Children of Earth: Day Two (TV story)

Children of Earth: Day Two was the second episode of Series 3 of Torchwood. It was written by John Fay, directed by Euros Lyn and featured John Barrowman as Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, Kai Owen as Rhys Williams and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones.

It was significant for showing the extent of Jack Harkness' regeneration ability, as he survived being blown apart.

Synopsis
Torchwood Three has been blown up by a bomb planted in Jack Harkness. Gwen, Rhys and Ianto are on the run. Can they elude the government and save the planet from the 456?

Plot
The Hub has blown up. As Gwen emerges from the rubble she is seized by an assassination squad and is dragged into an ambulance. The men pin her flat on a stretcher. One prepares a needle, but they let go of her when she bites one of them. Leaping to her feet, she knocks them both out and takes their guns before noticing a red dot on her from a sniper. She jumps out of the way and the bullet kills one of the men who she knocked out. Gwen then drives off in the ambulance with one of the men. After she stops, she holds him at gunpoint and is told that the government has ordered the destruction of Torchwood but he doesn't have any further information. He goes for the needle he tried to use earlier, but she shoots his foot and leaves him there.

At the explosion, Johnson arrives as does Andy Davidson with the police. Johnson surveys the area, understanding they need to ensure Gwen and Ianto are dead. Andy, hearing Gwen's name, interjects she is not a threat. Johnson, realising Andy knew her in the police, forces him to escort them to her house.

Gwen makes it home and hurriedly wakes Rhys telling him what has happened and that they need to leave immediately. Just then she gets a call from Ianto, who has also survived, and tells him what she has learned. Neither can understand why the government has ordered their deaths; however they cannot set up a meeting point as the phones have likely been bugged. Gwen is forced to leave when the assassination squad show up. Andy ensures Gwen is not worth the trouble just as Gwen shoots out the tires on the squad's vehicle. Johnson counters Andy's statement, given what Gwen just did. However, Andy notes she shot the wheels, evidently not intending to harm then.

Meanwhile, Gwen and Rhys drive a short distance away before dumping the car. Gwen insists they must go on foot now as cars are traceable with the license plates; they are now rogue agents.

The next morning, Johnson finds Jack's remains in the ruins of the Hub, little more than an arm and a head. They are taken to a warehouse in London. His body begins to reconstruct itself. Meanwhile, Ianto sends a card to his sister through their newspaper, asking her to meet him at the park where his leg was broken as a child and to bring a laptop computer. Her son David knows Ianto left it and warns his dad that they've probably been bugged. Typically, a car with two government agents is parked in the estate, and the men are listening to their conversations. Johnny decides to get back at the men by making them listen to obnoxious things, such as how David "pissed the bed" after the raid last night. Mica taunts her humiliated brother while he objects that his dad is lying. Rhiannon gets annoyed and goes upstairs to read Ianto's message, soon joined by her husband after he drops the vulgar act. Meanwhile, the body bag containing Jack's remains is now filled with a skeleton and muscles, as opposed to the few pieces of flesh from the explosion, showing that his body is regrowing.

Gwen and Rhys find that their bank accounts have been frozen, and with nowhere else to go decide to head to London as that is where everything is happening. The two sneak aboard a lorry, which is full of potatoes; during the trip, Gwen tries to announce her pregnancy to Rhys and lets him figure it out through her body language. He is excited to learn about their future child, but the thought of letting Gwen endure this danger while pregnant upsets him, and he expounds the reasons for him to stick with her while she's on the run. At around the same time, Jack's body has halfway completed regenerating, but his outer skin is still burnt, raw, and unformed, nor can he see. He has recovered enough to regain conciousness, and immediately bellows out in mind-numbing pain with a primal scream. One of the special force agents notes how horrifying Jack's immortality is as Johnson watches, disturbed.

