· 56 comments · Save ·
For Sale Apr 17, 2026 at 3:41 PM

'Torchwood: Children of Earth' - Day Three - "We Will Take Your Children"

Posted by Neo2199

Permanent Secretary to the Home Office John Frobisher (Peter Capaldi) is tasked by the British Prime Minister to negotiate with an alien race known as The 456. 'Torchwood: Children of Earth' - Episode 3: Day Three.
"We Will Take Your Children..." | Day Three | Torchwood: Children of Earth
YouTube
"We Will Take Your Children..." | Day Three | Torchwood: Children of Earth
John Frobisher negotiates with the 456; but Earth will never be able to meet their demands - or will they? Subscribe to Torchwood for more videos: http://bit...
🚩 Report this post

56 Comments

Sign in to comment — or just click the box below.
🔒 Your email is never shown publicly.
seancbo Apr 17, 2026 +206
Man, I really liked Torchwood. Some truly baffling lows, but some really excellent highs too.
206
SortIntrepid9192 Apr 17, 2026 +62
Its transformation between seasons is insane. Its idea of "Doctor Who for adults" in S1 was basically "just normal Doctor Who episodes but they're about sex now." Come S3 and it's legitimately one of the darkest sci-fi shows ever made, in a good way.
62
pnwtico Apr 18, 2026 +4
Yeah S1 was really "Doctor Who for edgy teens". S3 was actually "Doctor Who for adults".
4
NorthernSoul1998 6 days ago +2
Season 2 still had some of this but it was mainly toned down
2
TheLemurConspiracy0 Apr 17, 2026 +109
Specifically, this third series is one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched. Also one I'll not be watching again.
109
TheJoshider10 Apr 17, 2026 +69
> one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched This isn't even hyperbole. It genuinely is that good. Had this not been tied to Torchwood and been its own self contained miniseries, it would be remembered alongside the great HBO miniseries. The themes that this season explores go so hard and force you to think about really uncomfortable questions for the greater good. It's handling of an alien invasion is superb and the actions taken by those in charge feels harrowingly realistic. Crazy that this show started as some inconsistent edgy adult show with monsters that kill you when you o*****, and then S3 comes along with a thought-provoking story that's probably better than anything to ever come out of Doctor Who. Tonally/thematically the only thing I can think of that comes close is The Leftovers.
69
throwmefaaaaaaraway Apr 17, 2026 +8
Fully agree, I somehow watched through it twice but it’ll be a long time before I can stomach another watch through with how poignant the different moral stances we can all take of what we do in the name of our children.
8
ChromakeyDreamcoat 6 days ago +2
Can I just watch s3 without watching the s1/s2?
2
Fantomech Apr 17, 2026 +12
Agreed. I watched the first season, one or two great episodes but when it was bad whoo boy. Wrote it off, then watched this and was completely captivated. So much extremeness in the highs and lows.
12
seancbo Apr 17, 2026 +17
The one with the people from the past on the plane landing in the present in S1 is excellent. Also I really like Countrycide. S2 had lots of bangers as well, but yeah, Children of Earth is where it really popped off. We won't talk about Miracle Day.
17
Lord_Bolt-On Apr 17, 2026 +10
Season 2 is mostly bangers, in my mind. Even the lower quality episodes are infinitely more fun and less "16 year oldest version of Adult" than season 1 that it makes them just fun and camp. *A Day in the Death* is just an astounding episode of TV. I think about it so often.
10
seancbo Apr 17, 2026 +5
True, not only are there a bunch of excellent S2 episodes, even at the imperfect bits it never goes as low as like Cyberwoman. And YES. I had to look up that name, but that episode is probably my all time favorite of the show. Incredibly effecting.
5
Lord_Bolt-On Apr 17, 2026 +8
