247 Eliza Dushku on new Dollhouse direction, breastfeeding and the Red Sox

2009-09-30T15:00:03Z

Monday Eliza Dushku gave a rollicking interview to members of the media on a conference call, and there's quite a bit of information about the upcoming episodes of Dollhouse packed in there. The entire transcript is posted after the jump, but here's some less-spoilery highlights:

The tone: 'It's a little darker all around. We'll explore sort of some of the things, you know, the origins of some of the other dolls and the other characters. And then bringing in a bunch of guest stars and fabulous people coming in, so there's a lot of exciting stuff happening with those things as well."

On coming on after a comedy: "Well, I think they realized last year that people who want to find the show did, and obviously there's been a lot of talk about DVR and Tivo and how we really are alive for a second season because of that in a major way. And so I can see how they would say the people that found - people found the show last year, and so we're just going to leave it where it is, and hope that that continues."

On plot suggestions from fans: "I know that Joss and I, we've always paid attention to the fan love, and we love the fans right back, absolutely. I don't know how much he takes tips from storylines from the fans. I mean, on the contrary, from what I've seen, when he sees someone falling in love with a character, he's known to assassinate them or, you know, or do something terrible."

On roles that were hard to get into: "Yes, trying to breastfeed someone else's baby is difficult. [...] I'll just leave it at that."

On Echo's development: "But she really is becoming an entirely different character in many ways because she is getting sort of farther away from Caroline, even though Caroline is still the initial, her original self. So Caroline is in there, but I think she starts to realize there are things about Caroline that she's discovering are not - are unsavory or that are not Echo.

"The development of the character of Echo now has just been so exciting and so fascinating because when the way our writers and the way Joss can pick pieces from each of her experiences and weave them into this new character is just fascinating. So you'll absolutely see a whole new Echo this season."

Also revealed: there will be new episodes of Dollhouse the next two weeks but it will be pre-empted Oct. 16 for Major League Baseball. And -- big surprise from this Boston girl -- she's rooting for the Red Sox.

Complete transcript after the jump:

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N. Abrams: Hello, Eliza. How's it going?

E. Dushku: Hello. Good, thanks. How are you?

N. Abrams: I'm good. Thank you. I'm wondering, you know, how do you feel the direction of this season is different from the last one?

E. Dushku: Well, there's so much being cracked open and explored, especially with Echo having this new place that she's in, in terms of what we picked up from last year. She had all of the personalities downloaded into her in one swift punch, and they're not going away. So every pick up this year, she's still tapping into these personalities. Sometimes not, you know, it's not in her control, and other times it is. But, overall, she's just, she's really absorbing things from her engagements, and from the dollhouse, and she's really becoming self-aware, but not necessarily as Caroline, but as Echo, as her own person. So it's definitely complicated.

It's a little darker all around. We'll explore sort of some of the things, you know, the origins of some of the other dolls and the other characters. And then bringing in a bunch of guest stars and fabulous people coming in, so there's a lot of exciting stuff happening with those things as well.

N. Abrams: What trouble with Echo run into in her attempts to save everyone?

E. Dushku: I'm sure every kind and all kinds because it's a Joss Whedon show, so I mean, even just, we're starting episode seven, and there are so many directions and so many layers, and it's just, it's all over the map. Of course, a main story line is Agent Ballard, who spent last season trying to get into the dollhouse, and now that he's in and Echo's handler, he's working with her, and they may possibly be trying to bring the dollhouse down from the inside out.

Also, we get some back story with, for Dell and her superiors, and other dollhouses around the country and around the world, and just to give you an idea of how big the Rossum Corporation is, and some Summer Glau will join us and play a programmer from the D.C. dollhouse, and we'll get an idea of the way the other houses are being run.

Moderator: Our next question from the line of Tenley Woodman with the Boston Herald.

T. Woodman: Hello, Eliza. How are you?

E. Dushku: Hello, Boston. My favorite.

T. Woodman: My question is, how does a Watertown girl become Joss Whedon's muse?

E. Dushku: That's such a funny, good question, and I have no idea. I literally remember when I made my audition tape for Buffy. I went to the Arsenal Mall. And I got my outfit at Contempo Casuals in the Arsenal Mall, and bought some, you know, put some safety pins in my jeans. And I remember telling whoever the clerk was that I was making a tape for Buffy, and they were so excited. And then I was actually emancipated by a Boston judge who was also a Buffy fan, so I could go out to LA and shoot Buffy, which obviously dealt with vampires who come out at night, and I was still technically a minor, so I had a great judge that emancipated me so that I could come and do the show. I was already out of high school at that time. I guess I always have gotten by with a little help from my friends, Boston and everywhere.

T. Woodman: What do you like about working with Joss and doing his shows?

E. Dushku: I would say, first and foremost, that I just love the guy as a friend. He's been a friend, a brother, a teacher, a mentor, but the other obviously is just his talent. His skill is so beautiful to me, and he's just wildly creative and smart and feminist and funny and dark and scary and twisted, and he just combines it all so, you know, in such a sweet little package that I just, he gets me every time.

Moderator: We'll go next to the line of Joshua Maloni with the Niagara Frontier Publications.

J. Maloni: Hello, Eliza. Thanks for your time today.

E. Dushku: Hello. Thank you.

J. Maloni: So for as great as the show is, and as talented as the cast is, and as clever as Joss and his team are, you know, obviously you want people to watch the show, and I'm just wondering, do you think Fox has put you in a position for that to happen, airing you on a Friday night after a comedy?

E. Dushku: Well, I think they realized last year that people who want to find the show did, and obviously there's been a lot of talk about DVR and Tivo and how we really are alive for a second season because of that in a major way. And so I can see how they would say the people that found - people found the show last year, and so we're just going to leave it where it is, and hope that that continues.

I also, you know, ratings are obviously important, but I also, you know, having a professor for a mother, she always taught us about qualitative versus quantitative research, and I really, you know, I know that we're making a quality show and that we have quality fans and people that come to experience something different and out of the ordinary, and there are so many shows on TV that instant hits, and we're not that, but we have a core following, and I think that people that check the show out and aren't intimidated by it, find themselves being sucked in pretty easily.

I mean, it's sharp, you know, intelligent, fun. It's sort of sometimes off-the-wall TV, and I know that when I'm spending an hour of my life sitting down to watch the boob-tube, I love getting a rich experience out of it, and I've always found that with Joss in particular and, in particular, his shows. So that's sort of, we just, we do our thing, and given the second season, we're just, we're so, we're grateful to the fans, and we're grateful, you know, to Fox for giving us another chance, and we're making the most of it. We keep doing what we were doing, yes.

J. Maloni: Now you and Summer shot the promo last year. Your two shows then kind of were fighting for the last spot in the lineup, and now she's obviously a part of your show. What's the dynamic like between you and her?

E. Dushku: She's great. I love her. We've had such a good time the last two episodes. She just has come in with her A game, and just like a great - she's just a sweet, positive, fun actress. You know, she's great to play off of. Our characters have some back story that we have to fight out, and so that's a lot of fun, and I also - anyone that sort of is from Joss' past, and he's bringing back, I assume he had a great working relationship with them. He wouldn't bring any bad eggs into our house, so I always can pretty much safely know that we're going to have the cream of the crop coming back and coming in.

Moderator: We have a question from the line of Jim Halterman with Progressive Television.

J. Halterman: Hello, Eliza. Thanks for your time today.

E. Dushku: Hello. You too. What's up?

J. Halterman: Not much. I wanted to know. You know, you mentioned just a little bit ago that Echo was kind of all over the place as a character and, as an actor, how do you approach that?

E. Dushku: Yes, she's a schizophrenic.

J. Halterman: What?

E. Dushku: She's a full on schizophrenic.

J. Halterman: But as an actor, how do you kind of find that through line that you can kind of grab onto when you're playing the different parts that she plays?

E. Dushku: Well, again, it's almost, it's more, it's easier this year because we don't have as much of that sort of dumb down doll Echo because with sort of the - first of all, the personalities and now this core Echo being a sum of all these parts, including Caroline, but not really any of them, she's Echo.

She's actually - there's something grounded in that, and there's a strength in the personality that she's forming through that. And she's sort of picking, you know, pulling information from all of the different people that she's been, and as a result, she's sort of coming to understand and form he own ethics and morals.

But she's absorbing, and she's thinking, and she's processing, and so whereas last year it was from dumb down doll to, you know, this singular imprint, and it was always different. This year, there's - you never know, but you always know at the same time that there's something going on inside Echo that's not just what you're seeing on the surface. So it's sort of a little more grounding in that way, and fun for me to play.

J. Halterman: You know, you guys had such a strong fan base, it seemed, before the show even premiered.

E. Dushku: I know.

J. Halterman: Do you guys pay attention to the blog sites and what the fans are saying when you're coming up with like how to shape the episodes and the series?

E. Dushku: I know that Joss and I, we've always paid attention to the fan love, and we love the fans right back, absolutely. I don't know how much he takes tips from storylines from the fans. I mean, on the contrary, from what I've seen, when he sees someone falling in love with a character, he's known to assassinate them or, you know, or do something terrible. So I think, I mean, maybe that is a blessing in itself, so maybe yes. But he definitely has a mind of his own. Within the group of writers, they aren't really conformists, I can confidently say. So whether it's fans or critics or studios for that matter, they do their best work when they're sort of left alone and they reveal things as when they feel they should be revealed, and that goes for me and the other actors as well.