Later on that day, Johnny cleverly rounds up a posse of children from the estate and they surround the agents' car. He accuses them of snooping, and when they deny it, he deems them perverts and rallies the kids to get the "paedos". The group swamps the vehicle and rocks it aggressively, obstructing the agents' view out the car windows. Given the unfriendly neighbourhood, this creates a believable and convenient distraction for Rhiannon to drive away unnoticed. Rhiannon meets with Ianto in a park and discovers he has been wounded by the Hub's explosion. While they speak, the kids in the park, along with the rest of the children in the world, suddenly stop moving again and declare another ominous message; "We are coming tomorrow." Ianto approaches a girl in the park after the kids return to normal with the intent of learning what she felt during the moment she froze, but gets rebuffed by her protective mother, who thinks he's doing something perverted. Ianto gives up on the kids and requests Johnny's car and his sister's laptop so he can track Jack down.

In London, Gwen tries to contact John Frobisher. Her call is taken by Lois Habiba. At MI5, Frobisher, Bridget and Lois see an unknown device being built by Mr Dekker to the 456's specifications. Lois meets with Gwen and Rhys and tells them it was Frobisher who issued the kill order on Jack and several others. Gwen recognises none of the names. The three meet up at a chippy where, after eating, Lois also gives Gwen information about the compound where Jack is being kept. She also suggests a way for Gwen and Rhys to gain entry.

Jack, now fully re-formed and no longer in acute pain, is sealed in concrete by Johnson to prevent his escape, who pragmatically refuses to reveal any information to him because he remains alive and a viable threat, which is why she has chosen to keep him contained. Gwen and Rhys, as Lois had suggested, pose as funeral directors come to fetch Rupesh Patanjali's body, also held at the compound. Their plan initially works. The soldier who requested the retrieval, "Kodak" Camara, is friendly and does not suspect Gwen or Rhys to be impostors. Rhys gets defensive when he flirts with his wife and lets him figure out they're a married couple. It doesn't give them away, but Gwen is unhappy with Rhys's slip of the tongue.

When the group enters the cell with Patanjali's body bag, Gwen disables the camera surveillance with the same pen she used in the mental care facility, then pistol whips Kodak to the back of the head while he isn't looking, rendering him unconscious. Gwen snatches his keys and locks the guard inside the cell, while she and Rhys start opening the next one. Their disabling of the hallway camera attracts the suspicion of the guard watching the security footage. The second cell turns out to hold the body of the undercover soldier who was shot by the sniper attacking Gwen. When she disables the camera in this cell, the guard at the desk sees the act perpetrated and sounds the alarms. Not willing to waste time on Rhys finding the key for the third lock, Gwen breaks it open with several gunshots, only to find it blocked by a concrete slab.

The soldiers in the compound surround Gwen and Rhys and open fire. Gwen empties her gun defending herself and her husband as he declares they'll have to surrender, while Johnson calmly marches forward with a patrol unit to corral them. Gwen discovers it was a mistake to waste her limited ammunition on the cell lock — her gun is out of bullets. Cornered, she lowers her weapons and kneels to the floor.

The room quakes and a pile of rubble begins falling from the ceiling as the concrete wall is forcefully yanked out of the wall. Ianto, who has also arrived in London and learned where Jack was taken, has stolen a forklift. He lifts Jack's cell and pulls it out of the compound. Gwen and Rhys escape with Ianto in the forklift, chased by Johnson and many soldiers. The forklift isn't fast enough to outrun them. Gwen pulls out her other gun and returns fire at the men shooting at the trio, Rhys ducking for cover. They find themselves blocked by the cement truck used to pour concrete in Jack's cell. Rhys hops out and drives the truck out of the way, then Gwen turns it into a barricade by shooting its gas tank, igniting the vehicle and allowing the group to get away without being pursued. Johnson informs Frobisher they have run into a roadblock. He replies that they cannot let the Torchwood personnel escape and tell someone of the situation at hand or they'll be on the chopping block.

Ianto drops the concrete block into a quarry where it breaks apart, releasing Jack. He revives and stands up, unclothed and covered in bits of mud and concrete. Rhys offers him the coat from the funeral director's suit, and Gwen hands it off to him while trying not to stare at his nude body. Jack reunites with the group and learns about the message the children have spoken. Torchwood Three departs in Johnny's car to figure out their next move.

