The BBC has just published the official press release for Torchwood season two – which premiers on BBC2 – revealing that younger fans will have the opportunity of watching a specially edited pre-watershed repeat.
Roly Keating, Controller BBC Two, says: "We're delighted that Torchwood is joining BBC Two. We know from the success and popularity of Heroes that there's a growing appetite for smart, high-quality, sci-fi drama on the channel so Torchwood is a perfect fit.
"I'm also pleased to announce that, due to popular demand from families and younger viewers, we will be showing a special pre-watershed repeat so everyone can enjoy the new series."
"We’ve been talking about it all year and it’s something the BBC were very keen on, to get the show out to a wider audience," explained Torchwood lead writer Chris Chibnall when we grabbed him for a chat at the screening for episode one of season two.
"Actually, when we broke it down and looked at the episodes it was surprising how little we’d have to cut.
"Most of the stuff that we take out is stuff that children could imitate, and because we’re in a slightly heightened fantasy world, there is less stuff that imitable. It’s all a question of cutting away at the right time, to be honest. It’s the same story, there’s not going to be any major differences. There were a couple of scenes where we shot differing versions of a line with swearing in it, but there’s not many instances - there’s not much swearing at all [in the new series]."
MILD SPOILERS AHEAD:
James (Buffy) Marsters will be guest starring in episode one as Captain John. Captain John and Captain Jack go way back and have "history". We’re also promised glimpses of the 51st Century and the First World War.
The team will also discover alien sleeper cells, save a stranded creature from human exploitation and meet a memory thief who exposes long-forgotten secrets among the entire team.
Guest stars include Alan Dale (Ugly Betty, Lost and The West Wing), Richard Briers, Nerys Hughes and Ruth Jones (Gavin and Stacey) as well as Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones.
Russell T Davies says: "This series pushes the Torchwood team further than ever before. They are joined by some incredible guest stars who are really going to cause waves. It's adventurous, thrilling and packed full of surprises."
We’re also promised "a new exciting online reality game and exclusive behind the scenes footage on bbc.co.uk/torchwood."
We’re just left wondering how they would have re-edited season one’s "Day One" into a child-friendly version – presumably it would have been about three minutes long...
