"Torchwood" Children of Earth: Day One (2009)

Director:

Euros Lyn

Writers:

Russell T. Davies (creator)
Russell T. Davies (written by)

TV Series:

"Torchwood" (2006)

Original Air Date:

6 July 2009 (Season 3, Episode 1)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

At 8.45am, every child in the world suddenly stops, chanting the words "we are coming" again and again...

Plot Keywords:

Renegade | Cardiff | Investigation | Bisexual Male | Coworker Relationship

Cast

John Barrowman	...	Captain Jack
Eve Myles	...	Gwen Cooper
Gareth David-Lloyd	...	Ianto Jones
Kai Owen	...	Rhys Williams
Peter Capaldi	...	John Frobisher
Paul Copley	...	Clement McDonald
Nicholas Farrell	...	Brian Green
Susan Brown	...	Bridget Spears
Lucy Cohu	...	Alice Carter
Ian Gelder	...	Mr. Dekker
Cush Jumbo	...	Lois Habiba
Liz May Brice	...	Johnson
Charles Abomeli	...	Colonel Oduya
Rik Makarem	...	Rupesh Patanjali
Katy Wix	...	Rhiannon Davies

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15 (Most episodes)

Company:

BBC Wales

Trivia:

Having been set up to do so by the conclusion of her storyline in "Doctor Who: Journey's End (#4.13)" (2008), Freema Agyeman was due to reprise her role as Martha Jones. However she was unable to due to "scheduling issues". Russell T. Davies explained that Agyeman was cast in "Law & Order: UK" (2009) 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.

Goofs:

Continuity: We see Gwen driving onto the Severn Bridge; the POV shot shows her on the bridge, but the side shots show trees and hedges next to the car, showing her not to be on the bridge.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Children of Earth: [chanting in unison] We are coming.

intriguing plot opener

As a piece of sci-fi, 'Torchwood' is pitched at a slightly more adult audience than 'Doctor Who' although there have been crossovers of character and plot between the two.

'Children of Earth' is a new departure for the series - a five-part story developing on BBC1, the UK channel with the biggest ratings. Therefore the production values have gone up a notch and the plot feels tighter than in some of the earlier editions.

The plot is, on the face of it, simple. At 8.45 GMT, every child in the world stopped whatever they were doing, sat or stood still, and there was a deathly quiet - later, the same stopping happens again with the children chanting in unison 'we are coming'. But who is coming, why are the Home Office so interested, and who is the solitary man also affected by the same force that is affecting the children? Captain Jack and his team at Torchwood intend to find out. The plot opener deals with past secrets, family backgrounds, and - the weakest aspect of the episode IMO - the developing relationship between Jack and Ianto. There's also a weird angle involving the NHS, and some revelations which weren't flagged up in previous series.

In look and feel this new episode of Torchwood feels like a film (although seeing it on a big screen in high definition probably helps reinforce that impression) rather than a run of the mill TV production. Clearly made with bigger things in mind than prime time TV, it remains to be seen whether the story will develop and grip in the same way that this opener will to Torchwood fanatics and general followers of sci-fi alike.