Torchwood: The Children of Earth

I am a huge Sci-Fi buff one of my favorite shows of all time is Doctor Who. So when I saw the preview for Torchwood a few years back, I had to set my Tivo and I loved it. I loved the first 2 seasons, but I was really worried after 2 of the main characters died if they were going to bring it back for a 3 season so when I started seeing the previews for The Children of Earth I started bouncing up and down on my couch and counting down the days.

For anyone who does watch Doctor Who as well, one of the things I really loved was the fact that they brought the two shows together. There was a Doctor Who episode where you see when, why and how Torchwood was founded and in another episode Rose (one of the Doctors Companions) was saved by Captain Jack when Rose and the Doctor ended up in London during WWII.

Anyway…enough about Doctor Who (you can tell that is my favorite and if they stop making them after so many years I will be VERY PISSED!!!!)

This short mini serious of Torchwood was super short. Just 5 days. The 456 have returned to earth (the UK to be exact) after 44 years. On their last visit to the UK, no one but the government and 3 others outside the government knew and the UK handed over 12 children for the cure to a virus that could have wiped out over 1/3 of the WORLD population. Sounds like an easy trade right 12 children for the lives of BILLIONS! They took the children that wouldn’t be missed and they assumed that was the end and the 456 would never return…or at least that was the deal. The UK continued to monitor the airwave in case the 456 did contact them ever again and 44 years later…THEY DID. Now the 456 is back and they re communicating to the world through the children and they are making demands either 10% of all the children on earth or complete extinction for the human population!



(I must admit that children freak me out!!! Children of the corn and now this…I don’t know what is creepier. I guess all the children in the world stopping at the exact same time and speaking in unison is creepier)

The UK government freaks out worried that the 3 others that participated in handing over the first 12 children 44 years ago would speak out and tell the world that the 456 had been there before, so they put out the 2 kill order, but Jack was one of those few and Jack cannot die, he is a fixed spot in time and space. But that does not stop the government trying to take out Jack (the leader of Torchwood) and the rest of them (Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones). This was not a smart move because Torchwood are the alien experts and taking them out was not the best move.

You really get a chance to learn more about Ianto in this episode. Although he has been there from the beginning, you finally get to really see how he is and really begin to connect with him. You see where he is from and you meet his family. He becomes a much stronger character.

You also really get the chance to see how immortal Jack is and what he can survive, which is really crazy.

Gwen’s husband Rhys plays a much larger role in this mini serious, and a number of new characters are introduced including:

Johnson – who works for the government and she is the one assigned the task of taking out the one person in the world that can’t be taken out (Jack)

Clem – one of the original children who was given to the 456 but managed to escape them

John – the Permanent Secretary to the home office who is in charge of handling the situation with the 456 and put out the order to kill on jack and Torchwood

Lois – a secretary that starts here first day at the home office the same day that 456 make contact. She sees the kill order on Torchwood and begins to wonder why the government is killing the alien expertise when aliens finally showed themselves.

I really loved this mini serious. I stayed up until 4 in the morning last night just so I could see “Day Five”. If you like Sci-Fi, Aliens, Doctor Who or anything in the fantasy world this is a must see. In total it is a little over 6 hrs but worth every second of it. The show keeps you on your feet and wondering what is going to happen next.

I truly hope that this is not the last that we see of Torchwood. To read more about Torchwood visit BBC Torchwood