Saturday, 15 January 2011 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
Entertainment Weekly has reported that Lauren Ambrose has been cast in the role of Jilly Kitzinger in Torchwood: Miracle Day. Ambrose is best known for her role as the sullen Claire Fisher in the HBO drama Six Feet Under. EW describes her Torchwood character as "a sweet-talking PR genius with a heart of stone who’s just cornered the most important client of her career … and maybe of all time."
Ambrose joins Torchwood stars John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Kai Owen, as well as previously announced actors Mekhi Phifer as CIA analyst Rex Matheson, Alexa Havins as field agent Esther Drummond, Bill Pullman as convicted murderer Oswald Danes, and Arlene Tur as Dr. Vera Juarez. Dichen Lachman has also been reported as having a role in the series, but her casting has not been confirmed by official sources.
Torchwood: Miracle Day is currently filming in Los Angeles, and will air on BBC1 and Starz beginning in July.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The production office responsible for the new series of Torchwood, Miracle Day, have started up an official Twitter feed, @BBC_Torchwood; the feed will be used to promote the production of the new series, kicking off yesterday with:
17:57 First shot 8:01am. Coffee pots are bottomless today. 20:11 Russell and Julie are here today to oversee filming and attend concept meetings for EP 2 & 3. We LOVE them!
The feed has been officially confirmed by BBC Marketing, and has been created in response to a fake Facebook/Twitter publisher being uncovered last week.
Saturday, 8 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have released details on the new series of Torchwood - which has now been renamed from The New World to Miracle Day.
The release introduces the plot of the new story, plus cast and character details.
The principal guest stars which have been mentioned in the news over the last couple of months are now formally confirmed, with a couple of character name changes. As reported last month, the principle role of CIA operative Rex Matheson will be played by Mekhi Phifer (most recently seen as FBI agent Ben Reynolds in Lie to Me), whilst protagonist Oswald Danes will be played by Bill Pullman (Independence Day). Alexa Havins (One Life to Live) will play field agent Esther Drummond, whilst Arlene Tur (Crash) plays Doctor Vera Jaurez.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
REX MATHESON (Mekhi Phifer)
He’s the golden boy. The embodiment of the American dream and has been all his life. Harvard education, Rex is destined for success and could make a fortune in Wall Street or Hollywood, but he chose the C.I.A. because he believes in justice and will fight for it. He can talk his way into anything, then charm his way out, fast. This may be just what he needs as he joins forces with Jack and Gwen to fight a global mystery behind “Miracle Day” that has them racing from one crisis to another, dodging assassins, blackmail, corruption and conspiracy, from Washington to Wales and the slums of Shanghai.
CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS (John Barrowman)
Jack looks like a hero. He's handsome, witty and subversive with a killer smile. But there's a reason for that glint in his eye. His dashing style hides a secret. Truth is Jack Harkness is immortal, the only one of his kind. He once ran the Torchwood Institute, a British organization dedicated to fighting the strange and bizarre. But Torchwood closed down, and Jack disappeared, to start yet another of his many new lives. When a new, epic danger affects the whole planet, Jack finds himself back at the center of events, fighting not just for his own life, but for everyone on Earth.
GWEN COOPER (Eve Myles)
Gwen once lived the ultimate double life - the funny, salty, earthy woman who loves home and family, combined with the tough, ruthless warrior, who loves the thrill of the fight. She was the heart and soul of an organization called Torchwood. She was a defender of the human race. But now she lives in seclusion, with her devoted husband Rhys and baby Anwen, knowing that one day trouble would come calling again. When events surrounding “Miracle Day” push Gwen to the limit, she'll need to call on resources she never knew she had and make the most terrible decisions, on behalf of all mankind.
ESTHER DRUMMOND (Alexa Havins)
Esther is an innocent, in a world of assassins, liars and zealots. She got where she is with the C.I.A through diligence and application. Hard work keeps Esther focused but she still dreams of active duty as a field agent serving her country. The dream is going to happen faster than she thinks and in no time at all, Esther finds herself running alongside Jack, Gwen and Rex, living off the grid, gun in hand, fighting a global conspiracy against enemies ranging from big business to the state. It’s a tough, brutal, hard lifestyle where survival is hard won and life-changing choices have to be made.
OSWALD DANES (Bill Pullman)
Well-educated and a former school teacher, Oswald’s a convicted child killer, both guilty and unrepentant. But when Oswald survives his own execution, he’s given a whole new life. The most infamous man in the world, he becomes the most provocative figure in modern media. He’s a flare, reviled yet mesmerizing, whose very existence embodies how the world changed on “Miracle Day”.
DR. VERA JUAREZ (Arlene Tur)
An attending surgeon in Washington D.C., she’s smart, fast talking and hard working, Vera is on the frontline of medical care on “Miracle Day”. As the world crisis grows, Vera's surgical and ER experience sees her recruited to advise on government think-tanks until she has to make a moral choice of enormous consequence. Sexy, confident and passionate, Vera's life is soon inextricably tangled up with Rex's.
