# Torchwood - Children of Earth (Spoilers!)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 9, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433 "2009-07-09T09:48:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/1 "2009-07-09T09:48:11Z")
Is anybody else watching this? Spoilers in second post to avoid mouseover.
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### Author:  [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/2 "2009-07-09T09:49:55Z")
I’m enjoying this _way_ more than I thought I would.
The aliens are
[spoiler]just about the scariest I’ve seen in any of the Who-verse. There’s a huge creep-out factor of them just wanting children, along with the slime splashed across the inside of their tank when they are angry. The fact that they are never fully seen makes them even more sinister.
Really, it has more of the feel of a horror movie than a Doctor Who spinoff[/spoiler]
And I’m beginning to think Jack is something of a monster.
Best Torchwood evah!!
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### Author:  [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/3 "2009-07-09T11:13:07Z")
I’m really enjoying it too. Who knew a shorter serialised format would suit Torchwood down to the ground?
The alien creeps me out for a lot of reasons. The fact that we only see the outline. The horrible sound effects. The screeching. But most of all the calm voice when he eventually speaks.
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### Author:  [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/4 "2009-07-09T14:57:35Z")
That ‘summit’ was the most suspenseful Who-verse scene since _Blink_.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/5 "2009-07-09T15:29:53Z")
I’m keeping an eye on reactions. I really wanted to like Torchwood - enough that I tried twice to get through it - but I couldn’t get through more than the first few episodes of season 2. I’ll check this out only if it has a universal “Wow, that was AMAZING!” response.
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### Author:  [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/6 "2009-07-09T16:04:12Z")
**Smeghead** , I didn’t have much hope going into this, but **Annie** is right. There are some real edge of the seat moments, and it’s a cut above the drivel that most of the first two seasons of Torchwood were.
ETA: By the way, I take it that it’s **not** showing on BBC America yet? I thought it was going to be broadcast simultaneously on both sides of the pond.
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### Author:  [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/7 "2009-07-09T16:08:12Z")
Did you know that Torchwood is an anag of Doctor Who?
Of course you did
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### Author:  [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/8 "2009-07-09T16:42:21Z")
[QUOTE=Galwegian]
Best Torchwood evah!!
[/QUOTE]
Yes, but that’s not saying a lot is it 🙂
I agree though, proper scary aliens for a change. And I think it’s clever to let the aliens just use the number given to them (by Unit?) because they really don’t give a toss what the puny humans think of them\*\*\*.\*\*
\*\*\*\*\*Shh, no-one mention species 8472.
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### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/9 "2009-07-09T16:45:14Z")
> [@Galwegian](#):
>
> **Smeghead** , I didn’t have much hope going into this, but **Annie** is right. There are some real edge of the seat moments, and it’s a cut above the drivel that most of the first two seasons of Torchwood were.
>
> ETA: By the way, I take it that it’s **not** showing on BBC America yet? I thought it was going to be broadcast simultaneously on both sides of the pond.
Episode 1 of “Children Of The Earth” is on BBC America Monday, July 20th. It’s 75 minutes long & will repeat twice that night. The next night, Episode 2 runs 3 times and a shorter version of Episode 1 will repeat. So it goes for all 5 episodes–along with a different “Inside Torchwood” for each episode.
Saturday, there’s a marathon of _Primeval_ (a guilty pleasure) and Episode 1 of something called _[Being Human](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_Human_(TV_series))_.
On Sunday we have a marathon of “Children of the Earth”–all long versions. Followed by Doctor Who in “Planet of the Dead”–also a long version.
I’ve been a fan of _Torchwood_ from the beginning. When it was good, it was very good. When it wasn’t, it was usually interesting. If they could just learn to stop diddling with Alien Technology! (And each other.)
And, spoiler hoor that I am, I’ve heard good things about this series/season.
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### Author:  [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/10 "2009-07-09T16:51:31Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> Episode 1 of “Children Of The Earth” is on BBC America Monday, July 20th. It’s 75 minutes long & will repeat twice that night.
Do you have adverts on BBC America?
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### Author:  [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/11 "2009-07-09T16:52:29Z")
I watched half of the first series of Torchwood before I lost interest. I happened to catch the first episode of ‘Children of Earth’ on Monday and ‘Wow, that was AMAZING!’ It’s been three solid episodes so far, I’ve loved every second of it.
