Latest news with #Torchwood
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Theatr Clwyd: House of the Dragon star to appear in new play
Theatr Clwyd, in Mold, is set to host the world premiere of The Red Rogue of Bala, written by newcomer Chris Ashworth-Bennion. The play, which will run from November 3 to 22, tells a darkly comedic story of "power, community, and change." It is inspired by Coch Bach y Bala, an infamous figure from the area known for his jailbreaking, poaching, and thievery, set against the backdrop of impending war. At the centre of the story is Bala, played by Simon Holland Roberts. Mr Roberts has appeared in Coronation Street and on stage at various prestigious venues such as the Donmar Warehouse and Chichester Festival Theatre. Simon Holland Roberts has been cast to play Coch Bach y Bala (Image: Theatr Clwyd) Joining him are Maxine Evans and Julian Lewis Jones, both familiar faces from popular TV shows. Ms Evans has appeared in Sky's Stella, Call the Midwife, Torchwood, Casualty, Holby City, and EastEnders. Mr Jones has starred in Justice League, Clint Eastwood's Invictus, and HBO's House of the Dragon. Maxine Evans of Call the Midwife, Torchwood, Casualty, Holby City, and EastEnders (Image: Theatr Clwyd) Rhys Ap Trefor, known for his long-running role in Pobol y Cwm and various other TV shows, will also join the cast. Wyn Bowen Harries, artistic director of Cwmni Pendraw, also joins the cast, bringing along his experience from Rownd a Rownd, Hinterland/Y Gwyll, Coronation Street, and Pobol y Cwm. Theo Woolford, currently on a UK tour of Dial M For Mayhem, and Mia Khan, who appeared in BBC Two's Mammoth, will also be part of the cast. Julian Lewis Jones, known for Justice League, Clint Eastwood's Invictus, and HBO's House of the Dragon (Image: Theatr Clwyd) Making his professional Welsh stage debut is Geraint De Carvalho, a recent graduate of East 15 Acting School, with past credits including The Cherry Orchard, Betrayal, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Completing the cast is Qasim Mahmood, known for his performances at the RSC, Hampstead Theatre, Birmingham Rep, and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Directed by Dan Jones, artistic director of Cardiff's The Other Room, the play promises a 'gripping' storyline featuring an ensemble cast of Welsh talent. READ MORE: KT Tunstall takes to the stage at Llangollen International Eisteddfod The creative team includes Mark Bailey as set and costume designer, Simisola Majekodunmi as lighting designer, Johnny Edwards as sound designer. Mared Williams is the play's songwriter and musical director, and Bethan Clark has been appointed fight director. Tickets for The Red Rogue of Bala can be purchased on the theatre's website at
Metro
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
I'm still mentally scarred by the darkest scene in Doctor Who history
The Doctor Who franchise is full of moments that have left a bruise on the British public's shared psyche. I'm thinking of scenes like Doctor Constantine vomiting up a gas mask, Amy sacrificing herself to the Weeping Angels, or a lone Dalek slaughtering an entire army of anonymous mooks. Yet there's one scene that I consider the darkest in Doctor Who's very long and storied history – and no, I'm not talking about James Corden's guest appearances. I'm talking about a scene in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, specifically a horrifying moment in the third season, The Children of Earth. Now I've already written at length about how Children of Earth is one of the most shocking and, dare I say, harrowing stories ever set in the expanded Doctor Who universe. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Yet, if you're not a dedicated reader of my Whoniverse ramblings, then I'll quickly explain the plot of the 2009 miniseries. Basically, a group of aliens known as the 456 travel to Earth and demand 10% of all the kids on the planet, otherwise they'll wipe out humanity. Why? Well, the 456 use the chemicals found in the blood of children to get high. It's a really disturbing revelation in a story that's already incredibly creepy was so different from any Torchwood story before it. Prior to this, I'd always thought of Torchwood as Doctor Who's try-hard younger brother who was so desperate to be edgy it almost veered into parody. