Jane Espenson

’Torchwood’ attracts ’Buffy,’ ’Breaking Bad,’ ’House’ writers

Russell T Davies has firmed up the writing staff for the fourth season of "Torchwood," which debuts in the summer of 2011 on Starz.

Torchwood Davies, who created the "Doctor Who" spinoff, will of course write several episodes of the 10-part series, but other writers for Season 4 include John Shiban ("Breaking Bad," "Supernatural," "The X-Files"), Doris Egan ("House," "Tru Calling," "Dark Angel’), Jane Espenson ("Game of Thrones," "Battlestar Galactica," "Buffy") and John Fay (a U.K. "Torchwood" writer).

The writers are currently hard at work on the new season of the show, which tells an international story and feature the kind of serialized, overarching story line featured in "Torchwood: Children of Earth," the miniseries that put the cult sci-fi series on the map when BBC America aired it in 2009.

In this 2009 interview, Davies talked about his newfound love for the miniseries format, which allows him to tell one large, taut story rather than a dozen or so separate tales over the course of a season. "I absolutely love it," Davies said. "I’ve been writing for 20 years and it’s very rare to be given a new format."

"The new series will allow Davies and his writing team to tell a more explosive and global story, one that takes advantage of the unlimited narrative opportunities of a premium television service like Starz," the network said in a June press release announcing the new season.

For Season 4 of "Torchwood," John Barrowman will return as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles will be back as Gwen Cooper and casting is underway for several new characters. Filming on the Starz-BBC co-production will begin in January, and though some of it will be shot in the U.K., a substantial part of the new "Torchwood" season will likely be filmed in North America.