Okay I obviously loved it, but it is just too bleak for this universe (or Whoniverse whatever). And there were some things I’d like clarification on, cause while I was watching the last 2 episodes a little “plot hole” sign came up in my mind, and I just can’t shake it off.
Why does NO ONE even try calling the Doctor. Martha has a way of contacting him (and I’m sure they could get here even if she is on vacation come on), and I’m sure there are other ways I’m forgetting. This one I can just ignore but I would have loved a bit of technobabble arguing that the 456 know of his/her/their existence and have (somehow) blocked all ways of communication. This is a Torchwood show, so it makes sense they get to be the heroes. Which is a segway to the next point…
After Ianto’s death they just… give up??? I get they are sad and mad and having all kinds of feelings in between but it feels so out of character. I thought they would at least release the footage so the people of the world can take to the streets or something but they just don’t do anything. They sit idle while all the kids are being taken away until the nice killer lady gets a bit of conscience back and decides to get Jack out of prison. As I was saying, during the first few minutes of the 5th episode I was just mad as hell. Thinking back I guess I could excuse this given the fact they are just human beings, used to dealing with aliens yes, but nothing in this scale. It’s obvious for me now that they are not heroes, nor it’s the point of the series to make them appear like one. They just make do with what they have.
Okay sorry for the rant, I haven’t felt this bleakness from a story since reading The 3 Body Problem and it’s sequels (which has a nice correlation with Children of Earth).
Just thought I could share a little of what my mind is going through at the moment, with the PTSD and everything. Would love to hear what you think of what I said.
PS: Reading back now I see I have answered my own questions Even so just wanted to get it off my chest. And as I don’t want it to seem I only fixate on the negatives, I’ll list the things I loved:
Peter Capaldi’s character is just amazing. And he is just one of the best actors to have graced this show.
The 456’s reason for wanting the children. Just love it.
Every conversation between the government officials is gold.
The ending to episode 4, when they use the recording as a way to get into the building and confront the aliens.
Jack sacrificing his grandson.
Rhys going mad for food even in this dire situation. Couldn’t describe me best.
Children of Earth is, as other reviewers and commenters have said, Russell T Davies at the end of his run, amidst a Tory government, shouting an angry howl and using Torchwood to do it. The bleakness is almost the point, and I think the fact that The Doctor doesn’t come is even moreso the point. Regardless of whether the 456 Event is a fixed point in time, the stark reality of the Doctor Who universe is that there are very few good people working against empires of darkness. We get to see all of the moments where The Doctor succeeds in the main series - Torchwood is all about what happens when The Doctor can’t be there, because they obviously always can’t, which is why failure happens more often, and is often more costly.
Not that this really explains it but I feel like they addressed the “where is the Doctor?” question with Gwen’s amazing speech in Day 5:
“There’s one thing I always meant to ask Jack. Back in the old days, I wanted to know about that Doctor of his. The man who appears out of nowhere and saves the world. Except sometimes he doesn’t. All those times in history when there was no sign of him, I wanted to know why not. But I don’t need to ask any more. I know the answer now. Sometimes the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame.”
Children of earth is brutal. I think it’s very much the point of the story that the doctor doesn’t show up. What happens if there’s an impending catastrophe and the doctor doesn’t save the day? Why not doesn’t matter for the story, though I like to think it’s because the doctor couldn’t (maybe they heard about it after and by then time was fixed?) and not that they didn’t want to (though there are times where it wouldn’t be out of character). A very bleak and realistic story that hits really hard, and the best Torchwood season in my opinion.
All of this is bang on, except we didn’t have a Tory government at the time. Admittedly, New Labour can feel like that (as, in my opinion, New New Labour currently feels).
This isn’t to take away from what you said, we still had a disappointing government. And if anything it just serves to highlight how blurred the lines have become in that regard.
Without going too off topic, and I do believe that the ‘they’re all the same’ narrative only helps fascists carve out a third option, I did see this on Twitter once and it made me laugh:
Happy to move the discussion elsewhere but we know they’re not all the same, that isn’t what I’m saying at all. However I do very strongly feel that the current state of pandering to the right from a party I expected and hoped better of is doing far more to enable fascists than those calling that party out on it.
The idea that zipping shut and not criticising is what will help stop this terrifying progression isn’t something I subscribe to.
Sorry, having recently tracked events of the 20th Century for a work thing I’m feeling very, very antsy about it all.
Ahhhh the memory cheats then, I’m sure Cameron was the big lad while this was on TV. Or was it the bollocks coalition? Either way, the analysis still stands up.
I think there’s hay to be made from dovetailing CoE with Classic Who though - I don’t think that any Modern Doctor could be shown being not only aware of the 456 Event but choosing not to go, but there’s a story I think to be told of perhaps Seven at the end of his life, so tired and burned out from planetary scheming and defeating empires, receives the distress call from Earth and in a private moment of shame, simply ignores it, knowing that this is one of those moments where humanity makes a decision just as awful as any alien invader, one he cannot change or simply no longer has the energy to. When you think about it, The Doctor must be letting awful things happen all the time; they’re functionally as powerful as Superman in that regard, surely the TARDIS is constantly picking up distress calls and cries from dying worlds. Children Of Earth might even be a darker story if you reframe it not as The Doctor actively choosing not to return to Earth, but simply never knowing about it in the first place. Too busy with the universe’s evil.
And it trickles down into the read; it’s not perfect, I do think that there’s something of the Great Man interpretation here; as I said before, Torchwood is a show about what happens when The Doctor can’t be there to solve our problems, and if you’ll notice, Torchwood shows us screwing it up. A lot. I think when RTD lets The Doctor call us “stupid apes”, he’s being so serious and talking with his own mouth. I think he’s absolutely mellowed a lot now, but the same nasty streak that told us with conviction that the British political elite would 100% sacrifice the poorer children to aliens is the nasty streak that gives us the end of Dot And Bubble. However shiny and bubbly he is when talking about Doctor Who, I think under the surface of Russell’s writing there is still a very angry man who has a lot to say about the English, and one of those things is “Left to our own devices, nine times out of ten we will get it totally wrong.” I think when you read any sci-fi you have to make a decision over whether you think the writer has hope for the future of humanity, and I actually don’t think Russell does.
Christ, the memory does cheat. Has it been so long? Was Blair the PM throughout all of Ten’s run? I feel like I’ve fallen in from an alternate universe.
Not wishing to derail the thread again, but it’s interesting to see that (as you quite rightly point out) the lines have become very blurred and yet politics has never felt so polarised as it does right now. The losers are, of course, the voting public.
To try and bring this back to the thread, I think this is something RTD does well. Whilst he is no friend to the Tories, he has always spoken out against the injustices and inhumanity he has seen from either side. Children of Earth isn’t about right versus left. It’s about the disconnect between decisions made by those in power (whatever colour or flavour of politics they espouse) and the impact on the general populace.
Even so just wanted to get it off my chest. And as I don’t want it to seem I only fixate on the negatives, I’ll list the things I loved:
