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Torchwood And Battlestar Galactica To Return!

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

They've been so long coming we thought they'd been lost in a black hole.

TEN is finally bringing back Torchwood and Battlestar Galactica.

Both of them will screen on TEN HD in the first week of September. Torchwood will air at 10:30pm on Monday, 1 September, while Battlestar Galactica is back from 8:30pm Thursday, 4 September.

Both shows have been critically acclaimed, but poorly received by TEN audiences. Torchwood's second season moves to the HD Channel after a disappointing reception. This is despite Doctor Who attracting excellent figures on Sunday nights in a 7:30pm timeslot for the ABC. But Who is nowhere near as dark as its spin-off, and straddles a populist, road-movie feel. The earth-bound academy at Torchwood is less glamorous and, it has to be said, light years away from American shows such as Supernatural that have traditionally been the staple of TEN's schedule.

Many would argue it should never have been attempted by TEN in the first place. Fans of the show are furious that it has taken the network so long to deliver the second series. It aired in the UK in January.

There is also an argument that would suggest sci-fi fans are not prepared to wait for their favourite shows, they simply download them via Bit Torrent, despite it being illegal. Similarly, viewers with high definition televisions and set top boxes are also more likely to dabble in downloading. By slating the show on HD, TEN could find that audience has already seen it, while less-technological viewers will still go begging.

Battlestar Galactica was also a much darker noir-inspired drama than its prototype. With its subtext and themes of the human condition it was clear this was no mere space-age western. But like most sci-fi, it built a passionate, if modest, following. Not many realise that a key to the show's new tone was Australian director Michael Rymer (Queen of the Damned, Angel Baby).

TEN returns the series with the two-part Razor episodes. Packaged as a movie, Razor begins the fourth series, even though it doesn't directly carry on from the events at the end of season three. Its story is set sometime just before "Lay Down Your Burdens", detailing the sparsely known history of the Pegasus from after the Cylon attack. However it also plants a number of seeds that penetrate through the fourth series.

In the US the last 10 episodes of the series will screen in 2009 with a finale directed by Rymer. A two hour prequel telemovie will follow later directed by its star Edward James Olmos. Meanwhile a third season of Torchwood is due in the UK next year.

Hopefully TEN might screen them before the next passing of Haley's Comet.

David Knox for Citysearch, August 2008

View Citysearch's TV guide.