Sometimes it's really exciting for me. I don't want to know necessarily what's going to happen in three episodes because it may affect the way I'm playing Echo today, and I'm always - that thrill, that adrenaline from reading the next chapter and the next layer that Joss, you know, brings in is one of the most exhilarating things that I know as an actress.

Moderator: We have a question from the line of Alice Chapman with The Times Courier.

A. Chapman: Hello, Eliza.

E. Dushku: Hello.

A. Chapman: I was wondering, is there a particular role or character in an upcoming episode that you're going to play that was kind of hard for you to get into, and if so, why?

E. Dushku: Let me think. Well, I'll tell you, playing a mother was certainly something I hadn't expected, and that, you know, I'm an auntie, and I've always loved other people's children and babies, but playing a mother and trying to tap into that maternal instinct was a challenge, but also a thrill, and a beautiful thing, so you'll have to let me know how you think I did after this week's episode.

A. Chapman: Okay. Can you tell me about--?

E. Dushku: Mother was harder than serial killer sorority girl. I can tell you that.

A. Chapman: Okay.

E. Dushku: Yes.

A. Chapman: Well.

E. Dushku : Maybe that tells you something about me.

A. Chapman: Was there anything funny or unusual that happened on the set, like behind the scenes while filming that you could tell me about with the instinct episode or any episode?

E. Dushku: Yes, trying to breastfeed someone else's baby is difficult. But, you know, and yes. I'll just leave it at that. When you're not an actual mother, and trying to breastfeed a baby is harder than it looks.

Moderator: We'll go next to the line of Abbie Bernstein with IF Magazine.

A. Bernstein: Hello. Thanks for doing the call.

E. Dushku: Hello. How's it going?

A. Bernstein: Good. How are you?

E. Dushku: I'm good. I'm good.

A. Bernstein: This season, because Echo is a little bit more self-aware, but is sort of got fragments going on through her, is that easier or harder to play when she thought she was entirely one person?

E. Dushku: Well, that's sort of touching on that with the few questions ago. There's something a little more grounded about it. I mean, when the pieces sort of start to fall apart, and when she stars to, you know, be taken over by a memory, but she's not, you know, that she can't control, I think it's difficult. But at the same time, there's that processing going, and there's that, like, there's that authentic self that's, like, that's holding on and that's sort of keeping her from completely losing it and from completely, you know, being controlled by the personalities. She's starting to gain control of the personalities, and there's something grounding about that and something really strong about that. And so for me, I find it a little - I don't know if it's easier. It's more complex, so I enjoy it more, I guess, because there's more going on besides just blank slate doll and engagement Echo. There's Echo, who is a sum of all the parts.

A. Bernstein: And when you get a script going she's, now she's flashing on this, I mean, do you sit down with the script and break it down as to how aware Echo is, or do you just sort of do the scene and see what feels right in how to play it?

E. Dushku: No, we're absolutely breaking it down more this year because those realized moments are so much stronger. I mean, I definitely would not say it's been easier. It's been, it's actually been deeper work for me, but again, it's deeper work for me is sort of more interesting and more challenging to play. So it's - I've been really - you know, I have to say it's been a blessing this year to also be shooting on HD because we have more time, and so I get to spend a lot more time with the material and with these characters and with these glitches, and so that, you know, I feel like that's paying off for me a lot this year. And I feel like my performance has gotten stronger and even more, you know, more honest.

And even in that first episode with Jamie Bamber when we had the scene in the office where it goes from him catching me, and then bashing my head off the table, and then me sort of in the backspin, in that tailspin. I sort of famously now burst into tears in the middle of that scene because it was just so emotional, and I now feel this real connection that is sort of came from the inception of the show.

And Joss and I sort of making this character a little bit based on me where it's this struggle, this battle of like who am I, and even with all the pressures of society and things pouring in on me, where does that break, and where is my authentic self, and how it feels to stand in that and to live in that? So it's very personal and very, you know, exciting and terrifying and gratifying.

Moderator: We have a question from the line of Charlie Jane Anders from I09.com.
C. Anders: Hello, Eliza. Thanks for taking the call.

E. Dushku: Hello, there. Thank you.

C. Anders: Yes. So you talked before about how this show kind of reflects your experiences as a woman and trying to be all the people that people want you to be.

E. Dushku: Yes, sir.

C. Anders: Do you feel like Dollhouse is really about the experience of being an actor in particular, like in LA, like people expecting you to kind of fulfill their fantasies and, you know, the dark side of that? Is this kind of, is that something you're putting into it, do you feel like, when you're playing Echo?

E. Dushku: Yes, I think there's absolutely a layer or a few layers of that. When Joss and I had our infamous lunch, that was one of the threads and one of the themes, but I think it also translates to young women all over world. I remember my mother; I was the only girl in a family with three boys, and my mother did extensive, you know, reading about - I remember her reading this book called Reviving Ophelia, about adolescent girls and sort of breaking the way young women are broken down, and at the early age in their teens where they're starting to get hit from all sides by media and just images and the way the men in their lives, their fathers and their peers and everything starts to change. And it's like, the spirit of young women is so fragile and can be so toyed with and broken.

And my mother was always really aware of that and really tried to fight against that, and to teach me to sort of like to sort of stand in my authentic self and be comfortable in my skin, and with all of that, you know, with all of that research that she did and applying it, it still haunted me, and it still, you know, at various times in my life has almost, you know, has wounded me or come close to breaking me.

And so I just, when I sat talking about that stuff to Joss, he just, you know, as a man, it's so extraordinary that he taps into that in such a profound and intelligent way, and I can't think of anyone else that gets that or that, you know, gets that and can create an entire fantasy show that encompasses such a universal and serious thing in our society. So it's absolutely parallel to me, and I also feel like to women all over the world.

C. Anders: Cool. Thanks a lot.

E. Dushku: Thank you.

Moderator: We'll go next to the line of Troy Rogers with deadbolt.com.

E. Dushku: Deadbolt.com, I like that.

T. Rogers: Thank you. How are you doing?

E. Dushku: I'm good. It's my day off, but I like talking to you guys.

T. Rogers: Excellent.

E. Dushku: I get to talk to you from my sofa.

T. Rogers: I wanted to know how much closer Echo will get to rediscovering her true self this season?

E. Dushku: I mean, every single episode, it's been a little bit more. We're on 7 now, and we have 13, and this next episode is very - this episode 7 that we're doing, we've been building; we've been building. And we have a real kind of, a really extreme. I'm scared to say too much because the way, the feeling I get when I read these scripts and I get the sort of surprise of what's next, I would never want to ruin for the viewers. But she really is becoming an entirely different character in many ways because she is getting sort of farther away from Caroline, even though Caroline is still the initial, her original self. So Caroline is in there, but I think she starts to realize there are things about Caroline that she's discovering are not - are unsavory or that are not Echo.

The development of the character of Echo now has just been so exciting and so fascinating because when the way our writers and the way Joss can pick pieces from each of her experiences and weave them into this new character is just fascinating. So you'll absolutely see a whole new Echo this season.

T. Rogers: Excellent. I noticed in episode three.

E. Dushku: Who is the sum of all the parts, you know, of all the pieces that she has been. Sorry, go ahead.

T. Rogers: Cool. I noticed in episode three, you're imprinted with the personality of a college student. Now does that trigger any memories of Caroline's?

E. Dushku: It does. You'll have to watch the show. Definitely I start out as a college girl, but when an imprint goes sort of haywire, I spend more of the episode - I think it's more serial killer than sorority girl. Also, I don't think Echo, I don't think Caroline was a sorority girl. She's a college kid, but far from who Caroline was.

Moderator: We have a question from the line of Alyse Wax with fearnet.com.

A. Wax: Hello, Eliza.

E. Dushku: Hello.

A. Wax: Now I'm sure obviously Dollhouse has been keeping you busy, and yet you still find time to kind of squeeze in some features on hiatus and, I don't know, weekends and everything. First of all, when was the last time you actually slept a night?

E. Dushku: I slept this weekend, and it felt so good because the weekend before, I went to Italy for a day to see the Robert Mapplethorpe Exhibit at the Michelangelo Museum. So we left on - I worked Friday night, slept a few hours, flew Saturday morning, you know, and everyone is like, oh, it must be easy when you're flying first class. I did not fly first class. We bought cheap tickets for under $1,000. We flew economy to Rome, took a train to Florence, and went to see this exhibit for some research for Mapplethorpe, and it was definitely an exhausting weekend, and then I came right back to work, and we shot, you know, all day, but I signed up for it, and I just love it. It's my drug, you know, and it's just - I sleep when I find time. You know people say, I'll sleep when I'm dead. I have too much to live for right now.

A. Wax: Right. Now they just released a film that you did called Open Graves, that kind of flew in under the radar. Can you kind of tell us a little bit about it?

E. Dushku: It did. I shot Open Graves about 2.5 years ago, and we shot the movie in Spain, and such as this business. There are some times movies don't come together at the pace or with the expectation that was initially intended, so I actually haven't even seen the movie. It premiered on Sci-Fi weekend I was in Italy, but I have yet to even watch it on my Tivo, and it was a cool experience. I was interested in working with the director who had worked very closely with Pedro Almodovar, and I thought the script sort of had some interesting and different sci-fi horror twists to it. And I enjoy working in that genre, but it never quite gelled into the movie that sort of I had anticipated, but you know, it happens. You keep going. You don't quit. I certainly won't quit horror and that genre forever.

Moderator: We have a question from the line of Allan Dart with Starlog.

