Theory:Torchwood television discontinuity and plot holes/Children of Earth: Day Four

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Children of Earth: Day Four doesn't fit well with other DWU narratives. You can also talk about the plot holes that render its own, internal narrative confusing.

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• It takes much longer for Jack to revive, he would normally revive after 5 or 10 minutes but after the 456 killed him there was enough time to move him and cover him up, which must have taken at least an hour with all of the other bodies.

Jack's time to come back varies, usually with how long it takes him to die. For example at the end of series 1 he stood beneath Abaddon for a while before dying. In this instance he was breathing the virus-laden air for a protracted period and therefore it took him longer to come back. It is also possible that he could not revive until all or most of the virus in his system had been purged. It's unknown just how many times Jack died from the virus so it could be that, like with Abaddon, he came closer to death than usual and took longer to come back.

• In Out of Time, Jack sits in a car with John while he commits suicide by Carbon Monoxide poisoning. This seems to show that Jack can live through airborne poisons while other humans cannot, so why did he die with Ianto in this episode?

John had inhaled a lot of CO before Jack arrived, and was a smoker, meaning his lungs would be weaker and he would probably have died long before Jack would have. We also did not see every moment of the time they were sitting in the car, leaving open the possibility that Jack had "died" and then revived.

A virus is different from a poisonous gas. It's alive, for one thing.

• Jack's death by airborne virus (and, in fact, his explosive end in Part One) raises questions about the nature of his immortality. Specifically, if his body can still come to harm, why didn't his body show any signs of dissolving while he was exposed to Stet Radiation in "Utopia"?

Maybe because you die from radiation before you dissolve from it so Jack's body healed before it gets that far as apposed to being blown up where you die after or at the same time as the explosion. It could also be that the Stet Radiation simply couldn't dissolve him because he needs at least one piece left to grow back from and if there aren't any pieces left, he can't be brought back and thus is no longer a fixed point in time and space.

• Where on earth could Martha Jones be on honeymoon that she did not notice all this and phone the Doctor?

The Stolen Earth established that she was not always able to contact the Doctor. There are some 'adult-only' holidays and they may not be watching the news. The Doctor may not have the phone anymore, as this could be said for Sarah-Jane with Mr. Smith who had the phone number.

• 325,000 is way below 10% of the UK's children. The UK has around 10 million children aged under 15, so the figure should have been around 1 million

Perhaps by children they mean people who have yet to go through puberty. Remember that it was speculated that Clem was not taken because he might have been on the cusp of puberty.

• The plans made in COBRA would require emergency powers, which would need the Queen's consent. She goes unmentioned in this episode, possibly for narrative convenience.

Considering the depth of the illegal actions being depicted on the part of the UK government, it's possible they're bypassing her -- especially given that they authorized the destruction of the Torchwood Institute which was established by the Royal Family.

• Why didn't the 456 just direct the required number of children to their embarkation points?

The 456 have only shown the ability to stop children, and to make them talk. Perhaps the 456 do not have the ability to control children's motor controls. But they were capable of making the children point towards London. If the 456 had done so, the children could have been physically prevented from reaching those points by the adult humans. They apparently felt that they needed humanity to go along with their plan. As evidenced by the fact that they apparently back off on Day Five when their ambassador is killed, the 456 are not as invincible as they want humanity to believe, so they want the humans to submit to their protection scheme.

• Ianto criticizes Jack for keeping secrets, apparently forgetting he kept a pretty big secret of his own for months - hiding partially Cyber-converted Lisa Hallett in the Hub (TV: Cyberwoman). Why doesn't Jack call him up on it?

Human beings are inconsistent. We criticize other people for keeping secrets even if we have done so ourselves. Especially when the secret is arguably worse.

There's no way Jack would ever bring up Lisa in front of Ianto unless he was feeling particularly angry. It's by far the worst thing Jack has ever done to Ianto so the less Ianto recalls about it the better for Jack.

• Why doesn't Jack bring up the Shadow Proclamation? Surely, a drug trade, as well as the use of an underdeveloped planet like 21sy Century Earth for drug production go against certain statutes of the Shadow Proclamation? Jack is from the 51st Century, and an ex-Time Agent, surely he would know about the Shadow Proclamation?

Even if he did know of their existence and how to contact them, Jack had no way of contacting the Shadow Proclamation with Torchwood 3 gone.As well, with him personally being responsible for delivering 11 children to the 456 as a drug trade could be considered by the Judoon as an accessory to the crime, and by extension most of the British government at the time who were involved. The Shadow Proclaimation may have been a post-time war thing too and if Jack grew up before the time-war he may never have known about it - time is in flux. It should also be noted that Jack didn't even consider calling the Shadow Proclamation in The Stolen Earth, something the Doctor did, implying that he isn't actually familiar with it.