The Undiscovered Country: John Barrowman, Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner Defend "Torchwood" Decisions

I couldn't stick around for yesterday's Torchwood/Being Human panel at Comic-Con as I had to get back to Los Angeles (the trains wait for no man) but I sent my two fantastic freelancers to cover the BBC America dramas panel on the final afternoon of Comic-Con 2009.

Series creator Russell T. Davies was joined by Torchwood: Children of Earth director Euros Lyn, executive producer Julie Gardner, and series star John Barrowman on the panel for Torchwood.

The main topic, of course, following the conclusion of Torchwood: Children of Earth on BBC America last week: Ianto Jones, who perished in "Day Four" of Children of Earth.

"Everyone's going to answer this question in their own way, but they always said it as people die young in Torchwood," said Barrowman of the death of Ianto Jones. "They just do. It's a dangerous world. It was sad, yes. But we were all sad. but that's the way it is."

"It's the right thing for the story," said Gardner. "Part of that journey is that the man he loves, that he's in a relationship with is the cost of making Captain Jack a hero. He has to suffer, he has to go through that in order to be the hero."

But it was Davies who threw himself on the sword. "If you want to blame me, I absolutely take the blame," said Davies. "I said let's kill him and I saw it through, I made it happen. No one's going to change my mind and no one's going to bring him back. Sorry, but that's it. Blame me."

"But a brilliant piece of TV drama, was it not?" said Barrowman in response, pointing at Davies as the crowd cheered.

As for allegations that Davies has been rude to viewers, Davies was bluntly honest about his feelings: "I have nothing but respect for internet fandom," he said. "I understand that some things I have said have been taken the wrong way and I understand that, and that's okay because sometimes people will always read things the way that makes sense to them. But I'm just not going to change my mind. I'm not."

You can find audio for the entire panel below, two video clips from the event, one in which Barrowman defends the "darker side" of Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood: Children of Earth and the other in which Davies talks about his decision to kill off Ianto Jones, and more news from the Torchwood panel below.

Torchwood: John Barrowman on the "Darker Side" of Captain Jack:



Torchwood: Russell T. Davies Talks About the Decision to Kill Ianto Jones:



Thanks to the efforts of my crack freelancers, the audio for the full Torchwood panel can be found below:



While it's certain now that Torchwood will be back for a fourth season, there are no indications of an episodic count for next season, whether Cush Jumbo's Lois Habiba will play a role, or even a narrative direction. "It's too early," said Davies. "We haven't even sat down for meetings yet."

What is certain, however, is that there won't be a "Once More With Feeling"-style musical episode of Torchwood in the cards. Davies squashed any chance that Torchwood's agents will burst into song, saying that it would be difficult to top Buffy the Vampire Slayer's musical efforts.

Reporting by Lissette Lira and Mark DiFruscio