Russell T. Davies did! But it started out as a way to trick people trying to get production secrets on Doctor Who:
During the production of the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the word “Torchwood” (an anagram of “Doctor Who”) had been used as a title ruse for the series while filming its first few episodes to ensure they were not intercepted. Davies connected the word “Torchwood” to an earlier idea and decided to make the series a Doctor Who spin-off. Subsequently, the word “Torchwood” was seeded in Doctor Who episodes and other media that aired in 2005 and 2006.