This mini-series (so far) is as good as the best Doctor Who (Blink, Turn Left). I’m desperately looking forward to the conclusion, I hope they can pull it off without resorting to the usual deux ex machina.
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/12 "2009-07-09T16:56:40Z")
> [@Smeghead](#):
>
> I’m keeping an eye on reactions. I really wanted to like Torchwood - enough that I tried twice to get through it - but I couldn’t get through more than the first few episodes of season 2. I’ll check this out only if it has a universal “Wow, that was AMAZING!” response.
It’s getting that response among the people I know, especially among those who either hadn’t seen Torchwood before (like me) or didn’t like it much before. It really is worth watching - so far, at least.
Spoilers to episode 3:
[spoiler]
Gwen kicks arse! She seems so fluffy, and then she knocks someone out and steals their gun with total certainty and poise. I’m liking the humour of her interactions with her husband, too.
Jack’s daughter ended up being a lot tougher than she seemed, too; just hearing the dog stop barking so suddenly made her realise she had to run - and she and her son had already practised that at Granny’s.
The aliens are actually creepy. Russel T Davies has finally realised that people are much more satisfyingly scared by glimpses of some _thing_ through a poisoned fog.
The soldier lady is a Magnificent Bastard. I wonder why she hates Jack so much? Hope there’s an actual reason for it.
The old man is adorable. When he saw Gwen at the police station, the look of relief on his face made me go awww. That smelling ability - wonder if that’s something he got from the aliens or if it’s just him. He’s obviously not going to survive this, but maybe he’ll gain a bit of sanity before he goes.
I presume Jack and the others gave those children to the aliens because it was either hand over 12 voluntarily, or lose them all after a fight. A bit of an X-Files rip-off, but I don’t care. [/spoiler]
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### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/13 "2009-07-09T17:27:02Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#):
>
> Do you have adverts on BBC America?
Of course! BBC America is owned by BBC Worldwide Americas; it’s available on cable & satellite. Just another commercial station. It also shows programs/programmes from other UK sources.
Checking (the real) BBC, each episode is 60 minutes long–so we’ll probably be seeing the whole thing. Although the shorter versions will also be shown at times.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/14 "2009-07-09T19:47:12Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> Episode 1 of something called _[Being Human](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_Human_(TV_series))_.
That’s worth watching, but not worth making an appointment to see. There was a thread about it a while ago.
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### Author:  [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/15 "2009-07-09T19:49:45Z")
In Seattle, this is part of the big “BBC America in HD” kickoff.
Of course, I can’t get a straight answer out of Comcast as to whether they will just replace the feed on channel 162 (Digital Preferred) or whether this will be part of their HD-addonn package.
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### Author:  [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/16 "2009-07-09T19:50:13Z")
Very briefly this morning the wikipedia had spoilers for today’s show, listed as being yesterdays. I read one line before figuring it out. Bastards :-P.
Thankfully not an important line, probably comes out in the first 2 minutes of the new episode.
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/17 "2009-07-09T21:12:38Z")
OMG.
That discussion about who to sacrifice made me cry, partly because it was totally believable. God, what a gut-wrenching episode; I’m so glad I wasn’t watching it with my daughter.
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### Author:  [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/18 "2009-07-09T22:44:58Z")
I thought it was funny in the first episode when the doctor asks if Jack and Ianto are Torchwood. Jack responds “Torchwood? Never heard of them” while getting into a car that has “TORCHWOOD” [carved](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/2739971026_16aca239eb.jpg?v=0) on it.
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### Author:  [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/19 "2009-07-10T07:09:39Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#):
>
> OMG.
>
> That discussion about who to sacrifice made me cry, partly because it was totally believable. God, what a gut-wrenching episode; I’m so glad I wasn’t watching it with my daughter.
Makes you wonder exactly what the Govt. or indeed the worlds leaders would do when faced with such a choice
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### Author:  [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2009, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-children-of-earth-spoilers/502433/20 "2009-07-10T08:11:28Z")
> [@chowder](#):
>
> Makes you wonder exactly what the Govt. or indeed the worlds leaders would do when faced with such a choice
Hopefully, not “Let’s screw everybody except ourselves!”
Mind you, these **are** politicians, so there’s a track record there, isn’t there?
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