Children of Earth: Day Three (TV story)

Children of Earth: Day Three
Main character(s):	Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Rhys
Featuring:	Lois, Frobisher, Bridget, Alice, Johnson, Clem, Andy
Main enemy:	The 456
Main setting:	London and Cardiff, 2009
Key crew
Writers:	Russell T Davies and James Moran
Director:	Euros Lyn
Producer:	Peter Bennett
Release details
Premiere broadcast:	8 July 2009
Premiere network:	BBC One
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Torchwood
← Previous	Children of Earth: Day Two
Next →	Children of Earth: Day Four

Children of Earth: Day Three was the third episode of the third series of Torchwood. It notably introduced the 456 after the buildup in previous episodes.

Synopsis

The eyes of the world turn to Britain. The 456 announce: "We are here," as the new Torchwood adventure continues. A pillar of fire descends upon London and Torchwood must battle to protect their own families as the fight gets personal. Will Clem's memories destroy everything?

Plot

The team, including Rhys, have set up a base in an old factory once used by Torchwood One for storage. As a former police officer, Gwen knows all the tricks of the criminal trade, including stealing mobile phones, debit cards and laptops from people off the street. Jack makes off with a car. Soon the base is stocked. When he researches the other people targeted for assassination, Jack is shocked. He seems to recognise them and he runs off.

In Cardiff, Jack's daughter Alice is still trying to contact him; she goes outside and borrows a girl's mobile to phone the Cardiff police, but the government's scanners pick up Jack's name and try to find the connection between them. Agent Johnson gets word of this. Her team take Alice and her son away to "help" them. Suddenly, Steven points southeastwards to London as all the children on Earth are pointing towards London.

A pillar of light descends from the sky and enters Thames House. Fiery energy fills the gas containment system. Mr Frobisher and Mr Dekker meet with the aliens, who instruct the humans to call them "456". During the discussion, Frobisher extracts a promise from the 456 that it will not mention its previous visit to Earth in 1965.

Gwen surprises Lois Habiba at a cafe and asks her to wear some special contact lenses to allow Torchwood to see what is going on. Lois protests but takes the contacts. Gwen phones PC Andy to bail Clem out from police custody and brings him to the base.

Jack sneaks into Frobisher's house and steals his wife's mobile. He phones Frobisher, having made the connection between the children and the events of 1965. He threatens Frobisher with "blow[ing] this thing sky high". Frobisher tells Jack they have taken his daughter and grandson into custody and will kill them if he does. Jack threatens to do the same, but Frobisher knows he would never do such a thing.

That night. Frobisher, Bridget Spears and Lois Habiba enter the gas chamber room, which is being filmed for the Prime Minister and being transmitted to a conference room where UNIT, an American general and the Prime Minister are watching. Frobisher demands the 456 cease using human children to communicate; in return the 456 demand a gift: 10% of the children on Earth.

Back at the warehouse base, Clem tells Gwen he can smell the man who brought the children to the aliens. When Jack walks in, Clem recognises him as the man who gave the twelve children up to the aliens in 1965. When Gwen protests that Jack is a "good guy" who fights aliens, Jack informs them that in this instance, he had done what was asked. He gave the 456 the children... "as a gift."

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
• Johnson - Liz May Brice
• Clem McDonald - Paul Copley
• Brian Green PM - Nicholas Farrell
• General Pierce - Colin McFarlane
• Mr Dekker - Ian Gelder
• PC Andy Davidson - Tom Price
• Newsreader - Louise Minchin
• French Newsreader - Anthony Debaeck
• Trinity Wells - Lachele Carl
• Colonel Oduya - Charles Abomeli
• Rhiannon Davies - Katy Wix
• Johnny Davies - Rhodri Lewis
• Anna Frobisher - Hilary Maclean
• Parliamentary Secretary - Rachel Ferjani
• Press Officer - Christopher James
• Operative - Ben Loyd-Holmes
• David Davies - Luke Perry
• Mica Davies - Aimee Davies
• Holly Frobisher - Julia Joyce
• Lilly Frobisher - Madeleine Rakic-Platt
• Sandwich Shop Man - Patrice Etienne
• The 456 - Simon Poland
• Young Clem - Gregory Ferguson

Crew

Executive Producers   Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner

Written by Russell T Davies & James Moran	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 John Gillanders	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 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 - Steffan Morris 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 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.
This episode did not have a "created by Russell T Davies" credit.

References

• This is the second time in the recent Doctor Who multiverse that an alien asked for ten percent of a population. The first was in TV: The Sound of Drums when the Saxon Master kills 10% of Earth's population. Both stories involved Captain Jack Harkness.
• Clement McDonald is held at a police station on Albany Street in Camden.
• Clem describes Ianto as "queer".

Real world

• The children's program Trapped! is seen on the television.

Story notes

• The footage of the lift going up is the same used in TV: Rose et al.

Ratings

• 5.9 million viewers ( overnight )

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

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.

• During the first scene in the warehouse, when Jack "lets slip" he knew about the pregnancy, Gwen mutters, "You promised, John," instead of, "You promised, Jack".
• When Lois Habiba wears the contact lens, she puts them both in the same eye (her left eye).
• The green goo sprayed on the front of the tank disappears and reappears in different shapes several times between shots.
• When Gwen is demonstrating the lenses to Lois, several times she looks in different directions and moves her head, but the display on the laptop doesn't move. Also, when Gwen blinks, the display is unaffected.
• Frobisher welcomes the 456 ambassador on behalf of "The United Kingdom and Northern Ireland", instead of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." Later, when listing the countries which have agreed to let him speak on their behalf, Frobisher refers to "the Provinces and Territories of Canada". The correct formal name is simply "Canada."

Continuity

• Lois wears contact lenses with same abilities as the ones Martha wore in TV: Reset.
• The Doctor is mentioned. The last episode of Torchwood to explicitly reference the Doctor was TV: Fragments.
• Trinity Wells and the French Newsreader both make their first appearances in Torchwood and become the only two characters to have appeared in Doctor Who and both of the spin-offs.
• Jack's wife is said to have died in October 2006, making him a widower.

Home video releases

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

Footnotes