Children of Earth: Day Five (TV story)

Children of Earth: Day Five
Main enemy:	The 456
Key crew
Writer:	Russell T Davies
Director:	Euros Lyn
Producer:	Peter Bennett
Release details
Release number:	31
Premiere broadcast:	10th July 2009

Synopsis

Torchwood is defenceless, and Gwen Cooper stands alone. As anarchy prevails, an ordinary council estate becomes a battleground for the future of the human race.

Plot

The episode begins with a camcorder video of Gwen questioning why The Doctor has not appeared to save them. She remarks that sometimes he may be appalled at the way humanity deals times of crisis.

The Prime Minister talks to the nation, informing the UK about the upcoming 'inoculations' and saying that it is safe for the children to return to school. The UNIT leader talks with the 456, asking them what their purpose for the children is. He is told that the children are for "the hit": The children create chemicals, which the 456 use as recreational drugs. The government, although horrified at the reason, begins to put their plan into action.

Rhiannon and Johnny, having been told by Ianto that the government is lying, keep their "creche" service running for the local estate. Gwen, along with Rhys and Andy, arrive to inform them of Ianto's death, and warn them that special forces will soon arrive to take the children. After raising the alarm, fighting off the army troops and fleeing to a nearby disused building with the children, Gwen is shown making the tape shown at the beginning of the episode. They were soon discovered, and had to run again.

John Frobisher is informed by the Prime Minister to publicly state that his own children would be taken for 'inoculation,' in an attempt by the government to portray themselves as victims in order to reassure the public regarding their cover story and to implicate the 456 as the true villains. Frobisher threatened to reveal to the press the true nature of the inoculations. Green persuaded him against this, noting that Frobisher's children would then know their fate. Knowing this, he decided to murder his family and commit suicide.

Ms Spears visits Lois Habiba in prison (where she was held on charges of espionage), telling her that "John Frobisher was a good man," and that "it wasn't his fault", as history would not remember him this way. Spears then takes the Torchwood contact lenses from Lois, and proceeds to record incriminating evidence against Green.

Jack devised a way to defeat the 456 using a reconstitution wave of a similar wavelength the 456 used to kill Clem, using the children as one vast transmitter. Mr Dekker told him that in order for it to work, the wave needed to be sent via one child, and that this child would "fry". They only had one child available to them: Steven. Ignoring his feelings and his own daughter's protests, Jack used his grandson as the prime transmitter. The plan succeeded, killing the 456, as well as Steven.

Gwen, the only one from the estate left uncaptured, happily embraced the liberated children. Jack was left grieving, and Alice severed all contact with him.

Six months later

Jack traveled the world for six months, but finds that this is not enough to rid himself of his guilt. He arranges a meeting with Gwen (now heavily pregnant) and Rhys on a hilltop in a remote location. Jack tells them that there is a cold fusion freighter currently near the edge of the Sol system, and he intends to get onboard for further travels. Gwen tearfully tells him he can't "just run away", to which he replies "Yes I can, watch me". He uses his vortex manipulator (which Gwen had retrieved from the ruins of Torchwood) to signal the freighter, which teleports him off Earth.

Gwen is left sobbing in Rhys' arms - with Jack gone, the other members dead and Gwen heavily pregnant, Torchwood Three effectively ceases to exist.

Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
• Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
• Lois Habiba - Cush Jumbo
• Alice Carter - Lucy Cohu
• Mr Dekker - Ian Gelder
• Steven Carter - Bear McCausland
• Bridget Spears - Susan Brown
• John Frobisher - Peter Capaldi
• Colonel Oduya - Charles Abomeli
• Johnson - Liz May Brice
• Brian Green PM - Nicholas Farrell
• Denise Riley - Deborah Findlay
• Andy Davidson - Tom Price
• Anna Frobisher - Hilary Maclean

Production crew

to be added

References

• Jack tells Gwen he feels responsible for the deaths of Steven, Ianto, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Suzie Costello.
• When Gwen returns to Cardiff and meets Andy Davidson, he says the words "Croeso i Cymru", which is Welsh for "Welcome to Wales."
• The Doctor is referenced by Gwen, touching on a theme first mentioned in The Christmas Invasion regarding the fact that the Doctor is not always around when a crisis occurs.
• Reversing a transmission/signal for defense was previously used on the Ood in the Doctor Who serial The Satan Pit.

Story notes

• This episode concludes the Children Of Earth series.
• Even though Colonel Oduya was in this episode he was not credited.
• This is actually not the first time a canonical Doctor Who franchise story has dealt on the subject of sentient beings converted into drugs. DW: Nightmare of Eden dealt with a similar topic, although in that case the drugs were harvested from the corpses of Mandrels rather than from living humans.

Ratings

to be added

Myths

• The Doctor was rumoured to appear, however, he was only mentioned by Gwen when she was recording a message.
• Speculation started over Ianto's death in TW: Children of Earth: Day Four with many fans believing he may be resurrected; however, this was not the case.
• It was rumoured that Gwen would die, however she did not.
• This is the series finale of Torchwood. It's unknown if this is true, a fourth season has yet to be confirmed and the last scene did heavily imply it was. However media reports following the original UK broadcast indicated that the BBC has made no decision on the series' fate, and although he is stepping down as showrunner for Doctor Who, Russell T Davies has indicated that he plans to stick with Torchwood if it continues.

Filming Locations

• Rupert Brooke Drive
• Thames House - London
• Maindee Police Station - Newport
• Cefn Coed Road - The Frobisher residence
• M.O.D Caerwent

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• With Torchwood gone, who is keeping the rift in check? (Gwen's still around - she may build a new team. Besides there is always the possibility that jack could come back. UNIT seem to know Torchwood, and perhaps the purpose of their location, they could manage the rift. However, nobody's said anyone is watching it.)
• With Day Five being set on a Saturday (if the newspaper Ianto picked up is anything to go by), then why are the children at school? Obviously the government told them to but why would they go? (Not all of them did - and seeing as they missed a day of school, their parents may have wanted them to make up for it. Plus, parents may send children in for the injection they were suppossed to receive.)
• Why does Jack's vortex manipulator work? (It didn't, at least not as a teleport. Jack simply used it to send a signal. The ship then teleported him up.)
• How does Jack know when a vessel is passing through the Solar System? (In regards to the Solar System vessel, he may be able to identify it due to his futuristic background (i.e. he knew the freighter's schedule from some dealings in his relative past) or he knew the night sky above Cardiff, picked out a light that didn't belong and made an educated guess (he has been in Cardiff for over 150 years after all, it's conceivable that he would know the night sky by now. It's also possible, if not likely, that he still has access to equipment that may allow him to track alien spacecraft.)
• The way Gwen talks about the Doctor on her video, you'd think she'd never seen nor met the man. (She only saw him on screen during Journey's End, for a few moments, not much time to form a opinion)
• Why do the soldiers that chase Gwen and the others suddenly stop after the children had used their voices to kill the 456 in Thames House and why does Gwen instantly know that the children saved themselves?
• If Gwen doesn't want Jack to leave Earth why does she give him his Vortex Manipulator. (He asked her for it. Even if she knew that he was going to use it to leave, it would have been childish to keep it from him and try to force him to stay against his will.)

DVD and Other 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

External links

to be added