Torchwood: Children of Earth

27 – Children of Earth
Torchwood serial
Title card
Cast
Starring John Barrowman – Captain Jack Harkness Eve Myles – Gwen Cooper Kai Owen – Rhys Williams Gareth David-Lloyd – Ianto Jones
Others Charles Abomeli – Colonel Oduya Scott Bailey – TBA Melanie Barker – TBA Liz May Brice -Agent Johnson Nick Briggs – Rick Yates Susan Brown – Bridget Spears Peter Capaldi – John Frobisher Lachele Carl – Trinity Wells Lucy Cohu – Alice Carter Paul Copley – Clement McDonald Aimee Davies – Mica Davies Crisian Emanuel – TBA Patrice Ettienne – TBA Nicholas Farrell – PM Brian Green Gregory Ferguson – Young Clement McDonald Rachel Ferjani – TBA Deborah Finlay – Denise Riley Ian Gelder – Mr. Dekker Phylip Harries – TBA Ashley Hunt – TBA Christopher James – TBA Julia Joyce – Holly Frobisher Cush Jumbo – Lois Habiba Anna Lawson – TBA Rhodri Lewis – Johnny Davies Ben Loyd-Holmes – The Operative Rik Makarem – Dr Rupesh Patanjali Hilary MacLean – Anna Frobisher Bear McCausland – Steven Carter Colin McFarlane – General Pierce Sophie Miller – Vanessa Luke Perry – David Davies Simon Poland – 456 Voice Tom Price – PC Andy Davidson Madeline Rakic-Platt – Lilly Frobisher Susanna Reid - Herself Katy Wix – Rhiannon Davies
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 → —

Children of Earth is the banner title of the third series of the British television science fiction series Torchwood, which was broadcast during the week of 6–10 July on BBC One, from 7 July 2009 on UKTV Australia and from 20 July 2009 on BBC America. This air date is set to coincide with the launch of BBC America's HD simulcast. It is a miniseries of five episodes, to be aired on consecutive days. Having started on the BBC's digital-only BBC Three channel and moving to BBC Two in series two, the third series of Torchwood was broadcast on BBC One.

Plot

Day One

The story begins in Scotland in 1965, where a bus full of children appears to be abducted by aliens. Over four decades later ("Day One") at 8:40 am GMT, every child on Earth freezes for a minute. Witnessing this, Gwen (Eve Myles) starts investigating. One hour and forty minutes later, children across the world stop again, scream, and in unison say "We are coming" in English. Torchwood discovers that a person with troubled mental health in his 50s also said those words, so Gwen pays him a visit in England. He is Clement McDonald (Paul Copley), who as a child evaded the alien abduction of 1965 and has paranormal abilities which manifest themselves through his heightened sense of smell. Through this ability, he also reveals Gwen is three weeks pregnant. The British government, through senior Home Office civil servant John Frobisher (Peter Capaldi), learn that the aliens responsible are called the 456, with whom the government has had some familiarity. Prime Minister Brian Green (Nicholas Farrell) makes the situation Frobisher's responsibility so that he may have plausible deniability. A new personal assistant at the Home Office, Lois Habiba (Cush Jumbo) has her curiosity piqued by a phonecall from Captain Jack (John Barrowman) offering Torchwood's assistance and covertly begins to dig up information on Torchwood.

Meanwhile, Jack and Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) investigate as well and decide to bring in a child to study the next time they freeze. Jack plans to use his grandson Steven (Bear McCausland), though his estranged daughter Alice (Lucy Cohu) refuses permission. Ianto tries to take his niece but his sister Rhiannon (Katy Wix) refuses as well. While he is there, she confronts him with the rumour that he is gay and he reluctantly comes out to her about his relationship with Jack. To tie up loose ends, Frobisher has Bridget Spears order the murder of Jack; Clement is also hunted. Jack searches for a children's ward but is killed by a hospital doctor he met earlier, Rupesh Patanjali (Rik Makarem), whom Jack had considered hiring as Torchwood's new medical officer. Before Jack's resurrection, Government assassin Agent Johnson (Liz May Brice) has a bomb placed in Jack's stomach and kills Patanjali to stop Jack tracing the conspiracy through him. Using a scanner in the Torchwood Hub, Gwen sees that Clement's claim that she is pregnant is true but when Jack returns to Torchwood and inadvertently stands by the scanner, it shows the bomb inside his stomach. Seconds after Gwen and Ianto leave the Hub on Jack's orders the bomb detonates, destroying the Hub and killing Jack one more time.

