Children of Earth: Day One (TV story)

"Children of Earth: Day One" is the first of a five-part serial of the third series of Torchwood.

Synopsis
When every child on the Earth stops and starts chanting "We Are Coming", the Torchwood team has to investigate. Could this be the start of a global crisis?

Plot
One night in Scotland, 1965, a group of young children in are being driven in a school bus to an undisclosed location. When the bus stops, the children exit and walk towards a light that gets brighter as they draw closer. One of the children is hesitant, and eventually flees as the light covers a large area.

44 years later, in Cardiff, 2009, at 8:40 am GMT, Gwen Cooper is withdrawing money from an ATM when she notices two children standing completely still and completely unresponsive. In fact, all the children all over the United Kingdom freeze. After a minute, the children start moving again, acting as if nothing had happened. Gwen goes to the Hub and begins to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, at a hospital, Dr. Rupesh Patanjali attempts to save a man's life, but is unsuccessful. Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones, whom Dr. Patanjali believes are the man's neighbours, ask if they can see the body alone. Jack uses a laser torch to open up the man and extracts an alien organ. Dr. Patanjali suddenly re-enters, sees the alien organ, and asks if the men are Torchwood, which Jack quickly denies. Dr. Patanjali tells them that the bodies of five ethnic males have disappeared over the past two months, but Jack tells him that it's a problem for the NHS to handle, and he and Ianto drive away. Back at the Hub, Gwen tells them what has happened with the children.

Meanwhile, a woman named Lois Habiba begins her first day at work for her new boss, Bridget Spears, assistant to Permanent Secretary to the Home Office, John Frobisher. Frobischer is visited by UNIT Colonel Oduya, who tells him that children 'stopped' at the exact same time all over the world, as the Torchwood team also discovers. Oduya says that UNIT has been taken to yellow alert, although they don't yet know if the phenonemon is extraterrestrial in origin.

Dr. Patanjali appears, wandering in the plaza outside the Hub. Gwen goes out to meet him, as the self-appointed "recruitment officer," since, as Jack says, the team needs a doctor. While the two are talking, all the children again suddenly stop at 10:30 am. This time, they begin to scream, then chant in unison: "We are coming." The Torchwood team later discovers that an adult man, Timothy White, in a in West Sussex psychiatric hospital also stops and speaks the same words as the children and that every child in the world spoke the same words -- in English.

Frobisher is told by the Head of MI5's Technology division, Mr. Dekker, who is also in charge of alien monitoring, that the aliens called The 456 have re-established contact for the first time since 1965, transmitting a burst of compressed information on frequency 456. Frobisher meets with the Prime Minister, Brian Green, and suggests that "it might be best if certain historical events were taken off the record." Green agrees, but refuses Frobisher's request that he issue a 'blank page,' saying that he doesn't want his name attached. Green places Frobisher in charge of the crisis so Green can have deniability if the things go wrong.

Lois fields a phone call from Jack Harkness, and when she logs it, the compter flags Torchwood as classified. Curious, she logs on as Bridget Spears and discovers that Torchwood was established to defend the Earth against extraterrestrial threats.

Back at the Hub, Jack and Ianto realize that they need to question a child. Jack visits his daughter, Alice Carter, and her son Steven, Jack's grandson. Alice refuses to let Jack use Steven. Ianto visits his sister, Rhiannon Davies, and tries to talk her into letting him take one of her children on an 'outing,' but she refuses. She also questions Ianto about his having been seen out to dinner with a man, and Ianto admits his feelings for Jack. Ianto's Torchwood car is stolen while he is visiting his sister.

