Dh to BBC: Could you explain to my 9 year old Dr Who fanatic why Torchwood is being screened so late in the evening? Is this suggestive of inappropriate content for children - hence post-watershed?
BBC to dh: Dear Mr Roisin, Thank you for your recent email to the BBC regarding Torchwood. Torchwood is aimed at a post watershed audience, and although there are numerous connections with Doctor Who, it will be a completely separate series and no storylines will cross over between the two. Writer Russell T. Davies said of Torchwood: "It's dark, wild and sexy, it's the X Files meets This Life. It's a stand-alone series for adult audiences which will have its own unique identity." I hope that this information clarifies the situation, and thank you again for your email.
Dh to BBC: Thank you - that clarifies all but one point. Why has my son seen so many pre-watershed adverts for Torchwood? If it isn't suitable for children then why is it advertised on the back of family viewing (such as Saturday's robin Hood)?
Roisin's dh
BBC to dh: Dear Mr Roisin, Thank you for your further message to the BBC regarding trails for Torchwood.
Trails are an integral part of our programming and our experience suggests that they are much appreciated by our audience as a whole. In actual fact many people telephone the BBC every day to check details of our programmes and to find more information about them. Many more would do so if we did not provide reminders about programmes they would not wish to miss. By their very nature trails are unannounced so our audiences have no advance warning when they are to occur. We realise that material suitable within a billed and scheduled programme might not be suitable as a promotion, but we try to make sure that trails broadcast before the watershed do give some indication as to the programme's content. Nevertheless, the main purpose of a trailer is to ensure the maximum number of people are given the opportunity to sample the widest possible range of our programmes across all of our channels, hence the scheduling of a trail for Torchwood during primetime viewing.
The BBC has a well established policy of treating 9pm as the pivotal point of the evening?s television. Before the 9pm watershed, except in exceptional circumstances, all programmes on our domestic channels should be suitable for a general audience which includes children. The BBC expects parents to share responsibility for assessing whether individual programmes should be seen by younger viewers.
We put great thought into deciding which programmes should be trailed and when, to ensure that viewers who are likely to enjoy a particular programme are informed about it. We see trailers as an important part of the process of informing people about programmes coming up in the schedule.
I hope that this information goes some way to explaining the decision making process behind when to schedule trails for programmes, and thank you again for taking the time to contact us.
Dh to BBC: Thank you for your well-crafted stock response to my question.
I do not have a problem with the content of the trail being shown before watershed - merely the fact that the programme itself is so widely trailed to a pre-watershed audience.
Dr Who has a wonderful tradition of scaring children witless, and so it should. But pre-pubescent boys are obsessive compulsive by nature and want to watch/collect everything linked to the show. They can't, and we won't let them... but the BBC could be more helpful by not rubbing their noses in what they can't have. My son will not be watching Torchwood, as you have made it helpfully clear that it will not be suitable for him. That doesn't mean that I have a peaceful weekend ahead of me!
Yours
Roisin's dh