A. Dart: Hello. I missed the earlier part of this conversation, so I hope I don't repeat anything that's already been asked, but

E. Dushku: Me, too, and so does everyone else. God.

A. Dart: Yes. I've also not been listening. Just joking.

E. Dushku: Okay. Ask away. I won't make you feel bad even if I've answered every question.

A. Dart: How much of a factor does epitaph one play into season two because it wasn't originally broadcast, but it was part of the DVD set, and Joss Whedon was talking about that he'd like to revisit that future. Could you tell me a little bit about that, please?

E. Dushku: Absolutely, and no one has asked, FYI. Yes, the epitaph was so well done. I was so impressed. It brought me to tears. Truly when Joss sort of told me about it, I wondered how the hell he was going to do it, how he was going to pull it off, but I was just so impressed and so proud of him and everyone involved, and I thought it was such a beautiful episode. I think it's a shame that it didn't air here. But I also, you know, the fact that it didn't air sort of - the reason that we came back was that they didn't want to end the story, and ... didn't end the story. Getting picked up for a second season, I feel like, you know, the network probably wanted to just sort of pick up where we left off.

And I know that Joss had originally in the first episode this season planned on weaving some of that into episode one, but there was so much to cover in the first episode. You know, we had Amy Acker, who, you know, we're not going to be able to have with us for the entire season, so we had Amy's storyline, and we had to have a sort of big, fierce engagement, and there was just a lot to do, and it was a little bit too much. So we took it out of that, but I do know that Joss wants to slice in some stuff in the future episodes, and I love Felicia Day. I loved the way the future looked, as dark and terrifying it was. It was just so raw and so fascinating to me that I hope we see more of it.

A. Dart: Another thing that Joss Whedon brought up was that this season, Echo is going to be kind of looking for allies and to form some kind of a team or a family based on all the memories that have been imprinted and how she, as you noted, as you said before, is changing this season. I was just wondering if you could give me any details in terms of specific characters or what Echo is looking for in a sense of sharing what she's learned and also sharing a similar experience with other people.

E. Dushku: Yes. Absolutely. She is looking for allies because, as she is becoming aware of her surroundings and what's going on and all of these personalities that are creeping up and out of her, she's also, of course, always in an entirely vulnerable place because if anyone, if the wrong person catches on to what she's experiencing and what she's remembering, she could very well be sent up to the attic and cancel Christmas, you know. She could be done forever. So she's being very careful with the tools and the knowledge that she has gained to sort of sniff out who she can trust, who she can manipulate, who she can use.
: You know, of course, Agent Ballard was trying all last season to get in, and now he's in, and he's her handler, and I think it remains to be seen if he can be trusted. But in the beginning of the season here, and actually the first episode, it seems like there's a pretty strong connection there. Then with the introduction of the other dollhouse and some of the other players, it's just makes more of a maze for Echo to navigate and to find her way through, realizing that one wrong, one bad step and she's done.

T. Adair: Thank you, everyone. That concludes our conference call for today. Eliza, thanks for taking a little bit extra time to finish up the extra question. As a reminder, Dollhouse airs Friday nights at 9:00/8:00 central on Fox. We will have an original episode this Friday, as well as next Friday, and have a brief hiatus on 10/16 for baseball. If you have any further questions after this call, please....

E. Dushku: Go Red Sox!

'Dollhouse' returns and hits the ground running

2009-09-24T21:28:32Z

Last year Joss Whedon's Dollhouse (starring Eliza Dushku) started off slowly, with a disturbing premise and a main character who was impossible to identify with and initial episodes that were plainly "mission of the week" one-shots with no real connecting story arc. Still good shows, but not the sort you have to watch unless you want to avoid the entire Internet until you can catch up.

Halfway through the season they found their stride, beginning with the Whedon-written-and-directed "Man on the Street" episode that finally directly addressed the moral and ethical quandaries the show had been skirting around, kicked everything into high gear and set the nonstop tone for the rest of the season. Suddenly Dollhouse became a show to be reckoned with, funny and engaging and thoughtful and surprising. And now, thanks to decent ratings, incredible DVR numbers and FOX betting on Whedon's knack for building shows that last forever on DVD, Dollhouse is back for its second season. So what will you see in tonight's premiere?

Exactly what you were hoping for. Action, intrigue, moral struggles, a new threat, developments from last season still causing ripples, and a new direction to Echo's growing personality. And while every single regular gets at least a moment to shine, Amy Acker steals the show away. If you're new to the show you can catch up, there's enough exposition to fill you in, but regular viewers will have plenty of new stuff to chew on.

(Quick recap: the Dollhouse is a covert organization funding by a shadowy corporation which provides programmable people for hire, imprinted with whatever you want. Call the Dollhouse, give them an exorbitant amount of money, and rest assured that the perfect lover, safecracker, midwife, hacker, spy, whatever you order will have his or her memory completely wiped after the job is done. One of the dolls, code-named Echo [played by Dushku] began retaining memories of her engagements, which wasn't supposed to be possible. An FBI agent named Ballard tracked down the Dollhouse in season one, finally locating it with the help of what turned out to be a rogue doll and serial killer named Alpha who captured Echo and imprinted her with all the memories of everyone she's been before. Alpha got away, Ballard is now working with the Dollhouse, Echo's mind was wiped clean again and things are back to normal...)

Some mild spoilers after the jump:

]]> "Vows," the first episode of the new season jumps right in and expects you to keep up.

All the events of the previous season have continued to affect the daily workings of the Dollhouse. Echo has a new handler and possibly the most morally twisted assignment yet, with a surprising client. Jamie Bamber of Battlestar Galactica guest stars as a rather suspicious businessman. Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel) shows up for a new recurring role as Daniel Perrin, a senator riding the health care issue to take on the Dollhouse's backers. And the ending is enough to make me want to see the rest of the season right now.

But the real story here is Dr. Saunders still coming to grips with last season's revelation that she was actually a doll named Whiskey, programmed to be a doctor after Alpha disfigured her. Amy Acker is moving to a steady job on ABC's Happy Town so she'll only be on a few Dollhouse episodes this year, but if "Vows" is any indication they're going to be amazing.

One of the conditions of Dollhouse's renewal was that Whedon work with a smaller budget -- something he proved he could do with the unaired 13th episode, "Epitaph One," which takes place 10 years in the future (you can see it on the season one DVD set). I'm happy to say that I didn't really notice any drop in quality.

Last season took its time going up the roller coaster hill, but once it started downhill it didn't slow down again and tonight the thrill ride continues. Dollhouse airs on FOX tonight at 9 p.m., EST.

September is Serial Killer Month: New Dexter book, season, game

2009-09-18T03:20:10Z

A few years ago it might have seemed odd to root for a serial killer, but Dexter has a certain way about him. A disturbingly entertaining way.

In Jeff Lindsay's original novels, Dexter Morgan is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami PD with a hobby: he hunts down serial killers, and then he serially kills them. His adopted sister Deborah (a police officer) is unaware of his darker urges but his late stepfather Harry, also a cop, realized Dexter's problem early on; no real emotions or empathy, missing neighborhood dogs, etc -- and he carefully, reluctantly trained Dexter how not to be caught and aimed him toward only those who deserve Dexter's diligent devotion.

The books, told from Dexter's point of view, make little attempt to make him a hero or a good guy. He freely admits that without the Harry Code he wouldn't really care whom he targeted (although he does seem to get especially motivated against child killers). What makes it work is that though he's learned, through Harry's careful teachings and through practice, to mimic correct behavior, his observations as to why people do what they do are often hilarious. From the first book, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter":

I nosed my Whaler slowly out the canal, thinking nothing, a perfect Zen state, moving at idle speed past the large houses, all separated from each other by high hedges and chain-link fences. I threw an automatic big wave and bright smile to all the neighbors out in their yards that grew neatly up to the canal's seawall. Kids playing on the manicured grass. Mom and Dad barbecuing, or lounging, or polishing the barbed wire, hawkeyes on the kids. I waved to everybody. Some of them even waved back. They knew me, had seen me go by before, always cheerful, a big hello for everybody. He was such a nice man. Very friendly. I can't believe he did those horrible things . . .

I opened up the throttle when I cleared the canal, heading out the channel and then southeast, toward Cape Florida. The wind in my face and the taste of the salt spray helped clear my head, made me feel clean and a little fresher. I found it a great deal easier to think. Part of it was the calm and peace of the water. And another part was that in the best tradition of Miami watercraft, most of the other boaters seemed to be trying to kill me. I found that very relaxing. I was right at home. This is my country; these are my people.

The fourth book in the series, Dexter by Design, came out earlier this month and it's well worth picking up. Married and surprisingly comfortable with it, Dexter is ready to begin his new life of domestic bliss with the occasional homicidal boy's night out. But a serial killer with a flair for the grossly artistic puts Deb in the hospital and begins to hunt Dexter, and the chase is on.

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Oddly enough, one reason the book Dexter wasn't working for me as much as he once did is because I'm starting to like the TV Dexter more. Showtimes' incredibly successful series "Dexter" is charging into its 4th season on Sunday, September 27, and Michael C. Hall's Emmy nomination for playing the charming monster was well-deserved. For a preview of the upcoming season (and comments from various Dexter stars) see Fanboy's Dexter article here.

And if all that wasn't enough to get your blood spattering, Showtime and Marc Ecko Entertainment have released Dexter the Game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I am not ordinarily the best audience for games -- I get bored too quickly -- but this has really drawn me in. Remarkable graphics, responsive gameplay and the voices of the cast to make it perfect. As Dexter you have to hunt your victims, prove their guilt, solve crimes, analyze (and reproduce) blood spatters, get killers to confess, and then yes, you kill them. The games' rather elegant solution avoids gore while still putting you through the motions and requiring some skill. Your goal is to keep your Mask level high (so people won't find out about you) and your Dark Passenger level low (so you won't start making stupid mistakes).

