap!) Right now, however, it’s looking doubtful that it’ll ever return to the screen.

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What do you think? Is there a chance that Torchwood could return? How would you like to see it brought back? Do you think Miracle Day wasn’t that bad? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.