Tradecraft: Mekhi Phifer Spies For Torchwood

As sci-fi fans already know, there are some big changes in store for the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood when it returns for a fourth season.  Yes, I said "season" and not "series," because foremost among the changes is that the show is now half American, so we'll used the American terminology.  US cable network Starz is co-producing with the BBC this time around.  The American finance also means American cast members, apparently.  But those aren't the changes we're concerned with here.  No, the change we're concerned with - the one that warrents coverage on this blog - is that as of Season 4, Torchwood is now a spy series as well as sci-fi.  (I have a friend who claims it always has been, but I got no whif of that from the first season, which is the only one I've seen.)  Deadline reports that American actor Mekhi Phifer has been cast as CIA agent Rex Matheson, "a fast-tracked high-flyer with a lethal sense of humor who starts to feel his mortality when his life is put in danger."  How he becomes involved (and how involved he becomes)with Torchwood or its enigmatic leader Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) is unclear, but hopefully it's exciting.  I'll probably tune in for at least an episode to see how much spying there is...