This is Grand. 10x Grand, to be precise.

[neadods]

spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam, spam I'm totally avoiding getting ready for work tomorrow, can't you tell? PS: My review of The Rapture is up on USF.

I may be the only one left following the Ianto charity smackdown, but I thought there ought to be a post to commemorate the passing of the 10,000 pound mark.

Ianto Wants a Pony: 2,025.56 (second highest fundraiser for the charity)
Save Ianto Jones: 8,000.25 (*The* top fundraiser for CiN, according to the Just Giving page)


This is the Best. Idea. Ever. It doesn't matter if Save Ianto actually gets Ianto back (I'm remaining pretty skeptical about there being a Torchwood S4 at all, frankly). The triumph is that it's so easy to be snotty about people who send in coffee or pencils or whatever the "thing" drive is for the fan petition du jour. But there's no possible way to blow off (much less patronizingly blow off) that that much money without pinning on an "I'M AN ASSHOLE, ASK ME HOW" sign on that's so big that even people who don't give a rat's ass about TV will be sneering. You just don't diss charitable donations. You certainly don't diss the contributors to the top two individual fundraisers as dumb, hysterical, unable to handle drama, etc., regardless of the impetus!

I doubt it will bring Ianto back. I doubt there's even going to be any more Torchwood to bring him back to, in tie-ins or on TV. But just for introducing a form of protest that cannot be dismissed, for saving two horses and countless children, for expanding the long-standing connection between fandom and charity - this whole thing should be noted as a Great Moment in Fannish History.

Comments

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

*The* top fundraiser for CiN, according to the Just Giving page

On a pedantic point: it may be the biggest fundraiser through Just Giving, but it's a long way off being the biggest fundraiser for CiN, which scooped £37 million pounds last year and always cops for some whopping corporate donations. Not to belittle the fundraising at all - eight grand is a lot of money in anyone's book and it's one of the biggest fandom fundraisers I've seen.

I reserve the right to view "Save Ianto!" campaigning as ridiculous at the same time as finding the fundraising awesome. Apart from anything else, I suspect most donors didn't expect it to bring Ianto back at all, and had other reasons for making their donations. I do hope the idea catches on, because it would be nice to think that some good could always come of fannish commotions.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I figured CiN had to have some big corporations behind it - I get the impression Just Giving is just for the individuals who register with them.

Still, being at the top fundraiser of any subsection is not a shabby accomplishment.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the negative reactions I've seen to Ianto's death have ranged from very reasonable indeed to holy fuck batshit, but everybody who's donated to this charity has automatically furnished themselves with a punk card to draw on anyone who says WELL WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE IN REAL LIFE INSTEAD OF BITCHING ABOUT A TV SHOW.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

I'm remaining pretty skeptical about there being a Torchwood S4 at all, frankly

How come? I've heard this sentiment elsewhere, and I don't see it. The BBC makes huge amounts of money on Torchwood. I can't imagine that there won't be a season four....

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Probably because of the deathly silence on the subject from the BBC. There's been no news that they're even working on pre-production of S4, never mind filming it or anything (which they'd normally be doing now). I follow several of the TW(/DW) writers on Twitter and they're not talking about TW at all.

Add in the regulars are down to a mere two, that one of the other actors whom they might involve is busy with a show on the opposition's main channel (ie. Freema Agyeman's doing really well in Law & Order: UK - I mention her because RTD's on record as saying he'd like to bring Martha back into Torchwood), and I can understand the scepticism.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

The BBC *made* huge amounts on Torchwood, and Wales had a noticeable upswing in tourism. Then canonically 2/3 of the cast was killed off and everything that made Torchwood unique from Dcotor Who - the hub, the team, the rift, was either blown up or ignored.

I don't see too many means of bringing it back short of bringing it back as a whole new show with a whole new cast - i.e., making it start all over again from scratch with only the name to recommend it - and ways of crossing it over with the home show are going to become more difficult with Who because the shows now have different frontrunners.

And that's before you get into the fandom backlash over Ianto or snuff as entertainment.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Nothing you mention is even remotely an impediment. At its heart,Torchwood, really, is "the Doctor Who spinoff with Captain Jack and a team." You still have Captain Jack. You still have Gwen and can create a new team. The premise is such that the cast members are all pretty much expendable (proven when their strongest story to date was done after two of the team were long gone) except for Jack, and he's still around.

The hub can be rebuilt, or they can get a new HQ -- when we first saw Torchwood in modern times, their HQ was Canary Wharf, after all. The rift is still there. The two different showrunners aren't exactly strangers who never work together (quite the opposite, in fact, especially given that Who's show-runner created Captain Jack).

And I find it impossible to credit that whether or not the show comes back will have anything to do with any fandom backlash.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Not (much) of an impediment from a storytelling point of view, but I'm seeing lots of impediments from the actual production side, starting with the complete lack of any announcement of funding, scripts, film dates, air dates, tie ins... I could have told you the Torchwood book titles and plot synopsis 6 months ago. Nary a peep about whatever is next.

You still have Captain Jack.

John Barrowman is booked solid into next year. The character exists, but the actor shows no signs of making room for him at the moment.

when we first saw Torchwood in modern times, their HQ was Canary Wharf, after all.

The rift is still there

I'm still a bit surprised at the way CoE just retconned the entire Rift issue. After two seasons of watching the Rift's every burp, there were no repercussions for blowing it sky high.

The two different showrunners aren't exactly strangers who never work together

No... but Davies very much has gone for the "my heroes are tragic heroes" motif, something that Moffat does not do in his episodes; there's probably going to be a mismatch between what Davies turned Torchwood into and what Moffat will turn Who into. (And that's not even going into the reports - which I also think are bogus - that Davies is moving to America to work on American shows.)

I find it impossible to credit that whether or not the show comes back will have anything to do with any fandom backlash.

Whether it comes back - no, nothing to do with the fans. Stays on the air? Like every other show, it depends on ratings to sink or swim, and the biggest ratings came not from BBC1, but BBCA... a network which relies heavily on fannish viewers.

Now, there were plenty of people who loved CoE, and there are casual viewers who really don't care about characters. But there is a continuing backlash, one which has made the news outside fandom, and that is not, I think, a negligible factor.

But ratings or not, backlash or not, fan support or not, I'm not going to believe that there really will be more Torchwood until someone in a position to actually fund it starts talking. Right now, it's all wishful thinking and maybe might-be.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

All excellent points. *grin*

[neadods.livejournal.com]

What it *really* boils down to isn't plot or actor or fandom, it's BBC bucks - until I hear that they're ponying up, I'm remaining skeptical.

Between thee and me, I'm a bit surprised that they aren't, considering the high ratings of CoE. The backlash would come under "the only bad PR is not being talked about."

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Of course, actor availability enters into it -- Barrowman's pretty much the one person they need, and if he's booked....

Also Brit TV is far less locked into set schedules than the U.S., which may be a factor.......

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Brit TV is far less locked into set schedules than the U.S

True... but. I still remain skeptical. RTD's angstful worldview doesn't mesh at heart with Moffat's more upbeat angle; as Moffat takes the mothership in his own direction, it's going to leave some of Davies' ideas behind. Up to and including what Jack became on Torchwood, which was by the end unrecognizable from the character introduced in Empty Child.

Frankly, I'm more than ready for the change, because I have no intention of ever forgiving RTD the snuff film that CoE became. Blink and Empty Child were more than adequate evidence that drama, even horror, does not require an ever rising, ever more graphic body count.

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

*basks in the glow of doing good AND giving the finger to RTD*

There should be a list of all the good things that fandom has done, that you can look at when the latest wank makes you want to tear your hair out.