Basil Fawlty and Jack Harkness
In America we are used to a "Prime-Time Season" which guarantees twenty or so episodes of our favorite shows. In past years this would have been up to thirty, but the seasons are getting shorter even as I write. But I digress.
The first series of Torchwood was thirteen episodes, and ditto the second. This dearth of content left many people asking, "What the hay??" After waiting many moons, we get a press release from the Beep that next season will comprise five – count them – five episodes which will be shown over a one-week period.
Written by John Cleese and Claire Booth, Fawlty Towers is one of the funniest shows ever written. The series ran for a total of twelve episodes, six in series one and four years later, six episodes in series two. And the show taught me an important lesson – I prefer quality over quantity.
Whatever the reasons for a 5-episode Torchwood series, budgetary or pre-commitment of the players, judging by the shows already presented, I am willing to wait and see how this goes. And in case of serious withdrawal symptoms, there are always the existing episodes on ITunes , the Torchwood magazine, and for the truly geeky, (such as myself ), the trading cards.