Maybe I'm too deep in the Doctor Who trenches (its been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember), but I don't think Cyberwoman is THAT bad. It's a pretty decent episode absolutely *ruined* by its production design. If she's not in a bikini, the episode is a pretty decent adaptation of the Cyberman concept, and making it a much more small-scale, personal story. But alas, she's in a bikini, and it's pretty hard to look past it.
8
seancbo Apr 17, 2026 +5
The writing for that one isn't horrible, but it just falls on its face visually *so* hard lmao. Also the episode where the alien eats you by cumming is hysterical.
5
ScottishAF Apr 17, 2026 +3
‘He just…’ ‘Came and went.’
3
flcinusa Apr 17, 2026 +6
> We won't talk about Miracle Day. or Cyberwoman
6
Gilles_of_Augustine Apr 17, 2026 +5
"Miracle Day." What a terrible day to be literate and have functioning memory.
5
seancbo Apr 17, 2026 +5
It's especially sad because conceptually I think it's really neat, and then the execution was so piss poor
5
gloubenterder Apr 17, 2026 +2
Even then, I remember most of the show being quite good. It was mostly just ... *that* character arc.
2
seancbo Apr 17, 2026 +2
It was so long ago I'm not even sure what you're referring to lol I just remember a bunch of nonsense and pointless action and a cliffhanger
2
gloubenterder Apr 17, 2026 +2
The cliffhanger was definitely a big dud, but I was mainly thinking about >!the child muder-rapist becoming a hero, triumphantly calling out to his victim, declaring that he plans to keep tormenting her in hell!<. That being said, the bits about sanitizing his public image was genuinely interesting.
2
seancbo Apr 18, 2026 +5
Wait I don't remember this at all lmao I believe you though, there were some bizarre arcs. Which character was it?? Edit: oh god right, Bill Pullman that shit was WILD
5
gloubenterder Apr 18, 2026 +3
Oswald Danes. A teacher who molested several children, and finally killed one of them, named Susie. Describing the incident, he says: >The truth is, she flaunted it. Her innocence. Most people, they get hit, whatever, it's hours before the bruises rise up ... but they showed right away with her, and it was like ... I was painting on her. And she looked so beautiful, I thought it couldn't get any better than that, but ... oh, Jack, i swear to you, right then, at the end, I felt her life leave, and, and she left through me. You know that feeling? I think you do. And I relive it, every single night, because, that was the best moment of my life. Towards the end of the series, >!he sacrifices himself to save Gwen and Jack, saying soon he will be reunited with Susie in hell, because "that's where they go – all the baaaad little girls – and I'm following!"!<
3
rickroll10000 Apr 17, 2026 +2
most realistic arc in the franchise
2
NeapolitanPink Apr 18, 2026 +2
I think a lot about it, because I really like the kernel of the pharmaceutical industry pivoting to being painkiller cartels in a world of failing immortals. Everything else is so slap dash and terrible. If they just had like, three more sessions of rewrites, it would've found itself.
2
hardyflashier 6 days ago +2
I still think about the car crusher scene
2
Reasonable-Turn-5940 Apr 17, 2026 +2
I can't say I'm a big fan of the overall show, I couldn't get through the later seasons. But I still think Children of Earth is one of the best scifi stories ever told on television.
2
Alastor3 6 days ago +1
the ending of torchwood is amazing up until the last 10 seconds
1
Pellaeonthewingedleo Apr 17, 2026 +315
>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 Is one of the hardest lines in a whoverse show, in television in general, and it came from that episode Do I have to say more?
315
ChaoticForkingGood Apr 17, 2026 +28
Agreed. I think I felt that monologue physically.
28
Serawasneva Apr 17, 2026 +26
I think it’s a nice idea, but I also think the idea that the Doctor would refuse to save 7 billion people because a handful of people in government made a difficult decision during an impossible situation is a bit silly.
26
ohliamylia 6 days ago +3
