I will admit I’m not as big a fan of Doctor Who as I am of Torchwood. I guess I just like my TV shows with more snogging, shagging and swearing. Still, you can’t deny the enduring popularity of Doctor Who, even as it goes through many actors playing the title character. Audiences love it and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Good news then for fans in the U.S. then as the BBC has announced the new season, featuring Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen Gillan as his sidekick Amy Pond, will make its U.S. television debut on Saturday, April 17 on BBC America. This will come soon after the show’s UK. debut, which won’t really be soon enough for the show’s U.S. fans I’m sure.

After seeing the trailers and all the other bits and pieces about this new series and the new Doctor, I may have to give this show another chance. It looks like they make be trying to take the show in a slightly more mature direction, which might help it reach an even broader audience — and convert on-the-fence Torchwood fans like myself. Hey, it could happen.

February is in full swing and this week brings a host of new movies and some great classics hitting Blu-ray for the first time. This week’s releases include the first time on Blu-ray Casablanca, Unforgiven, Gangs of New York, Pan’s Labyrinth and The Godfather I and II.

There are also several Dr. Who TV movies, a couple seasons of TV’s Dynasty, Volume 3 of Batman: The Brave and the Bold and the Blu-ray release of Zombieland with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin (pictured above).

Check out this week’s new releases:

Movies

Adam ~ Hugh Dancy, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving (Blu-ray and DVD)

Amelia ~ Hillary Swank, Richard Gere (Blu-ray and DVD)

Casablanca ~ Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains (Blu-ray)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ~ Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire (Blu-ray)

Gangs of New York (Remastered) ~ Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day Lewis, John C. Reilly (Blu-ray)

Planet Hulk ~ (Blu-ray and DVD)

Love Happens ~ Jennifer Aniston (Blu-ray and DVD)

Mystic River ~ Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon (Blu-ray)

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If you’ve been hoping for more Torchwood, the quirky and sexy British series about a group of investigators who fight aliens, you might be in luck – sorta. In the fine tradition of bringing British TV shows to the U.S. market, Fox has announced they are developing a version of Torchwood with original series creator Russell T. Davies.

According to the article, fans of the original series need not worry it will be somehow ruined by coming to the States because the original producing team is on board. In addition to Davies, exec producers include Julie Gardner (former head of drama at BBC Wales for the show’s first season) and Jane Tranter are going to be there to ensure the new show stays true to its origins.

Also, some of the current cast, which most likely will include John Barrowman (who plays the immortal Capt. Jack Harkness), might star if Fox decides to order a Torchwood pilot. No word yet on Eve Myles or Gareth David-Lloyd, but hopefully they would be involved as well. The U.S. version will involve a global story line compared to the more localized one of the first two BBC seasons. In addition, you can expect the budget to be higher as well, which will allow for more cool aliens and such.

So what do we think of this? Good idea or terrible idea?

Here’s a list of some of the new movie and TV shows coming to DVD and Blu-ray this week that we’re looking forward to seeing. Also, there’s some classic, and not-so-classic, movies hitting Blu-ray for the first time this week as well.

Of all the new releases, we’re particularly interested in the Blu-ray versions of movies and TV shows such as G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, North by Northwest, It’s a Wonderful Life and The Rockford Files. Plus, there’s some classic Dr. Who coming out this week as well.

Check them out.

Movies

A Christmas Carol ~ Alastair Sim, Jack Warner (Blu-ray)

Aliens in the Attic ~ Kevin Nealon, Doris Roberts (DVD and Blu-ray)

Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1 (The Big Heat / 5 Against the House / The Lineup / Murder by Contract / The Sniper) ~ (DVD)

The Claudette Colbert Collection (Three-Cornered Moon / Maid of Salem / I Met Him in Paris / Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife / No Time for Love / The Egg and I) ~ Claudette Colbert (DVD)

The Dead ~ Anjelica Huston, Donal McCann, Dan O’Herlihy, and Donal Donnelly (DVD)

Forrest Gump ~ Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Sinise (Blu-ray)

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition + Digital Copy) ~ Channing Tatum (DVD and Blu-ray)

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Truth be told I’ve never been a huge fan of the BBC sci-fi series phenomenon Dr. Who. I always found it a bit too campy and a bit too much on the cheesy side for my taste. So, when a spin-off series called Torchwood was announced, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t care for that one either. Still, I gave it a try.

Much to my surprise, Torchwood turned out to be great fun and filled with action, romance, monsters, a great cast and pretty quickly I was hooked. The show’s second season finished up earlier this year and I’ve been awaiting its return since then. Now, much to my happiness, a new trailer has gone live for Torchwood: Children of Earth, the new, shorter five episode season which debuts on BBC America in July.

In case you’re not a fan of the show as I am, here’s a bit of info for you. Torchwood centers on the adventures of the paranormal investigators of the Cardiff, Wales, branch of the Torchwood Institute. Led by Capt. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), he and his teammates Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd) take on monsters, aliens, time travelers and pretty much anything else you can imagine that comes out of the rift in space Cardiff happens to be on.

Check out the trailer to see why I love this show after the jump.

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