Torchwood: Children of Earth

A blog entry from James Moran someone linked on the GB...

http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/07/stepping-back.html

I commented on Mr. Moran's blog in Keith Topping's thread at GB. I'll reiterate my findings here: Bravo, James!

On another note, Frank has posted his review:
http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2009/07/torchwood-children-of-earth-day-five_11.html

I'm now off to have a read of it.

Zoltar wrote:A blog entry from James Moran someone linked on the GB...

http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/07/stepping-back.html

Poor man

I sent him an email telling him that I thought that Children of Earth was superb.

Just getting in here as I didnt finish seeing it till this weekend..

I'm agreeing with most of what I see here.. The people on GB who are complaigning about Ianto really to me are quite ironic in that if you supposedly are a Dr Who fan where your main character becomes a totally new person every so often.. well while the Doctor doesn't die.. you certainly are loisng that actor.. that character version... So to me you should be used to it even if you only started with the newer stories..

I think the Government over all were far more scary than the 456... And RTD did that all so well IMO, and I could see that happening tommorrow easily. That woman was just chilling when she goes those that won't contribute to society but be on aid...When I think of how many of our most gifted artists, writers and actors and researchers started out in slums and ghettos in the US what cost really would that be...
The 456 were creepy and someone said Macra like.. I did have that thought briefly until we really saw them up close... I loved that for once the aliens had a totally frivolous morally decrepped need for us.. not food, not procreation.. nope we're recreational drugs...
I've personally been reminded of some Xfiles episodes and what I always wanted more of from that show.. the personal reactions of everyone and some loss.. and that's really why COE to me is brilliant because it really gives you reactions from people at all levels of power and involvement not only your main characters. The losses are enourmous and deep and really called me to think what truly would I be able to do if I were Jack, if I were Gwen..or Frobisher. It gives you a rare chance to walk in the shoes of people facing a real threat not just to you or your country but the world...and I really can't think of a single other show that has gone this far this well.

Nick Barlow wrote:As I said in the Other Place, if (or more likely 'when') it comes back, I think it'll be as specials like this rather than an ongoing series. It's Quatermass for the 21st Century and works best on the epic, civilization-as-we-know-it is about to fall scale, rather than 'oh no, the weevil's escaped'. The question is whether they can come up with something that matches this without looking like a carbon copy.

One thought about RTD's clever way of framing debate about a story - Jack had to sacrifice his grandchild, and now everyone regards him as a monster. I'm wondering if that's his way of posing the question 'if Susan was on Gallifrey at the end of the Time War, isn't the Doctor a monster too?'

I think it's the personal nature of the death that's so upsetting. He doesn't just kill his grandson incidentally, he picks him out and then uses him mentally and physically as a weapon to destroy the 456, watching him suffer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUmJ3NLIrcs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn8L-nSbKPE&feature=related

Dear Lord.

If I were RTD, I'd be hiring bodyguards.

"Be Coordinated". Are they taking the mick or something? Ye gads.............


The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!
The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!

It was a warm wet night in July,
Just a few days ago.
There were aliens in Thames House,
We didn't know where it would go.
Jack Harkness took our Ianto,
Into a dangerous room.
The 456 let off a deadly virus,
And he was brown bread & it's all gloom.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.
Bring him back now, we won't take less,
If we stop his coffee, we'll be in a mess.
Cardiff will fall to evil once more,
With nightmarish monsters fighting a war.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.......


Repeat until the end of time, 'cos he ain't coming back!

Quick -light up the Levine-Signal, or get him on the Levine-Phone - that song must be recorded now!

Rich Flair wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn8L-nSbKPE&feature=related

Oh dear...

The Co=Ordinator wrote:"Be Coordinated". Are they taking the mick or something? Ye gads.............


The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!
The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!

It was a warm wet night in July,
Just a few days ago.
There were aliens in Thames House,
We didn't know where it would go.
Jack Harkness took our Ianto,
Into a dangerous room.
The 456 let off a deadly virus,
And he was brown bread & it's all gloom.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.
Bring him back now, we won't take less,
If we stop his coffee, we'll be in a mess.
Cardiff will fall to evil once more,
With nightmarish monsters fighting a war.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.......


Repeat until the end of time, 'cos he ain't coming back!

Bonsai.Talker wrote:

Rich Flair wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn8L-nSbKPE&feature=related

Oh dear...

The Co=Ordinator wrote:"Be Coordinated". Are they taking the mick or something? Ye gads.............


The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!
The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!

