Russell T. Davies has revealed that BBC One controller Jay Hunt phoned to congratulate him on Torchwood's audience figures last year.

However, the award-winning writer admitted that he felt the Doctor Who spinoff was given a "graveyard" timeslot on the channel.

He told SFX: "To be honest, 'Children Of Earth' took the whole of BBC One by surprise - they didn't expect it to be quite that successful. It went out in the summer, five nights a week, and you think, 'Well, that's a bit of a graveyard slot, isn't it?'

"Then I was getting the controller of BBC One phoning me on the Thursday going, 'Oh my God, everyone's watching it!' Frankly, in this job you've got to make hay while the sun shines."

BBC One saw figures of nearly 6 million for the sci-fi drama when it aired in a stripped weekday format last July.

Torchwood, which is now co-produced by the BBC and Starz in America, will return to screens in in late 2011.

> Davies praises new 'Torchwood' format

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