When I hear the word “sidekick,” the first one my mind immediately imagines is the ludicrously dressed, teenage companion of Batman. That’s right, Dick Grayson, the original Robin. And I’m sure you all initially think the same thing. But some sidekicks move way beyond their roles as mere comrades or wingmen; some sidekicks have the potential to become leaders themselves.

Check out the list below of the Top 5 Sidekicks Who Could be Heroes.

Following WonderCon 2011, we are launching not one, but TWO episodes of TARDISblend this week! The promotions and publicity for Doctor Who Series 6 is moving full speed ahead, with many revelations, news items, rumors, spoilers, and other stuff abound. Co-host Tom Cheredar was on assignment for Geeks of Doom at WonderCon this year and got to catch up with both Toby Haynes and Neil Gaiman.

For episode 21 of the TARDISblend podcast, we focus on Tom’s interview with living legend Neil Gaiman, as he discusses his writing of the fourth episode of Doctor Who Series 6, enigmatically titled The Doctor’s Wife. While Gaiman remains mostly elusive about specific details about his episode, he does discuss a lot about his experience in working with Steven Moffat. Following the interview, Greg and Tom discuss the rumors and spoilers surrounding The Doctor’s Wife, including the footage shown at WonderCon involving an Ood and… Time Lords?

In addition, we take a look at the developments in the world of Torchwood: Miracle Day, which is scheduled to premiere in July. We examine the teasers and promo material being published and pushed out currently by BBC Worldwide and Starz USA, and discuss how things come to pass to set up the scene for Miracle Day. What happens to Jack Harkness? How and why does he return to Earth?

As promotion and publicity for Doctor Who Series 6 marches forward around the world, BBC Worldwide and Starz USA are kicking off their promotion for Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood. While the series isn’t scheduled until July, the publicity is starting early, with new poster art and a teaser video being released over the last couple of weeks.

Now, BBC and Starz have released two new images to promote Torchwood: Miracle Day, which you can see at the bottom of this post.

First up is a photo of the new Torchwood team, which looks like a still from filming. The image includes show regulars John Barrowman and Eve Myles, along with new allies Esther Drummond and Mekhi Phifer.

The second image is a new promo poster design from BBC Worldwide featuring everyone’s favorite hero-who-cannot-die, Captain Jack Harkness. This design comes with the new slogan, “Death is not an option”, indicating that now Planet Earth is facing the same immortal dilemma as Captain Jack: they cannot die!

Big news for Doctor Who and Torchwood fans today, as Starz USA announced that the fourth series of Torchwood will launch its premiere episode on Friday, July 8, 2011 at 10pm ET/PT. Starz has also released some new poster artwork for the new series, which you can view here at right. Entitled Torchwood: Miracle Day, the series originally from the BBC, will feature the return of John Barrowman and Eve Myles who will be reprising their roles as Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper respectively.

New to the world of Torchwood are Mekhi Phifer, Bill Pullman, Lauren Ambrose, Alexa Havins, and Arlene Tur. Phifer is said to have a major role in Miracle Day, portraying Rex Matheson, a CIA agent investigating a global conspiracy behind what could be a serious threat to humanity.

The official announcement from Starz elaborates on the plot of Miracle Day:

The Torchwood news continues to trickle onto the web, with the announcement that Mekhi Phifer from the series Lie To Me, will be joining the cast of Torchwood: The New World. He will be set as a lead character to act opposite John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) in the upcoming fourth series.

Phifer will be playing a CIA agent named Rex Matheson, who Deadline points out is “a fast-tracked high-flyer with a lethal sense of humor who starts to feel his mortality when his life is put in danger.” It is unclear at this point whether he is allied with Torchwood or otherwise.

Torchwood: The New World is a joint venture between BBC and Starz USA that will see the series move out from its Cardiff, Wales, setting into a more international focus. Filming and production is said to include the UK, the United States, and Canada, under direction from showrunner Russell T. Davies.