The plot of Torchwood: Miracle Day takes place over the course of the ten episodes of the series:
One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging -- they get hurt and sick -- but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight. With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four months’ time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?", he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.
Though launching in the United Kingdom (BBC1) and the United States (Starz), BBC Worldwide plan to distribute the new series around the world. Torchwood has previously been seen in countries like Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, Israel, Russia and across Latin America.
A number of news-sites (including ourselves) had reported in the last day or so that the transmission date for the forthcoming Torchwood has been revealed for BBC1 in the UK and Starz in the US.
BBC Marketing have informed us, however, that the "Torchwood" Facebook Page and Twitter feed which purported to 'announce' the series premier date is not an official site as claimed, and has no links to the BBC itself.
The transmission date will be officially announced by the BBC and Starz later in the year.
Production shifts into gear to start filming next week, with members of the production team recently confirmed in the latest Torchwood Magazine - all of which have established sci-fi credentials!
Production designer is Greg Melton (whose previous work includes the Zombie series The Walking Dead) and within the UK is joined by the original designer for Torchwood, Ed Thomas. Costumes are being handled by Shawna Trpcic (who has worked on shows like Angel and Firefly), and Makeup by Todd McIntosh (Pushing Daisies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The Director of Photography is Nate Goodman (whose credentials include Heroes).
The series will be produced by Kelly Manners (who worked on Angel and co-produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer); he will be joined in the UK by the producer of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Brian Minchin. The first episode is due to be directed by Bharat Nalluri (whose credits include directing the first episodes of BBC successes Life on Mars, Spooks and Hustle).
As previously reported, the writers for the series are Jane Espensen, John Shiban, Doris Egan, and John Fay, and of course executively produced by series creator Russell T Davies alongside Julie Gardner.
You can view all of our recent articles on casting and the development of The New Worldhere.
An earlier version of this article cited a launch date for The New World - this has been reported by BBC Marketing as incorrect and has been removed. More news soon!
TV Line are reporting that Alexa Havins and Dichen Lachman have both been cast in the forthcoming series of Torchwood.
Havins will play Esther Katusi, a CIA Watch Analyst who possesses an unshakable faith in human nature and a monster crush on colleague Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer). Details about Lachman’s character are still to be released officially but Michael Ausiello of TV Line says that she also works at the CIA. Alexa Havins's credits include American soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children.
Dichen Lachman has appeared in Australian soap opera Neighbours and American science fiction series Dollhouse.
Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
The latest issue of the The Official Torchwood Comic by Titan Magazines is now on sale. Issue Six includes two comic strip adventures - Hell House by Roger Gibson and Overture by Gary Russell, with art by John Ridgway - and the conclusion of the Issue Five short story Photo Finish by Mark Morris.
 
Art work from Hell House
The series of Comics for the US market was first reported by us back in June 2010.
It does contain spoilers but if you do want to know just click 'reveal' to view the the new details.
Jane Epenson (Writer for three episodes of The New World) recently confirmed on her Twitter page that a read-through of the first episode is due to take place sometime next week.
Thursday, 23 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
Twisted Media, "a creative collective producing audio, visual and interactive media" have been hired to work on Torchwood: The New World.
The company first announced via their Twitter page that they have been hired to create graphics for the upcoming series of Torchwood. The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday about Twisted Media's work on another TV show called Leverage and mentioned the work on Torchwood.
Derek Frederickson has landed another TV series. He was just hired to work on 10 episodes of "Torchwood," the spinoff of the long-running "Dr. Who" series. Frederickson described the show as "sort of a 'X-Files'-ish division that investigates alien and supernatural activity." Previous seasons of the show have already aired on BBC America; the new season (which will include Bill Pullman and Mekhi Phifer as series regulars) changes the setting from Wales to the U.S. and will air on Starz.
"It's actually a perfect show for Twisted Media because it's aliens and sci-fi and all sorts of computers and technical, science stuff," Frederickson said. "The first script was a total page-turner Â-- I was going nuts reading it. Being a fan of the show, too, and reading this, I'm like, 'Oh my God, I can't wait to see this on-screen.'"
Which means the next few months will be busy for both Frederickson and [Tom] Slattery. "Torchwood" begins shooting in January.
John Barrowman has told The Scottish Sun that the BBC and the Starz Network are planning to make seven years of Torchwood.
Barrowman, who is currently appearing in Aladdin at Glasgow's Clyde Auditorium told the paper:
I have turned down a load of other shows to make Torchwood. We'll be filming it in LA as it's now a collaboration between the BBC and the Starz Network in America. They're planning to make it for the next seven years. So I'll be spending six months a year in Hollywood and six back in the UK.
Torchwood: The New World is currently in production for transmission in the summer of 2011.