Torchwood star suggests “a new generation” of characters should bring the series back to TV

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Naoko Mori (who played technology expert Toshiko Sato during Torchwood’s first two series) suggested that rather than bringing back the old team, the BBC could create a new generation of characters to pick up the mantle.

“We all love Torchwood so much, and we miss it terribly,” Mori said.

“But I don't know how it'll work logistically, schedule-wise or even story-wise, because some of [our characters] have kind of died..."

Notably, Burn Gorman’s Owen, Mori’s Tosh and Gareth David-Lloyd’s Ianto all perished in later episodes of the sci-fi series, leaving only Barrowman’s Jack Harkness and Eve Myles’ Gwen Cooper (plus her husband Rhys, played by Kai Owen) still standing – so Mori thinks it’s about time that Jack got some new recruits in, allowing for a soft reboot of Torchwood.

“Maybe if it's like a new generation? A new team would be lovely,” she suggests. “The idea of it is lovely.

“I think John is absolutely keeping Torchwood alive still. And it seems there's still a demand from the loyal fans, and we wouldn't be here without them. It's really down to the loyal fans. Hopefully one day it’ll come back."

“You know I miss Tosh so much, I miss that show,” Mori adds, explaining how she’s still often moved by fan reactions to the series today.

“I miss Torchwood. And we all do as a cast. We all keep in touch, and it's such a special show. And we're so grateful, so grateful.

“We're talking nearly 10, 11 years ago when Torchwood came out, and I think it's absolutely incredible and I'm absolutely overwhelmed by how much the show is still loved.

“Last week I was in the supermarket, and someone came up to me and said how much she loved Torchwood, and how much it helped her through some difficult times and whatnot. And that's such a lovely thing to hear.

“I just wish we could have done a bit more, you know?” she concludes. “I still think that to this day.”

Still, fans haven’t been completely deprived of Mori in recent years – for one thing she’s played Tosh in a handful of Big Finish's Torchwood audio dramas, which Mori admits she found a little “weird” at first.

“There was quite a break between doing the TV version of Torchwood and going back, and going back, I was very worried. Will I remember her? Can I get back? And really it easily came back.”

And now her days of sci-fi acting continue in new historical series The Terror: Infamy, which also stars Star Trek legend George Takei and examines an under-explored period in US history... with a fantasy twist.

“It's set during the Second World War, in the 1940s, and it settles on a series of bizarre happenings and deaths that haunt the Terminal Island, which is a Japanese-American community in California,” Mori tells us.

“And it also chronicles that community facing persecution from the American government. I'm sure that most people know what happened in the 1940s after Pearl Harbour – Japanese-American people were put in internment camps. So you have a historical background just like in the first season.

“It sort of starts to slowly but surely unravel,” Mori continues. “It's a really interesting combination of history and drama, with Japanese folklore and horror elements to it.

“All I can hope for is, I hope we've done justice to these real-life tales and history,” she says.

“I really hope people tune in and see the show, because even if you don't like history, it's not just about history. If you don't like horror, it's not just about horror.

“There's so much going on with The Terror, and so I really really believe that there's something here for everyone.”

The Terror: Infamy premieres on AMC UK (BT 332) on Monday 7th October at 9.00pm