I thought Barrowman was Canadian, which is why he's seen often on British TV! Well, I'll be looking forward to the episode with James.

impalergeneral | July 14, 16:21 CET

Actually, he's Scottish, from Glasgow, I think. He moved to the US at the age of 8 because of his Dad's work. He gives his background in the story linked above. He's definitely an interesting guy.

inthemoment | July 14, 17:21 CET

He's been back in Britain since about 1989 and I've loved him ever since. So having him and James work together is just fantastic for me. *big John-style grin*

JuliaL | July 14, 18:04 CET

Why would being Canadian mean appearances on British TV? Frankly Canadian actors have more work on US television shows (shot in Vancouver where it's cheaper)...

Yeah, Barrowman's Scottish, which is why his US accent doesn't sound exactly right (which, to be fair, does suit his character), but he's used his American accent so much that it's incredibly jarring when he (occasionally) breaks into Scottish.

daylight | July 14, 18:12 CET

I read or heard somewhere that he spoke in a Scottish accent at home with his family even while living in the U.S. I'd certainly love to hear it! I want to hear Tennant do an American accent, too. :)

swanjun | July 14, 19:55 CET

Gotta wonder if John Barrowman and David Tennant had a Battle of the Brogues or two when filming the S3 episode(s) of Who that connected with the finale of Torchwood...

;D

BlueEyedBrigadier | July 14, 20:51 CET

I've only seen John Barrowman used his American accent on Who and Torchwood. I did see the article, and it's interesting John and I had the same taste in shows in the '70's. WTTW's schedule back then was similar to that of my local PBS station in San Jose.

[ edited by impalergeneral on 2007-07-15 03:16 ]

impalergeneral | July 14, 21:10 CET

As far as I understand it if you have a british born parent but you were born in Canada or Australia you have the right to work in the UK without having to obtain a work permit .

Of course that doesn't necessarily mean appearances on British TV but it does mean that if you can pass for an american it is a lot easier to employ you than a real american.

garda39 | July 14, 21:27 CET

I'll be in my bunk.

electricspacegirl | July 14, 23:36 CET

Nice interview that, seems like a very down-to-Earth sort of bloke. And bloody hell, his brother had a chance to play for the Gers and had to move ? I'd've been gutted (even if i'm not a fan personally).

Must admit, i'm pretty keen to know how they can cut 10 minutes from an hour show (and that's an actual hour, no adverts on the BBC) and still have it make sense. Here's hoping 'Torchwood' S2 is an improvement on S1.

As far as I understand it if you have a british born parent but you were born in Canada or Australia you have the right to work in the UK without having to obtain a work permit.

Yeah, think that's true of any (British) Commonwealth country garda39 (you're also eligible, FWIW, to join the British Army ;).

... which is why his US accent doesn't sound exactly right ...

Heh, I always thought his US accent didn't sound quite right because he was actually Canadian, oops ;). My brother, though he's lived in England since he was about 2 and growing up would sometimes sound quite English around his mates, also speaks with a Scottish accent at home - totally naturally, there's nothing put on about it (we'd sometimes chuckle when he'd be sitting chatting and then pick up the phone to speak to his pals, it was like flicking a switch ;).

(and born in Mount Vernon, oooh, la-de-dah ;)

Saje | July 15, 04:09 CET

I'm such a geek. I'm in the Chicago area and I got a little thrill finding out he lived around here.

I loved hearing him speak fondly about Chicago.

AuntArlene | July 15, 07:42 CET

It's not an hour-long show, every episode ran fifty minutes in the first place.

daylight | July 15, 08:36 CET

You're absolutely right daylight (under 48 minutes in fact), I sit corrected.

Saje | July 15, 10:25 CET

Actually, Torchwood episodes varied from 46 minutes at the short end to almost 53 at the longest (which was episode 8 at 52:43). Only 4 episodes were under 48 minutes.

So -- if they're really going for 48 minute hours (which is quite long on cable these days -- we'll see if that turns out to be true) the amount they cut from each episode will vary quite a bit, from nothing at all to almost 4 minutes at the longest.

Let's just hope they have someone who's watched the show doing the editing, and not some drunken monkey, which seems to be their typical pattern.

whitearrow | July 17, 16:25 CET

... and not some drunken monkey, which seems to be their typical pattern.

Well, maybe bad at editing but great at martial arts ;).

Cool, I was right not once but four times ! Ahem.

(I actually make it more than four - eps 2,5,6,11,13 and a couple more if you don't count the 'Next time...' preview - but it's not worth quibbling over whitearrow, you're right that some will need cutting which is the important point. Though that said, does BBC America allow the same running times as e.g. Showtime or is it closer to a non-cable network ? Cos checking 'Dexter', none of its 12 episodes come in under 50 minutes and some are substantially longer. Not sure how representative that is but cause for hope maybe ?).

Saje | July 17, 17:01 CET

Premium cable such as HBO and Showtime (home of Dexter) don't have ads so their hour long shows run much closer to an actual hour. BBC America has ads so they need their shows to run shorter to allow for the insertion of the ad breaks.

helcat | July 17, 17:16 CET

Aha, cheers helcat. Yep, that'd make a difference.

Saje | July 18, 03:30 CET