Torchwood: Children of Earth

27 – Children of Earth
Torchwood serial
Title card
Cast
Starring John Barrowman – Captain Jack Harkness Eve Myles – Gwen Cooper Gareth David-Lloyd – Ianto Jones Kai Owen – Rhys Williams
Others Peter Capaldi – John Frobisher Paul Copley – Clement McDonald Nicholas Farrell – Brian Green Susan Brown – Bridget Spears Lucy Cohu – Alice Carter Cush Jumbo – Lois Habiba Liz May Brice - Johnson Ian Gelder – Mr Dekker Colin McFarlane – General Pierce Deborah Findlay – Denise Riley Nicholas Briggs – Rick Yates Patric Naiambana - Defence Secretary Tom Price – PC Andy Charles Abomeli – Colonel Oduya Rik Makarem – Rupesh Patanjali Katy Wix – Rhiannon Davies Rhodri Lewis – Johnny Davies Hilary MacLean – Anna Frobisher Sophie Hunter – Venessa Anna Lawson – Nurse Rachel Ferjani – Parliamentary Secretary Christopher James – Press Officer Phylip Harries – Water Taxi Man Ben Loyd-Holmes – Operative Luke Perry – David Davies Aimee Davies – Mica Davies Bear McCausland – Steven Carter Julia Joyce – Holly Frobisher Madeleine Rakic-Platt – Lilly Frobisher Sandwich Shop Man - Patrice Etienne Simon Poland – 456 Voice Gregory Ferguson – Young Clem Crisian Emanuel – Mother (Day One) Melanie Barker – Mother 2 Scott Bailey - Father Ashley Hunt – Recovery Worker Osi Okerafor - Kodak Emmanuel Ighadaro - Paramedic Robert Shelly - Sentry Quill Roberts - Guard Fay McDonald - Mother (Day Two) Lorna Bennett - Female Teacher Rhiannon Oliver - Mum (Day Five) Louise Minchin - Newsreader Anthony Debaeck - French Newsreader Lachele Carl – Trinity Wells Libby Liburd - Barmaid
Production
Directed by	Euros Lyn
Written by	Russell T Davies (episodes 1, 3 & 5) John Fay (episodes 2 & 4) James Moran (episode 3)
Produced by	Peter Bennett
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Production code	3.1 to 3.5
Series	Series 3
Running time	5 episodes, 60 minutes each
First broadcast	6–10 July 2009
Chronology
← Preceded by "Exit Wounds" (episode) "The Dead Line" (radio play) Followed by → "Series 4"

Children of Earth is the banner title of the third series of the British television science fiction series Torchwood, which broadcast for five episodes on BBC One in 2009. The series had new Producer Peter Bennett and was directed by Euros Lyn, who had considerable experience on the revived Doctor Who. The first, third, and fifth episodes were written by Russell T Davies, who also wrote the story arc. The third episode was co-written by James Moran whilst the second and fourth are by newcomer John Fay. Nicholas Briggs, who has written and acted in many licensed-by-BBC and unlicensed Doctor Who franchise spin-offs since the 1980s, and who is the revived Doctor Who series' resident alien voice-over artist, makes his first on-screen appearance in a televised Doctor Who franchise production. Production on the mini-series began in August 2008 and was broadcast in July 2009 on BBC 1. The Series aired from Monday July 6 to Friday July 10.

