Next week sees the unveiling of the third season of Torchwood. On the plus side, it moves to BBC One for the first time (its third channel to date). On the downside, it's down to five episodes, which are being broadcast on consecutive nights.

It's quite a bold move for the show, but the decision to reduce the episode count hasn't gone down blindingly well in all quarters. Talking to the Radio Times, the show's star has been damning over the BBC's move. In an interview with the magazine, he said, "I'm going to get a little political and I'll probably get into trouble for it." He didn't hold back, though...

"We were the most successful show on BBC3, ever. We moved to BBC2 because the ratings were so good; the ratings were great again and we were beating shows that had been on BBC2 for a long time. Other shows move from BBC3 and 2 to 1, and they don't get cut. So why are we? It felt like every time we moved we had to prove ourselves."

He concluded that "I felt like we were being punished."

Russell T Davies was more upbeat about matters, arguing, "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?"

The proof, as usual, will be in the pudding. And Torchwood: Children Of Earth starts this Monday on BBC One, at 9pm.