Warning: Contains spoilers.
Torchwood has had an uneasy run over the last three years. Originally touted as the 'adult' spin-off series from Doctor Who, the first series presented pretty ordinary storylines punctuated by swearing, graphic violence and oodles of sex. It wasn't so much adult as adolescent. Racy for those teens finally allowed to watch telly late at night, but with little genuine gravitas or dramatic weight to interest an intelligent adult. A comedy sketch based on the show appeared on the Dead Ringers program, accurately poking fun at the juvenile predilections of those early episodes.
The second series learned from the mistakes of the first. The gratuitous elements were toned down and the producers instead concentrated on trying to tell decent, character-led stories. Some worked and some didn't, but it was a definite improvement. It also moved onto BBC2, a promotion from digital channel BBC 3, and also followed each episode a couple of days later with a family-friendly edited repeat for all those Doctor Who fans too young to watch the real deal.
Then came the news that this year, series three would only be five episodes long, even though it would graduate to BBC1 in prime position. This decision was criticised, notably by John Barrowman himself. Yet, after having watched the entire five part Children of Earth mini series these last few nights, I would be strenuously arguing for any future series to follow exactly this pattern.
Finally, Torchwood learned how to present a true adult drama.Pushing the limits
Stretching out the storyline over five hours allowed such depth - in plot, character and direction - that Children of Earth became more than just another sci fi show and became a worthy BBC drama in it's own right. Sure, the more fantastic elements occasionally crashed in to remind us that we're still in the shiny Doctor Who universe, and head writer Russell T Davies can sometimes use coincidence a little too often to move things forward, but this wasn't a series focused on the monster and sci fi trappings. This was a story about men and women placed in situations of such complete desperation that stripped characterisations away and left us with painfully honest portrayals of how real people behave.
Robert McKee, in his Story seminars, continually talks about how the true nature of a character is revealed when he or she is placed in extreme situations. How you choose to act when pushed to the limit is the real you - coward or hero, compassionate Samaritan or selfish monster - everything else is your mask of civility, unchallenged by ordinary events. These five episodes pushed every character to that line, and beyond, thereby revealing what each is prepared to do when faced with the unthinkable.
Children of Earth cleverly deflected us away from the monster, the 456, by never actually revealing the creature. Instead, it was revealed that the true monsters were the humans pushed to make the most horrible decisions and how each chose to deal with them. As such, the 456 served merely as the story mechanism to force the genuine conflict elsewhere. Episode four's government cabinet meeting, as the politicians decided how to select the 10% of children to sacrifice, is one of the most chilling and uncomfortable scenes broadcast this year. It is chilling because we know they have no other way out. It is uncomfortable as the situation leaves no room for political correctness or moralistic grandstanding. It is terrifying as it forces the audience to consider what would we do in that impossible situation. With no neat solution, no easy way out, the characters - and the audience - are faced with some pretty confronting personal truths about how we view our society and the value we place on certain sections of that society. As much as we may deplore how the Cabinet discussion devolves into talk of keeping the best and sacrificing the lowest and most needy, there is a painful truth at the heart of the scene. Thankfully - reality has never forced us to resolve such a truth so absolutely. This is where drama works best, confronting those truths we wouldn't normally experience and presenting them to us so we can understand ourselves better.
By day four, the entire world is painted into a corner so perfectly that Captain Jack's attempt to confront the 456 results in abject failure, the death of Ianto and the entire population of Thames House. His actions actually make things worse, instead of better, and the audience realises that there is no neat resolution waiting in the wings. Our hero turns out to be no better than anyone else - imperfect and incapable of finding a way out.
The undisputed star of the series is Peter Capaldi as Frobisher. Better known as Malcolm Tucker from comedy The Thick of It, Capaldi again plays a civil servant, but this time with a greater humanity and a far worse dilemma. Over five hours, we watched his struggles to balance his duty with his morals, only to see any chance of redemption dashed by a Prime Minister (a brilliant Nicholas Farrell) hellbent on avoiding culpability and a public backlash. Frobisher's last act, protecting his daughters from the 456 by killing them, before turning the gun on his wife and himself, placed the final episode in the darkest of dramatic territories. This truly was a drama determined to take the audience deep inside the characters and then push them - and us - over the edge. Truly terrifying.
Deus Ex Machina
Of course, this being a Russell T Davies script, there is a miraculous last minute resolution out of nowhere as, with seconds to go, Jack works out which buttons to push and which gobbledegook jargon to say to fix everything. Davies has a habit of writing such Deus Ex Machina endings - this particular resolution uncomfortably similar to the end of Doctor Who series three - but this time it isn't the perfect reset button he usually employs. Instead, Davies manages to find one more twist of the knife, making Jack's grandson the central cog in a scheme, sacrificed to save the world. There is no choice - we can see that. But that doesn't lessen the horror one little bit as we see Jack sacrifice his own blood for the greater good.
Drama rarely is as bleak, as harrowing or as dark as these five Torchwood episodes. Were it not for the Doctor Who connection, I am confident this series would be considered a classic to sit alongside Quatermass as intelligent, thought-provoking and truly chilling sci fi horror for adults. Sadly, the signs are that this may be the end of the Torchwood series. Such a shame after the producers finally discovered how to produce a genuinely adult, worthy and memorable Doctor Who spin off.
