A telling quote from Julie Gardner! (not a spoiler)

[StarryNight]

She starts out sweetly enough... but ooooh, what a smackdown by the end!  Gee, wonder "who" and what she might be referring to?    

"If you haven't watched Torchwood before, the first important thing to say is – don't be afraid. You don't have to know anything about the show or its history. Everything is explained from the beginning. In that way, it's a completely welcoming new show for a brand new audience. And you should watch because it should be a lot of fun. It's a thriller that is properly answered in 10 episodes. It's not the type of show where you have to hang on for five years and at the end of that you're weeping trying to understand who everyone is and how stories have properly been tied together."

Go Julie, go Julie... you go girl!!

Apologies to all you Moffat story arc fans.  I'm SURE she didn't mean that the way it sounded....   

[Darkglasses]

I think she is perhaps referring more to the likes of Lost etc.

[Ian]

Yeah, sounds more like Lost to me.

[Mr Lister]

But why would Julie Gardner think the audience will compare Torchwood to Lost? Torchwood and Lost have nothing to do with one another!
It sounds more likely that she's setting free Torchwood from its own roots.

[Ian]

Because Lost is currently (especially in America) the benchmark show that any high concept 'mystery' sci fi series is compared to, in the same way that 20 years ago everything was compared to the X Files. Bearing in mind that she's talking to people who aren't fans, taking a swipe at Who makes no sense, all you do is create the link she is (in your hypothesis) trying to break, plus non-fans won't think of Who in those terms anyway. Their image will be the classic monster of the week style which has been Who style for the vast majority of it's history.

[StarryNight]

Well, to put it more seriously, I think Julie might indeed be frustrated with the "Lost" turn Who seems to have taken, just as I and many other fans are.  She put so much time and effort and love into making it great, and into making it cohesive so long-time fans and newcomers too would enjoy it.  (My opinion probably comes from listening to lots of Who DVD commentaries/extras.)

BTW, as an X-Phile, I still compare everything to The X-Files.  (OMG, it really has been nearly 20 years.  The Who 50th anniv. will be TXF 20th!    I feel SO old.)  Torchwood is VERY X-Files, while still being original.

I sympathize with you folks who have to wait to see Miracle Day, because so do I.  Aaaagh!!!

[Tin Dog Podcast]

i read this as a dig at lost... the happening and even Fringe.

[TomH1138]

I don't think it would be particularly fair on Julie's part to swipe at Moffat for not wrapping things up when we're only halfway through the season, and it's not like previous seasons of DW have been that arc-heavy anyway. It also would seem gallingly unprofessional of Julie to bite the hand that feeds her (i.e., if there were no DW, there would be no Torchwood).

I hope she was referring to X-Files and Lost.

[James (DWP)]

I love the notion of a Lost Arc.....

[catbhoy]

I thought that she would be more concerned about viewers sticking with the show for 10 episodes, very dull so far, yawn...............

Story arcs may not be her thing fair enough, but don't be slagging others off because of it.

[Rory Pond]

After careful consideration, it seems to me that Julie is more interested in attracting new viewers than in slagging any other shows. The bit about not having to know any previous history is clearly meant to assure anyone new to Torchwood that this is a standalone series, not the "latest chapter" in an ongoing saga.

[TomH1138]

Interesting. That said, I'm still stuck in the middle of TWD Season 2, and I'm not watching Miracle Day until I catch up!