TORCHWOOD screenwriter John Fay says he is very excited about the new series, which is ‘more ambitious’ than Children of Earth.
Fay, from Merseyside, wrote two episodes of Cof E - including the one where Ianto Jones died – and is the only British writer that showrunner Russell T Davies has brought into Torchwood:The New World’s creative team.
For John, what’s gone before includes the death of one of the show’s most popular characters, Ianto Jones, in episode four of Children of Earth.
Ianto’s murder at the hands of The 456 represented one of the most dramatic moments in the Torchwood history and prompted a massive backlash from the show’s fans, demanding he was resurrected.In fact I kept looking around the Liverpool pub we met in to watch out for irate Ianto-ites massing in a corner.
John saw this loyalty as he puts it first hand when he attended Gallifrey One is Los Angeles earlier this year, but still believes the decision to kill him was the correct one.
“Russell wanted that to happen, although they are my words,” he said. “It was absolutely the right thing to do though from the point of view of the story and what it gave to the last episode.
“The strength of Torchwood and Russell’s vision is that you don’t know the heroes are going to survive. That’s been well established now!
“That adds a sense of jeopardy to the show which leaves everyone wondering what will happen next.”
He added Ianto’s death also allowed him to illustrate one of the costs of immortality for Captain Jack.
“In my mind, I was always aware that Jack had gone through this situation many times before, and that was really interesting to me. How do you have a relationship and fall in love with someone when you know – absolutely know – you will be around to see them die?
“That’s a real tragedy that Jack has to carry around with him, as well as a fascinating weight to hang around a character’s shoulders.”
And yet despite the reaction that scene generated, John still feels it was missing … something.
“At the time, Children of Earth was the first thing I had written after my dad died and I wonder if I feel that way because I was writing about my dad in some way through that time,” he mused.
“I still think I didn’t quite nail it. There is a line there that I never managed to put my finger on, or maybe didn’t want to.”
He added: “The line people quote back to me from Children of Earth was from the scene around the Cabinet table, where one of them says ‘if we can’t identify the least intelligent 10% of children, then what are league tables for?’
“When you get something right it stays with you, and I think that line of dialogue does. In the death scene, I wish there was something like that, but the scene and episode had a very strong reaction and I’m pleased about that.
“Maybe that’s the perfectionist in me talking too. They say you should never be completely satisfied with your work because that’s when it’s time to retire, so maybe it’s a good thing I feel that way.”
John’s quest towards perfection has already started when we spoke, with the first draft of his TNW work already with Russell T Davies in Los Angeles.
What that will become is for the future though, and as we sat in the pub, I leant forward to ask him my final question, the question I’m sure every Torchwood fan would ask given the chance.
Will you bring Ianto back, John?
He pauses, takes a drink from his pint, then leans forward, pondering ………
“I’m not going to answer that Neil, you’ll just have to watch and see,” he said.
Read the entire article at scifylove.com
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