The darkness of Harkness

SPOILER WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS!

The entertaining and sometimes quite corny British series "Torchwood" takes a decidedly darker turn in this third season miniseries, known as "Torchwood: Children of Earth".

A bizarre alien race known only as 456 demands that humanity turn over millions of children to them. Apparently, human children emit a special chemical which the aliens use as a recreational drug! It also turns out that the British government have helped the aliens abduct children in the past. To stop the truth from leaking out, home office secretary John Frobisher sends out a hit squad to kill everyone who knows about the previous alien encounter, including Torchwood leader Jack Harkness. But, as avid "Torchwood" fans know, Captain Jack can't die. Various ingenious ways of getting rid of him fails, and he is soon back to take on both the 456 and the officials who betrayed him.

The governments of Britain, the United States and other nations turn out to be evil, spineless or both, and agree to turn over the children to the bizarre aliens. The military promptly rounds up undesirable kids from bad neighbourhoods. The operation ends only at the last possible moment, as the hit squad that wanted Captain Jack dead suddenly turns coat and starts co-operating with Torchwood instead. Jack then forces the 456 to withdraw by turning one of the aliens' own signals against them. Unfortunately, the victory comes at a terrible price. Several of the main characters end up dead, the Torchwood Institute is in shambles, and Jack Harkness leaves Earth. The whole thing cries out for a sequel. Indeed, a fourth season of "Torchwood" is said to be in preparation.

"Torchwood: Children of Earth" is one of the better science fiction dramas I've seen. Every episode has its fair share of excitement, suspense and unexpected twists. The evil Frobisher becomes a tragic hero. The spotless hero Jack turns out to have a dark past. As already mentioned, the black ops people eventually decide to co-operate with the good guys. The revelation that the 456 need the children as a narcotic is suitably disgusting.

The only problem with "Children of Earth" is, ironically, that it's *too* good. It doesn't fit very well with the two previous seasons of "Torchwood", with their curious blend of entertainment, weird depressions and bisexuality. "Children of Earth" is too dark, too pessimistic and just too serious. It's not clear how the series will develop from now on, but it will be difficult to go back to the good old days of Weewils, cannibals and giant mayflies from outer space! "Torchwood" started out as a "Doctor Who" spin off, but it seems to have ended up in a very different universe.

But perhaps that's how it should be. It will be interesting to see what the people behind this series will come up with next...