Children of Earth: Day Five (TV story)

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 with 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 are soon discovered by the troops, and have 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 threatens to reveal to the press the true nature of the inoculations. Green persuades him against this, noting that Frobisher's children would then know their fate. Knowing this, he decides to murder his family and commit suicide.

Ms Spears visits Lois Habiba in prison (where she is being 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 devises 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 tells him that in order for it to work, the wave needs to be sent via one child, and that this child would "fry". They only have one child available to them: Steven. Ignoring his feelings and his own daughter's protests, Jack uses his grandson as the prime transmitter. The plan succeeds, killing the 456, as well as Steven.

Gwen, the only one from the estate left uncaptured, happily embraces the liberated children. Jack is left grieving, and Alice severs all contact with him.

Six Months Later Jack has 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, the base destroyed and Gwen heavily pregnant, Torchwood Three effectively ceases to exist.

Cast

Production Crew

Executive Producers - Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner

Associate Producer – Catrin Lewis Defis

Producer – Peter Bennett

Assistant Producer – Brian Minchin

Unit Manager – Rhys Griffiths

Casting Director - Andy Pryor

Costume Designer - Ray Holman

Make-Up Designer - Marrie Dorris

Production Designer - Edward Thomas

Set Decoration – Julian Luxton

Music – Ben Foster

Visual Effects - The Mill

Creature Effects and Prosthetics Designer – Neill Gorton

Creature Effects and Prosthetics Coordinator – Kate Walshe

Creature Effects and Proethetics Supervisor – Rob Mayor

Editor - Philip Kloss

Director of Photography – Rory Taylor

First Assistant Director - Steffan Morris

Second Assistant Director - James Dehaviland

Third Assistant Director – David Chalstrey

Camera Operators - Alwyn Hughes, James Leigh

Camera Assistants – Tom Hartley, Jon Vidgen

Focus Puller – Steve Rees

Gaffer - Mark Hutchings

Best Boy – Steve Slocombe

Boom Operator – Jeff Welch

Stunt Coordinator - Tom Lucy

Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies

Supervising Art Director – Stephen Nicholas

Stand-by Art Director – Arwel Jones

Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi

Costume Assistants – Gemma Evans, Sara Morgan

Make-Up Supervisor - Abi Brotherton

Make-Up Artists - Nel Blatt, Hannah Proverbs

Continuity – Non Eleri Hughes

Production Accountant – Ceri Tothill

Assistant Production Accountant – Carole Wakefield

Casting Associate - Andy Brierley

Assistant Editor – Carmen Roberts

On-Line Editor – Geraint Pari Huws

Colourist – Jon Everett

Post Production Supervisors - Chris Blatchford, Helen Vallis

Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts

Sound FX Editor - Howard Eaves

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

Russell T Davies originally wrote a role for Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith in both Day Four and Day Five, but these scenes were cut when Clarke became unavailable due to a film commitment. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
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

5.8 million viewers (overnight, BBC1)

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.
It was believed that Steven would have inherited Jack's healing factor. Sadly, this was not the case.

Filming Locations

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

Production Errors

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?

DVD Releases

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

Footnotes