BBC America ran the Torchwood miniseries, Children of Earth, all this week, one new episode nightly for five days running. It’s available now on BBC America on Demand. If you have this feature, I urge you to watch the five and a half hours.
It will be time well spent.
The show has lifted itself from minor television to a powerful presence with this series. Before, it was a badly done effects show, some nice episodes, but by and large, dismissable after one viewing.
Torchwood is a group set up by Queen Victoria in 1879 to deal with alien threat, specifically The Doctor, who she didn’t trust. Their leader is Captain Jack Harkness(John Barrowman), a man who cannot stay dead.
He’s been buried alive in a time travel episode and dug up two thousand years later. Early in the miniseries, he’s shot dead and a bomb planted in his gut before he comes back to life, all to destroy Torchwood. It’s the British government doing this.
There is an alien race known only as the 456 coming and they want human children, ten percent of the world’s children. Millions of them. No one knows why and it’s either ten percent or the 456 will destroy the world.
Torchwood has always been a bit different than other shows. Yes, sometimes it looked a bit cheesy(British TV is good at that). But two of the main characters, Harkness and Ianto Jones(Gareth David-Lioyd), have a gay relationship. Gwen Cooper(Eve Myles), former cop, is married and turns up pregnant in the miniseries.
In Children of Earth, we learn more about each character. We meet Harkness’ daughter, who looks his age, and his grandson, who thinks he’s Uncle Jack. We also see lanto’s sister and her family. They all play crucial roles in the outcome.
If you like a good SF tale, you should watch Children of Earth, whether on demand or soon to be available on DVD.
I saw this was one but time and demands right now won’t let me see it. Maybe it’ll run again. I’m sure it probably will. It certainly looked intersting.