That's not what she's saying. She's had an allegorical crisis of faith and had her fundamental worldview changed. She believes that the Doctor is so ashamed of humanity as to let them suffer sometimes because SHE is that ashamed of humanity in this moment that she believes sometimes they deserve it. Prior to this season she held onto a measure of hope that the things Torchwood did to protect Earth were worth their personal sacrifices, because humanity was generally good, and goodness must be protected. In this moment, those beliefs are broken. The factual accuracy of it re: the Doctor's motivations are irrelevant.
3
cookie_is_for_me Apr 17, 2026 +77
I believe Children of Earth was some of the best TV to ever come out of the Whoverse, and I refuse to rewatch it because it emotionally wrecked me. ...how many years has it been? No, still not enough.
77
g0del Apr 17, 2026 +13
Seriously. That final scene of Capaldi and his family just destroyed me.
13
fred11551 Apr 17, 2026 +7
One of the Dr Who comics had the doctor (unknowingly) condemn a villain to a fate worse than death by sending him back to be one of the children given to the 456
7
eekamuse Apr 18, 2026 +1
Noooooo
1
metametapraxis Apr 17, 2026 +3
I have never re-watched. It was very disturbing.
3
happy_idiot_boy Apr 17, 2026 +36
[Torchwood the other 99% of the time](https://youtu.be/zqFFFgdo1Zc?si=DqhkQXKkffH0lWFY)😂😆🤣
36
Salarian_American Apr 17, 2026 +21
"Welsh"
21
SmegmaWarrior0815 Apr 17, 2026 +17
I miss Torchwood. There should be more shows set in the Whoverse that aren't aimed at children.
17
ChaoticForkingGood Apr 17, 2026 +8
I binged CoE. I have never regretted binging a show more, because I did SO much blubbering. Just ugly crying all over the place.
8
PloppyTheSpaceship Apr 17, 2026 +8
I want to re-watch Torchwood. The first season tried it's hardest to be edgy sometimes, a lot of the time to.its detriment. I mean, the second episode had alien sex gas, the third had a device that made you experience sexual abuse, and the fourth had CyberWOman. But it was broadly "okay". The second season was a lot better, but Children Of Earth was fantastic. A pure balls-to-the-wall pace, great plot, absolutely fantastic in every way. Miracle Day, since it must be talked about, had a great premise, and I really enjoyed the first four or five episodes, but after that it seemed like it wrote itself into a lot of different corners and had to spend a few episodes trying to write itself out of them.
8
Ancient-Bat1755 Apr 17, 2026 +11
Loved torchwood, he was great and the lady with glasses… those glasses, hated when she died
11
Film_maker69 Apr 17, 2026 +3
Most of Torchwood was pretty okay but this was one of the absolute best sci-fi miniseries period. 
3
Spirogeek Apr 18, 2026 +3
Great series.
3
Marinara-Mozz Apr 17, 2026 +3
I miss Torchwood. I really disliked Miracle Day and the fact that it ended on a cliff hanger. I kind of hoped it would come back one day and just pick up from the 3rd series and never speak of MD but its probably never happening since DW is on shaky ground right now.
3
Team7UBard Apr 17, 2026 +1
Have you listened to any of the Big Finish audios?
1
Marinara-Mozz Apr 17, 2026 +1
I've been meaning to! There are so many. I was going to do a rewatch of Dr. Who beforehand, on the Tom Baker years right now.
1
Crusnz Apr 17, 2026 +2
I'll watch TORCHWOOD anytime 👏🏾
2
burgonies Apr 17, 2026 +2
As almost campy as the regular Torchwood serious was, this mini series was DARK. The rest - why they want the kids - is nuts.
2
Particle_wombat Apr 18, 2026 +2
Totally random but today I encountered two unrelated appearances of the number 456 and it got me thinking of this storyline...weird
2
chopchopfruit Apr 17, 2026 +1
was this before or after he was a doctor?
1
flcinusa Apr 17, 2026 +4
Before, and before he was a Roman in Pompeii I believe
4
OhThat90sGuy Apr 18, 2026 +2
The Pompeii episode was the year before this one
2
chopchopfruit 5 days ago +1
thanks
1
Ivotedforher Apr 17, 2026 +1
What's Gwen up to tjese days? Asking for a friend.
1
← Back to Board