a_silver_story | SPOILER ALERT: Torchwood: Children of Earth DVD Review

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SPOILER ALERT: Torchwood: Children of Earth DVD Review

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Below the cut is my full review for the CoE DVD.

First of all: lovely menus.

^^ click for full size ^^

Er ... that's it. Really. That's the only nice thing I can really say. The packaging seems out of place with the previous DVDs, there's next to no special features and I feel like I've been cheated out of my money.

No deleted scenes.

No outtakes.

No featurettes

Just a thrown together Declassified, 30 minutes in length, that brushes lightly on everything they could possibly pack in.

I think they talked about the 456 and how scary they were and how wonderful the puppets were and how they worked longer than they talked about Ianto's death. Kiitos to them, they did a little montage part way through from "Fragments", through series one and two and through to "Day Four" - then went and ruined it by dubbing it with James Blunt. JAMES FUCKING BLUNT IS IANTO'S SWANSONG????? I DON'T THINK SO!!!! If they were going to play anything, they should have played "You do Something To Me" by Paul Weller: the song Jack and Ianto danced to at Gwen's wedding.

Hardly any GDL in the Declassified, I felt. And he was wearing something on his head that I can only describe as a "woolen condom".

RTD was all "Oh isn't it a shame Ianto had to die - but what with the peril of the situation not all of them could have made it out alive" - er ... yeah they could. It's science fiction .... JACK SHOULD BE ABLE TO DIE ... IT'S THE FICTION ELEMENT THAT STOPS HIM FROM DOING SO - SO DON'T COME AT US WITH "WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP IT REAL!" YOU'VE GOT A THREE HEADED ALIEN IN A TANK FILLED WITH POISONOUS GASES THAT GETS HIGH OFF KIDS AND YOU'RE TELLING ME IANTO HAD TO DIE TO KEEP IT REAL?????????????????????? *calming breath ... calming breath*

While watching it, I did notice the other crew members kind of go "Yes ... it was a very ... brave ... choice to kill Ianto ..." ... y'know ... in an "I never would have done it so soon" kind of way.

We all accepted that Ianto would die eventually. It just shouldn't have happened so soon.

I'm really sorry, but I can't be bothered going back and finding the username [bad LJer!], but someone said that RTD was being very "I'm breaking my toys so that you can't play with them" - what with his fuck up of the last two episodes and his sudden departure to the USA, I can't help but agree.

I'm glad he's going over to invade the Yankie Doodles. Do with him what you wish.

N/B: A little ray of RTD kindness: in his original draft, Stephen didn't die. But in the second one he did ... so ... EVIL MAN.

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Thats just crap! RTD is going to have fun in the US. His ego is going to get spanked*snorts* What he said about Ianto dying is just wank. Pure utter RTD wank trying to save his selfrightious arse. Feck off to USA and get a good kicking. Torchwood got fans there as well and my mate in LA is most displeased...*evil grin*

Pssssst!

http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/07/stepping-back.html

There are certain spoilers so be warned. Some people had an unfortunate reaction to some of the plots in CoE and have said some rather nasty things to JM. I've seen some of the messages on twitter and in the blog and they were most unpleasant!

Overreaction much?

So he's running away from his blog so that he doesn't have to face the fans?

And what was that about "I ONLY have to write for myself"? ER NO! You have to write for us or you end up working in McDonalds!!!

Yes Yes Yes!!!!!
He talks like he doesn't care but in the end you do get the impression he want to cry in his mommy's arms! XP

Russell T Davies...*noise of disgust*

He only got rid of Ianto cos he secretly wants to shag Gwen. (And he calls himself a gay man! Tsskkk)

If you ask meeee (im gunna hate myself for saying thiisss.) i think it might have effected Jack more if Gwen would have died because he would have to deal with Rhys' pain aswell.

Btw, your comment about the three headed alien getting high off little kids had me in stitches. :P
x

Jack more if Gwen would have died because he would have to deal with Rhys' pain aswell.

Not if he still left and it was up to Ianto to tell Rhys about Gwen's death.

I think if he left to see the stars, he'd have taken Ianto with him - or at least given him the option. He needed Ianto - that much is clear in the books, audioplays and in the TV show. I don't think he'd ever leave him behind voluntarily again.

I was thinking along the lines if they kept the same plot/ending just with different players.

But if it were Gwen instead though, does that mean we'd suddenly get an "I love you" from Jack as she's dying? I bet RTD would have found a way to resurrect her for day 5....

A little ray of RTD kindness: in his original draft, Stephen didn't die. But in the second one he did ... so ... EVIL MAN.

So in the original draft, Stephen lives but he still would've killed Ianto to keep it "real?" I'm confuzzled...I read somewhere about "Declassified" that Ianto had to die so Jack could be a dark place in order to sacrifice Stephen. I need to find that post now in case I read it wrong but that couldn't be true, if in the original draft, Ianto still dies and Stephen lives. This takes us back to him killing off Ianto just because he could. *grrr*

Russell T Davies has always said that Ianto had to die in order to "push" Jack into killing Stephen, something he "wouldn't have done" if Ianto had been alive. However, killing Ianto was the first thing he decided about the plot, whereas killing Stephen was the very last thing he decided - indicating that saying "Ianto's death = Stephen's death" is like saying "I saw a pigeon = I decided to eat a BLT sandwich". A does not equal B in any plausible way.