There were early problems with the game which were fixed with a speedy update, but you still may want to buy it through iTunes and sync it to your device rather than buying through the App Store as it clocks in at a hefty 386 megs and will take a while to download.

But the game is easy to learn, stalking your prey is fun, the sets are accurate (it's fun just walking around Dexter's apartment), the soundtrack lends the same eerie atmosphere here as it does to the show, and the first time I got a phone message from Deb and heard her characteristically hurling an unbleeped f-bomb I cracked up.

So, to recap: New Dexter book "Dexter by Design," out now. Premiere episode of "Dexter" on Showtime Sunday, September 27. And new Dexter iPhone game, available now for $5.99 and worth it.

Beatles remastered and Rock Band'd! Guess I'll have to buy the White Album again...

2009-09-09T14:40:52Z

For the next several weeks, expect a sizeable portion of the world to have Beatles songs stuck in their heads.

Today the Beatles hits the music stores again with all 13 of their UK studio albums tweaked, cleaned up, and digitally remastered the way the initial Beatles CD releases in 1987 never were for sparkling sounds, enhanced clarity and a bit more punch. Each CD includes the original album cover artwork and liner notes, some extra notes, and a 3-minute mini-documentary on the album.

Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles (The White Album), Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be, and the compilation Past Masters, are all available individually ($18.98 for singles, $24.98 for double albums) or in The Beatles Stereo Boxed Set ($259.98).

Or you can get The Beatles Mono Boxed Set ($298.98) which collects remastered versions of all of the albums the Beatles recorded and released in monophonic sound, including those albums that were never released in that format on CD. Psst, kids: "mono" is when all the music comes out of just one speaker. Weird, I know, but apparently the band spent more time and care on the early mono albums, leaving the engineers to create the stereo releases afterward, and many purists prefer hearing the band's intended sound.

It takes a special kind of fan to spend that much money without getting any new material. Fortunately, the Beatles have many of just those kinds of fans. As I write this the two box sets are the top two best sellers in Amazon's music store, with six more Beatles remastered CDs loading up the rest of the top ten while Susan Boyles' I Dreamed a Dream and Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 grimly hang on against the invading moptops.

Don't look for any of these songs on iTunes or any other (legal) MP3 download retailer, the Beatles famously have not yet allowed their music to be sold digitally. That hasn't stopped them from having the 2nd highest album sales of any artist in the last ten years, though, according to SoundScan, so apparently it's working for them. (#1? Garth Brooks, who doesn't sell his albums digitally either. Make of it what you will. Would they sell more music overall if we could buy just the songs we liked? No way to know, but it does keep album sales high.)

Should you buy the set? If you're a fan who somehow doesn't yet have any Beatles discs, yes, definitely. Finally there are CDs which can match the quality of the original vinyl LPs for all but the strictest audiophile. The sounds are richer and louder without being distorted, the individual voices and instruments are more distinct, and hey, you know you know all the words.

]]> do already have Beatles CDs, it's up to you and your finances. If you don't have a state of the art sound system and a discerning ear, or if you rip them for play on your computer or iPod, the sound quality on most of the songs isn't that much different than what you're already hearing. I'd suggest buying your very favorite Beatles album, see what you think, and leave the complete set to the true fans with disposable income.

Don't plan to buy them at all? It won't help, because your friends and family will all be yeah, yeah, yeahing in your ears with "The Beatles: Rock Band" (MTV Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, $59.99).

This widely-anticipated add-on to the Rock Band game allows you to be the Beatles, play 45 of their hits, hear some of the conversations during recording sessions, and perform in classic venues such as Cavern Club, Abbey Road, the roof at Saville Row and Shea Stadium.

And "The Beatles: Rock Band" brings a brand new innovation that no band game has yet offered: harmonizing. No more arguing over who gets to sing this time! Up to 3 mics can be used at the same time (Ringo gets screwed, again).

If you have any money left from your Fab-Four-induced second mortgage, you can also buy the Special Value edition, which comes with regular Rock Band instruments and controllers for those people who are buying the game for the first time, and the Limited Premium Bundle, which comes with replicas of Beatle instruments.

Should you buy the game? Don't know, haven't tried it yet. But by the time I get home today my son will have been playing it nonstop for several hours so my wife, neighbors and possibly the police all should have a pretty good idea. The AP's review was mostly positive; they liked the way the game follows the Beatles career in order, didn't like the relative lack of songs (45, but with more coming as downloads from the Beatles Rock Band store this year) or the limit of global hopping compared to other Rock Band games, and liked how even beginner Rock Band players would be able to easily jump into this. (Read the whole review here)

Expect more Beatles madness for the rest of the year as "Rock Band" owner MTV Networks pumps millions of dollars into advertising on every station you've ever heard of, and there are rumors that ABC is planning to air a two-hour prime-time special on Thanksgiving night with Beatles footage and contemporary artists performing Beatles songs. Miley Cyrus singing "Helter Skelter?" We can only hope.

Beatles remastered CDs, box sets, and video game are all in the stores today. Here, there, and everywhere.

A month? Forget it. Can you write a novel in 3 days?

2009-09-03T12:56:08Z

Regular readers know I've been pimping and participating in National Novel Writing Month for several years now. You take the month of November and crank out 50,000 words of hopefully readable text. It's fun and exhilarating and crazy.

There's another, even older contest, however, that moves frenzied novel writing into the realm of the psychotic. The 3-Day Novel Contest demands you that create a finished novel, beginning to end, over the Labor Day weekend. Somehow.

There are many differences in tone and goals between the two contests besides the time period. NaNoWriMo doesn't charge for entry, doesn't care if you finish the book or not as long as you hit the 50k word goal, and it "awards" every winner with a free downloadable certificate. There's more of a community feel as well; with 119,301 participants and a massive, lively forum NaNoWriMo encourages group support. With NaNoWriMo, the goal is to make you sit down and write something, dammit.

The 3-Day Novel Contest, a Vancouver-based event that's been going on for over 30 years, charges a $50 entry fee, requests that you print and mail in your completed novel within a week, and awards the grand prize winner a publishing deal with the 1st and 2nd place winners get $500 and $100, respectively. (Last year 570 people from around the world entered, and 428 of them submitted novels.) Only one official discussion thread, not a lot of support group meetings; hey, you've only got 72 hours, there's no time for that. Here the goal is to complete a total book in a mad, unedited, nonstop torrent and hope for the best. It's a situation that encourages bizarre, introspective works.

Such as last year's winner, The Videographer by Jason Rapczynski, which follows a man who sets up cameras in rest-stop bathrooms on I-95 to possibly catch people engaged in sex acts so his boss can post them online. Rapczynski had spent years writing and revising and re-revising drafts of previous novel, but this one was completely different.

"It's like cramming for an exam in college," he told the New Haven Advocate. "You spend a bunch of time and energy working and then afterward, you can't remember what the experience was like."

To enter go to the The 3-Day Novel Contest site for details. And good luck, you caffeine-filled carpel-tunnel-syndrome achievers, you.

Hulk vs. Tinkerbell? You know you want it

2009-08-31T14:59:57Z

The big buzz this morning is that news that Disney is planning to acquire Marvel Enterprises for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the X-Men to Disney's stable and taking one more step toward total world entertainment domination. But how will this change the beloved characters we belove so much?

Nothing to worry about, says official Disney public relations representative Jafar. "The synergy of these icons of pop culture will remain intact and just as vital and relevant as they ever were, with the added bonus of Disney's powerful distribution arm and other resources."

"Squawk! Other resources!" added Jafar's executive assistant Iago.

The deal must be approved by Marvel shareholders and anti-trust busybodies, but plans are already afoot to merge the two companies. A sneak peek at some early memos reveals several exciting projects:

Team-Up: Spider-Man and Mickey Mouse

This is the team-up you've been waiting for, if you've been smoking a lot of weed. No plot hints have been released but it will involve Spider-Man being attacked by an infinite number of sentient brooms and Micky getting into a subway battle with Doctor Octopus.

War-E

Tony Stark's Iron Man technology represents the pinnacle of military infantry combat. But what about after the battle? Someone needs to clean up after the knockdown superhero fight in downtown New York or the mutant-dwarf war in Genosha, and that's where War-E comes in.

Made of a unique metal that combines adamantium and adorabulatium, War-E spends his lonely life picking up thrown cars and collapsed buildings. But when Obadiah Stane tries to grab him to reverse-engineer Stark's design, he's in for a surprise. And thirteen hundred rounds of tracer bullets in the face.

Frank Miller's The Dark Goof

It has been 25 years since Goofy has appeared in public as his super-powered alter-ego, Super Goof. But the years and his Super Goober addiction have taken their toll, and when the semi-retired Beagle Boys come out for one last haul they won't be expecting the dark, solitary violent figure violently enforcing hilarious justice on the streets of the Magic Kingdom.

"You don't think dropping a piano on your friend from 30 stories up was funny? 'Cuz I do," he whispered menacingly into the Beagle Boy's ear, with a humorless laugh. "Hyuk. Hyuk. Hyuk..."

The Punisher Family

After his wife and children were killed by the mob, Frank Castle became a murderous vigilante who is willing to do anything to stop crime. Feared by criminals and sought by police, the Punisher wages a one-man war on crime and won't stop until every last one is dead.

