Children of Earth: Day Four (TV story)

Children of Earth: Day Four
Main enemy:	The 456
Main setting:	London, 2009
Key crew
Writer:	John Fay
Director:	Euros Lyn
Producer:	Peter Bennett
Release details
Release number:	30
Premiere broadcast:	9th July 2009

Synopsis

Torchwood finally learns of the events of 1965. Britain is in danger of becoming a rogue state, and everything now pivots around John Frobisher, as the ambassador of the 456 destroys its old allegiances.

Plot

The episode opens with Jack's recollections of the events of 1965. We find out that the aliens offered a cure for a deadly new flu strain that will soon arise, and in return wanted 12 children. Jack's partner (a woman) claims that the aliens said the children will live forever and he was requested as he cant die and doesn’t care.

We then see Clement's attempted abduction, and that Jack was the one primarily responsible for handing the children over. It turns out that the reason Clement wasn’t taken was the 456 disappeared before they could take him, and Jack was unaware that Clement had escaped. The 456 did not seem to care as they handed over the cure data.

Back in the present Clement then steals Gwen's gun and shoots Jack, after Gwen retrieves her gun from Clement, Jack wakes up and Clement runs off in a panic, but Gwen manages to calm him down. They later wonder why Clem wasn’t taken but speculate that perhaps he was on the verge of puberty and so not wanted by the 456.

At Johnson's facility, Alice and Steven are imprisoned, and Alice warns Johnson about angering Jack.

Back at the home office, Frobisher, asks what would happen to the children, and the “456” by responding that a “Remnant” is watching, and then says it is off the record. It then invites Frobisher in with a camera.

A cameraman enters, and we see a profile of the 456. Dekker then says he is detecting 3 heartbeats and that there are 3 distinct types of life in there. We then see a child hooked up to something. The child is identified as one taken in the 1960's and appear not to have aged.

As the cameraman leaves, a recording of Frobisher's voice saying it is off the record is played, the 456 then says they do not harm the children and they feel no pain. The 456 then say if humanity refuse to hand over the children, they will wipe out the human species.

The Americans then demand all the records of 1965 from the PM, and threaten him, with UN sanctions of some sort for withholding the information.

After an argument with Ianto about his role in the child swap, Jack calls Frobisher to confirm that the 456 have returned. Jack contends that the 456's return is proof that they cannot be trusted. Frobisher informas Jack that he has Jack's daughter and grandson but they will be unharmed if Jack does not reveal Britain's former dealings with the 456. Jack insists he needs to confront the 456.

There is then a Cobra meeting, which Lois attends. The PM then says they will try to haggle, but they can't take military action as there isn’t anything to target. The PM and Frobisher then talk about camouflaged targets but no more. At one point in the meeting Bridget looks at Lois with suspicion. The PM then tells Frobisher to offer "60 units” and no more.

Back at the 456 “embassy” Frobisher offers the 456 one child per million people on Earth. The 456 refuse, but Frobisher suggests that they consider his offer, since it is far more children that previously provided. Around the world, children begin to chant a number, which upon investigation, turns out to be 10% of the total children in each country.

Back at Johnson's facility, it turns out that she is being kept in the dark and decides to go into London, but keeps her team on the lookout for Jack.

At the Cobra meeting, a discussion commences regarding how to select the 10%. First it is proposed that every family should lose only one child, and perhaps each "second child" should be taken. The logisitics of this are deemed too complicated. Then Denise, one of the cabinet members, proposes that they select the children on the basis of intellect and social status, using the school league tables. This proposal is accepted and given to Frobisher as the source of the 10% to be given to the 456.

The Torchwood team determines that Lois' footage gives them leverage to blackmail the cabinet, and force their way into Thames House. Ianto phones his sister to warn her, knowing that the line is tapped. He also sends a message to those listening -- to protect their children. Ianto also makes a quick call to Gwen, providing Johnson with infomation regarding Torchwood's location.

