“My” Hero or Epic Fail? Torchwood as Transnational Telefantasy

Abstract

Telefantasy series Torchwood (2006–2011, multiple production partners) was industrially and paratextually positioned as being Welsh, despite its frequent status as an international co-production. When, for series 4 (subtitled Miracle Day, much as the miniseries produced as series 3 was subtitled Children of Earth), the production (and diegesis) moved primarily to the United States as a co-production between BBC Worldwide and American premium cable broadcaster Starz, fan response was negative from the announcement, with the series being termed Americanised in popular and academic discourse. This study, drawn from my doctoral research, which interrogates all of these assumptions via textual, industrial/contextual and audience analysis focusing upon ideological, aesthetic and interpretations of national identity representation, focuses upon the interactions between fan cultural capital and national cultural capital and how those interactions impact others of the myriad of reasons why the (re)glocalisation failed. It finds that, in part due to the competing public service and commercial ideologies of the BBC, Torchwood was a glocalised text from the beginning, despite its positioning as Welsh, which then became glocalised again in series 4. Audience response often expressed the contradictory historical and contemporary discourses associated with British and American “quality TV.” Therefore, this study qualitatively investigates the various readings produced by audience members in the US, UK and Canada, as well as transnational fans who are long-term residents of one of those nations with a focus upon the interactions between fan and national cultural capital. The study finds that the audience is pseudo-reflexive when it comes to interpretation; though all express an awareness and acceptance that national identity is constructed and fluid, they still express an underlying essentialism when discussing national identity in the context of the series.

doi: 10.5294/pacla.2017.20.3.7