Torchwood: Children of Earth - Day Five

So it's now all over. Five days of hour long specials culminating in this.

Many's the time RTD has written great stories and then blown everything in the final act. For me, at least, that didn't happen here. There were a few glimpses of deus ex machinas being plucked from nowhere, but for the most part he avoided the excesses of his Doctor Who work. This was dark stuff.

Torchwood has finally become what it first claimed to be - sci-fi for adults. In the first series it was a fifteen year old boy's idea of what adult is - swearing, nudity, sex, graphic violence. In Children of the Earth it built on the sudden maturity of Series Two and went even further. After last episode's chilling moments, this went even further with scenes that were truly adult.

Hard to single out any member of the cast (although, frankly, John Barrowman was the weakest link) but the scenes with Peter Capaldi and Susan Brown as Frobisher and ever loyal assistant Bridget Spears were incredibly well performed and well judged.

It's impossible to say any more without spoilers. I'll just sit here thinking about the episode and think "Wow, Russell T. Davis finally pulled it off."

Powerful TV.

And from the first series of the show, almost unrecognizable. How do you go from metal bikinied Cyberwomen in high heels to this? Although they did keep tradition alive by including at least one moment to make us all want to slap Gwen.