So imagine his surprise when he discovers three wacky nephews have moved into the battle van to turn Castle's life upside down! In the first issue, Castle has to choose between torturing a Jamaican Yardie crime boss for information about a white slavery ring, or attended Larry, Barry and Terry's school play. But those lovable scamps have their own plans...

Sex Toy Story

Pixar and Warren Ellis. That's all you really need to know.

X-Hannah

Miley Stewart's double life becomes even more complicated when her mutant powers manifest. How will she juggle her schoolwork, her pop career as Hannah Montana, and being a hated superpowered minority? Early episodes will feature Stewart discovering her new powers, getting advice from her new opening act Dazzler (once a mutant disco superhero, now a whiskey-voiced lounge singer) and facing off against an army of Sentinels when they attack during the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Surprise recurring villain: Dr. Doom!

Ultimate Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom is rocked with scandal and turmoil as the darker sides of the characters emerge. One shocking surprise after another comes as the Little Mermaid eats Nemo, Winnie the Pooh goes feral, and Pluto begins stalking Main Street looking for easy prey. Written by Mark Millar.

The Fantastic Four vs The Incredibles

I guess if you watch for the costumes you can tell which is which, right?

Big things coming, folks! Check back next week when Disney airlifts Marvel Island out of the Universal Studios theme park.

For now, watch Twitter go insane with Disney/Marvel mashups (not all of them worksafe, or even good for your brain).

Tales from Hollywood PD: Taking down Bryan Singer

2009-08-21T19:19:44Z

"--and then we'll get into why Adama feels so lonely and abandoned, and why he stalks crewmembers at night through the halls of the Battlestar."

"And we'll bring back the velour costumes?"

"Absolutely. And the robot dog, so he can die heroically in the end."

"Perfect! Get the nostalgia hook, the shocking twist, and we can sell plush toys! You're a genius!"

Crash!

"What the... Who are you people?"

"Hollywood PD, sir. Are you director Bryan Singer?"

"Yes. What's all this about?"

"We've heard reports that you plan to reboot the Battlestar Galactica franchise as a feature film. You're under arrest."

"What? On what charge?"

"Suspicion of persistent public idiocy and attempted story vandalism."

"What?"

"Bad enough to remake a franchise that's beloved by fans, sir, but this one was just rebooted very successfully in the last few years. Not only does it not need rebooting, an attempt this soon shows callous disregard to the current version and its creators. Might as well reboot Mad Men, or re-re-reboot Star Trek. Now if you had announced you were making a feature length Ron Moore Battlestar Galactica movie you'd be made a king, but starting over from scratch for a bigscreen paycheck will just aggravate the fanbase that made the franchise valuable in the first place. Also it gives the Internet fits. Please come along with us, sir."

"Hey, I'm clean, I learned my lesson from the X-Men movies. You gotta pay attention to what the geeks want, right?"

"You have to pay attention to what makes the story work instead of making changes to fit your vision, sir, and the fans respond to that. That's why Spider-Man, the new Batman, and Iron Man were hits. Which reminds me, we have an outstanding warrant out on you for Superman Returns."

"Why pick on me? I'm not the only one doing remakes."

"Unnecessary remakes, sir, remakes that insult the memory of the original, and we're doing our best. After this we'll be going around to pick up Robert Zemeckis before he can remake Yellow Submarine, Steven Spielberg is being held in an undisclosed location so he can't complete his version of Harvey, officers are gathering around MTV to close production on the revised Rocky Horror Picture Show, and right now police snipers are trying to take out Russell Brand before he can remake Arthur."

"You're trying to stop creativity!"

"No sir, we're hoping to encourage some. Sargeant, get the leg irons."

Miss 'Calvin and Hobbes'? So do these people

2009-08-19T17:58:54Z

In 1995, at the height of its fame and reach, "Calvin & Hobbes" creator Bill Watterson walked away from his extremely popular 10-year-old comic strip to live his life in recluse outside of Cleveland, Ohio, painting for his own enjoyment and avoiding any public comment on his creations or his career.

That's not stopping his fans from commenting, though. Four young USC film school grads have been soliciting testimonials from fans and other comics professionals on just what Calvin and his sardonic, possibly-imaginary tiger Hobbes meant to them.

Mr. Watterson has inspired and influenced millions of people through Calvin & Hobbes. Newspaper readership and book sales can be tracked and recorded, but the human impact he has had is perhaps impossible to measure.
Dear Mr. Watterson is a film that will look to the readers and fans of Calvin & Hobbes to tell the story of the strip and its creator. As we follow the life and career of Bill Watterson through this unique perspective, the undying appreciation and love of Calvin & Hobbes and the man behind it will be evident in the anecdotes, stories, and memories shared by readers of the strip and friends and colleagues of Mr. Watterson.

For me, that's easy: "Calvin & Hobbes" established a level of quality that no strip sense has equaled. From the amazing artwork to the insightful and hilarious writing and the wonderful characters, this strip hit me in all the right places and was the most important reason to grab the paper in the morning. Even now, decades later, whenever I see some idiot with a fake Calvin-peeing-on-something sticker on their truck I want to run them off the road.

No idea if this sort of thing would draw Watterson out (and to their credit the filmmakers don't list that as a motive). The last time Watterson spoke publicly was 4 years ago when he answered 15 questions from readers to celebrate the strip's 20th anniversary. My take is if he wants to stay private, more power to him. This is more a celebration of his work, and what that has meant to so many other people.

Check out dearmrwatterson.com for more info and some ways you can participate. Here's the trailer:

Teaser from DMW on Vimeo.

Actually, I do wanna date Felicia Day's avatar

2009-08-18T13:41:05Z

A short video made by some friends has gotten some interest on the Internet.

Not a breaking news story, frankly, except that this is a music video by Felicia Day and her friends are the cast of her hit online show "The Guild" and the co-writers of the Emmy-nominated online phenomenon "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." Also, "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar" leaped on the charts at iTunes yesterday and toppled Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me" from the #1 music video spot where it still sits at the moment. And the MP3 is currently the top download at Amazon.

Day's "The Guild" is an award-winning online series about a group of obsessive online gamers (think World of Warcraft, although it's never stated) who meet and have to start dealing with each other in real life. Her success at self-marketing that series, combined with her self-deprecating sense of humor and geek-goddess looks have catapulted her into online superstar-hood. The music video stars the cast of The Guild dressed as their role-playing characters and being far more confident there than you'll ever see them in "real" life (except possibly for Bladezz). And it works just fine as a song by itself, easily as good as anything on the pop charts at the moment.

How did it come about? Follow the incestual talent carefully: The song was written by Day and Jed Whedon, who is the brother of Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" where Day played a recurring role back in 2003. Background vocals are by Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed's wife, who is also one of the background dancers. Joss Whedon was inspired by the quality and the success of "The Guild" to create his own online show "Dr. Horrible," a musical which also starred Day (along with Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris) and was co-written with his brothers Zack and Jed and Maurissa. Jed and Maurissa went on to become staff writers for Joss' show "Dollhouse," which also featured Day in the un-aired apocalyptic 13th episode "Epitaph One," which was written by Jed and Maurissa and included a closing song they wrote ("Remains") which enjoyed a mild success on iTunes.

And now season three of "The Guild" is about to begin, so it's the perfect time for an attention-getting music video that's apparently a snap to pop out when everyone in your circle of friends is insanely talented.

You can buy the video at iTunes, download the song from Amazon, read the lyrics here, and get ready for season three of "The Guild" to begin August 25th on Xbox Live and September 1rst on MSN/ZUNE.

Stars from Buffy, Doctor Who, Addams Family coming to Orlando

2009-08-17T13:34:01Z

It's convention time again, and we... wait, what? Since when do we have big science fiction/comic cons in this area in the summer?

Since this weekend, when the annual MegaCon convention kicks off their new Mini-MegaCon August 22nd and 23rd at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The Mini-MegaCon will be roughly half as large as their regular con, which attracted 32,000 fans last March, but still will bring plenty of guest stars and pop culture memories.

Originally "Twilight" stars Peter Facinelli, Rachelle Lefevre and Michael Welch were set to headline but were forced to cancel due to conflicts with the new movie's shooting schedule. Which is probably just as well since the remaining guests might have staked them. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" stars Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), Emma Caufield (Anya), Amber Benson (Tara) and Adam Busch (Warren) will be there, along with Dorian Gregory ("Charmed"), Sylvester McCoy (the seventh "Doctor Who"), Lisa Loring and Felix Silva (Wednesday and Cousin Itt from "The Addams Family"), Arne Starr ("Star Trek," "Mad Men"), Vic Mignogna (Full Metal Alchemist), Tarah Paige ("Bring It On 3), and wrestling stars Jackie Haas, "Ariel", Terri Runnels, SoCal Val and Sean Waltman.

For comics fans there will be over 120 writers and artists from your favorite books and webcomics, such as Drew Geraci ("Wildcats," "Final Crisis," "Green Lantern Corps"), Dick Giordano ("Batman," "Green Lantern/Green Arrow"), Greg Horn ("Elektra," "Emma Frost"), Casey Jones ("Avengers," "New Warriors"), Phil Noto ("Jonah Hex," "Superman/Supergirl") and many more.

When you've gotten your fill of autographs and pictures, you'll still have the massive dealer room full of every pop culture item you can imagine (or afford), plus panels, weekend-long gaming of all sorts, anime events, live music, drawing contests, and costumes, costumes, costumes. Cosplaying is a big deal at MegaCon, and there will be contests and how-to panels to prove it. Bring your camera, and please be polite.

