BostonTV: The Kids Control The Picture

Torchwood’s Children of Earth miniseries event kicks off tonight with “Day 1”. That’s five straight days of actually good modern sci-fi, people! The miniseries focuses on the three remaining members of alien-fighting organization, Torchwood, as they face a serious threat to humanity.

As we might have, ahem, already seen the show (it aired two weeks ago in Britain and the sci-fi community is nothing if not enterprising), we’d like to share our non-spoilerish thoughts:

Obviously, longtime fans will love the series. It takes the best parts of Torchwood and combines humor and character-driven storylines with a spine-chilling twist. But thanks to the fast-paced dialogue, fantastic acting, and bombshell plot, non-fans will also be able to get into Children of Earth. It helps to have seen Torchwood before, of course, but the miniseries could easily stand alone.

Torchwood (as you all must know) was created as a sex-fuelled Doctor Who spinoff by wizard Russell T Davies. It ran for 2 normal seasons before the powers that be decided to smush the third into this 5-episode miniseries. The hypershortened format was a smash success in Britain, allowing fans to hope for another couple of seasons.

In the end, Children of Earth is never easy or expected. Major drama with central characters might upset a few people, and the writers aren’t afraid to take the audience to a really low point. The ending also doesn’t come about the way you’d expect. Basically, we heartily recommend the series (and the prolonged Captain Jack screentime doesn't hurt).

Children of Earth airs "Day 1" at 9PM tonight on BBC America (and every night through Friday).

Catch up:

(image from here)