Plot

Over the course of two days, all the children in the world stop in their tracks, and speak, in unison and in English, "We are coming." Home Office Permanent Secretary John Frobisher is aware these events are tied to an alien race known as The 456, named after the wavelength they communicate on. The 456 appeared in 1965, secretly offering the British government a cure to a new strain of Indonesian flu destined to wipe out 25 million, in exchange for 12 children. Captain Jack Harkness was unwillingly one of four soldiers who were chosen to give the children to the 456. As public knowledge of the exchange would be disastrous for the British government, Frobisher orders, through troops under Agent Johnson's command, the assassination of those involved in the previous contact. Johnson plants a bomb in Jack's stomach, which goes off inside of the Torchwood Hub in Cardiff and destroys it. Aware of Jack's regenerative abilities, Johnson's troops collect Jack's remains and lock them in a secure facility, monitoring the reforming of his body. Gwen Cooper, her husband Rhys and Ianto Jones, due to their association with Jack, become fugitives from the law. Frobisher also orders construction of an isolation tank inside the Thames House to receive The 456 when they arrive.

The remaining Torchwood team make contact with Lois Habiba, a new personal assistant in Frobisher's office who has seen his classified files. Lois helps the others to locate and rescue Jack; they, in turn, provide her with special Torchwood contact lenses that will allow them to see what she sees, hoping she will help them learn the cause of these events. Torchwood also has identified and rescued Clement McDonald, originally one of the twelve children to be taken away but left behind by the 456. Clement has since become senile, but still responds in the same way as the children to the new 456 signal.

On the third day, the 456 arrive on a column of fire over the Thames House before appearing in the isolation tank. Frobisher and his staff, including Lois who has worn the Torchwood contact lenses, hold confidential meetings with the 456 to understand why they have returned. The 456 demand that 10% of the world's population of children be handed over to them, or else they will destroy the human race. The children begin to chant (still in English) 10% of their country's child population. Torchwood, with Lois' help, announce themselves and insist they intervene in the situation, threatening to reveal the 456's demands, recorded through the contact lens, to the world. Jack and Ianto approach the 456 and demand that they leave or else they will face a war. In response, the 456 trigger a lockdown of Thames House and inject it with a lethal gas, killing everyone inside, including Jack and Ianto. At the same time, they send an auditory signal to Clement, killing him. When Jack revives, he and Gwen mourn over their loss.

With Torchwood's failure, and Lois in prison for charges of espionage, the governments of the world silently make plans to deliver the children as promised. Prime Minister Brian Green, along with his Cabinet and one member from both the US military and UNIT, decide to cover up the United Kingdom's actions as inoculation shots given at schools. The 456 reveal they need the children as their bodies produce a chemical that acts as a recreational drug to them. Green orders Frobisher to submit his children as part of those that have been selected, in order to keep up the pretence to the rest of the country. Frobisher agrees, returns home and kills his two daughters to save them from this fate, his wife and then himself. As some parents have kept children at home from school, Green orders military measures to secure the remaining children. While Gwen and Rhys help to protect Ianto's sister Rhiannon's daughter and several other local children from capture, Jack and Johnson consider a means of stopping the 456. They realize that they audio signal used to kill Clement could be used against the 456. However, it requires that one child act as the focal point for the transmission, likely killing him or her. Jack is left with no choice but to use his daughter Alice's son, Steven, who is the closest child available. Jack and Johnson successfully send the signal, amplified through all the other children, and the 456 suffer in pain before withdrawing from the earth. Steven dies and Alice becomes furious with Jack.

The world recovers from the events. Green suggests that they simply cover it up and place the blame on the United States, but Bridget Spears, Frobisher's direct assistant and Lois' superior, reveals that she is wearing the contact lenses that Lois used and has recorded this conversation and will release it, putting an end to Green's political career. Six months after the events, Gwen and Rhys meet with Jack, who had been traveling the world on his own, trying to rid himself of the guilt. Jack states he needs to make a new life for himself and plans to travel into the stars. Gwen brings Jack his vortex manipulator, found in the wreckage of Torchwood, as a departing gift as he teleports away.

Production

A pyrotechnics-laden barricade on Roald Dahl Plass, cordoned off before filming.

