Children of Earth: Day Five

This 5 hour epic is a very difficult production to judge impartially.

I can truthfully say I sat on the edge of my seat throughout - unable to second-guess much of what was to come and that is a strange admission from a mature adult. Perhaps I could have guessed if I hadn't been quite so immersed in the story.

Of course everyone could pick holes in a fantasy drama. Why would the Secret Service employ a temporary secretary? Why wasn't the MI5 actions explained in complete detail? Would the Prime Minister really treat his senior staff in such a manner? The sheer scale of the production and the phenomenal acting and brilliant direction made any such niggles totally trivial.

So for those people who have never seen Torchwood - this can be taken as an unconditional recommendation.

However for those who have followed Series 1 and 2 - there is a big problem.

Torchwood has always been high on humour. The last episode of Series 2 and the whole of Series 3 is harrowing in the extreme. Few, if any lines, could raise a chuckle. Most of the narrative was far from funny while a grim despair pervaded the story.

It is hard to believe the BBC has any intention of continuing Torchwood after this - which might account for some of John Barrowman's comments in interviews. I hope I am wrong because it has gone from strength to strength - both in terms of writing and acting - but I fear it might be following "Firefly" into oblivion.

All credit must go to the writer/producer Russell T Davies, the fantastic main cast, the brilliant supporting actors and everybody associated with the show. This was a production to be proud of.

One of the darkest most hopeless pieces of television I have ever watched also happens to be one of the best written, acted, directed and produced things I have seen in a long time. This rips your heart out and stamps on it as you see just how cruel humanity can really be. Stunningly good sci-fi and saying more about our society than a great deal many other wanna be deep programmes ever could.

...can't decide on my vote yet... I never give 10, maybe I should reconsider... I terms of emotional response: I only had similarly strong responses to bab-5 and Buffy (sorry, if you hate this comparison...) without giving away too much: Russel T. Davis does what needs to be done to serve the story, the characters and the drama. Therefor I would like to put him in one line along with Joss Whedon and J. Michael Straczynski. This time he did not make the same, IMHO, mistake he did with the doctor. He did not just re-arrange his favorite motives and concepts and characters; with this season he wrote a nice story, that caught, at least me, perfectly. In one flow...

Best season so far. It was so thought through every scene. And as much as I like episodes unrelated to each other I think it gave the series the fresh look.

So much drama, and so many tears for the characters that lost. Obviously I missed characters from previous season but it made it so much harder to process for the main characters. So many hard decisions to make on a span of just few months. And they played it so well!!

The acting was amazing. I felt their emotions and every expression on their faces seemed so real.

I watched it in one night because of the suspense and the need to know more. And I'm off for the next season hoping not to get disappointed and underwhelmed.

After 58 years of watching television. 13+ years on the internet. This is my first comment for any TV show.

A previous commenter is right. This was really good. Great drama and not too many special effects which we Americans are obsessed with. Plus our imagination is all that is needed for some parts of the show. If you know what I mean for those that have seen it.

Five episodes was perfect for this story also. I cannot imagine this being as good if is was only a typical 12o minute movie or the ridiculous 24 episode seasons that we have.

I just thank God for the internet, otherwise I would never be able to see this, Hope Springs, The Office - UK version, Hotel Babylon and others.