Series 3 (Torchwood)

Torchwood: Children of Earth was a Torchwood mini-series which aired in 2009 on BBC 1. It served as Series 3 of Torchwood.

Overview

Children of Earth was broadcast over five consecutive nights. The series had new Producer Peter Bennett and was directed by Euros Lyn, who had considerable experience on the revived Doctor Who. The first, fourth, and fifth episodes were written by Russell T Davies, who also wrote the story arc. The third episode was written by James Moran whilst the second is by newcomer John Fay, though according to Moran's blog, all three writers had input into the overall storyline.

Production on this series began in August 2008 and was broadcast in July 2009 on BBC 1. The Series aired from Monday the 6th of July to Friday the 10th.

Television Stories

• Children of Earth: Day One
• Children of Earth: Day Two
• Children of Earth: Day Three
• Children of Earth: Day Four
• Children of Earth: Day Five

Story Notes

• Children of Earth was orginally planned to air in the second week in June, but was changed to July.
• The only returning main cast members for Series 3 are John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd, Tom Price, and Kai Owen.
• Reference is made to the events of DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.
• As of this story, all of the original Torchwood team have died, apart from Gwen Cooper. Jack Harkness has died numerous times, only to return to life.

Opening and closing credits

The opening credits for Series 3 are markedly different from that used for the first two seasons. The series logo screen is presented with black text on a white background (as opposed to the normal red-on-black), with the Children of Earth subtitle. There is no opening credit sequence beyond the title screen, no opening theme music; the main cast credits play out over the opening scene of each episode and are combined with the major production credits. Kai Owen receives start-of-episode credit along with Barrowman, Myles and David-Lloyd in these episodes for the first time.

The closing credits are formatted the same as previous seasons, featuring the Torchwood closing theme music.

Myths and rumours

• DW: Journey's End included a scene in which Jack Harkness is heard offering Martha Jones a job, with further dialogue hinting at possible involvement by Mickey Smith. This, combined with a comment in Russell T Davies' book The Writer's Tale that Davies had promised Noel Clarke a role in Series 3 of Torchwood, led to speculation that Martha and Mickey would appear in Children of Earth. Ultimately, this did not occur, although Day One includes a dialogue reference to Martha.
• Similarly, an appearance by the Doctor was also speculated, but did not occur, although once again references to the character are made in dialogue (including a reference in Day Five that serves to cover the issue of why he isn't on Earth to combat the 456).

Cast

Returning Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
• Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
• Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
• Andy Davidson - Tom Price

New Cast

• Lois Habiba - Cush Jumbo
• Dr. Rupesh Patanjali - Rik Makarem
• Alice Carter - Lucy Cohu
• Bridget Spears - Susan Brown
• Johnson - Liz May Brice
• John Frobisher - Peter Capaldi
• Clem MacDonald - Paul Copley
• Mr. Dekker - Ian Gelder
• Prime Minister Green - Nicholas Farrell
• Rhiannon Davies - Katy Wix
• Denise Riley - Deborah Findlay
• Rick Yates - Nicholas Briggs
• The 456 (voice)- Simon Poland

International Broadcast

Early in 2009, several sources including Doctor Who Magazine reported that BBC One and BBC America were planning to coincide their broadcasts, allowing Children of Earth to be broadcast in the UK and US on the same days. This ultimately did not occur, with the UK showing the miniseries the week of 6th July, followed by BBC America the week of 20th July 2009.

The Canadian network Space also aired Children of Earth the week of July 20th.

However, each respective episode was broacdcast a mere 14 hours after its initial UK broadcast on UKTV in Australia.

DVD/Blu Ray Release

Children of Earth was released on both DVD and Blu-Ray on the 13th of July in the UK, and in North America on 28th July.

An exclusive 31-minute edition of Torchwood Declassified is included on the DVD.

External Links

• Season 3 preview.
• Praise for the mini-series on The Three Rs.

Aliens and Enemies

• The 456

Radio

The week prior to the original UK broadcast, BBC Radio 4 aired three original audio dramas featuring the television cast. Although not officially promoted by the BBC as extensions of Series 3 (and as such are of uncertain canonicity), the fanbase has taken them to be so.

• Asylum
• Golden Age
• The Dead Line

Previous season: Torchwood Series 2

Next season: Torchwood Series 4