Back at the MI5 headquarters, the mysterious device is completed: a sealed, glass-walled chamber filled with a concoction of gases poisonous to humans. Frobisher, Spears, and Dekker contemplate its purpose. Bridget wonders what could possibly live inside that gas, but Dekker informs her they don't have time to figure it out with the 456 arriving tomorrow. Frobisher indicates only Britain knows about the 456's contact with Earth and their return will not concern a global level. Dekker sees that the room for the 456 is like an ambassadorial suite or throne room. As his colleagues walk out of the room, Dekker huffs on the glass walls and embraces the tank with an unnatural sense of welcoming anticipation.

Cast

 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Lois Habiba - Cush Jumbo
 * Alice Carter - Lucy Cohu
 * Steven Carter - Bear McCausland
 * Bridget Spears - Susan Brown
 * John Frobisher - Peter Capaldi
 * Mr Dekker - Ian Gelder
 * Johnson - Liz May Brice
 * Clem McDonald - Paul Copley
 * Brian Green PM - Nicholas Farrell
 * PC Andy Davidson - Tom Price
 * Rhiannon Davies - Katy Wix
 * Johnny Davies - Rhodri Lewis
 * Anna Frobisher - Hilary Maclean
 * David Davies - Luke Perry
 * Mica Davies - Aimee Davies
 * Holly Frobisher - Julia Joyce
 * Lilly Frobisher - Madeleine Rakic-Platt
 * Recovery Worker - Ashley Hunt
 * Kodak - Osi Okerafor
 * Paramedic - Emmanuel Ighadaro
 * Barmaid - Libby Liburd
 * Sentry - Robert Shelly
 * Guard - Quill Roberts
 * Mother - Fay McDonald
 * Newsreader - Louise Minchin

Worldbuilding

 * Windy Ridge Veg Ltd is a business in Cardiff.

Individuals

 * Ianto's relationship with his father is hinted as being distant. His father is also implied to have died.
 * Queen Victoria created other institutions, although the present government is not aware of them.
 * From the data file Lois pulls up on her computer, Gwen was apparently born on August 16, 1978 in Swansea, making her 31-years-old.
 * Johnny Davies sleeps in the nude.
 * John Frobisher has kept information from his family by hiding behind the Official Secrets Act. Lois Habiba has also signed the act.

Torchwood

 * The government believes Torchwood Two has disbanded, but is unsure.

Religion

 * Johnson uses the name "Lazarus" to describe Jack's immortality. This is a Biblical reference to Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead.
 * Lilly mocks the mass chanting of the children, themselves included, saying her father thought she and Holly were "possessed by the Devil".

Story notes

 * Gwen and Rhys pretend to be undertakers to retrieve Jack. Gwen is a double of Gwyneth, also played by Eve Myles, who was the servant to an undertaker in the Doctor Who episode The Unquiet Dead.
 * This is the second time that Jack has been shown completely naked. The first time was in the Doctor Who episode Bad Wolf. On that occasion the BBC had filed a request that the "offensive" parts be either blurred or concealed by props.

Ratings

 * 5.8 million BBC One viewers, according to unofficial overnight figures
 * 6.14 million viewers, according to final official BARB viewing figures
 * AI of 90%
 * 17th most-watched programme in Britain during the week of transmission

Filming locations

 * Darwin Drive (play area) - Where Ianto met his sister.
 * Avesta Polarit Steelworks - Torchwood, London Warehouse.
 * CEMEX's Taffs Well quarry - Quarry where Jack is dropped off by forklift.

Production errors

 * When the concrete-filled cell is pulled out of the wall by the forklift, it appears to be much smaller than earlier, when it was filled with concrete. At some points it doesn't appear wide enough for Jack Harkness to be lying horizontally.
 * When all the children stop at where Ianto and his sister are talking in the park, a young girl with blonde hair can be seen still moving around and laughing in the background.

Continuity

 * Whilst Lois is on the computer researching Torchwood, the MacLeish Estate and Canary Wharf are mentioned in the article. (TV: Tooth and Claw, Doomsday)

Home video releases

 * Children of Earth: Day Two was released on DVD along with the rest of Children of Earth on 13 July 2009.
 * It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)