Gwen visits Timothy White who tells her that when he was a child, he was put on a bus and taken away with a group of children; they were told that they were going to a new home. He watched the other children approach a bright light, which took them. But he escaped; he had gotten scared and ran away. His real name is Clem MacDonald. He has an unusually heightened sense of smell; Clem tells Gwen that the aliens are coming back, that he has been smelling them for months -- and that she is three-weeks pregnant. Leaving the psychiatric institute, Gwen calls Ianto, now back at the Hub, and tells him to initiate a search for information about MacDonald, missing children, and Scotland. Ianto's research triggers an alarm at an unidentified military monitoring station.

At the Home Office, Frobisher orders Bridget Spears to issue a blank page; that is, an order to kill. Four people are on the list, one of which is Captain Jack Harkness. Lois, watching Bridget and seeing that she is in some distress, goes into Bridget's e-mail account and sees the blank page order. She recognizes Jack's name from his earlier phone call.

Jack goes back to Cardiff hospital hoping to question a child in the Children's Ward. Dr. Patanjali tells him that another ethnic man has died; when Jack goes with him to examine the body, Dr. Patanjali shoots him. A young woman named Johnson comes in and waits to see if Jack revives, proving the rumours about his immortality. She kills Jack again, then orders her men to surgically implant a bomb in his body. Patanjali is shown to have been a spy, under orders to infiltrate Torchwood. Johnson cold-bloodedly kills Rupesh to stop Jack from finding him and learning why he was shot. Jack revives again, finding Patanjali's body on the floor next to him. He returns to the Hub.

Using a scanner in the Torchwood Hub, Gwen realises that Clement's claims are true -- she is pregnant. Jack arrives and places his hand on hers, inadvertantly scanning himself. There is a bomb in his stomach. He tells Gwen and Ianto to get out before the bomb denonates. Ianto wants to stay behind, to try to work defuse the bomb, but there is no time. Jack forces him to an exit, saying "I can survive anything!" He kisses Ianto, watches him rise on the elevator, and tells him, "I'll come back...I always do." The Hub blows up in a massive explosion, knocking the running Gwen to the ground.

Meanwhile, all the children chant, "We are coming, we are coming, we are coming ... back".

Cast

 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Lois Habiba - Cush Jumbo
 * Dr. Rupesh Patanjali - Rik Makarem
 * Alice Carter - Lucy Cohu
 * Steven Carter - Bear McCausland
 * Bridget Spears - Susan Brown
 * John Frobisher - Peter Capaldi
 * Johnson - Liz May Brice
 * Clem MacDonald - Paul Copley
 * Brian Green PM - Nicholas Farrell
 * Rhiannon Davies - Katy Wix
 * Colonel Oduya - Charles Abomeli
 * Johnny Davies - Rhodri Lewis
 * Anna Frobisher - Hilary Maclean
 * David Davies - Luke Perry
 * Mica Davies - Aimee Davies
 * Holly Frobisher - Julia Joyce
 * Lily Frobisher - Madeline Rakic-Platt
 * Young Clem - Gregory Furguson

