Children of Earth: Day Four

"The human race in defence of their children will fight to the death."

Writer: John Fay

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 8th July 2009

Series: Torchwood 3.04

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Rhys

Synopsis 

Torchwood finally learns of the events of 1965. Britain is in danger of becoming a rogue state and everything pivots around John Frobisher as the ambassador of the 456 destroys its old allegiances. 

Verdict

Children of Earth: Day Four is a staggeringly good episode! What a way to set up for the finale - just astounding! This episode is full of tension, emotion and atmosphere and it's terrific to see Torchwood get the upper hand during the story's unfolding. Obviously the major and absolutely shocking talking point of this penultimate episode of the series is the death of Ianto. When watching on broadcast some five years ago I was absolutely stunned on that Thursday evening when Gwen uttered the words "there's nothing we can do". That was the confirmation. Ianto wasn't coming back. He was dead. Lost. And what an emotional death it was! Torchwood doesn't do killing off the lead characters lightly now do they! The emotion behind Owen and Tosh's departed in Exit Wounds was more than marched with Ianto's farewell here. Not only did the death once again change the landscape of Torchwood, but it showed just how powerful the 456 were. This was what the British Government was dealing with. The 456 wanted 10% of the Earth's children population which equated to 35,000,000. Obviously that was absurd and unthinkable. I was surprised that the cabinet in office were prepared to offer 6700 children as a 'haggle'. How could those responsible for deciding which children would depart live with themselves? How they devised a scheme to come up with the 10% baffled me. They used the school league tables. That's just disgusting. In my opinion, if this was the absolute last resort then the process simply has to be random. Why should those who aren't as clever be discriminated against? The 456's metaphoric laughter at the offer of 6700 was brilliant. So once again they talked through the children and in every single country the numbers equalling 10% of the child population was said. How frightening that must have been! Lois was  wonderful in this episode, she really was splendid. After being responsible for the entire filming of the cabinet conversations, Torchwood were back in command. They held all the cards. They invited Johnson and co to the abandoned warehouse they were based because they knew they couldn't do anything once everything was revealed. Rhys was ready and just waiting for a signal to make the cabinet conversations public. To show the world that they were discussing and agreeing to hand over 35 million children to aliens. Their cover up would be blown and they'd have a mass revolt on their hands. There would be chaos! It was such an unexpected pleasure to see Nicholas Briggs appear in this episode as Rick! And he was callous! A very good character. Frobisher's dealings with the 456 were intriguing but nothing was more so than seeing the cameras brought into the poison chamber and a child was seen apparently hooked up to the 456 itself. And he hadn't aged or grown since 1965. Just what did they use the children for? And why did they now want so many? Some interesting questions that'll need answering in the finale! To see the extent the 456 went to prove a point showed just how dangerous they are. They simply murdered everybody in the building they were housed to prove a point of war. They wanted their 10%, and things look pretty good for them. The method they used to kill Clement was intriguing and when he died that was an extremely emotional moment! He'd been such a good character, despite killing Jack! His relationship with Gwen has been a series highlight. But the talking point was always going to be Ianto's death. I remember the shock back in 09 and everything hit me once again now, five years later. Just an incredible penultimate episode.

Rating: 10/10