Children of Earth: Day Two (TV story)

Children of Earth: Day Two
Main character(s):	Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Rhys
Featuring:	Lois, Frobisher, Bridget, Alice, Johnson, Clem, Andy
Main enemy:	The 456
Main setting:	Cardiff, London, Ashton Down 2009
Key crew
Writer:	John Fay
Director:	Euros Lyn
Producer:	Peter Bennett
Release details
Premiere broadcast:	7 July 2009
Premiere network:	BBC One
Torchwood
← Previous	Children of Earth: Day One
Next →	Children of Earth: Day Three

Children of Earth: Day Two was the second episode in the third series of Torchwood. It was significant for showing the extent of Jack Harkness' regeneration ability, as he survived being blown apart.

Synopsis

Torchwood 3 has been blown up by a bomb planted in Jack Harkness. Gwen, Rhys and Ianto are on the run. Can they elude the government and save the planet from the 456?

Plot

The Hub has blown up. Gwen is seized by an assassination squad as she emerges from the rubble and is dragged into an ambulance. The men pin her flat on a stretcher. One prepares a needle, but they let go of her when she bites one of them. Leaping to her feet, Gwen holds them at gunpoint and learns the people trying to kill the Torchwood staff are from “the government”. She escapes home to Rhys and they go on the run.

The next morning, Johnson finds Jack Harkness' remains in the ruins of the Hub, little more than an arm and a head. They are taken to a warehouse in London. His body begins to reconstruct itself. Meanwhile, Ianto sends a card to his sister, asking her to meet him at the park where he broke his leg as a child and to bring a laptop computer. The children of the world again stop and chant: “We are coming – tomorrow.”

Gwen and Rhys hide in a lorry going to London; during the trip, Gwen tells Rhys she is pregnant. In London, Gwen tries to contact John Frobisher. Her call is taken by Lois Habiba. At MI5, Frobisher, Bridget and Lois see an unknown device being built by Mr. Dekker to the 456's specifications. Lois meets with Gwen and Rhys and tells them it was Frobisher who issued the kill order on Jack and several others.Gwen recognises none of the names. Lois also gives Gwen information about the compound where Jack is being kept. She also suggests a way for Gwen and Rhys to gain entry.

Jack, now fully re-formed and no longer in acute pain, is sealed in concrete by Johnson to prevent his escape. Gwen and Rhys, as Lois had suggested, pose as funeral directors come to fetch Rupesh Patanjali's body, also held at the compound. However, they are caught during their attempt to free Jack.

Jack is freed from his concrete prison.

Ianto, who has also arrived in London and learned where Jack was taken, steals a forklift, lifts Jack's cell and pulls it out of the compound. Gwen and Rhys escape with Ianto in the forklift. Ianto drops the concrete block into a quarry where it breaks apart, releasing Jack. Back at the MI5 headquarters, the mysterious device is completed: a sealed, glass-walled chamber filled with a gas poisonous to humans.

Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
• Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
• Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
• Lois Habiba - Cush Jumbo
• Alice Carter - Lucy Cohu
• Steven Carter - Bear McCausland
• Bridget Spears - Susan Brown
• John Frobisher - Peter Capaldi
• Mr Dekker - Ian Gelder
• Johnson - Liz May Brice
• Clem McDonald - Paul Copley
• Brian Green PM - Nicholas Farrell
• PC Andy Davidson - Tom Price
• Rhiannon Davies - Katy Wix
• Johnny Davies - Rhodri Lewis
• Anna Frobisher - Hilary Maclean
• David Davies - Luke Perry
• Mica Davies - Aimee Davies
• Holly Frobisher - Julia Joyce
• Lilly Frobisher - Madeleine Rakic-Platt
• Recovery Worker - Ashley Hunt
• Danno - Gary Devonish (uncredited)
• Operative - Ben Loyd-Holmes (uncredited)
• Kodak - Osi Okerafor
• Paramedic - Emmanuel Ighadaro
• Barmaid - Libby Liburd
• Sentry - Robert Shelly
• Guard - Quill Roberts
• Mother - Fay McDonald
• Newsreader - Louise Minchin

