'Torchwood' star Eve Myles calls new season 'gutsy'

The new season, titled "Children of Earth" and written by series creator Russell T. Davies, will consist of just five episodes instead of the normal 13, and they are expected to air over consecutive nights. BBC America has not set airdate at this point, but expects to in a few weeks.

In the new season, all the children of Earth suddenly freeze in their tracks and say, "We are coming." Gwen, Capt. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and Ianto Jones (Gareth David Lloyd) face their toughest challenge ever, Myles and director Euros Lyn said.

"An omnipotent force is threatening humanity with calamity and Torchwood is left to save the day," Lyn said.

Might that force be mankind itself? Myles hinted that "Children of Earth" takes its cue from the first-season cannibal-hillbillies episode called "Countrycide," which dealt with mankind's savagery.

"I think [the new season] kind of highlights that whole thing about mankind, humanity and how we treat one another, and what its like to have the past come back and bite you really hard on the ass," Myles said. "Torchwood is very much caught up in it and has no choice but to try and help. They do their best, but sometimes the best isn't good enough."

Viewers needn't worry they'll be ripped off by the shorter season, Myles and Lyn say.

"I think people are going to be surprised," Myles said. "It's a five-hour movie. It's massive ... It's completely brave and it's completely ambitious. It's exhausting; it's got more weight than the whole [previous] 26 episodes."

If that doesn't convince fans, Lyn has another idea.

"They could watch it twice over," he said, as he and Myles laughed.

"That's a good idea. I like that," Myles said, adding that it's best to keep fans wanting more. "I'm sure they'll want more after this ...

"It's gutsy and I'm the proudest Welsh woman in the world."

If you can't wait for more clues about the upcoming season from Myles and Lyn, keeping reading below. SEE WHAT THEY SAID AT COMIC-CON.

Eve Myles says "Torchwood: Children of Earth" will blow us all away. BBC America photo

Tell me about the themes in "Children of Earth."
The strong element in this particular season that we all have to lose something to gain something. ... It's very much about [this].
We did an episode the first season called "Countrycide." We were all kind of guessing and you could forward guess what "Torchwood" is about; it's about fighting things from another planet, or from the other, you know, somewhere else.
This particular episode was about cannibals and it was about mankind being actually one of the biggest monsters of all. I think this series [3] kind of highlights that whole thing about mankind, humanity and how we treat one another, and what its like to have the past come back and bite you really hard on the ass. So it's very much about how every decision you make has an effect. If it doesn't have an effect now it will have an effect in years to come. It will always come back round. This time it comes back around and Torchwood is very much caught up in it and has no choice but to try and help. They do their best, and sometimes the best isn't good enough.

That's kind of ominous.
[Laughs.] I'm just an ominous kind of gal.

Why only five episodes this season?
Euros: I think we wanted to tell a different kind of story, one complete tale. It's tough to tell one story over 13 episodes. It's a tall order because the story develops, it builds, it crescendos. We thought that this form lent itself to being able to do that.
Eve: I've always kind of trumpeted the episodes when the storyline goes over two or three episodes. ... The ones that go over two or three episodes stand out massively for me. I think they're much, much stronger.
I'm very, very pleased there's one story told over five hours this time round. We keep changing it every year. We've got to keep changing it to keep it fresh and exciting. ... It's a real taster of maybe [things to come], if there is another series.

What were the differences in filming only five episodes?
Eve: We were used to having several directors; that was the biggest change I think. This year Euros was the director and that was a huge change and it was fantastic. When somebody new comes in you kind of have to describe what's [going on], you kind of have to play catch-up. There was none of that. It felt very much like we'd all done our homework before the read-through and then it was about enjoying it and doing it and getting it done.
Euros: The character arcs, both in their personal, domestic lives as well in the grander, epic alien story [are different]. There's a lot more room for development for that in five straight hours. ... It allows you to examine relationships in much more depth.
Eve: It gives it depth and allows those [relationships] to breathe.
Euros: What you were saying about a character's past coming back to haunt them--[this format] allows you that much more time to deal in depth about those themes.

