U.S. audiences of the new Torchwood series were able to see the show’s bisexual captain, Jack Harkness played by openly gay actor John Barrowman, in a steamy guy-on-guy romp – even though the scene was cut out of the British airing, where the series is filmed.
“You can get away with scenes like that on American cable channels, but you can’t on prime time BBC1,” an anonymous source told Britain’s Metro.
In the scene, Barrowman’s character has a hot gay night with a sexy bartender, played by Casey Dillon. The 15-second scene shows both the captain and his trick completely naked, and is not so suggestive.
“The U.K. and U.S. versions of Torchwood are slightly different,” a spokesperson told The Sun. “However, these differences do not change the story in any way and the strong storylines are first and foremost to the series.”
“Um, really? Isn’t the U.K. supposed to be much more liberal when it comes to nudity on television in comparison to the U.S.? Hmm, seems a little shady and possibly homophobic,” celebrity commentator Perez Hilton said in a recent blog post, adding, “Let’s hope not!”
The anonymous source, however, said the scene was not cut because it was too gay, but because it was too graphic.
“It wasn’t that it was a gay scene that worried people, but just the fact it was such an explicit sex scene, full stop,” the source said.
The new series, called Torchwood: Miracle Day, currently shows on the Starz cable network. The show continues the story of Torchwood, a covert team of alien hunters. Torchwood started in 2006 as a spinoff from the popular sci-fi series, Doctor Who.
Torchwood: Miracle Day can be seen on Sundays at 10 p.m. The unedited U.S. episode has already aired, but the episodes are being aired in the U.K. a week later.
Besides hunky and naked gay lovers, the series is pulling in a lot of viewers with its list of guest stars, including C. Thomas Howell (Criminal Minds), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Jurassic Park), Ernie Hudson (The Crow), Mare Winningham (Brothers) and Nana Visitor and John DeLancie (both from the Star Trek series). Even star Bill Pullman plays a regular character on the show.
“I was very nervous,” Barrowman said about working with Pullman, according to The Sun. “I told him the other day that I actually fancied him and had a crush on him in Spaceballs. Still do.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phj7zr7X6Ok