Crew

Created by Russell T Davies

Executive Producers   Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner

Written by John Fay	Produced by Peter Bennett	Directed by Euros Lyn	Director of Photography Rory Taylor	Production Designer Edward Thomas	Visual Effects The Mill
Make-up Designer Marie Doris	Casting Director Andy Pryor CDG	Music Ben Foster	Costume Designer Ray Holman	Edited by Philip Kloss	Special Effects Any Effects
Original theme music by Murray Gold  •  With thanks to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Associate Producer - Catrin Lewis Defis Assistant Producer - Brian Minchin Production Manager - Steffan Morris Location Manager - Nicky James Assistant Location Manager - Gareth Skelding Unit Manager - Rhys Griffiths Production Co-ordinator - Clare Rutteman Production Secretary - Claire Thomas Drivers - Sean Evans, Wynford Finney Production Accountant - Ceri Tothill A/Production Accountant - Carole Wakefield Script department Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Rhydian Evans 2nd Assistant Director - James DeHaviland 3rd Assistant Director - David Chalstrey Runners - Alison Jones, Nicola Brown, Tom Evans Continuity - Non Eleri Hughes Camera Operators - James Leigh, Alwyn Hughes Focus Pullers - Steve Rees, Jamie Southcott Grip - Clive Baldwin Camera Assistants - Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen Boom Operator - Jeff Welch Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Steve Slocombe Electricians - Ben Griffiths, Jonathan Cox, Gareth Williams	Art department Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Set Decorator - Julian Luxton Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Jackson Pope Standby Carpenter - Will Pope Standby Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones Standby Rigger - Keith Freeman Property Master - Stuart Wooddisse Props Driver - Tom Belton Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Graphics - BBC Wales Graphic Design Costume department Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Costume Assistants - Sara Morgan, Gemma Evans	Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Supervisor - Abi Brotherton Make-up Artists - Nel Batt, Hannah Proverbs Prosthetics - Millennium FX Movement Stunt Co-ordinator - Tom Lucy Casting Casting Associate - Andy Brierley General post-production staff Post-production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Helen Vallis Assistant Editor - Carmen Sanchez Roberts On-line Editor - Geraint Pari Huws Special and visual effects Colourist - Jon Everett Sound Sound Recordist - Julian Howarth Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Sound Supervisor - Doug Sinclair Sound Effects Editor - Howard Eaves Sound Assistant - Bryn Thomas

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.

References

Individuals

• Ianto's leg was broken by his father when he was younger.
• This is the second time that Jack has been shown completely naked. The first time was in DW: Bad Wolf. On that occasion the BBC had filed a request that the "offensive" parts be either blurred or concealed by props.
• Queen Victoria created other institutions, although the present government is not aware of them.

Torchwood

• The government believes Torchwood Two has disbanded but is unsure.

Religion

• Johnson uses the name "Lazarus" to describe Jack's immortality. This is a Biblical reference to Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead.

Story notes

• Gwen and Rhys pretend to be undertakers to retrieve Jack. Gwen is a double of Gwyneth (also played by Eve Myles), who was the servant to an undertaker. (DW: The Unquiet Dead, Journey's End)

Ratings

• 5.8 million overnight (BBC1)

Filming locations

• Darwin Drive (play area) - Where Ianto met his sister.
• Avesta Polarit Steelworks - Torchwood, London Warehouse.

Production errors

• When the concrete-filled cell is pulled out of the wall by the forklift, it appears to be much smaller than earlier, when it was filled with concrete. At some points it doesn't appear wide enough for Jack Harkness to be lying horizontally.
• A concrete block would not break falling from that height, but would only chip; when the concrete cell smashes apart in the quarry, there's no sign of the gurney Jack was lying on.
• When all the children stop at where Ianto and his sister are talking, a girl with blonde hair is still moving around and laughing.
• Gwen's gun does not run out of bullets.

Continuity

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

• Whilst Lois is on the computer researching Torchwood, the MacLeish Estate and Canary Wharf are mentioned in the article.
• A new detail of Jack's immortality is revealed: he can regrow major parts of his anatomy even after experiencing physical destruction, although this is not a quick process. He does so without losing memories, though it is stated that "part of a head" survived the blast and it is not indicated if that part happened to include his brain.

Home video releases

• Children of Earth: Day Two was released on DVD along with the rest of Children of Earth on 13 July 2009.

Footnotes