Russell Davies
and John Barrowman to team for Doctor Who spinoff

The British Broadcasting Corp. is spinning off a new show from its popular revival of the cult hit Doctor Who, the network said Monday. Torchwood, which will begin filming next year, will focus on Captain Jack, played by gay actor John Barrowman, who appeared in the first season of the revived Doctor Who as well as opposite Kevin Kline in De-Lovely.

Out Doctor Who writer Russell Davies, whose credits include the original U.K. Queer as Folk and Bob & Rose, is at work on the new show with a team of writers. "It's dark, wild, and sexy," he said. "Torchwood is a British sci-fi paranoid thriller, a cop show with a sense of humor."

While the audience for the time-traveling outer space adventures of Doctor Who includes both children and adults, Davies said Torchwood--the title is an anagram of Doctor Who--would be aimed at adults. Stuart Murphy, controller of BBC3, the station that will air the show, said its characters would "investigate human and alien crime, as well as alien technology that has fallen to Earth." The BBC's recent revival of Doctor Who, which originally ran from 1963 to 1989, has been hugely popular. (AP, with additional reporting by Advocate.com)