It was a warm wet night in July,
Just a few days ago.
There were aliens in Thames House,
We didn't know where it would go.
Jack Harkness took our Ianto,
Into a dangerous room.
The 456 let off a deadly virus,
And he was brown bread & it's all gloom.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.
Bring him back now, we won't take less,
If we stop his coffee, we'll be in a mess.
Cardiff will fall to evil once more,
With nightmarish monsters fighting a war.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.......


Repeat until the end of time, 'cos he ain't coming back!

Ha ha !! A remake of Doctor in Distress ! :lol Is anyone actually going to sing it ?

To my shame, I did whilst trying to rewrite the lyrics!

Put it in the panto!

Dont' even go there - I have quite enough work left to do on the script as it is.

My original deadline was 18th July. I feel like I'm working to an RTD/Douglas Adams schedule!

I predict this campaign will be as successful as Jack and Ianto's 'let's defeat the 456 by shouting angrily at them' plan.

Perhaps you could use your turn on the fourth plinth to campaign for the return of your beloved Ianto?

The Co=Ordinator wrote:"Be Coordinated". Are they taking the mick or something? Ye gads.............


The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!
The rest of our lives is too long to wait,
Bring back our Ianto don't hesitate!

It was a warm wet night in July,
Just a few days ago.
There were aliens in Thames House,
We didn't know where it would go.
Jack Harkness took our Ianto,
Into a dangerous room.
The 456 let off a deadly virus,
And he was brown bread & it's all gloom.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.
Bring him back now, we won't take less,
If we stop his coffee, we'll be in a mess.
Cardiff will fall to evil once more,
With nightmarish monsters fighting a war.

Ianto In Distress - let's all answer his SOS,
Ianto In Distress - bring him back now we won't take less.......


Repeat until the end of time, 'cos he ain't coming back!

This just in from the Outpost Wrinkly news desk: Ianto Jones, still dead. Repeat...Ianto Jones remains dead. We'll be updating this story throughout the evening...

Nick Barlow wrote:I predict this campaign will be as successful as Jack and Ianto's 'let's defeat the 456 by shouting angrily at them' plan.

The problem with the 'shouting angrily' plan was that Jack and Ianto got confused and thought they were facing early noughties girl-group The 411...

Graymalkin wrote:

Nick Barlow wrote:I predict this campaign will be as successful as Jack and Ianto's 'let's defeat the 456 by shouting angrily at them' plan.

The problem with the 'shouting angrily' plan was that Jack and Ianto got confused and thought they were facing early noughties girl-group The 411...

Now I understand the whole scene!

Some interesting facts from elsewhere. Steve Roberts says Day Five was edited just hours before transmission "to lessen the scenes of Jack's grandson's death. The DVD and Blu-ray versions are of course unedited, as they were already completed. They basically removed some shots of the kid shaking violently with blood coming out of his face."

He also says; "I've heard that the reason was that although the scene was suitable for post-watershed audience, in this case the BBC1 Controller became aware that a significant number of younger viewers were watching it and felt that the scene needed to be brought down to pre-watershed levels. But don't quote me on that!"

A different source says that "the exact line used by a certain BBC executive was 'We are NOT showing THAT'. Allegedly"

Meanwhile, on a Declassified documentary on thr release, RTD say that "in the first version of the script he delivered Stephen didn't die, but *they* said "that's a cop out, you big soft Welshman".

You mean they didn't say 'oh no Rusty*, not another de.us ex machina ending'? What with them being Proper Writers and stuff, surely they should be able to recognise one when they see it, just like certain sections of fandom can?

* And to quote from a friend, "the habit of calling Russell Tiberius Davies “Rusty” is the Whovian equivalent of referring to a certain political party as “ZaNuLiebore”"

The Co=Ordinator wrote:Some interesting facts from elsewhere. Steve Roberts says Day Five was edited just hours before transmission "to lessen the scenes of Jack's grandson's death. The DVD and Blu-ray versions are of course unedited, as they were already completed. They basically removed some shots of the kid shaking violently with blood coming out of his face."

He also says; "I've heard that the reason was that although the scene was suitable for post-watershed audience, in this case the BBC1 Controller became aware that a significant number of younger viewers were watching it and felt that the scene needed to be brought down to pre-watershed levels. But don't quote me on that!"

A different source says that "the exact line used by a certain BBC executive was 'We are NOT showing THAT'. Allegedly"

Meanwhile, on a Declassified documentary on thr release, RTD say that "in the first version of the script he delivered Stephen didn't die, but *they* said "that's a cop out, you big soft Welshman".

This is very interesting indeed Can you give us the links to your sources please?

It is interesting. I think perhaps his time on Who has rounded the odd corner on RTD and his "Melt faces!" attitude has changed slightly.

After all, he's been involved in SJA and Who for quite a long time now.

If it's true.