Frobisher begins to plan how children will be gathered and notes that the government can promise an inoculation to prevent children from chanting messages in unison. He suggests that it can be reported that the false vaccination "went wrong,” allowing the government to put the blame on the 456 for the loss of the children.

Johnson arrives a the Torchwood Hub, but Gwen was expecting them, and shows them what they were recording. Rhys has gone into hiding and is ready to send out the footage to the public if anything goes wrong.

Jack and Ianto enter Thames House. Jack talks to the 456, who will not yield on their request for 10% of the world's children. Jack says he is making it a war, then the 456 says the fight begins. The 456 then say they have released a virus into the building that will kill everyone. Ianto and Jack shoot at the 456 chamber, but the bullets bounce off. Jack says he will get Ianto out, but it's too late and Ianto collapses.

The 456 then start to shriek which causes Clement to scream in agony and start bleeding, the 456 then say the Remnant will be disconnected and Clement dies in Gwen’s arms.

We then see everyone in Thames house collapsing and dying aside from Dekker, who dons an environmental suit in time. Ianto tells Jack that he loves him and dies in Jack's arms. The 456 then tell Jack that he will die and tomorrow the children will be delivered. Jack then kisses Ianto one more time and succumbs to the virus himself.

The Cabinet then wonder what to do next, and decide to go ahead with delivering the children. We then see Gwen and some military or special ops men walk in. The men point out Jack's and Ianto's bodies and she walks towards them.  She pulls down Jack's sheet, and then she pulls down Ianto's sheet and begins to cry. Jack then wakes up and comforts a distraught Gwen who says "there is nothing we can do."

Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
• Ianto Jones - Gareth Daid-Lloyd (dies)
• Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
• Lois Habiba - Cush Jumbo
• Alice Carter - Lucy Cohu
• Steven Carter - Bear McCausland
• Bridget Spears - Susan Brown
• John Frobisher - Peter Capaldi
• Johnson - Liz May Brice
• Clem MacDonald - Paul Copley
• Brian Green PM - Nicholas Farrell
• Rick Yates - Nicholas Briggs
• Denise Riley - Deborah Findlay

References

to be added

Story notes

• With the exception of Gwen, all the Torchwood 3 team have died. Suzie Costello died in Everything Changes and again in They Keep Killing Suzie, Owen Harper died in Reset and again in Exit Wounds along with Toshiko Sato, and Jack has died many times throughout the series. Ianto is killed in this episode.
• This is the final appearance of Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones.
• Nicholas Briggs, playing one of the Prime Minister's advisors, makes his on-screen debut in an official Doctor Who franchise production. Although best known to viewers for providing many of the show's alien voices, including the Daleks, Cybermen, Nestene Consciousness and Judoon since 2005, Briggs is well-known in Who fandom, playing the Doctor in the fan-made Audio Visuals audio dramas of the late 1980s (which later evolved into Big Finish), and appearing in (as well a writing and directing) many of the independent spin-off video productions of the 1990s. He also hosted the long-running Myth Makers interview series. His appearance in this episode also means he has now worked on both Doctor Who spinoffs.
• If the 456 are not interested in postpubescent children, then Maria Jackson, Luke Smith, Clyde Langer, and Rani Chandra were not in danger from them, justifying the lack of crossover with The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Ratings

6.24m (overnight)

Myths

• When Jack kissed Ianto at the end of this episode it would be a "kiss of life" (given Jack's resurrection ability) however it was not.

