Torchwood: Children of Earth

Is it just me, or was the 456 definitely taking the proverbial out of Frobisher?

Lovely, lovely stuff.

Another great episode in my opinion-- better than Day Two but still not as good as Day One.


Spoilers follow, so look away now...


Pure speculation, this, but what if in 1965 twelve children were given to the 456 to pay them off, so they would never return? But the 456 didn't get twelve children, they got eleven because Clem escaped. Which is why the 456 are back: in their minds, Humanity reneged on their deal.

You see, I don't think the 456 are the real villains of the piece- it's Authority in general, and it's misuse of power that's the villain of the story. Tthere's a strong thread of the common man subverting authority that runs through the story so far, from the estate kids stealing the Torchwood mobile; to the estate distracting the police outside Ianto's sister's house, to Gwen Cooper opposing the Government; to Lisa taking a stand against something she knows is wrong after an assassination order is given.

Great stuff, and I look forward to tonight's episode.

Best episode so far that was. As I was saying to Barnaby, it was so close to Ambassadors of Death that they even reused Perwee's famous "who's the queer?" line.

Very slight political innacuracies continue, in the great RTD fashion of Aliens of London. Day One called HM Queen Victoria 'HRH' on Lois' screen, and in Day Three Frobisher called us The United Kingdom and Northern Ireland - it should have been, of course, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He probably made the mistake because he was nervous. Do I win a no-prize?

No prize. I picked it up the UK mistake straight away - these, potentially irritating, little things do slip through: but it's best just to move on!

And in other TW news, having mentioned bridge last night, it suddenly dawned on me that I'm playing on Friday night and therefore won't be able to watch Day Five on tranmission.

Superb episode. nearly as good as Day One but slightly marred by the caper stuff at the beginning. But the confrontation with the 456 was stunning and very scary!

Full review - http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2009/07/torchwood-children-of-earth-day-three_08.html

Johnstone McGuckian wrote:Did anyone else get vibes of Macra from the 456? I'm not saying that they are because that's just silly, but still very Macra esque.

Thats what I thought when I saw it on Sat last.

But then, my guesses are usually always wrong.
Will miss ep 4 tonight....some damn Potter premier taking place here in Dublin....

Overnights 5.9 million, 27.1% share.

Brilliant numbers, with the ratings going back UP to opening night levels, and the share at a new high.

BBC - please confirm Series 4 this week!

AI figures.

Day One - 88
Day Two - 90

Awesome. 10/10.

90? Has any Doctor Who managed that? Did VotD get a 92?

Rich Flair wrote:90? Has any Doctor Who managed that? Did VotD get a 92?

A quick googling suggests Journey's End got 91.

EDIT: And according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_(series_4) so did The Stolen Earth, but that obviously can't be right because everyone hates RTD's finales. It must be true, someone on the internet said so.

There's been several at 90 or above on BBC3 showings. However for BBC1 showings both The Stolen Earth & Journeys End were indeed 91. VOTD was 86.

the response from my housemates/family/ people i work with has been very high for this series of torchwood.

but is it canon?

Yes!

Here's a thought: is the Torchwood Institute a metaphor for the BBC?

Created by a Royal Charter and separate from the Government, occasionally something the Government of the day finds useful to have around (Yvonne Hartman as John Birt?) but often a thorn in the side and something they all secretly plan of either controlling or getting rid of. And they both like to refer to their different sections by numbers, of course.

The Co=Ordinator wrote:No prize. I picked it up the UK mistake straight away - these, potentially irritating, little things do slip through: but it's best just to move on!

I refuse to move on!! It should have been 'The Commonwealth of Australia' dammit!!

Nick Barlow wrote:Here's a thought: is the Torchwood Institute a metaphor for the BBC?

Created by a Royal Charter and separate from the Government, occasionally something the Government of the day finds useful to have around (Yvonne Hartman as John Birt?) but often a thorn in the side and something they all secretly plan of either controlling or getting rid of. And they both like to refer to their different sections by numbers, of course.