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Children of Earth, however, was more akin to a Lovecraftian horror story where the villains were less pantomime baddies and more unknowable eldritch things beyond our comprehension. Still, there's one scene in this already horrifying story that takes things to an entirely new level. It happens in the final episode of the season, Day 5 – which was broadcast 16 years ago today – and involves the character John Frobisher (played brilliantly by Peter Capaldi, who obviously went on to play a much bigger role in the Doctor Who franchise). Throughout Children of Earth, Frobisher was the archetypical beleaguered bureaucrat, a dedicated civil servant who was completely out of his depth when he was thrust into the role of ad-hoc ambassador to the terrifying aliens. It's out of a grim sense of duty – and a genuine belief that he's helping humanity – that he helps decide which children will be given to the aliens and comes up with the cover story to explain their disappearance. In the final episode, however, the Prime Minister reveals a secret to Frobisher, telling him that to make the story believable, the Government must be seen to be 'victims' as well and that Frobisher's daughters Lilly and Holly are to be given to the 456. As Frobisher protests, knowing that would doom his daughters to an eternity as a living bong, the Prime Minister tells him that nothing he can say or do will save the girls from their fate. At this point I presumed I knew where the story was going. Things looked hopeless but this was a Doctor Who story. Surely our heroes could technobabble their way out of the problem or maybe the Doctor would land his Tardis and save the day? Sadly Children of Earth isn't that kind of story. So, Frobisher heads home and in a scene that's left a psychic scar in my brain ever since I saw it, we see Frobisher walking upstairs with a pistol hidden behind his back, while his daughters play in a bedroom with his wife. In silence, we watch Frobisher enter the room and close the door. Three gunshots then scream out. There's a pause before a final fourth shot, and Frobisher's story comes to an end. Frobisher's murder suicide is without a doubt the darkest thing we've ever seen in any Doctor Who story. A horrendous act, committed out of love for children, and a genuine desire to save them from a fate worse than death. It's unthinkable, while also somehow understandable, which just adds to the terror. Yet, the real sting in this tale is that Frobisher's horrendous act was ultimately pointless. Torchwood manages to save the day in the end and banish the 456 back to whatever hellscape planet they came from. John killed his family for nothing. Although he could never have known it, the Torchwood team figured out a way to stop the 456, although this required Jack Harkness to sacrifice his grandson to do so. I remember at the time being shell-shocked by what I'd just seen; the deaths of not one but three children in a Doctor Who spin-off were just unthinkable. After all, while death is the Doctor's constant companion (as Sutekh once told us), kids tend to be safe from the reaper's scythe. Not in Children of Earth, though. More Trending In Children of Earth, kids were fair game, and not just for shock value. Their deaths mattered and were to underline the fact that even in a fantastical world of Doctor Who, there are dangers that even the Doctor and his companions can't save everyone from. So, you can forget Cybermen invasions, the Judoon platoon upon the moon, or whatever those water zombies on Mars were up to – this is the darkest moment in Doctor Who history, and I'll argue with anyone who says otherwise. View More » After I've come out from behind the sofa. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: Too Much is Netflix's best ever comedy – I've already binged it twice MORE: I struggled on stage like Lewis Capaldi – I'm in awe of his return MORE: Barbie now looks just like me – and I couldn't be more excited
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
John Barrowman 'covered up' sexuality as he feared losing BBC job
Actor and presenter John Barrowman has claimed there was a culture of 'cover-up' at the BBC as he feared losing his job if his sexuality was known during the 1990s John Barrowman has accused the BBC of having a "cover-up" culture as he feared losing his job if he didn't follow suit. The actor, 58, claims he was "blacklisted" after accusations of flashing on the set of BBC shows were made against him. He has now made a fresh claim about the corporation, as he says he hid his sexuality. John was one of the original hosts of BBC's children TV show Live & Kicking in the 1990s. In a bombshell claim, he said: "In those days, at the BBC there was a culture, there was a lot of men who were married to women, but those men were clearly gay and they were running the stuff, or very powerful, strong single women who were running certain aspects of it, so there was a culture of cover-up, don't say anything, and I just slotted myself in." He added on the podcast Gay Old Time: "Because of the time, and it was children's television, so you could lose your job. But, for crying out loud, everybody was on the queer spectrum there." In a candid piece penned for The Guardian in 2008, John opened up about growing up in midwest America in