TVSquad

(S01E06) Over in the UK, the length of a show's season is dictated by story instead of tradition. So while we have 22 episode seasons on network television and somewhere around 12 or 13 on cable, they can have a show run only six or seven episodes and it's seen as perfectly normal. Thus, when BBC America imported Primeval over here to the US, they've combined the first two seasons into one thirteen episode run. Welcome to the first season finale of Primeval. And I'll see you here next Saturday for the second season premiere.

After several weeks of battling the prehistoric threat of the week, the team tackled a whole new kind of foe in this important chapter. Helen Cutter was back, confronting Claudia about the burgeoning feelings between her and Nick. And also apparently being unintentionally responsible for the latest threat to humanity. Consider anything past the jump a spoiler (if you've not seen it why are you reading a review anyway?).

As part of the Torchwood panel, it was announced that a series three of Torchwood was given a greenlight just this morning. It will of course air first in the UK, then will come to the US shortly afterwards.

Check back for more news later on the Torchwood panel and more.

UPDATE: The real news is that it's been picked up by BBC America. Press release follows. Also, sonds like it's only five episodes.

Back in February we reported on rumors that the BBC would be distributing some of its more popular shows, including Doctor Who, via iTunes in the U.S.. Well, they are rumors no more. To coincide with this week's appearance of the BBC at the San Diego Comic-Con, the BBC is releasing Doctor Who for purchase and download from the iTunes store.

Now, before you get all crazy and start searching for episodes of the show that featured Peter Davison as the fifth Doctor, the episodes that are being offered are from the new series only. And, you can't purchase and download shows from the current fourth series. However, you can download series one through three. This means you get both Christopher Eccleston as the gritty Doctor and David Tennant as the more exuberant Doctor.

It looks like The Sundance Channel is turning to BBC America to anchor its Sunday night comedy block. The show is The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle and stars Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame.

The show revolves around a fictional TV personality named Vivienne Vyle (who hosts a Jerry Springer-like program) and her on-screen and off-screen life. The series is a black comedy (much like AbFab) and a study in pop psychology. It was co-created by Saunders with psychologist Tanya Byron.

Car enthusiasts, take note: The British series all about cars, Top Gear, is coming to America. That's been previously announced, but today we can share the news that Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer will be teaming up to host the new NBC incarnation of Top Gear. It just so happens that I was watching Top Gear on BBC America yesterday and it's a fun show; it's not too techie-car show, it's more about the chemistry among the three hosts and the fun, goofy challenges they do that involve cars.

Yesterday's show, for instance, pitted a one host in a Mercedes Benz SUV driving from London the the airport versus one host on a super bicycle, another in a speed boat on the Thames, and The Stig -- an anonymous test driver -- making the trek via public transportation. It was pretty funny, especially since the car lost!

TV Guide reports some good news and bad news for fans of the BBC series Torchwood.

The good: the series has been renewed and John Barrowman will be back to play the role of Captain Jack Harkness.

The bad: so far, the BBC has only authorized five episodes for next year so it may play more like a mini-series than a full season.

One of the many problems facing broadcasters as we move into the future is the proliferation of DVRs and their fantastic ability to allow people to blow right through all of those bill paying commercials. In the continuing effort to thwart quick fingered viewers, networks are turning to live commercials.

The idea being that the live commercial offers something different enough that it will be worth your time, while your 300th viewing of Cisco welcoming you to the human network no longer even registers. The New York Times has a good article on how this latest incarnation of what is a very old idea is being implemented. They talk about spots that Kimmel and Leno have done and also give a peak at Spike's plans for a live three-minute game show that would run during commercial breaks.

I don't know if this is good news or bad... David E. Kelley may be checking out of Life on Mars, the ABC pilot based on the hit BBC crime/time travel drama. According to Variety, the prolific Mr. Kelley -- Boston Legal, L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Ally MacBeal, The Practice, Chicago Hope, etc. -- is unhappy with the financial arrangements and if things aren't worked out, he's going to move on.

