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Total Sci-Fi Online interviewed Gary Russell, the director of the Dr. Who animated adventure, Dreamland.

Dreamland is the second animated program directed by Russell, after Infinite Quest. This latest web series takes place in a mid-century Area 51 with David Tennant playing the infamous Time Lord. In the interview, he talks about the freedoms and restrictions of working in an animated medium. Says Russell, "What animation does give us is scope, is the ability to say 'Let's set Dreamland in 1950s New Mexico, with giant insectoids, flying brains and fleets of tanks, helicopters and explosions' – all things it would be far more difficult to do in live action."

Dreamland takes place between "Waters of Mars" and "The End of Time" in a time known as "The Specials" in the Dr. Who universe, before the next incarnation of the Doctor. Tennant is relinquishing the role to Matt Smith, the 11th actor to play the iconic character. "Waters of Mars" aired in the UK in November, and premieres on BBC America this weekend.

The episodes for Dreamland are available on the Doctor Who website in the UK; they will air in their entirety on BBC Two on Saturday. The episodes are not available outside the UK at this time.

Britain's long-time children's show Blue Peter has long had an association with the equally long-running Doctor Who franchise. But I'm not sure if they've ever had any creative control of the Doctor's adventures. But that's looking to change, as Blue Peter has put together a contest wherein their viewers are to design a new control panel for the Tardis.

The idea is to use household objects creatively in the design, and to make it look like something the Doctor would come up with. And the winner will see their design in the new season, lending credence to the rumors that the interior of the Tardis will be getting a makeover along with the Doctor himself. I think it's a great promotion, as the winning entries will also get a walk-on visit to the set.

As a show of my own ignorance of things British, I'd never heard of Blue Peter and in fact thought that maybe it was a website inspired by Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen.

So much for a happy ending.

With Children of Earth's critical success and record UK ratings, I'm certain show creator Russell T. Davies will get the chance to bring Torchwood back to TV next year. But how can he? (Spoilers ahead).

Ianto is dead. Gwen is almost a mother. Captain Jack, wracked with guilt and stripped of his white hat, is gone. And Torchwood is finished. It would be a shame to see the show end forever after its finest hour, but where can it go from here?

OK folks, let's pull ourselves together now. Yes, this was Torchwood's darkest hour, but tonight is ass-kicking time, right? Right?

Honestly, I'm not really sure how it's all gonna end, but that's what I'm loving about Children of Earth. The miniseries has kept me guessing from the start and it's kept me on the edge of my seat all week with damn fine storytelling and some great performances. (Please, Internet, tell me a full season order is in the can for next year!)

Day four mostly centered on negotiations with The 456 and the British government's extremely shocking lack of moral integrity. We also learned that our own Captain Jack is no saint. Jack's confession about feeding the children to The 456 in 1964 only made me wonder about the other possible skeletons in his closet.

They're here.

Species 456 finally touched down on Earth to scare the crap out of civil servant John Frobisher -- and this reviewer -- in the third suspenseful hour of Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Day two was an action-packed thrill ride from start to finish, but day three (scripted by Russell T Davies and James Moran) was the most intense episode of the miniseries so far. For the second time this week,Torchwood had me on the edge of my seat with some truly chilling moments. But before the things got too creepy, there was some fun to be had with the team getting back together, finding a new Hub, and lifting a few credit cards and laptops from unsuspecting Londoners.

The humor was spot on in this ep. The silly but fun crime-spree montage had a lovely Doctor Who-like lightness to it, and the almost-love scene between Jack and Ianto ("bloody beans") made me laugh out loud. It was inspiring to watch the team shake off its wounds and build a new Torchwood Hub from the ground up. Even Jack's "I'm back" superhero moment felt earned, especially considering what he had to go through to get back.

Gwen is a badass. And that Ianto sure is one clever boy. With Captain Jack busy growing back his body parts, Torchwood's non-super-powered players took center stage in Children of Earth's fast and furious second hour.

Day two started out with a rush of action movie awesomeness as Gwen blasted her way out of a scary situation. I don't remember the danger ever feeling so immediate and real in Torchwood. The opening minutes were edge-of-your-seat tense, and the swift pace rarely let up.

As Ianto looked for a way to save Jack, Gwen and Rhys got to spend some quality time together tying up morticians and running away from evil government agents. There was a lot of chasing and gunplay in this ep, but there were also some great character moments in between all the thrills and suspense.

With all the buzz surrounding tonight's U.S. premiere of Torchwood: Children of Earth, I didn't really expect to hear anything new from the Doctor Who camp. But The BBC has just released the first images of the new Doctor, Matt Smith, in costume filming scenes for his debut.

The photos show Smith accompanied by Karen Gillan, the actress playing the Doctor's new companion, Anna Pond.

I'm digging the Doctor's new clean-cut schoolteacher garb. Pond's sweater-skirt-and-sneakers combo makes me think these two will have a teacher-student type relationship once the new series premieres on BBC in 2010.

Check out a larger photo after the jump.

Welcome to TV Geek Week -- a new weekly column about sci-fi TV news and programming.

Screw Harry Potter. For me, the U.S. premiere of Torchwood: Children of Earth is the biggest and most anticipated geek event of the month. After a record-breaking run in the U.K., the five-part miniseries lands stateside tonight with an absorbing first hour on BBC America.

With its first two seasons, The Doctor Who spin-off offered a mature and sexy but undeniably quirky look at a team of Cardiff-based investigators fighting alien threats. Judging by the raves from the British press, and the promising first hour, Children of Earth takes things to a higher level with an epic scope, a bigger budget, and more twists and turns than the series' first two seasons combined.

Tonight's ep sees the Torchwood team responding to an alien invader that announces itself by possessing the world's children and making them chant a creepy warning, "We are coming." It's even more unsettling than it sounds, and it sets our heroes – the debonair Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), reliable Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd), and the fetching Gwen (Eve Myles) – off on a dangerous adventure involving cagey new characters, government conspiracies and, er, blood-spewing monsters.

If it sounds like Torchwood is full of cheap thrills, well, that's because it is. But the series handles all the B-movie business with wit, charm and heart – three things sorely lacking from some of this summer's big screen blockbusters. (Tonight through Friday, 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.)

Check out more TV picks and the first seven minutes of Children of Earth after the jump.

The upcoming mini-season of Torchwood is getting good buzz, but Captain Jack Harkness, John Barrowman, thinks the show deserved more than a five-episode run this season. Still, if the episodes are popular, Torchwood will definitely be back for a fourth, and hopefully full, season. Here's John Scott Lewinski reporting for TV Squad:

With the premiere of Torchwood: Children of Earth closing in at BBC America, John Barrowman is picking an unusual time to kick BBC executives in the pants.

The leading man and variety host told the British papers that he feels like the BBC is punishing him and Torchwood by cutting the show down to a week-long, five-episode mini-series run.

Barrowman's timing is odd, as there were no reports of dissatisfaction before, during or after filming on the short run. Meanwhile, there's plenty of positive publicity buzzing around the new season, and there was no desperate need to get people interested via a complaint.

Read the rest at TV Squad.