Filming Locations

to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes and Errors

• It takes much longer for Jack to revive, he would normally revive after 5 or 10 minutes but after the 456 killed him there was enough time to move him and cover him up, which must have taken at least an hour with all of the other bodies. (Jack's time to come back varies, usually with how long it takes him to die. For example at the end of series 1 he stood beneath Abaddon for a while before dying. In this instance he was breathing the virus-laden air for a protracted period and therefore it took him longer to come back. It is also possible that he could not revive until all or most of the virus in his system had been purged. It's unknown just how many times Jack died from the virus so it could be that, like with Abaddon, he came closer to death than usual and took longer to come back)
• In Out of Time, Jack sits in a car with John while he commits suicide by Carbon Monoxide poisoning. This seems to show that Jack can live through airborne poisons while other humans cannot, so why did he die with Ianto in this episode? (John had inhaled a lot of CO before Jack arrived, and was a smoker, meaning his lungs would be weaker and he would probably have died long before Jack would have. (We also did not see every moment of the time they were sitting in the car, leaving open the possibility that Jack had "died" and then revived.) A virus is different from a poisonous gas. It's alive, for one thing.
• Jack's death by airborne virus (and, in fact, his explosive end in Part One) raises questions about the nature of his immortality. Specifically, if his body can still come to harm, why didn't his body show any signs of dissolving while he was exposed to Stet Radiation in "Utopia"? (Maybe because you die from radiation before you dissolve from it so Jack's body healed before it gets that far as apposed to being blown up where you die after or at the same time as the explosion. It could also be that the Stet Radiation simply couldn't dissolve him because he needs at least one piece left to grow back from and if there aren't any pieces left, he can't be brought back and thus is no longer a fixed point in time and space.)
• Where on earth could Martha Jones be on honeymoon that she did not notice all this and phone the Doctor? (The Stolen Earth established that she was not always able to contact the Doctor. There are some 'adult-only' holidays and they may not be watching the news. The Doctor may not have the phone anymore, as this could be said for Sarah-Jane with Mr. Smith who had the phone number. )
• 325,000 is way below 10% of the UK's children. The UK has around 10 million children aged under 15, so the figure should have been around 1 million (Perhaps by children they mean people who have yet to go through puberty. Remember that it was speculated that Clem was not taken because he might have been on the cusp of puberty.)
• The plans made in COBRA would require emergency powers, which would need the Queen's consent. She goes unmentioned in this episode, possibly for narrative convenience. (Considering the depth of the illegal actions being depicted on the part of the UK government, it's possible they're bypassing her -- especially given that they authorized the destruction of the Torchwood Institute which was established by the Royal Family.)
• Why didn't the 456 just direct the required number of children to their embarkation points? (The 456 have only shown the ability to stop children, and to make them talk. Perhaps the 456 do not have the ability to control children's motor controls. But they were capable of making the children point towards London. If the 456 had done so, the children could have been physically prevented from reaching those points by the adult humans. They apparently felt that they needed humanity to go along with their plan. As evidenced by the fact that they apparently back off on Day Five when their ambassador is killed, the 456 are not as invincible as they want humanity to believe, so they want the humans to submit to their protection scheme.)
• Ianto criticizes Jack for keeping secrets, apparently forgetting he kept a pretty big secret of his own for months - hiding partially Cyber-converted Lisa Hallett in the Hub (TW: Cyberwoman). Why doesn't Jack call him up on it? Human beings are inconsistent. We criticize other people for keeping secrets even if we have done so ourselves. Especially when the secret is arguably worse.
• Why doesn't Jack bring up the Shadow Proclamation? Surely, a drug trade, as well as the use of an underdeveloped planet like 21sy Century Earth for drug production go against certain statutes of the Shadow Proclamation? Jack is from the 51st Century, and an ex-Time Agent, surely he would know about the Shadow Proclamation? (Even if he did know of their existence and how to contact them, Jack had no way of contacting the Shadow Proclamation with Torchwood 3 gone. As well, with him personally being responsible for delivering 11 children to the 456 as a drug trade could be considered by the Judoon as an accessory to the crime, and by extension most of the British government at the time who were involved. The Shadow Proclaimation may have been a post-time war thing too and if Jack grew up before the time-war he may never have known about it - time is in flux. It should also be noted that Jack didn't even consider calling the Shadow Proclamation in The Stolen Earth, something the Doctor did, implying that he isn't actually familiar with it.)

DVD releases

• This Episode was released on DVD along with the rest of Children of Earth on the 13th of July, 2009.

See also

to be added