the 1980s - where he remembered homosexuality being treated "like a curse". Although John "never doubted [his] sexuality," he felt he couldn't "make it a known thing," and put plenty of effort into fitting in. John, who knew he was gay from the age of eight-years-old, came out in his 20s after a health scare left him fearing the worst. He met his now-husband Scott Gill back in 1991 and they declared their love for each other in a small civil service ceremony in 2006. John continued to work with the BBC – appearing on shows such as Torchwood – until 2021. The Scottish-American star apologised in May 2021 when allegations emerged he had flashed cast members on the sets of both of his BBC TV shows, Doctor Who and Torchwood. Describing his behaviour as 'tomfoolery' he would not repeat, he slammed critics who said it was 'sexual harassment'. No charges were brought against him but a public backlash meant he lost his job as a judge on Dancing On Ice and was forced to cancel an upcoming UK tour. John said in a statement in 2021: "My high-spirited behaviour which was only ever intended in good humour to entertain colleagues on set and back stage has been well-documented, including in my autobiographies and even in song. "There were a couple of times during filming where I'd resort to tomfoolery, but none of this was ever intended nor interpreted as being sexual in nature. "With the benefit of hindsight, I understand that upset may have been caused by my exuberant behaviour and I have apologised for this previously. Since my apology in November 2008, my understanding and behaviour have also changed. At no point was I ever made aware of any sexual harassment, bullying, or sexually predatory behaviour on set." Speaking of the incident on the podcast, he said the allegations were "misconstrued" and the incident was just "a bit of a carry on". He added: "If I was in a nude scene, completely naked, and if somebody walked on set, which they weren't supposed to, I might just do something like that [jiggles] and it was nothing outrageous. I didn't see it as outrageous. It was a different time." The Mirror has contacted the BBC for comment.
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
John Barrowman makes astonishing gay 'cover-up' claim against the BBC - and says corporation was full of homosexual men 'married to women': RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY
Torchwood and Doctor Who star John Barrowman, who was 'blacklisted' over his on-set behaviour, claims there was a 'cover-up' culture at the . The Scottish-American actor, 58, was one of the original hosts of BBC children's programme Live & Kicking in the 1990s and says he was encouraged to hide his homosexuality.
Mint
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
‘Doctor Who' to depart from streaming—Where will the much-loved doctor arrive next?
The long-running British sci-fi phenomenon 'Doctor Who' is set to leave HBO Max at the end of July, raising fresh questions about the future accessibility of one of television's most iconic series. HBO Max has confirmed that all 13 seasons of the modern-era reboot (2005–2022) will be removed from the platform on July 31, with its spinoff Torchwood departing earlier, on July 26. This move affects episodes spanning the Ninth to Thirteenth Doctors, including performances from Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker. As of now, there has been no official announcement regarding where these episodes will be available for streaming next. While fans of the classic series (1963–1989) can still find earlier episodes on platforms such as Tubi and BritBox, the fate of the modern series' streaming rights remains unclear. Currently, seasons 1 through 13 are available on HBO Max, while the latest entries—seasons 14 and 15, starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor—are streaming exclusively on Disney+ (JioHotstar) under a separate deal. In addition to the main series, new content from the 'Doctor Who' universe is in development. A BBC spin-off miniseries titled 'The War Between the Land and the Sea' is expected to premiere in 2026. An animated spin-off for 'CBeebies', the BBC's children's channel, is also underway, although it remains uncertain whether The Doctor will feature as a central character. As for the flagship show's future, there are currently no new episodes officially commissioned. In the June issue of 'Doctor Who' Magazine, showrunner Russell T Davies acknowledged the uncertain state of the franchise, writing: 'We don't know what's happening yet, and while everyone works that out, I'll take a pause on this page. Hopefully, we'll have news soon.' For the time being, digital purchases and physical box sets remain the most dependable options for fans wishing to access the full breadth of 'Doctor Who' content—until a new streaming home is announced.