Locations

Filming for the series started in Cardiff in August 2008, with a week's filming taking place in London. Additional filming took place in the Maindee area of Newport for the pub scene, and on the set of BBC's Casualty in Bristol, which doubled as the fictional St. Helen's Hospital in Cardiff. The set for Floor 13 was the largest ever built at Upper Boat Studios. However, many of the scenes set in the corridors of the same building (supposedly Thames House in London) were shot in the corridors of the Guild Hall, Swansea.

Casting

Nick Briggs, the voice actor who provides voices in the revived series of Doctor Who, including the Daleks, appears in his first on-screen role in any Doctor Who-related television episode in this serial. He has previously played many roles in the Big Finish range of officially licensed Audio dramas.

Katy Wix and Rhodri Lewis play Rhiannon and Johnny Davies, Ianto's sister and brother-in-law respectively. Lucy Cohu plays Captain Jack Harkness's daughter Alice. Having been set up to do so by the conclusion of their storylines in "Journey's End", Freema Agyeman and Noel Clarke were due to reprise their roles as Martha Jones and Mickey Smith respectively, but were unable to participate due to "scheduling issues". Davies explains that Agyeman was cast in Law & Order: UK before Children of Earth had been officially commissioned. Because Law & Order offered her 13 episodes a year, she went with that over Torchwood which had been reduced to 5. In response, Davies created the character of Lois Habiba, played by Cush Jumbo, to be a "kind of a Martha figure", one with added innocence who is out of her depth. Agyeman doesn't rule out returning to the show at a later date, however. Should Agyeman's career permit, Davies might like to have her back in a hypothetical fourth series. In the third series, Jack and Gwen explain Martha's absence by saying that she is on her honeymoon.

Preview

A preview of Children of Earth was screened at the National Film Theatre on 12 June 2009.

Broadcast

Children of Earth was broadcast during the week of 6 July to 10 July. on BBC One and from 7 July 2009 on UKTV Australia, and was shown from 20 July 2009 on BBC America in the US and Space in Canada. This air date was set to coincide with the launch of BBC America's HD simulcast. It is a mini-series of five episodes, aired on consecutive days. Having started on the BBC's digital-only BBC Three channel and being broadcast on BBC Two in series two, Torchwood moved to BBC One in its third series. Children of Earth was first broadcast on Watch from 15 February to 19 February 2010.

Soundtrack

Silva Screen released the soundtrack via MP3 on 10 July, and CD on 27 July. The CD features 40 tracks, 38 tracks divided between the five 'days' of the programme, the other two being the opening and closing theme.

DVD release

The Region 2 DVD release was released on 13 July 2009, followed by the Region 1 release on both DVD and Blu-Ray on 28 July 2009. The Best Buy limited edition included the CD for the audio drama Lost Souls. Music for the fifth episode differed from the original broadcast version. The Region 4 DVD release became available on 1 October 2009.

Episodes

Children of Earth	Run time	Writer	Director	Original airdate	Viewers (millions)
"Day One"	1 hour	Russell T Davies	Euros Lyn	6 July 2009	6.47
"Day Two"	1 hour	John Fay		7 July 2009	6.14
"Day Three"	1 hour	Russell T Davies and James Moran		8 July 2009	6.40
"Day Four"	1 hour	John Fay		9 July 2009	6.76
"Day Five"	1 hour	Russell T Davies		10 July 2009	6.58

Reception

Reviews

Reviews of the third-season serial have been predominantly positive. Metacritic, an American review aggregator website, gives Children of Earth a normalised rating of 80 out of 100 (based on a sample of 12 reviews), indicating "generally favourable reviews", with the highest score being a 91 from Time and the lowest a 60 from The New York Times.

Daniel Martin ran a day-by-day review of the show on guardian.co.uk which culminated in a positive assessment of the mini-series as a whole: " ... what an incredible week. From its hideous Sex Alien vs Cyberwoman beginnings, Torchwood has become a true treasure." He speculated on the programme's thematic implication that "as people realise their potential in this world, they die", and remarked: "If the same thing does happen to the series it would be awful. But God, it would be poetic."

Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave a very favourable pre-review to the first three episodes of the serial. He particularly praised Davies' script for its "economical" and "seamless" re-establishment of the show's returning trio for new viewers whilst not alienating fans. The inter-weaving of the stories for "credible and appealing" supporting characters Rupesh, Clement and Lois was praised; as were the performances from Paul Copley and Liz May Brice. He did however feel that the second episode paled after the explosiveness of the first episode, on which they "failed to capitalise". Summing up the series, Rawson-Jones described Children of Earth as "a powerful human drama, reliant not on special effects but incredible acting, direction and writing" that was a "massive success."

IGN writer Ahsan Haque gave the miniseries a rating of 9.5 out of 10, also awarding it their Editor's Choice Award. John Barrowman's performance was highly praised, saying that he handled "these gut-wrenching moments with poise, yet manages to give us just enough to know how much his choices are tearing him up inside. He might not be able to die physically, but emotionally, what Jack has to suffer and live with is a fate far worse than death." Also, Haque felt that the additions of Rhiannon and Johnny "supply a lot of the grounded humanizing moments that really help the story stay grounded to the human condition, and not turn into a mindless sci-fi action-fest." However, Haque pointed out the "slightly campy feel" as well as technobabble as faults. The review ended with: "Best. Torchwood. Ever. Really, we mean it!"

Mike Hale of The New York Times was more mixed in his review, noting that the mini-series pays tribute to the 1960 British sci-fi film Village Of The Damned, and sums up by saying "Children of Earth is still good fun, if not good, exactly." Hale also mentioned the problem with maintaining a 5-hour mini-series over 5 nights, a sentiment echoed by L.A. Times reviewer Robert Lloyd who felt that the format led to an inevitable lag in the middle.

Not all reviews were positive. Jim Shelley of The Daily Mirror gave the mini-series an unfavourable review, commenting that "Torchwood is the modern-day Blake's Seven: ludicrous plot, hammy acting, an adolescent penchant for 'Issues'. This week's plot was plagiarised from 50s sci-fi classic, The Midwich Cuckoos. Contrary to its scheduling, Torchwood always seems to me like Dr Who lite." He went on to say that he felt a large part of the problem was with lead actor John Barrowman: "Unlike David Tennant's Doctor, Barrowman's endless appearances on friendly drivel like Tonight's the Night, The Kids Are Alright and Any Dream Will Do, is so over-exposed, 'Captain Jack' is about as intriguing or alien as a Weetabix and twice as irritating. Unlike Tennant, as an actor he is just not good enough."

A plot point in the Torchwood miniseries Children of Earth triggered protests from fans of the show, including the "Save Ianto Jones" campaign, which collected more than £10,000 for the Children In Need charity. Other fans resorted to abuse and threats, causing writer James Moran to fire off an angry missive in a blog post. Showrunner Russel T Davies made no apologies for the decision to kill off the character, saying, "I’m just delighted that the fans are so wrapped in the character to have that reaction."

The death of a character involved in a same-sex relationship led several writers to accuse the show's creators of homophobia. An opposing view analyzed the death in view of the character's earlier refusal to admit to his relationship with a man, and claimed that, instead of being an expression of homophobia, the death was a sign that the LGBT community was leaving behind its image of victimhood.

New Adventures author Lawrence Miles gave the mini-series a positive critique in an online essay, declaring: "Children of Earth is, against all expectations, a work of Proper Drama." He commended it for "facing up to our hypocricies and refusing to make things simple", and singled out in particular the well-rounded characters as a plus point: "Bucking the trend of all the other programmes that look, sound, and market themselves like Torchwood, characters with whom we sympathise do things we don't necessarily like, not in order to make a big song-and-dance about major issues but just because that's who they are."

Awards

In 2010, Children of Earth was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.

External links

• Children of Earth on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• Template:Brief
• Template:Doctor Who RG