Day Two

Gwen is captured by government agents posing as paramedics trying to assassinate her, but she escapes and flees from Cardiff Bay and the remains of the Torchwood Hub. She surmises that soon they will be after her husband Rhys (Kai Owen); therefore, she returns home to him and takes him on the run with her. Ianto escapes as well (narrowly avoiding a sniper overlooking the Bay) and manages to contact his sister, who gives him her laptop. All the children in the world stop once again; this time they announce they are coming tomorrow.

Agent Johnson takes what is left of Jack's body (one arm, a shoulder, and parts of his head) to a secret governmental prison in the London area, where he slowly begins to regenerate from the recovered remains. First, his skeleton builds up, followed by his flesh and muscles at which point he becomes conscious and screams in agony. Finally his skin regrows and Jack returns to his original appearance. Johnson then fills Jack's cell with quick-drying cement in order to prevent his escape or release. Gwen and Rhys make it to London where they try to contact Frobisher. Lois meets with them and tells them Frobisher is the one who ordered their assasination, and gives them information about Jack's location: an impressed Gwen offers her a job with Torchwood if they survive what is coming. Gwen and Rhys attempt a rescue mission posing as undertakers, recovering Rupesh's body from the same facility where Jack is held. As they reach Jack's cell, they are discovered and cornered by Johnson and her soldiers. Before they can be killed, Ianto, (having managed to trace the van carrying Jack's remains), breaks out the concrete block containing Jack using a forklift truck, rescuing Gwen and Rhys in the process. The group then make their escape with Jack on the forklift truck, stopping only to halt Johnson's pursuit by blowing up a cement truck. To free Jack, Ianto drops the cement block into a quarry, shattering it and releasing Jack. At the London headquarters at Thames House, civil servant Mr Dekker (Ian Gelder) has constructed and filled a tank with a specific mix of gases (poisonous to humans but safe for the 456) at the request of the 456.

Day Three

The team sets up base at the remains of what had been a Torchwood One warehouse in London, furnishing it with stolen laptops and other hardware bought with stolen credit cards. In researching the people targeted for assassination, Jack recognises them and leaves the base in a hurry. At the same time Alice contacts the police in an attempt to discover if her father is alive which alerts Agent Johnson to her identity. As Johnson and her soldiers arrive to take Alice and her son hostage, Steven joins every other child in the world in pointing to the centre of London—the 456 have arrived.

A member or members of the 456 race enters the enclosed tank, through a column of light, with the gases masking its form and a built in speaker translating its words into English. At Frobisher's request, the 456 agrees to hide the knowledge of the species's previous meeting with Britain's rulers and to talk with an ambassador.

Meeting again at the cafe with Lois, Gwen recruits her to use hidden cameras inside a pair of contact lenses in order to report on Frobisher's communication with the 456. Gwen then bails Clement from a local police station. In a meeting with representatives from the US military and UNIT, the prime minister makes Frobisher a scapegoat ambassador to the 456. As he prepares for his first official meeting with the alien, he is called by Jack using his wife's stolen mobile phone. Jack demands answers under threat of going public with the knowledge of the first contact with the 456. Frobisher tells him that his daughter and grandson are held hostage and will be killed should he act.

Frobisher begins diplomatic talks with the 456, with Torchwood watching by way of Lois's contact lens camera. Although the creature appears to mock him, it keeps to its agreement by refusing to say why the 456 are in Britain. The 456 then demand a gift: 10% of Earth's children. Back at base, Jack returns and is recognised by Clement as the man who in 1965 gave 12 children to the 456, "as a gift."

Day Four

A flashback to 1965 Scotland reveals that Jack delivered the children to the 456 in exchange for a cure for a new strain of Indonesian flu that the 456 claim will mutate and kill 25 million people.

