Torchwood: Children of Earth - Plot

Plot

Over the course of two days, all the children in the world stop in their tracks, and speak, in unison and in English, "We are coming." Home Office Permanent Secretary John Frobisher is aware these events are tied to an alien race known as the 456, named after the wavelength they communicate on. The 456 appeared in 1965, secretly offering the British government a cure to a new strain of Indonesian flu destined to wipe out 25 million people, in exchange for 12 children. Captain Jack Harkness was one of four soldiers who were chosen to give the children to the 456. As public knowledge of the exchange would be disastrous for the British government, Frobisher orders, through troops under Agent Johnson's command, the assassination of those involved in the previous contact. Johnson plants a bomb in Jack's stomach, which goes off inside of the Torchwood Hub in Cardiff and destroys it. Aware of Jack's regenerative abilities, Johnson's troops collect Jack's remains and lock them in a secure facility, monitoring the reforming of his body. Gwen Cooper, her husband Rhys and Ianto Jones, due to their association with Jack, become fugitives from the law. Frobisher also orders construction of an isolation tank inside Thames House to receive the 456 when they arrive.

The remaining Torchwood team make contact with Lois Habiba, a new personal assistant in Frobisher's office who has seen his classified files. Lois helps the others to locate and rescue Jack; they, in turn, provide her with special Torchwood contact lenses that will allow them to see what she sees, hoping she will help them learn the cause of these events. Torchwood also has identified and rescued Clement McDonald, originally one of the twelve children to be taken away but left behind by the 456. Clement went mad due to the experience and has been institutionalized the last 40 some odd years, but still responds in the same way as the children to the new 456 signal.

On the third day, the ambassador for the 456 arrive in a column of fire over Thames House before appearing in the isolation tank. Frobisher and his staff, including Lois who has worn the Torchwood contact lenses, hold confidential meetings with the 456 to understand why they have returned. The 456 demand that 10% of the world's population of children be handed over to them, or else they will destroy the human race. They reveal one of the children from 1965, now a shrivelled husk despite having not aged. Children around the world begin to chant (still in English) a number equal to 10% of their country's child population. The governments of the world, although disgusted, secretly agree in conference that they have no choice but to comply with the 456.

Torchwood, with Lois's help, announce themselves and insist they intervene in the situation, threatening to reveal the 456's demands and the government's agreement, recorded through the contact lens, to the world. Jack and Ianto storm Thames House, confront the 456 and give them an ultimatum- that they leave the Earth or else they will face a war. In response, the 456 release a lethal virus. Thames House automatically locks down, sealing and killing everyone inside except Mr. Dekker, who successfully puts on a hazard suit in time. At the same time, they send an auditory signal to Clement, killing him. As Ianto collapses and dies in Jack's arms, the 456 gives a final demand for the children before Jack also succumbs to the virus. When Jack revives, he and Gwen mourn over Ianto's lifeless body.

With Torchwood's failure, and Lois in prison for charges of espionage, the governments of the world agree they must deliver the children as promised. Prime Minister Brian Green, along with his Cabinet and one member from both the US military and UNIT, decide to cover up the United Kingdom's actions as inoculation shots given at schools. After refusing a random lottery to select the children out of fear that their own children might be selected, they choose to use the schools at the bottom of the league tables to give to the 456. In discussions the 456 reveal they use the children as their bodies produce a chemical that acts as a recreational drug to them. Green orders Frobisher to submit his children as part of those that have been selected, in order to keep up the pretence to the rest of the country. Frobisher agrees, returns home and kills his two daughters to save them from this fate, his wife and then himself. As some parents have kept children at home from school, Green orders military measures to secure the remaining children. While Gwen and Rhys help to protect Ianto's sister Rhiannon's daughter and several other local children from capture, Jack, Johnson and Dekker consider a means of stopping the 456. They realise that the audio signal used to kill Clement could be used against the 456. However, it requires that one child act as the focal point for the transmission, likely killing him or her. Jack is left with no choice but to use his daughter Alice's son, Steven, who is the only child immediately available to them. Jack, Johnson and Dekker successfully send the signal, amplified through all the other children, and the 456 suffer in pain before withdrawing from the earth. Steven dies and Alice severs all contact with Jack.

The world recovers from the events. Green suggests that they simply cover it up and place the blame on the United States, but Bridget Spears, Frobisher's direct assistant and Lois's superior, reveals that she is wearing the contact lenses that Lois used and has recorded this conversation and will release it, putting an end to Green's political career. Six months after the events, Gwen and Rhys meet with Jack, who had been travelling the world on his own, trying to rid himself of his guilt over his grandson's death and the loss of Ianto, who was also his lover. Jack states he needs to make a new life for himself and plans to travel into the stars. Gwen brings Jack his vortex manipulator, found in the wreckage of Torchwood, as a departing gift as he teleports away. With Jack having left the Earth, Gwen pregnant and the rest of the team dead, Torchwood Three is effectively terminated.