Torchwood: Children Of Earth: Day One

TorchwoodBBC1 airs the 27th episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood. Unlike previous seasons, this season – subtitled Children Of Earth – is only five episodes long, broadcast at a rate of one installment per night, with the implication that the story is unfolding more or less in real time. Peter Capaldi and Paul Copley guest star. Read more Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

Sci-Fi to Syfy

SyfyThe Sci-Fi Channel, launched in 1992, implements a major rebranding campaign, in the process renaming itself Syfy (a change that meets with some derision from the genre fan community). Unlike the generic term “sci-fi”, the new name can be copyrighted and marketed more aggressively. (Though the “Syfy” spelling was originated by a fan-run website called Syfy Portal, that site’s owners sold that brand earlier in the year, renaming their site Airlock Alpha in the process.) Along with the rebranding comes a somewhat more expansive view of what constitutes genre programming, with reality shows and sports programming (some of it shared with other cable channels under Comcast/Universal ownership) now, another move that meets with criticism and will be somewhat reduced over time.

Torchwood: Children Of Earth: Day Two

TorchwoodBBC1 airs the 28th episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood. Unlike previous seasons, this season – subtitled Children Of Earth – is only five episodes long, broadcast at a rate of one installment per night, with the implication that the story is unfolding more or less in real time. Peter Capaldi and Paul Copley guest star. Read more

Torchwood: Children Of Earth: Day Three

TorchwoodBBC1 airs the 29th episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood. Unlike previous seasons, this season – subtitled Children Of Earth – is only five episodes long, broadcast at a rate of one installment per night, with the implication that the story is unfolding more or less in real time. Peter Capaldi and Paul Copley guest star. Read more

Torchwood: Children Of Earth: Day Four

TorchwoodBBC1 airs the 30th episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood. Unlike previous seasons, this season – subtitled Children Of Earth – is only five episodes long, broadcast at a rate of one installment per night, with the implication that the story is unfolding more or less in real time. Peter Capaldi and Paul Copley guest star. Read more

Torchwood: Children Of Earth: Day Five

TorchwoodBBC1 airs the 31st episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood. Peter Capaldi and Susan Brown guest star. The experimental five-episode season proves to bit a hit with critics and viewers, particularly in America, where it’s hailed as one of the television events of the year, imported or not. Read more

2009 Doctor Who Comic-Con exclusives

Doctor Who action figuresBritish toymaker Character Options and American distributor Underground Toys release a wave of exclusive Doctor Who action figures at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. This wave includes the first action figures ever made of the Doctor’s two earliest incarnations, as well as the first Cyberman design not from the current series. Rounding out the wave is the first action figure of any Doctor Who character in a costume specified by the Big Finish audio adventures. Read more

Battlestar Galactica Season 4 (soundtrack)

La-La Land Records releases Bear McCreary’s soundtrack from the fourth season of Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica reboot. The two-disc set covers much of the fourth season’s highlights on the first disc, with the entirety of the second CD containing music from the three-hour series finale, Daybreak. Read more

Blake’s 7 – The Early Years: Blood & Earth / Flag & Flame

Blake's 7: The Early Years - Blood and Earth / Flag and FlameAndrew Mark Sewell’s B7 Media releases its sixth Blake’s 7 audio drama, featuring stories written by Marc Platt and Ben Aaronovitch (Doctor Who). Jan Chappell, the original series’ Cally, returns in a new role. Read more