In present day, the 456 allow a cameraman wearing an isolation suit into its chamber, to show what will be done with the children; the camera sees the alien accompanied by a sickly-looking child (apparently un-aged), wearing a respirator. The 456 then betrays its agreement with Frobisher to keep the 1965 visit a secret, angering the American general watching the proceeding from Downing Street who then reprimands the PM, warning him that the United Nations may pass sanctions against Britain.

The government tries to bargain with the aliens but the 456 refuses the "haggling;" humanity is expected to deliver the requested "units" to the aliens or the entire human race will be exterminated. The 456 then controls every child on Earth; the children in Britain repeat the numbers 3,2,5,0,0,0 which is determined to be 325,000 -- or 10% of the children's population in Britain. Children in other countries repeat a number that is 10% of their own country's child population.

It is decided by the British government that the children and grandchildren of Britain's political elite will be spared. Prime Minister Green then declares that, in lieu of having a lottery, the government will offer the 456 those children whose grades place them in the bottom 10% of school league tables from failing schools.

Lois confronts the cabinet with a message from Torchwood, announcing that they have recorded their discussions and the recordings will be given to the world's media unless Jack is allowed to see and perhaps dissuade the 456 from its plan. Jack and Ianto are allowed to confront the 456.

Meanwhile, Rhys moves to a new, hidden location with the recordings as Gwen and Clem await Agent Johnson's arrival. When Johnson arrives as anticipated, Gwen informs her of the recordings that have been made and the monstrous plan Britain's government has manufactured; this break Johnson's resolve. Johnson then watches with Gwen and Clem as Jack and Ianto tell the 456 they will not sacrifice a single life. In response the 456 announces that is has just released a new virus into Thames House that will kill everyone inside. The building suddenly goes into lock-down.

Ianto demands a cure for the virus and threatens to rupture the cell containing the 456, believing that will die as well if exposed to the virus; after the 456 refuses to comply, Ianto and Jack shoot the cell without effect as the container walls are bullet-proof. Saying "The remnant will be disconnected," the 456 then kills Clem via its psychic connection to him, as several people within the building succumb to the virus. Ianto succumbs as well and dies in Jack's arms, followed by Jack seconds later. The PM orders Frobisher to continue with the plan. Later, Gwen is escorted to a facility holding the dead from Thames House; Jack resurrects and the two mourn Ianto's death.

Day Five

It is revealed that the 456 abuses the chemicals in children as a type of drug and that the whole operation is basically drug trade. While the government prepares the children, Frobisher places Jack into custody while Gwen and Rhys are escorted back to Cardiff to inform Ianto's sister of his death. Lois is also under arrest for espionage. The prime minister informs the country that all children can go back to school and some will have an inoculation against the sinister effects of the 456 (including staring into space and speaking in unison); just a ruse, as these selected children will in fact be handed to the 456 "as a gift". This then ends with Jack using his own grandson as a means to kill the "456" and end the tragedy. Jack then is whisked off into space never to be seen again.

Nothing more is known about Torchwood series 4, although Russell T Davies has said that if there were good ratings then there probably will be another series.

Production

Locations

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

Filming for the series started in August 2008. As well as the show's native Cardiff, filming for the serial took place in London for a week and on the set of BBC's Casualty in Bristol - doubling for the fictional St. Helen's Hospital in Cardiff. The largest set ever built at Upper Boat was created for this serial - Floor 13.

Casting

Nick Briggs, the voice actor who provides voices in the revived series of Doctor Who, including the Daleks, is due to appear in his first human role in any Doctor Who 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 and many "crucial events" revolve around them in the serial. 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 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.

Soundtrack

Silva Screen will be releasing the Children of Earth soundtrack via MP3 on 14 July, and CD on 27 July.

DVD Release

The Region 2 DVD release is scheduled for 13th July 2009, although certain on-line retailers dispatched copies early and some customers received them before the final 2 episodes had been broadcast for the first time on BBC One. The Region 1 release date is set for 28th July 2009.

Reception

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, Timothy and Lois was praised; Paul Copley's acting for his part as Timothy was praised for its "pathos", and Liz May Brice's acting as Johnson for her "compelling" performance. He did however feel that the second episode paled before the explosiveness of the first episode, on which they "failed to capitalise".

External links

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