Ashes to Ashes: UPDATE!

Spoke to Kudos Productions this afternoon. I can officially confirm that Gene Hunt, Alex Drake & all of the Ashes to Ashes crew will be back in a BRAND NEW SERIES to be aired some time in late 2010 / early 2011 on BBC Wales, BBC 1 and BBC HD. The series will be in two parts, each comprising 8 episodes.

The new show will focus around Gene Hunt, who in 1982 falls under suspicion of shooting Alex Drake, who is now critically ill & near to death. Alex is the only one who can clear Alex's name, as corrupt coppers are keen to see Hunt go down and have well & truly framed him - 'Stitched me up like a kipper' as we will hear Hunt say!

Hunt goes on the run - but somehow manages to visit Alex, who's wired up in hospital and in a deep, unsurvivable coma. He tries to get thru to her - but he can't - she's too far gone!
 

Meanwhile, in 2010, Alex is spending time with her daughter and getting used to her 'real; life, but things aren't right. She sees Gene where ever she goes, and she knows he's in big trouble. somehow, she has to get back to 1982 to save him. After all, if she could have done... she would have done!

Alex becomes unsure of what reality is - is she really from 1982, or 2010, and who, or what is Gene Hunt? And how can she get back to 1982 without risking everything she has in 2010?

Well, I don't know... and we'll have to wait for the new series to find out. The show may be called 'Hunt!' or 'Hunt on the run!', but this has far from been decided.

Watch this space - you'll hear it first here!

Ashes to Ashes... Letter to Kudos Production Team

To Kudos & BBC Cymru (named contacts):

I never initially liked 'Ashes to Ashes' - I think I'd been spoiled by the totally excellent 'Life on Mars' and the amazing John Simm. It took me a while to get used to Alex Drake - and I hated her tongue-in-cheek approach to 'life' in the 80's which we saw thru much of Series 1.

However, just like with LOM, I got totally adicted by the show - as indeed has everyone I know. I've never heard so much discussion & comment on a drama production before, much of it almost at a 'spiritual' level. Fantastic show, fantastic production, great characterization and a totally innovative idea.

Thanks for LOM & A2A... genuinely great TV which gave so many of us so much pleasure!

The ending of LOM I never fully understood, but A2A was different. We now have a paradox: Alex Drake permanently existing in either 'life' or 'coma' modes, with two real 'realities' existing independently.

It's totally clear to me that there's so much scope for another show. Hunt's such a popular character - and the only TV character who can get away with anything, due to the unique nature of his role. He's now a fugitive in 1982 - his only hope of being cleared is Alex Drake, who lies in a coma, and yet if she recovers, she leaves 2009, perhaps for good.

A great show 'Hunt on the run' or similar... great 80's action, lots of very funny non-PC stuff (love it!) - and our favorite characters back in action.

So, to cut to the chase, do you / BBC Cymru have any plans for a new show? If not, are discussions planned, and when would any commissioning decisions be made? Let's have more. There's scope. There's more mileage. There's so much more to discover & see!

Please advise & put me out of my misery - preferably with a 'YES' or at least, a 'MAYBE'!

Best wishes,

Chris T

Ashes to Ashes concludes! Bring on Gene Hunt!

Wow! What a show!!

Ashes to Ashes, Series 2 concluded tonight in the UK. As I 'predicted' and revealed earlier, there WAS a massive twist tin the plot, but my 'snout' had not given me the exact story-line, surprise surprise!

After 8 superb episodes in which Alex Drake really established herself as a credible character in this off-the-wall 1980's police drama, we finally reach a conclusion, of sorts. I'll not go into the detail in case you haven't yet watched it, but Alex has her wish - and returns to 2009 as a result of being shot in 1982.

As she recovers, she is delighted and clearly emotional to be reunited with her daughter and the team of surgeons who saved her. But something feels wrong, and she's edgy. Shockingly, the hospital monitor crackles & jumps into action, and on the screen is...
 

GENE HUNT!

Gene is still back in 1982, but is a real person. He is by Alex's bedside in the HDU. Alex is... in a coma. The Police think Gene shot her > and they're after him. He's on the run. Gene begs her to wake up. She can't > she's in a deep coma. Gene shakes her. He's visibly on every TV, every monitor, every PC in Alex's world. Alex leaves the 2009 hospital in a shocked panic. She doesn't know what's real... 2009, or 1982.

