Loaded Couch Potatoes

Torchwood, from the moment it debuted, was heralded — or derided, depending on whose voice you were hearing — as a darker, edgier spinoff of Doctor Who.  In this way, it was similar to previous genre shows like Angel (a darker, edgier spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Millennium (a darker, edgier show that wasn’t a direct spinoff of The X-Files but might as well have been).

Thing is, all of the original shows in those equations were plenty dark in their own right.  If you know the names Donnie Pfaster or Jenny Calendar, then you know this is true … and the scariness of the monsters on Doctor Who has long been one of its major selling points.

With that in mind, I would say that not only is “Children of Earth,” the new micro-season of Torchwood, perfectly in keeping with Torchwood, it’s also perfectly in keeping with its grandpappy Doctor Who.

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Excited about the upcoming Torchwood miniseries “Children of Earth”?

Well, Torchwood fans even more cause to be excited now: BBC Radio 4 is debuting three new radio-only episodes this week as part of its Afternoon Play series.  The episodes star the show’s actual cast members (John Barrowman, Eve Myles, and Gareth David-Lloyd) and were each written by members of the show’s writing staff.

Does this mean the radio plays are official Torchwood episodes?  Yes, it does.

Click here to visit the BBC Radio 4′s Torchwood site, where the episodes will be available for download.  There’s a catch, though: they will each be available for only seven days, so make sure you head over there promptly.

The first episode, “Asylum,” debuted today; the second, “Golden Age,” will air tomorrow; and the third, “The Dead Line,” airs on Friday.

“Children of Earth” airs in the UK starting next week, and will debut on BBC America later in July.