Life on Mars was a terrific show. The UK version has played on BBC America, starring John Simm and Philip Glenister. Following the British model, the series lasted just two years -- 16 episodes total. In the ABC pilot, which Thomas Schlamme directed, Jason O'Mara (Men in Trees) is playing Simm's role, Sam; Colm Meaney (Star Trek: The Next Generation) is Gene. Kelley wrote the American variation on the story of Sam Tyler, a police detective in present day who awakens from a car crash to find he's living in 1973. Has he really gone back in time or is it all in his head?

(S02E10) I guess everyone at Torchwood Creative was still exhausted from the Owen three-parter, because this episode was even more of a letdown than the previous one. While the notion of these "night travelers" somehow being able to step out of old film and into the real world is interesting enough, it seems a better fit for a show like Supernatural than Torchwood, which tries to explain everything away with the Cardiff rifts and space aliens.

It was cool to think of Jack exploiting his immortality by performing as "The Man Who Could Not Die" in a traveling freak show a hundred years ago or so. It would make perfect sense that he'd go into that line of work. But then we learned that he did so while investigating the "night travelers," but he wouldn't say for whom and why he was investigating. Another layer of the Captain Jack onion almost peeled.

May as well starting laughing now! On May 26, BBC America will air a 10-hour marathon of Monty Python's Flying Circus. The network has just snagged all four seasons of the legendary comedy series, including a couple of specials they did for German TV.

As every fan of great comedy knows, the Monty Python troupe consisted of Michael Palin, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones. Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted on BBC on October 5, 1969, and over the years the shows have been shown over and over again, becoming classic. Now that they are coming to BBC America, it's a chance for fans -- new and old -- to watch them one more time -- and DVR them if you're smart. Unless you already have the DVDs.

There's more reality being served up by NBC: a food-based competition show in which couples vie to open a restaurant. British chef Marco Pierre White will be the judge. NBC has greenlit The Chopping Block for next season, calling it a sort of Top Chef meets Hell's Kitchen. Actually, it sounds like a twin for BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing. That one has nine couples competing for one restaurant with Chef Raymond Blanc as the judge. The NBC incarnation will have eight couples, and unlike Chef Blanc who has earned two Michelin stars for his restaurants, Chef White has three.

(S02E07) The death of Owen Harper trilogy continued. But does death mean the same thing in the world of Torchwood as it does in our world? Do you really need to ask? Aside from an incredibly hokey introductory sequence in which Jack stormed into the above scene, struck a very theatrical pose and said "Nobody touches him until I return!" before abruptly disappearing again, this was a pretty solid episode. I do have to say that the point of Martha's continuing involvement is escaping me as she didn't really have anything to add to this installment.

TCA parties are known for loud music, tons of actors, executives and producers, and lots and lots of reporters.

Friday night's bash thrown by Garth Ancier, the new president of US Operations BBC Worldwide America, had none of those things. As a result, it's become the party of the tour. Who talked the exec into opening up his private home to members of the TCA ? "Nobody," he tells TV Squad. "This way my idea. I've had many great parties here over the years."

Ancier entertained TCA members with stories of working with the late great Aaron Spelling and how the ex-head of The WB arranged a meeting with the series-making mogul. "He might have thought we were going to cancel Charmed," Ancier theorized.

Friday's TCA, which continued cable TV presentations, felt like three days rolled into one.

Just how jam-packed and eclectic are the programs and announcements that were made?

Here's a sample: Dynasty diva Joan Collins is checking into BBC America's Hotel Babylon, Richard Dreyfus (Jaws) is not afraid to get back into the water as host of The Discovery Channel's Ocean of Fear: The Worst Shark Attack Ever and Jonny Fairplay (Survivor) of CMT's Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull-Riding Challenge sadly announced that his beloved grandmother passed away two weeks ago.

I mentioned earlier that BBC America was pushing out older series like Benny Hill to make way for newer fare. Well, that's exactly what's happening: Hill is out, and soon Torchwood and Hotel Babylon will be moving in, along with the second seasons of Life on Mars and Vincent.

You can expect to see Hotel Babylon in August, and Vincent and Torchwood sometime in September. There is no date set for Life on Mars just yet.

Torchwood, as most of you know, is a spinoff of Doctor Who. If you want a taste of what the series is like, check out Martin's reviews. Martin also wrote some great reviews of Life on Mars. You can search this site for those, as well. The series centers on a man who goes back in time to solve a crime. Its first season is currently airing on BBC America.