Torchwood: Children of Earth – Five episodes, five nights, ambitious much?

by Jason Hughes

“Sorry, folks. No regular third season of Torchwood this season.”

“What? I’ll not hear of it!”

“Instead we’re going to give you a one-week, five-night Torchwood event. Five episodes over five nights telling one big story.”

“Bold words. If you’re only going to give me one week of Torchwood all year, it’d better be damned good!”

What a bold experiment, but the storytelling potential here is amazing. Did they pull it off?The answer to that is a categorical yes! At least insofar as there’s only been one installment thus far. Last season, Torchwood established a precedent saying that nothing is sacred, anyone can die (except for Captain Jack Harkness of course) and absolutely anything can happen.

You always hear it said that the best way to test your characters is to put them through hell. It’s how you as a creator let them know you love them. The writers must love the hell out of the three remaining members of Torchwood, and Gwen’s husband Rhys if this opener is any indication.

It was typical Torchwood at first. We met a new doctor, who took a keen interest in something that Jack and Ianto took out of a patient. So much so that Gwen thought he might make a good recruit. Makes sense. But then things got atypical real fast as the stakes got higher and the menaces grew.

I loved the visuals of the children of the world standing perfectly still, repeating the mantra, “We are coming. We are coming.” It’s appropriately chilling. It also asks what kind of menace could be behind such a powerful message delivered through such personal vessels? It’s made all the more curious when we see that a 50-year old man has joined them.

Speaking of personal, how clever was it that we got to take a moment to meet children important in all three of our Torchwooders lives. Have to make sure we as viewers know how personal this is for the characters. It’s more than just a job when it’s relatives or kids you know, don’t you know.

I love Peter Capaldi as John Frobisher. He plays the tortured middle manager, completely overwhelmed but completely trapped in his situation to perfection. Every bit of anguish reads across each expression. Though he seems pretty confident when he orders the elimination of Torchwood’s operatives. He must not know about Jack’s special abilities.

Which brings us to Lois my-last-name-is-needlessly-confusing Habiba. She’s being pretty blatantly set up as the voice of consciousness inside the government who will help out our friends. Subtlety isn’t necessarily on the course tonight, but it doesn’t hurt the enjoyment factor.

The 456 are the alien threat, and even though we don’t know who they are, we know they came down and took a few children once before many years ago, and that our 50-year old chanter was supposed to be one of them. The whole thing was hushed up by the government. So why are they back and speaking through all of the children? It can’t be to exchange recipes.

They set up a pretty threatening alien encounter, isn’t that enough? ? Hell, no! Clearly the secret about the earlier visit by the 456 is serious enough to warrant blowing up Torchwood’s warehouse by implanting a bomb in Jack’s body. Luckily, everyone gets out. Except for Jack. And he can’t die. But it takes out Torchwood as an entity, so who’s left to take on the 456?

As an opening chapter, this is exactly what the writers needed to do. We’ve got Torchwood as enemies of the state and on the run. The 456 are coming and we don’t know what they want and somehow our gang has to find a way to stop them.