It’s been five years since the last Torchwood season, “Miracle Day,” invited fans into the gritty, apocalypse-prone world of Captain Jack Harkness and his band of world-saving extremists. Not that series star John Barrowman has been sitting idle in the intervening half-decade: the actor has since become a key component of The CW’s superhero universe, recently signing a deal to bring his villainous Malcolm Merlyn to any number of the network’s DC-based shows.
Still, Barrowman is still holding a torch for Torchwood, apparently, discussing the Doctor Who spinoff series at July’s Comic-Con, and saying that he’d love to bring it back. But, according to the actor, that can’t happen, at least “until it’s got approval with certain people involved with Doctor Who.” Barrowman went on to hint that the “people involved” included soon-to-be-outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat, saying, “That might change when somebody leaves.”
Now, Moffat has fired back, denying the implied accusation. “You may be aware that John Barrowman has been saying, publicly, that I’ve been blocking a new series of Torchwood,” Moffat said in a statement. “To be very clear: I haven’t blocked it; I wouldn’t block it; I wouldn’t even be ABLE to block it.” Moffat—who’s been in charge of the massively successful Doctor Who since series reviver (and Torchwood creator) Russell T. Davies stepped down as showrunner in 2010—added that, “For the record, I really liked the show (especially the third series) and would be very happy to see more—monsters and mayhem, why not? But the fact is, it has nothing to do with me. Please pass this on to the anxious and the angry–I’ve had enough hate mail now.”
Moffat announced that he’d be leaving Doctor Who back in January, and that the show’s tenth revived season would be his last. He’ll be replaced by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall, a previous Torchwood writer who penned eight episodes of the show’s first and second seasons.