Since Ianto Jones perished (somewhat controversially) in the penultimate episode of Torchwood: Children Of Earth earlier this year, there's been a Gareth David-Lloyd-shaped hole in our hearts. Thankfully, GDL has now risen from the Torchwood ashes and teamed up with former EastEnders stars Tracy-Ann Oberman and Joe Absolom for a mysterious online drama called Girl Number 9. We caught up with the trio recently to find out as much as we could about their dark new project.

What's Girl Number 9 all about?

Tracy-Ann: "It's an an online series that's going to be an event drama online. It's been filmed beautifully at Elstree studios so it looks like a film. It's been done in six episodes but it also stands up as a stand-alone drama or even as a pilot for a series. "

Gareth: "They've just caught a serial killer - a guy that kills children - and basically it's a mental and physical cat and mouse game between the detective and the killer."

Joe: "They sent me a script which was about 20 pages, and I didn't know what medium or format it was. But the way the television industry is going, it's becoming more about the internet. This is the first of its kind. Each part is only two minutes long, so it's like a short film but just one story."

What can you tell us about your characters?

Gareth: "I play James Matheson, the detective. He's a guy who probably drinks a lot and he's always late for work but he's also very determined and very focused on the job in hand. He's also very obsessive about the case to begin with. We start with him relaxed because the killer's caught. He's late for work because he's probably been out on the pop!"

Joe: "I play like the horrible character that the police have found. So far seven young girls between the age of 8 and 10 have been sexually molested, killed and pulled apart. Ripped to pieces in a very grim way! They think they've got their man, so my scenes are basically all in the interview room and I'm handcuffed to a chair. It's no laughing matter!"

Tracy-Ann: "I'm in charge of it. Cathy Lyndon is overseeing it, she's the boss, she's been trying to track down this serial killer for seven or eight months and they're not getting anywhere. He's a bit of a Hannibal Lecter character with a very clever and dark mind. He's very dangerous but with a baby angel face! It's all about whether he allows himself to be caught. Who knows?! He won't talk to her - he'll only talk to Gareth's character. She basically sets off on a wild goose hunt to try and save girl number nine."

Do you think online dramas like this will catch on?

Gareth: "I hope so. I think it's a great idea. I didn't know what to expect when I went into it but I had so much fun shooting it. It's the most fun I've had in a while."

Joe: "Things like royal weddings always go down well on TV, but there's definitely a place for internet stuff. In 10 to 15 years, we'll probably all be watching TV on the internet, won't we?"

Tracy-Ann: "Twitter's involved as well. They've done a clever interactive thing with it. James approached me on Twitter and got me interested in it via Twitter so it feels like the first Twitter-related drama that there's ever been!"

Gareth, is the Ianto backlash still continuing?
"I think so. A little bit! I went down a couple of weeks ago to check out the impromptu memorial outside Ianto's tourist office and there are more and more things there. It's wall-to-wall with notes and cards and things, which is nice. It's very flattering."

Are you still getting letters sent to you?
"Absolutely - I get a lot of that. It's flattering and overwhelming. I'm happy that the character made such a positive impact on people's lives. It feels good when something you've worked hard on has that effect on people."

Girl Number 9 launches Friday at 9pm at canyousaveher.com

Are you still missing Ianto? Do you like the sound of Girl Number 9? Add your comments to this entry below!