Barrowman 'felt punished by Torchwood cut'

John Barowman has suggested that Torchwood was a victim of its own success after the number of episodes in its third series was reduced.

The actor told Radio Times that the programme was the most successful BBC Three show before its move to BBC Two, where it then outperformed longer-running series on the channel.

Barrowman said: "I'm going to get a little political and I'll probably get into trouble for it. The decision was made to go to BBC One [for the third series] and then we were cut - from 13 episodes down to five.

"Personally, I felt like we were being punished. Other shows move from BBC Three and Two to One and they don't get cut. So why are we? It felt like every time we moved we had to prove ourselves."

However, the Doctor Who spinoff's creator Russell T. Davies said: "Part of us thought, 'We could do another 13 episodes, we've learnt how to do that, and the second series was better than the first'.

"But why not change it? It's the British audience we make these for and I don't think audiences are remotely lost by a change in format."

A BBC spokesman added: "We wanted to create a powerful sense of event when the show came to BBC One and so talked with the show makers about a story that could run over five consecutive days."

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