And Mini-MegaCon will be continuing their tradition of showcasing independent films, showing a wide range of action, animation, anime, comedy, super-heroes, science fiction, suspense, and horror films and giving hopeful creators a chance to talk to the filmmakers themselves.

Why do a second con? "Attendees and vendors have been asking us to add a summer show for the past five years," said Christine Alger, MegaCon's assistant director. "The decision to hold this summer show was made two years ago before the downturn in the economy. Since we had already committed to many people we decided to go ahead with the show.

"We heard from some vendors that people weren't spending as much money, but I do think people like the inexpensive diversion. Where else can you go for the whole day for $20?"

Mini-MegaCon will be at the Orange County Convention Center, 9899 International Drive, Orlando, on Saturday from 10-7 and Sunday from 10 to 5. Tickets will be $22 for Saturday, $19 for Sunday, or $36 for all weekend, available at the door or at any Coliseum of Comics location. Head to their Web site for more details and a list of the activities, or follow their Twitter feed.

You can judge a book by its cover, but not when the cover lies

2009-07-24T15:04:54Z

When you see the cover of Justine Larbalestier's young adult book "Liar," you can tell instantly that it's about a young girl. Because her long, straight hair is pulled across her face, you might also think it's about a young girl with secrets or insecurities, and you'd be right.

You probably wouldn't think the girl in the book was black with short hair, though -- which she is -- and that's entirely the fault of the publisher and the pervading belief in the industry that "black books don't sell."

"Editors have told me that their sales departments say black covers don't sell," Larbaleister said in her blog. "Sales reps have told me that many of their accounts won't take books with black covers. Booksellers have told me that they can't give away YAs with black covers. Authors have told me that their books with black covers are frequently not shelved in the same part of the library as other YA--they're exiled to the Urban Fiction section--and many bookshops simply don't stock them at all.

"How welcome is a black teen going to feel in the YA section when all the covers are white? Why would she pick up Liar when it has a cover that so explicitly excludes her?"

The Australian edition of the book has a more neutral cover that has received better reactions from readers, according to Larbaleister, but she's quick to point out that like most other authors she has no control over the covers to her books and only came out publicly about her disappointment about the U.S. cover after complaints were made. She argued long and hard to avoid having any girl on the cover, she said.

The publisher, Bloomsbury's Childrens Books, defends the cover by pointing out the main character, Micah, is a compulsive liar. "Of all the things you're going to choose to believe of her," said Melanie Cecka, publishing director, "you're going to choose to believe she was telling the truth about race?

"Clearly, our striving for ambiguity with this cover, and for it to be interpreted as a 'lie' itself didn't work for everyone. But again, if this jacket proves a catalyst for a bigger discussion about how the industry is dealing with its books on race, that's a very large good to come of this current whirlwind," Cecka said.

Maybe, but I don't see Bloomsbury public relations coming out ahead in that discussion.

Publishers obviously need to do what they can to sell their books, but it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when black books don't sell because no one can find any. Has anyone tried throwing their all-out promotional weight behind an excellent book that happens to have a girl of color on the front?

What did you think of "Torchwood: Children of the Earth"?

2009-07-16T20:37:18Z

I've been getting enough comments on my previous posts that I couldn't approve just yet. I wrote my articles for American fans who had not yet seen "Torchwood: Children of the Earth" and too many spoilers are popping up -- I had a vital plot point spoiled for me last week by a stray Twitter quote -- so I'm creating a place just for discussion.

If you haven't seen the series and don't want to be spoiled, scram.

If you have seen it and want to talk about it, the comment section is yours.

Can 'Torchwood' save the day?

2009-07-16T11:25:09Z

The nightmare begins when every single child in the world completely stops what they're doing and begins chanting, in unison, in English, "We are coming." And things only get worse from there. Only the secret underground government organization Torchwood can save the day from the invading aliens. And it would, if the members of Torchwood weren't busy running for their lives.

"I wanted to tell a story in which civilization snaps, in which we turn on ourselves, in which nothing is safe," said show creator Russell T. Davies. "Plenty of people live like that, on this planet. In this story, it's Britain's turn."

The third season of the show has been retooled from the usual 13-episode run into a five-episode mini-series called "Torchwood: Children of Earth." Mysterious doings from 1965 return to threaten the Earth and specifically haunt the immortal Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). His team is still down two members from the disastrous events of the second season finale, leaving only ex-cop Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd), team administrator and Harkness' lover. And their questions are piling up. What is happening to the children? Who are the "456"? Why is someone trying to destroy Torchwood when it's most needed?

We'll find out as the mini-series begins Monday night on BBC America and runs every night that week.

]]> If You Watch

Since "Torchwood: Children of Earth" already premiered overseas, many of the show's more enthusiastic American fans may already have downloaded and watched it. However, BBC America is doing its best to offer more.

- Monday night at 8 will bring "Torchwood: Inside the Hub," a primer for the show to help new viewers jump in.
- "Torchwood: Children of the Earth" will run from 9 to 10:15 p.m. each weeknight beginning Monday on BBC America, with behind the scenes specials after each one.
- Want to watch it all at one time? "Torchwood: Children of the Earth" will be released on DVD on July 28.
Considered the "adult Doctor Who," the spinoff has drastically built up its audience each year. Last week's premiere in the U.K. averaged nearly 6 million viewers per night, 26 percent of the country's viewing public. While "Torchwood" deals with the same alien encounters and time travel plotlines as the long-running British pop culture icon "Doctor Who" and even shares some of the same characters, the tone of the show tends to be darker with more adult themes, such as the developing relationship between Captain Jack and Ianto.

"They're trying to deal with being in a relationship now, what that means," said Gareth David-Lloyd in a phone interview. "There's some very domestic elements to it that people will recognize from their own relationships, and there's also the extraordinary element that Ianto's mortal and Captain Jack lives forever, so Ianto's dealing with that dilemma as well."

This season, while considerably shorter, also promises to be more intense.

"I think it's about looking at what (Davies) wanted to do and it was very much about looking at how do we put the Torchwood team under greater jeopardy," said "Torchwood" and "Doctor Who" producer Julie Gardner.

How do we push them even further? So let's look at a way where we can strip them bare, strip them back and look at things like, well, what happens if they're on the run at a time when there really is a first-contact story going on and it's a first-contact threat."

A worldwide conspiracy and thriller, "Torchwood: Children of Earth" also focuses on the personal level. Gwen's husband Rhys (Kai Owen) is pulled into the headlong flight and more family members of the team begin popping up. "We'll see Jack's family and we meet his daughter and his grandson, who he never knew exists, not even Ianto and Gwen knew," David-Lloyd said. "And you discover Ianto's sister and her brother-in-law and his niece and nephews, and where he grew up, where he comes from."

While this is hardly the first first-contact story we've seen in "Torchwood" or "Doctor Who," traditionally we see the confused government told not to worry as the principal cast handles everything. Not this time.

"Everyone is in peril in this, but particularly Torchwood," Gardner said.

What is Torchwood?

Torchwood is a secret government institute first set up by Queen Victoria in 1879 to study alien technology and keep the U.K. safe from alien invasion, created after an itinerant Time Lord (the Doctor from "Doctor Who") did just that. They operate outside the chain of command, answer to (practically) no one, and they are largely considered by the average citizen to be an urban myth.

There are several Torchwood "hubs" around the U.K. Torchwood Three -- the branch based near a rift in space and time in Cardiff, Wales -- is led by Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), a charismatic time traveler from the 51st century who is omnisexual and immortal.

Second in command is ex-cop Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles). Gareth David-Lloyd plays Ianto Jones, whowas once a Torchwood research assistant in London and is now a full member of the team. The other two members, Toshiko "Tosh" Sato (Naoko Mori) and Dr. Owen Harper (Burn Gorman), died in the season two finale.

Torchwood has battled numerous alien races and time travelers, including Cybermen, Daleks and Weevils, and continues to hold the line against alien invasion.

For more information visit BBC America: Torchwood. And don't miss the complete interviews with Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) and producer Julie Gardner.

Torchwood: Interview with Gareth David-Lloyd

2009-07-16T02:52:40Z
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"Torchwood: Children of the Earth" debuts on BBC America Monday, July 20th, at 9 p.m. Two weeks ago I talked to Gareth David-Lloyd, who plays Ianto Jones, the administrator and field operative for Torchwood, an underground government agency that defends Earth from alien attack.

Hi, this is Chris Bridges from the Daytona Beach News-Journal and I'm talking to Gareth David-Lloyd from "Torchwood," the BBC's science fiction series. Mr. David-Lloyd, thank you so much for being here.

No problem.

You have a new series coming out, the third season is actually going to be a 5-part series this time, playing over one week. As Torchwood Three's general support officer, you are uniquely qualified to tell me: has the coffee gotten better now that you're at BBC One?

I think so, yeah. (laughs)

Gotta be some perks to it.

Yeah, absolutely, it's not just the coffee to me, it's everything else. It's the action scenes, I get to do a little revelation of Ianto's background that happens when you meet his family, and this one terrifying plot that happens over five days.

This is "Torchwood: Children of the Earth," this one's going more into your family and Captain Jack's family, as I understand it.

Yes, absolutely. Yes, we'll see Jack's family and we meet his daughter and his grandson, who he never knew exists, not even Ianto and Gwen knew. And you discover Ianto's sister and her brother-in-law and his niece and nephews, and where he grew up, where he comes from.

]]> How did you feel when you got the script and got to find out more about yourself?