Was it filmed in order?
Euros: It was 16 straight weeks of 11-day fortnights. It was pretty grueling. It was grueling for you, the cast, just physically because there's much more adventure in this--the running, the jumping, the screaming.
Eve: Do you want to see the bruises? No, I love it. I absolutely love it. I get really angry when I can't do it. But I managed to do quite a bit of my own stunt work this year, which is great. The explosions, and work with the guns and the combat--I love it. It's a wonderful feeling; you don't get to do it every day.
Euros: There are these huge set pieces of action and adventure and then, in the next breath, these amazing, tender, personal scenes of great, intense emotion. It's a credit to Russell's [T. Davies] writing and to your ability as an actor that you can embrace both those very different genres.

Torchwood always has been a mix of genres, including comedy.
Eve: Yes, there's a lot of humor. I think the humor kind of highlights the sadness. You can't have one without the other, otherwise it doesn't mean anything; it's not real. I think that although there's a very dark story this year, it's absolutely packed with humor when you don't expect it. There are no apologies made for it.

You talked about the personal stories. Do we get to see your hubby, Rhys (Kai Owen)?
Eve: Yes, you get to see the lovely Rhys. That character has to get more involved with the world of Torchwood because Gwen's in it, running it. It's impossible for him to ignore something so extraordinary. We will get some drama between Rhys and Jack. But he remains an ordinary bloke in extraordinary circumstances, very much like Gwen in the beginning.

Do the deaths of Owen (Burn Gorman) and Toshiko (Naoko Mori) play a part in the new season?
Eve: They're a huge symbol in this series because their deaths highlight that Torchwood is a very dangerous place to work and you could go like that [snaps finger]. Nobody's safe. And that also highlights the strength of Ianto and Gwen for sticking it out and turning up for work every day.
There's a lovely scene where Gwen keeps a picture of [Tosh and Owen] on her desk. It's very subtle. You just know that these people have gone through a great loss but they keep going into work and doing what they're doing.

How did you react to learning that Owen and Tosh were going to die?
Eve: I hate to be too dramatic about it, but it was awful, you know? You're losing two great friends and two great characters. But it was awesome drama.
I'm not going to be overly sentimental about it because it's a job. It's work. But you can't help but be sad when you've spent so much time with people and then they go. It's kind of upsetting, but they went in style. People always ask about them. They've become legends in their own right. They did an awesome job.

It was pretty shocking that two main characters were killed off.
Eve: It stops it from being safe. Anyone can go. ... [Otherwise] you'd always know that we'd survive, or bring out the old funky resurrection glove and bring you back to life. The writers made the superb decision that things were too safe; we need to make it more dangerous.

So no resurrection glove in these upcoming five episodes?
Eve: Maybe. [Laughs.]

Is Capt. John (James Marsters) coming back?
Eve: He's not back, not in this story. But [Marsters] made a huge impact; he was fantastic. We loved him, so we'll see.
[Laughs.] Look at me, like I hire and fire people. [Adopting an authoritative tone.] We'll see how he gets on with his movies ... [Laughs.]

Will there be a Season 4?
Eve: We don't know yet. We'll see how this series goes first.

How does shooting the big adventure scenes compare to the more personal scenes?
Euros: In a strange way, those big set pieces of action and explosions and gunfire can be slightly easier than some of the other stuff because you get a team of stunt coordinators and visual effects supervisors and special effects people. You've got an army of people whose job it is to look after that aspect of shooting. And sometimes the stuff that seems simpler you take for granted and that's the stuff that catches you.
It's great in this story that we've targeted our resources on some really spectacular moments. There's some great action that I hope will blow people away.

Are there a lot of CGI effects?
Euros: There's not a huge amount of stuff that's unreal. There's lots of CG that's invisible.
Eve: In comparison to the past there's less.
Euros: We definitely wanted to root [this story] in the real world and tell the story of how our society and people like us would respond to an extraordinary, unstoppable force. So rooting that in the world that we were recognize was really important.

What are some of your favorite episodes from the past?
Eve: Without a doubt, "Countrycide," because I'm just sick in the head. I adored that because it was about people and it wasn't about CGI and it wasn't about the big hairy monster on the hill.
I think "Countrycide" was unique, and we got to get out of the hub as well, which was exciting. And you got to see the team working without their gadgets and how they work as a unit. So that was fun and I enjoyed that very much.
Also, the death of Owen--how that was dealt with last year--I thought every one of those episodes was spot on.
Euros: I loved the first episode. I loved Gwen's introduction. The everywoman ... gets drawn into a fantastic adventure.