Oh, and something the government is currently seeking to destroy because of the possibility that the .gov's past actions may be revealed in an unfavourable light by said organisation?

Yeah. The metaphor was not lost on me either.

Also - interesting swipe at the USA. They're represented by a general? What happened to the Ambassador? He lives in Grosvenor Square, or works there at least, so he's nice and handy for Thames House. I'm pretty sure they'd need to import a General. Are the beeb cheekily suggesting that all American foreign policy is handled by it's military?

Dave Webb wrote:Are the beeb cheekily suggesting that all American foreign policy is handled by it's military?

Yes. See also: Doctor Who.

Lucy McGough wrote:
Yes. See also: Doctor Who.

I thought the only American diplomatic presence we'd seen in Doctor Who was the "last president of the USA".
I would imagine that, after his death at the hands of the Master they'd be very twitchy about sending politicians abroad.

Dave Webb wrote:I thought the only American diplomatic presence we'd seen in Doctor Who was the "last president of the USA".
I would imagine that, after his death at the hands of the Master they'd be very twitchy about sending politicians abroad.

Shouldn't our Prime Minister murdering their President have caused a major diplomatic incident, if not a war?

Lucy McGough wrote:
Shouldn't our Prime Minister murdering their President have caused a major diplomatic incident, if not a war?

You might very well think that.
I could not possibly comment.

(Although I imagine the diplomatic conversation runs roughly thus:

American: RAWR! WAR! REVENGE! HOMOPHOBIC SUBTEXT!

Brit: I can understand your position and, believe me, I do sympathise. But you're forgetting one salient point. Look at this picture. It's a British Police Box. Not, and let's be perfectly clear about this, not a Manhattan payphone of the type that your comic book characters use as a changing room. What do you think that indicates? Mmm?

American: hern-a-hernyhern hern hern hern

Brit: I thought you'd see it that way. So, to the issue of the ex-president: least said, soonest mended?)

Actually, I imagine that the American General was likely SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) - the military head of NATO, which would be appropriate in the situation. What's more surprising is that the highest-ranking available UNIT officer is a Colonel!

Oh, and on another matter, sometimes I despair about fandom. James Moran is on Twitter (jamesmoran), and he's been getting abuse from supposed 'fans' because he won't confirm or deny some spoilers that are out there for the last two episodes. The sense of entitlement some fans have is getting ridiculous.

Nick Barlow wrote:What's more surprising is that the highest-ranking available UNIT officer is a Colonel!

Maybe UNIT use a different ranking system. After all, the highest-ranking officer in the whole of UNIT is a doctor.

Nick Barlow wrote:Actually, I imagine that the American General was likely SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) - the military head of NATO, which would be appropriate in the situation. What's more surprising is that the highest-ranking available UNIT officer is a Colonel!

Oh, and on another matter, sometimes I despair about fandom. James Moran is on Twitter (jamesmoran), and he's been getting abuse from supposed 'fans' because he won't confirm or deny some spoilers that are out there for the last two episodes. The sense of entitlement some fans have is getting ridiculous.

Fiddling small details! hehehe - yes, SACEUR would have been right, as would an American Air Force General since the USAF runs space. Life imitates Stargate?

Hopefully, Mr. Moran is cheerfully blocking the idiots. I follow him too, entertaining and interesting man.
Yeah, fandom and it's sense of entitlement: I was watching some Who DVD extras recently - oh, the life of the single Who fan - and noticed the normally bright and cheery Lala Ward turn quite nasty - she said something about "it might matter to sci-fi nerds", with the only sign of sarcasm that I've heard from her. Yet her comments about fans in general were quite the opposite. It sounds like fandom has always had a core of entitlement-challenged people.

NO.
WAY.

Wow, what an episode that was. And not just because of you-know-what at the end.

The COBRA stuff was absolutely brilliantly scripted. And hooray for Nick Briggs: he was always a callous, calculating bastard!!!!!!




(not by the way).