It was great, I've been waiting to do it never since the end of season one, so it was great. And also great that Ianto's background is really similar to my own, that was nice for me to discover as well.

That makes it easier. Have you actually been fighting pterodactyls and we never knew about it?

No, not to that extent it's similar (laughter) but the emotional and family background is quite close.

Since this series is going down to five episodes instead of the usual 13, was it different shooting it that way, was it different as an actor doing it that way?

It was different. It was great for me, actually, because we had one storyline, we had one director, we shot mostly in sequence. All the big things, all the big emotional things happened in sequence.

That's handy.

Yeah, so it was great as an actor to discover that journey as we went along instead of guessing sometimes as you have to do when you're doing two or three episodes back to back and out of order.

When you have to remember what emotional state you're in at any given time.

Exactly, exactly. That was a lot easier this time, given the nature of the way it was shot.

It's also going to be a little different this time because you lost two of your five people at the end of last season. What's it like playing with just the three of you now?

Obviously you meet the team in a very vulnerable state, there's definitely a void in Torchwood. But they still get up, they have a job to do, they get up in the mornings and they soldier on. We find them trying to recruit new members and no one's quite working out, nobody quite fills the void that was left by Tosh and Owen's deaths.

And (that can be said for) the actors as well, it's the same for us. when you work with someone for that amount of time, seven months at a time, per series, and suddenly they're gone, that's a family unit you've developed. So you know, there's a void there, and the dynamics changes and as actors we're in a more vulnerable state. Hopefully that comes through.

Get something good out of it. Use your anguish!

Yes.

John Barrowman said recently that he felt you were being punished with the five episodes, if you don't mind me asking about that. I was curious what your thoughts were on it.

Yeah, I can see John's point with that, I mean, because we were all expecting to go back and do a 13-part when we discovered we'd got a third series before we discovered that it got cut down to five episodes. So you know it was strange going into it and we were expecting to work for seven months and it was two months shorter.

But this event television that's happening in the U.K. at the moment is very popular and I think what it lacks in quantity it will make up for in quality. Like I said there was one director, there was one great story line, and we have the extra time to really make everything perfect and give more attention to details. So I'm happy with the way it's turned out, though I can see John's point where he thought we were being punished in the beginning.

I've been reading the different articles about him saying that, depending on which one you read he's either furious or mildly piqued.

Yeah (chuckles)

Can you give me an idea of exactly, is he very upset about this, or just kind of annoyed?

I'm not... I mean, he's never been serious about anything (laughs) I think he's just, he loves the show so much and put so much into it, I think he would have liked to do it a bit longer.

Fair enough. We'd like to see it a bit longer. So this is actually more like a long movie?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Do you get to be more of an action star in this one?

Yes, I do, that was one of the big plus points of this series. I get a lot of action scenes, running around and going out with the team and being on the run and things like that. It was great for me.

I understand we're going to be seeing more of the relationship between Ianto and Captain Jack?

Absolutely. I mean, they're trying to deal with being in a relationship now, what that means, there's some very domestic elements to it that people will recognize from their own relationships, and there's also the extraordinary element that Ianto's mortal and Captain Jack lives forever, so Ianto's dealing with that dilemma as well.

There's also... Jack has a bit of a wandering eye and has never calmed that down very much. Do you think the relationship is equal, do you think they care for each other the same amount?

I think they do, yeah, I think they do. I don't think Jack would be doing any wandering when, you know, he's with Ianto. Ianto's main problem is the fact that one day he's gonna die of old age and John's gonna, uh, Jack's gonna look exactly the same. Go on and have another life, and Ianto's a bit worried about being forgotten in the future.

Right. I'm glad you mess up his name too, because I'm having problems keeping it straight.

Yeah, yeah, and Jack is John over here, so you can call someone Jack "John," or... it's very strange.

Would it surprise you a lot if John Barrowman revealed he was actually a 51st century con man?

No, not really. I mean (laughs) he always looks in great condition and his hair's always perfect, in place, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he said he was from the 51st century and he could live forever.

One thing I have liked about the way "Torchwood" is presented is that you do so many different ancillary items like the novels and the radio plays, and you have three more of those coming up that are sort of a prequel for this series that's coming out. You're from a play background, what's it like doing the radio plays?

I love doing the radio plays. One of the reasons is because I can go in with the beard and a hoodie and nobody's gonna know. (laughs)

You don't have to wear the suit?

Yeah, you don't have to dress for work for an hour every morning, you can just sort of roll in and do it. I love that radio makes the audience use their imagination and I like reading because I like being able to use my imagination. Even though it's the Torchwood team the location and things can be far more exotic because we haven't got those sort of budget restraints we have when we're filming something.

"Suddenly, we're in India!"

Yeah, exactly.

Have you read any of the Torchwood books, for enjoyment?

The first two, but I've got such a list of books that I meant to read at the moment. And it feels a bit narcissistic as well, sort of "I've got the Torchwood books, I need to read them because my character's in them." (laughs) It's probably silly but it just feels a little narcissistic.

You should probably avoid the fan fiction, then.

I've read a couple of fan fictions, and I'm very impressed with how creative the fans can be. Some I've been told to stay away from because they can get quite pornographic. (laughs)

Well, you're already giving them a head start on the show. Usually they have to make up the relationships out of whole cloth, but you've already given them the relationship.

Yeah! (laughs)

Which has been great to watch. what about the "Doctor Who" crossover you go to do?

Oh, brilliant.

How was that different from acting in "Torchwood"?

You have to be aware in "Doctor Who" that it's a family show and the tone is slightly different, I suppose, to the performances and the scripts. Having actors get to shoot a machine gun at a Dalek, I mean, that was a dream come true. (laughs)

Every actor's dream.

Maybe not every actor's dream. It was one of mine.

What would you still like to do? What dreams do you have for Ianto to do in Torchwood in the future?

Well, you know I think he should... um...

Assuming it won't give anything away on the new miniseries.

Yeah, hmm. I'd like to see him, you know, number two, in the Hub. I don't mean to replace any of the characters but his responsibilities go even more, I suppose, and mature.

Do you think that... in the second series you had more of a dry wit and got a lot of the good one liners, and I know you've been asked this before. In this new one it's a little more serious and a little darker and you get to find out more about your family and you become more of a confident person, do you think that's going to change the humor? Do you think it'll--

No, I don't think so, I think Ianto still is who he is and he'll always use the sort of dry wit to soften the really awkward, tense or dangerous situation. I think that's one of his defense mechanisms. So that's definitely still there. I mean there's obviously not as much room for the humor in the nature of the story because so much happens in such a short space of time, it's literally a steamroller of things that go on. But it's definitely still there, definitely, Ianto's character or sense of humor hasn't changed.

What with the shortened time you have a little more time to work. What other projects do you have going on? I know you have a band...

Yeah, I'm doing my own music and art festival at the end of the year in Cardiff. The main reason of which is to showcase a lot of unrepresented, unsigned Welsh artists, musicians, painters, writers, some comedians, so i've got that coming up. And I'll doing a panto at the end of the year, being Prince Charming in "Cinderella" at Preston (Guild Hall and Charter Theatre). A few things, here and there.

Presenting the Welsh people to the world. You've put Cardiff on the map, I think.

Yeah, it's been great. The development and the bay, it's only been there for around 10, 11 years now, and the Roald Dahl's Plass where Torchwood sat and already its become one of the top tourist attractions in Britain (laughs) and there are already four or five Torchwood tours you can do.

Nice. Of course, then you went and blew it up...

(laughs)

Thank you for doing this, and I hope to see the miniseries very soon.

Thank you.

For more information on "Torchwood: Children of the Earth," visit BBC America's Torchwood site. And don't miss my interview with producer Julie Gardner.

Torchwood: Interview with producer Julie Gardner

2009-07-16T02:27:45Z
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"Torchwood: Children of the Earth" debuts on BBC America Monday, July 20th, at 9 p.m. Last week I talked to BBC producer Julie Gardner about the third season of this increasingly popular show.

This is Chris Bridges with the Daytona Beach News-Journal and I'm talking with Julie Gardner, who is the producer for "Doctor Who," "Torchwood," and "The Sarah Jane Adventures." I wanted to thank you for talking to me.

No problem. Hello!

The new "Torchwood: Children of the Earth" miniseries started in the UK last night, I believe?

Yes it did, and it did well last night. The viewing figures were good. It was raining apparently in the UK so I'm thrilled about that (laughter) so we all did a little rain dance to try and make people stay at home. So, yeah, pleased with our beginning.

(Note: it did excellently, in fact, averaging nearly 6 million viewers every night, around 26% of the total viewing audience)

That's good. How's the fan feedback been?

I think it's been good, I haven't seen very much. I'm in Los Angeles at the moment so I've just started waking up to some kind of feedback but it seems good. I mean I'm just hoping that the figures hold up across the week; I really know there are quite a few thrills and spills to come.

Fair enough. That's going to be coming to BBC America in another week or two... We left Captain Jack, Gwen and Ianto in a very dark place last season. Two of their team dead, not at the happiest of endings. What can you tell us about where they're going with the new series?

Well, they're going much further. It was a very dark, sad place at the end of season two. But what we wanted to do this year was change the format and look at a different type of story-telling for Torchwood. So whereas in previous years we've had stories of the week across 13 episodes, this year we have 5 episodes running across one week of transmission. The background of that was two things; it was because the show was moving to BBC One and BBC One wanted to really try to create quite a big event around Torchwood and kind of make it feel like a BBC One show, you know, mark the change, I think, of it moving there.