How has Gwen changed over the course of the show?
Eve: She has to change; she has to evolve because every day is like a sci-fi school for Gwen. She learns something new every day and she has to deal with new things every day. Inevitably that changes you as a person.
She's a born fighter; she's a born leader. There's connection with Gwen and the character I played in "Doctor Who." There's always been this connection that that line of family has always been connected to the rift somehow. It's kind in the way a destiny somehow that she'd be a protector of the rift.
She has to change and she had to evolve and she has to accept. I think she's learned a lot ... about how doing the right thing isn't always helpful.
My God she's exhausting, she's exhausting to play. She's barking mad and I adore playing Gwen Cooper; she's a big part of me.

One of my favorite episodes was "Adrift," where Gwen learns Capt. Jack has been hiding people transformed by the rift. That seemed to be a big wake-up call for Gwen that maybe not everything is do black and white.
Eve: I think that was a big kind of diversion for her. Once again, sometimes people--what you don't know won't necessarily harm you.
She's always fighting for human rights, for people to know about things. [She wants Torchwood] to stop taking people as idiots. She doesn't want everything to be hush-hush and quiet. She wants to get it out there in the forefront. She's a little warrior. ... She's go to be like that because if she's not people will get hurt, people will die.
Euros: Her moral compass is absolute, isn't it? She instinctively knows what's right and will always obey that instinct. And now, two seasons in, she's armed with so much experience. She's not the innocent who was learning about everything way back when. She's now on an equal footing with Jack and them.
Eve: And it comes very natural to her. Torchwood is everything to Gwen. She's got the weight of the world on her shoulders. If she gets shot she's dead. If Jack gets shot he comes back to life, and he's going to [whistles] whisk away his hair. [Laughs.]
Even in her sleep she thinks it's her fault that, I don't know, it's snowing in New York. "How do I stop this?"
She's a fighter. She won't stop. Dear God, she won't stop.

Will she and Jack be flirting again this season? I guess Jack seems to attract that.
Eve: Yeah, hell yeah. I'm not even talking people. I'm talking tables; I'm talking windows. Windows fall in love with him. It's a difficult think coming to work with him.
But I always think the chase is far more interesting the catch. When the catch happens the drama dies down. It gets less cheeky. I hope and intend to keep it as cheeky as possible.
Euros: The unrequited quality of their relationship is what sustains the tension.
Eve: The thing with Jack and Gwen is they never need to say it. They know where the other person is all the time; they don't need to be looking. They've just got that with each other. It's a mark of respect and pure love.
Euros: I think in this season the relationship arc with Ianto and Jack is explored more fully and takes us to somewhere we haven't been before. That's a real interesting story to follow.

Give us your pitch for Series 3.
Euros: An omnipotent force is threatening humanity with calamity ...
Eve: I'm liking that a lot ...
Euros: ... and Torchwood is left to save the day.

Is this a force or nemesis we haven't seen before?
Euros: This is a brand new ...
Eve: Yeah, [laughs], I just want you to see it!
Euros: ... a brand new badness.
Eve: It's hard to actually pitch it because it's so packed with so many wonderful stories that divert into intimate, beautiful relationships. Then you've got incredible sequences of action and energy, and then you've got the quiet moments.
This series is about mankind, it's about morals, and it's about the past coming back with a vengeance. And Torchwood, yet again, has to do something. And it's funny and it's dark. It's fast. If you're hungry it's going to feed you. It's gutsy and I'm the proudest Welsh woman in the world.

So fans who feel ripped off that the season is just five episodes shouldn't worry?
Euros: They could watch it twice over.
Eve: That's a good idea. I like that. It's always best to keep people wanting more. I'm sure they'll want more after this. ... I think it's excellent. It's got people talking. It's got people intrigued about why it's only five [episodes]. You know, what's the format going to be like because we're used to seeing 13.
It's one story that goes like this [points up, down, left right]. It diverts everywhere. It's like a spider diagram and it picks people up on the way and drops people off on the way. It kisses some people and punches other people. It's a blast. It's going to make you laugh out loud and blab like a baby. And I think you'll like it.