There's clearly MUCH scope for a new series, which will explore Hunt on the Run. We'll discover more about Gene, and who.. or what he really is!

I'll be speaking to Kudos tomorrow. I'll keep you posted >> but what a series finale!!

Destiny?

QUOTE: An American Parascientist: "[most] humans are transparent, predictable, formulaic, ephemeral, full of self-interest & shallow beyond belief. To the point of being intensely tiresome, individual human actions are easy to forecast, and breaking of expected behavioral patterns occur rarely..."

 

"I once thought I was so totally wrong when I believed, as a youngster that life was a pre-programmed event, following pre-ordained routes & with fully-pre-defined outcomes. The more I experience, the more often I witness different humans following identical patterns, the more certain I am, sadly, that I was right.

What if free-will did not exist, and that individual humans on what we believe to be Earth were merely automatons, blindly following pre-programmed instructions, leading to the same outcomes, whatever they did, or whatever 'free' decisions they thought they were making?

What if they were pre-programmed units, existing in some kind of organic - or electronic matrix? They'd never know.. they'd just carry on living what they thought were their own lives as the cogs turned & they reached their pre-planned conclusions.

What if humans were alone - entirely - and everything they experience, their lives, their families, friends & actions were actually fabrications - only happening as part of a matrix or feigned reality?

Answer: They'd never know. And they never will; unless they're pre- programmed to discover, at some future point, for some unknown reason?

And who, or what would be mastering the puppetry, were this to be the case?"


               End of quoted article... Interesting viewpoint, or insanity?

Torchwood - Children of The Earth... Series 3... NEWS UPDATE!

Torchwood returns this summer, most likely in late June or early July. It will be filmed in HD, and shown on BBC 1 and BBC HD. The show will later be available on Blu-Ray & DVD, along with Series 1 & 2, which will be re-released.

 

 

Had a very detailed chat with BBC Commissioning guys in Cardiff and London tonight - great thing to do when stuck on the M4 in murderous traffic on the way home after work.

A couple of mysteries solved... Firstly, the reduction of episodes from 13 down to 5 was actually at Torchwood's request. Partly, there was need for a holiday, (coinciding with Doctor Who's 2009 downtime - both shows share a large number of production staff) - but mostly, as it was felt that a big-bang, all action, hard-hitting single story would have maximum impact, and would turbo charge the Torchwood brand big time. Producers & the Team really wanted a fast, pacey, detailed story in which lots could happen & characters could develop, rather than a longer series of largely unconnected shows.

I'm told Torchwood, Series 3, 'Children of the Earth' really does hit the high notes. A terrifying plot in which the Earth really is in imminent, mortal threat from an unknown attacker. The show will be seen every night at 9pm over one week, with some of the most shocking, nail-biting cliff hangers ever shown on TV in Wales & the UK. The show will be 'compelling beyond belief' - and we'll see the characters in a different light as the story progresses.

Screening has been delayed, originally it was due to air early spring. However, the production team were not happy with the original cut, and it's gone back to The Mill for a re-working, plus some recent re-shoots in Penarth, attended by yours' truly.

It's due to be finished soon, and will be on out screens 'within three weeks' of finalization. I'll keep uoi posted!

Rumors on the Internet are that the Torchwood Hub (home of TorchwoodCF) will be destroyed completely during Part 1 of this 5 part story. This is true. However, I'm told that 'normality will be revealed' and 'all will make sense' by the conclusion to the story. I understand from that that the Hub will be somehow restored.

Captain Jack, Gwen Cooper & Ianto will star in the story, but I got a tight lipped silence when I asked about Owen Harper. Owen 'died' in Series 2, but was brought back to a 'living death' by some kind of alien energy force from a mysterious glove. He then 'died' again by being vaporized within a nuclear reactor. I was given a pretty broad hint that he would reappear, but perhaps not in all of the 5 parts to the story.