]]>
So we've seen first-contact stories in Doctor Who but this is the kind of, I don't know, the adult version, the kind of real version, the kind of, what happens to your government if an alien force and an alien threat starts to communicate with the world through the world's children.

Instead of just the Doctor and his companion you're involving everybody.

Exactly! Everyone is in peril in this, but particularly Torchwood.

Now I understand we're also going to be learning more about the families of some of the characters?

Yes! I mean, this I think is one of the things I really love about the work we've done on this season. The stories operate on quite a few levels. You've got the kind of global threat, you've got the political response to that. You've got the action-adventure and the danger, that Torchwood as a team themselves encounter, but because the aliens are communicating through the world's children it gave an opportunity for the writers to look at, well, what does this mean for our regular characters? What family lives do they have? What are their relationships to children?

So we get to see for example Ianto's relationship with his sister and his nephews and nieces. And as soon as you put that kind of personal layer in, there's of course loads of opportunity for jokes and family rivalries, the kind of politics in the family, but it also is an opportunity to raise the racial stakes, when people are fighting for their family.

Right, instead of just the teammates, which is pretty powerful all by itself. Speaking of which, are we going to see the relationship between Jack and Ianto continue to develop?

...Of course. (laughter) You could see my pause there, couldn't you Chris? I was thinking, 'Oh, do I tease?' But of course we want to see that. We want to see what happens. It's a fun, and very romantic relationship I think. But of course Captain Jack is a man with quite an extensive past so we're gonna learn a few new things about him.

I think it would be unusual for him to actually have a romantic relationship.

Oh, he's all about romance, really.

He seems more the physical type.

Well, a little bit of physi-- you know, we've never really had very much sex in "Torchwood." In truth, when you look at it, we were... on season one, there was a lot of publicity about "oh, it's very, very sexy," and we did have a few things. We did have a kind of sex-crazed alien in episode two...

That was your second show, so (laughter) it does set the tone...

There was a moment, that was a moment, but we kinda calmed down a little bit after that. But yeah, a little bit of sexiness, but I hope quite a bit of romance. (laughter)

Fair enough. How is it doing it as a miniseries instead of the entire season, where you have a longer space for a story arc?

It was fascinating, actually, I think the development of the stories was particularly interesting because we had three writers working on the show alongside Russell T. Davies. We had James Moran, who's written for the show before, and new to the show, John Fay.

We spent a lot of time with the three writers -- myself, some of the other producers locked in a room, kind of talking it all through -- and sometimes you're very very specific in the detail of what you need in an episode. You know there might be a particular plot thing that's got to happen in episode three, but other than that we talk quite generally too about, well, what are the implications, what does happen if there's alien contact. How far is the government prepared to go? You know, what will your government protect you, how far are you on your own as an individual citizen? You know, all those kinds of issues we kind of talked about.

What sort of liberties will the average citizen lose?

Completely. Completely. It's a lot of fun.

It's a lot of fun taking away all their liberties!

(laughter) Exactly! And fighting back, all the way.

How did the... since you've lost Owen and Toshika, how did that change the dynamics between the remaining three actors?

It was really tough, let me just talk about these characters' deaths. It was really tough for everyone to make that decision because those characters and also those actors, we loved both of them. At the end of season two it all kind of came out of the conversation about, well, we've set up this mythology about Torchwood, that people die young, that they are at the heart of the threat, that they are in grave, grave danger, that they are the kind of last line of defense. And... you get to the point where you can't sustain that if you don't see the results of that. You don't see the casualities.

And so that was the reason for those deaths. I think what it's done for this third season is it's made Jack, Ianto and Gwen a very tight group, a very tight unit. You can kind of feel the weight of it, really. And I think the audience, more than anything else I think they come into it thinking "Well, the gloves are off, anything is possible, they've shown us" in the way season two ended.

How long has it been from the end of season two to the beginning of season three? How much time has elapsed?

I think it's only been a few months, so, you know, no one's been replaced in that opening episode. You know, maybe there's room to bring someone else in, bring another doctor in, but at the beginning of that episode there isn't anyone new in that Hub.

As we're joining them, have they come to grips with the loss yet? I know that was addressed briefly in the radio plays in between, I don't know if they'll be going into that in this.

We don't really go into it in detail in this. I think it's just a process, really, that each of the characters knows what the consequences are.

It's been kind of a sparse year for fans coming from this, because you don't have a regular series of "Doctor Who," you just have the four specials, and you don't have a full 13-episode series of "Torchwood"...

Yes, we're mean, aren't we?

Are we going to catch up next year?

Yes, you're definitely going to catch up on "Doctor Who" next year. As the fans will know there's a season five in development, it begins filming very shortly, and that is a full run of 13 episodes with the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith. With "Torchwood" we don't know what our recommission is yet, we're waiting to see how we do across this week.

OK. We want more of it, that would be good.

See, our cunning plan worked, then. Keep everyone wanting more. It's a good state to be in. You don't ever want to be sated, do you? You kind of want more episodes. You're saying all the right things to me.

You have to understand we're Americans, we always want more of everything.

And do you know sometimes, as painful as it is, it's good to wait for things (laughter). You know, I remember, I'm thinking partly about children with "Doctor Who." We're in a great world where you can watch anything you want at any time almost, you know. You can download things, things are accessible.

And one thing that I do enjoy with"Doctor Who" is when it's possible we try to keep the stories secret. And we try to build, on BBC One, to a moment of transmission where we really are trying to get family united to watch. And I think that's part of the fabric of the show, I think that's quite important.

That would be something I'd like to bring up. As these things usually are it's released in the U.K. and we have to wait a while for it to show up here. The time lag has been shrinking, thankfully. Do you see a point where it's going to shrink more? Because right now I'm sure American fans are looking around trying to download it.

I'm sure they are. I love the fact that the transmissions are happening much closer, and I will do everything practical to make it really, really tighten even further because I think it's important. I think you want to create events across territories for the audience and for the fans, you want to kind of deliver that sense of excitement.

And you want... to be frank, you want your marketing campaign to be coherent as well. You want to be setting "Torchwood" and "Doctor Who" up in one way. So the closer the windows are, the happier I am.

Now you're over in America now, you've transferred over.

I am! I'm here. I'm still trying to drive on the left side of the road but fear not, I'm being good. I have reverted to the right.

In L.A. that may not make that much of a difference.

I've spotted this. It might help me, in fact, in L.A.

Are you still going to be producing "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood"?

I am going to be producing David Tennant's last episodes, so I am currently doing the post-production work on the "Doctor Who" specials. So we are, Russell and I are actually about to see the final episode of the specials this week at fine cut, and we're doing some final mixing and some post-production work on the autumn episode, "The Waters of Mars."

And then Stephen Moffat will be taking over as showrunner for "Doctor Who"?

Stephen Moffat is a great writer. He's dividing his time between London and Cardiff at the moment and is probably in the thick of it all. So it's going to be really exciting for me to be kind of be able to kind of be able to come back to season five as a fan and sit there. And I hear snippets of what's going on, I'm close to Piers Wenger, who's the next executive producer, so I hear little bits but I'm trying very, very studiously not to hear because you want the experience of sitting or hiding behind the sofa with everyone else.

I think you were just frightened off after trying to get a bus to the desert (in the "Doctor Who" Easter special).

There is that. I mean that was not easy, getting a bus to the desert...

After that, what is there?

You know, after that I think a good rest is required. We were a bit blighted on "Planet of the Dead," practically. A lot of things went wrong for us. But we got there in the end.

What are your plans for the future, after this? What will you be working on?

I just moved to Los Angeles, I'm working for BBC Worldwide Productions, which is a commercial arm of the BBC, and we are hoping to set up some scripted titles. So I'm looking at original titles for the U.S. market, looking for more from the U.K. that might do well in a new package, and looking at co-productions between the two territories. So it's early days, but I'm enjoying my time here very much.

Are you avoiding the Michael Jackson memorial at the moment?

I am absolutely guttered. I tried to get tickets, I was on line, hoping that I would be selected and I sadly wasn't. So the best I'm going to do today is wheel in a TV so I can watch in the office.

Well, I wish you luck...

(laughter) Thank you very much.

I have a question, just for my personal...

Oh, OK, go for it.

In the closing of season two, you had Captain Jack spend a few thousand years underground, dying and resurrecting over and over, and then popping out with apparently no mental damage whatsoever.

Mmm.

Are we ever going to see anything come from that, or he just takes it in stride and walks on?

Oh, great question. I... I think we should see him, for the moment, take it in his stride because for the eagle-eyed viewer, when he went into that living grave, you did see him kind of take a deep breath, shut his eyes, it was like a kind of, almost like an expiation, like a kind of settling in for it. And I think he's a man who's lived a long time, and was prepared for that moment.

He has now...

The exigencies of that moment.

Fair enough. (laughter) OK, I won't take up any more of your time, I appreciate being able to talk to you like this.

It's an absolute pleasure, thank you very much, and I hope you enjoy the series.

I'll be watching it. And the new DVDs will be coming out the... actually the "Torchwood" DVD second season is out now in America, as of today, I believe, and the DVD for "Torchwood: Children of the Earth" will be coming out one week after the BBC America showing.

Fantastic.

I think we just had Doctor Who DVDs come out too, the Cybermen DVD just came out today.

Well, it's just... get to the shop. (laughter)

It's a strong Doctor Who month this month.

It is. Thank you very much!

Thank you very much for talking to me.

For more information on "Torchwood: Children of the Earth," visit BBC America's Torchwood site. And don't miss my interview with Gareth David-Lloyd, "Ianto Jones."