Production crew
to be added

Continuity

 * A photo of Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper on Gwen's Workspace.
 * Martha Jones has gone on honeymoon with Tom Milligan. The context confirms that, despite the invitation extended to her at the end of DW: Journey's End, she appears to still be with UNIT.
 * UNIT as an organization is mentioned many times, and a UNIT officer meets with Frobisher. Despite the real-life decision to remove the "United Nations" name from the UNIT acronym, it is stated in dialogue that UNIT is still under the command of the UN.
 * Colonel Mace (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem'/'The Poison Sky) has been relocated to Vancouver by UNIT.
 * The families of both Jack and Ianto are introduced. It is learned that Jack has a grown daughter (mother not identified) and a grandson.
 * Although in a relationship with Jack, Ianto establishes he has never felt this way for another man. Nevertheless, Clem is able to identify him as a "queer" by scent.
 * Jack dies three times.
 * When Rhys calls Gwen about a house that he has seen up for sale, the estate agent sign outside it says Frost and Lynch which is the same estate agency from the episode Combat which Mark Lynch owned alongside running the Weevil fight club.
 * John Frobisher's daughter, Holly, is played by Julia Joyce, who appeared as young Rose Tyler in DW: Father's Day.
 * The "Gizmo" which Gwen uses to turn off the CCTV appears to be the same device that Dr Tanizaki used to examine Lisa in Cyberwoman.
 * Whether intentional or not, the "blank page" resembles psychic paper.
 * Brian Green is the fourth prime minister to appear in the revived Doctor Who universe, and is the fourth to be involved in not-very-positive activities following the unidentified PM killed by the Slitheen in DW: Aliens of London, Harriet Jones, and Harold Saxton.
 * Although Torchwood is still supposed to be a "secret" organization, the fact it is becoming known by the public is referenced in several scenes, most notably when Gwen states that if you ask people about Torchwood, they usually send people towards Cardiff Bay (where the Hub is located).
 * When Lois reads up on the history of Torchwood, the text on screen references the events of DW: Tooth and Claw. This is because Torchwood was founded as a result of that episode
 * Rupesh states that due to recent events (not specifically referenced but likely to include things like the Webstar attack (DW: The Runaway Bride) and the relocation of earth (DW: The Stolen Earth), half the world now knows of or believes in the existence of alien life, while the other half is in denial. Suicide rates have risen since the events occurred, which Rupesh ascribes to crises of faith. This may also be reflected by the insanity and suicide of Alex Hopkins (TW: Fragments).
 * Although no reference is made to this in the story, the destruction of the Hub likely also meant the death of Jack's brother, Gray, last seen being kept in suspended animation in the Hub, as well as any Weevils or other creatures in the holding cells. The fate of the Hub's resident pterodactyl is also uncertain.

Ratings

 * 5.9 million viewers, according to unofficial overnight figures

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes and Errors

 * Wouldn't Tosh's Time Lock (DW: Journey's End) contain the explosion in the Hub? Probably not, because when the Dalek trapped in the time lock exploded it destroyed the lock. (Journey's End) Gwen says at the time "There goes the time lock"


 * The time rift would be uncontrolled because of the destruction of the hub, however everything still seems to be unaffected. The Hub was more often used to monitor the rift, not specifically to control it. Also, the Hub was, most likely, only created some time in the nineteenth century; hence, there rift is most likely not volatile enough to often cause major trouble in Cardiff within only six months, despite the destruction of the Hub.


 * What happened to Jack's brother Gray? He was frozen in the Hub when it exploded. Most likely his body was destroyed, unless the vaults etc. were strong enough to withstand the blast.
 * When Lois looks up the history of Torchwood on the Government Information Network using Bridget's password, it says that Torchwood was established by "HRH Queen Victoria". It should have said "HM Queen Victoria". Queen Victoria was the first monarch to be called "Her Imperial and Royal Majesty" which was still shortened to HRH and was not changed to HM until after her reign.
 * Do the government also go after Archie at Torchwood 2, Glasgow? No as he had nothing to do with the 1965 arrival of the 456. (According to the Torchwood file Lois reads, Torchwood 2 is believed to be disbanded. No mention is made of Torchwood 4, last said to have been "lost".)
 * Why doesn't Jack just run out of the hub and allow the explosion to happen in the sea or in the open. This way the hub would be safe. It was said by RTD in the 'Inside Look' for either this episode, or the next, that Torchwood Three was "too powerful" with the Hub, because of all the technology and resources they had, so "that was the first thing to go". Also, realistically, there simply wasn't enough time for him to get to the sea -- the magnitude of the explosion could not be predicted by them, so for Jack to detonate in the open air might have been an unacceptable risk to the public, whereas the Hub was able to contain the blast. The decision to use such a powerful explosive was an unacceptable risk by Johnson, however, as the Hub is located next door to a major public building and square. The risk of collateral damage was very high.

DVD releases

 * This Episode will be released on DVD along with the rest of Children of Earth on the 13th of July.