Finally, and most importantly, there are STACKS of rumors & stories suggesting that the BBC plans to kill off Torchwood after Series 3. I'm assured by my BBC 'sources' that this is totally untrue. Series 1 & 2 were highly succesful, and a fantastic amount of money has been ploughed into making Series 3 'absolutely stunning', and a 'flagship show' for BBC 1.

DVD sales in Wales, the UK and globally are said to be awesome, and far stronger than expected. In fact, Series 1 was releases on Blu-Ray in response to massive international demand.

Though series 4 has not yet been commissioned, this is not unusual. BBC rarely re-commissions new series / stories until past series have aired, and viewer response has been measured. I was left in no doubt that Series 3 would be an absolute stunner, and there was a 'full expectation' that this would lead to future shows!

Just to conclude, all of the information above comes directly from BBC Wales Drama in Cardiff, and BBC Commissioning in London & Cardiff, and none of it is blind speculation. TorchwoodCF will keep you updated on any further news.. as I hear it!

 

John Barrowman will reprise his role as the pan-sexual Captain Jack Harkness, and Eve Myles re-appears as spirited valleys ex-cop, Gwen Cooper. As ever, Ianto remains Jack's eye candy & true love interest.
 

Take care,
Chris @ Torchwood CF

Doctor Who? SHOCK NEWS and **UPDATE**

As David Tennant completes filming in Cardiff for the next 'special' sometime later this year, it's becoming clear that his demise, at the end of the evil Master, reprised by the excellent John Simm ('Sam Tyler' from 'Life on Mars') will be a spectacular televisual feast, with lots of shocks & surprizes!

Firstly - the last time we saw the Master, it was in fact his dead body being burned to a crisp after he was defeated whilst tortured by his madness and 'the drums'. We didn't see a subtle cygnet ring slip from his burning fingers... we are to learn that this contains his crystalized consciousness!

We then hear that the TimeLords aren't actually extinct.. a large'ish niumber have survived, but they're all BIG, BAD EVIL, and controlled by the Master's hypnotic life-force!

But the biggest surprize will be that as David Tennant's character dies, regeneration brings us Matt Smith, a relatively unknown British actor, barely out of diapers. Smith is seen as 'the perfect replacement' to Tennant, though many fans & the UK's vocal press doubt he will have the graivitas and maturity to carry off the role with the depth and energy required.

What are your views??

CONFIDENTIAL UPDATE!


Matt Smith shocks BBC Wales in Cardiff and decides Doctor Who is not for him.

Stating fears for his personal privacy and his reluctance to become a globally-recognised celebrity, Smith is said to be returning to the theater, and low-budget TV shows, for Channel 4 & Five.

BBC Wales had released a publicity shot of an unknown actor from Somerwest County, expected to take over as the 11th Timelord when the ever-popular David Tennant regenerates in the New Year, 2010.


However, this image was removed by the BBC for legal reasons, thought by some to be that Matt hasn't fully decided!

(C) AFP News Agency

Swine Flu - The dangers?

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Swine Flu - The dangers?

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The recombinant H1N1 virus.

Could this change humanity?

Scientists in New Georgia have expressed their serious concerns about the so-called 'Swine Flu' virus, scientifically known as H1N1.

An early pig / human chimera, born as a result of earlier genetic experimentation in North Korea.

Doctor Milton Ashcombe-Brown, director of clinical research at the University of Somerwest has uncovered evidence suggesting worrying trends in the behavior of recombinant RNA in the latest variants of the virus, suggesting that new variants can retro-build themselves into the DNA structure of potential victims, effectively re-writing chromosomal & genetic re-programming.

This, if true, would be extremely concerning, potentially threatening the future of the human race as a distinct & identifable species. Early indications of recombinant RNA involvement in human genetic coding would be the presence of porcine indicators in amniocentesis during early embryonic, leading to the birth of human-pig offspring from apparently normal pregnancies.

Emeritus Professor Harald Stiggurthuvalddar-Thorsson, from Stithsbald University Research Center in Iceland admitted that this was a very worrying development, but urged the public not to panic. He suggested that such hybridization, leading to the production of human / pig 'chimeras' may not be a bad thing, and could lead to a great evolutionary step in life on Earth.

A CGI impression of what hybrid humans may look like.

Report compiled by Stanislaw Wrzerzezowski, UPP Press Agency (C)