Basically Ianto was killed for no reason that other than it could happen - as shown by the klunkiness of the death scene. It was completely contrived - Ianto had no purpose in being there other than it would lead to his death. The plot was stretched to accomodate the death, rather than the death coming naturally out of the storyline.

Ah well. *Goes to plant face into a wall*.

In a series where the main character doesn't die and is a spinoff of another series where the main character doesn't die, Ianto had to die to keep it real? Yeah, like anyone looks at DW or TW and thinks "That could really happen". ASS!

Maybe RTD will visit the Hollywood sign and one of the letters will fall on him? Is that too much to hope for or ask? :P

'Maybe RTD will visit the Hollywood sign and one of the letters will fall on him? Is that too much to hope for or ask? :P'

That had me laughing my head off for a good solid 10mins, cheers! haha!

hehe Glad you got a good laugh out of that. I'd sacrifice a national landmark for a good cause. *grins*

- I'm sorry you're feeling like you've been cheated out of your money. :/
- No outtakes? WTF? WHYYYYYYYY? O_o It's not THAT hard to put a few funny scenes (or deleted scenes) together, is it? It's not like they didn't have enough time. ^^
- "And he was wearing something on his head that I can only describe as a "woolen condom"." This made me LOL. XD
- RTD = Made of giant FAIL!
- Others said that - when John talked about Ianto's death - his voice broke a little? What do you think?
- Do the actors talk about a possible fourth season? (Not like I'm gonna watch it if there's no Ianto - Just asking)

Errr.. yeah, that's it, I guess. XD

JB was clearly very upset about Ianto's death - I don't think he agreed with it. But he's a jobbing actor - he could have abused his position and said "I'm not doing it if Yantoes dies" though! Who else could play Jack Harkness?? They couldn't fire JB!

But Jack Harkness could disappear from TW for awhile...

Yeah. I was thinking the same... why didn't John say anything then. Like you said: No John Barrowman -> No Jack Harkness -> No Torchwood.

But then. Maybe RTD never REALLY planned on doing a fourth season. (Or - he wants to create a "new TW" with no Jack, no Ianto... but a new team (and maybe Gwen) ) That would mean: No more TW for John as well.

Would also mean no more Torchwood, because no way would BBC commission it without JB - they know he's integral, even if RTD doesn't.

Gareth said in a interview John was really upset about Ianto dieing and kind of hinted John tried to get rtd to change his mind he said somthing along the lines of when they was all in a meeting john was asking rtd "why, why, why does he have to die?" if i can find it i'll post the link

Omg! Please do :)

ok this is from the interview

AE: What did John say to you the first time you talked about what would happen?

GDL: He never quite got it at first. He was like, "Why? Why? Why are we killing off Ianto?" John was wondering, like myself, and then he read the script and saw how it happened and what happens prior to it, and it just sort of made sense.

This is a link to the few interview

http://www.afterelton.com/people/2009/7/garethdavidlloyd?page=0%2C0

Thanks so much!

Hmmm ... I've seen what happened prior to Ianto's death, and it still doesn't even 'sort of' make sense to me ....

(deleted comment)

Oh definitely!

I think he's the only one who actually *got* the character of Ianto - aside from GDL - who was involved with CoE. I mean - like I said - he was clearly upset in the DVD extra just talking about it.

And there clearly were outtakes from the footage on BBC's website. Why not put that on the DVD? And I refuse to believe that everything they shot made the final cut. Nothing was deleted?

Not even an extended Ianto death scene and they cut it down to what we saw????

If the Torchwood producers and writers were to try and do a fourth season, how badly do any of you think that the loss of the Ianto and Janto fans will affect the chances of a fourth season's success? I don't know what percentage of the viewers and consumers of Torchwood are likely to quit following the program.

Their main fanbase were Ianto fans. I think that people will give it a go, but it's going to take some seriously good writing and a strong presence of Ianto to make it take off anywhere.

Even in the DVD Declassified, they mentioned that "to most people, he [Ianto] was the star of the show".

There must be something else to it. Really, there must. I mean ... they know how popular he is ... I mean ... what do they expect???

Then, I'm hoping that the writers and producers recognize that they are to no small degree dependent on the good will of people who support Torchwood and will try and change the situation (somehow bring Ianto back) or will simply avoid making another series. Although I can respect (to a point) that the writers have their own vision of a story, it really galled me to see James Moran's post saying basically that the decision was supported by all and was considered best for the program, when it seems like in other posts people have been scrambling to find justifications to 'placate' the fans. I even joined several of the groups protesting Ianto's death and sent e-mails to the BBC and even a conciliatory e-mail to Gareth David-Lloyd fan page thanking him for all the work he put in on Torchwood. I'm in the United States, but I heard that many people were sending in coffee and tea bags to the BBC with letters and I found a website for a coffee distributor in the UK that people overseas can buy from. If anyone would like the address I can provide it. And Russell T. Douchebag can stay in the UK, since I'm 99.9% sure that American audiences have no clue who he is and won't accept his attitudes towards viewers.

I'm sending my coffee tomorrow.

Also ... does anyone else feel that www.garethdavid-lloyd.co.uk has been rather quiet about all this?

No posts since Torchwood CoE started. Silent, much?

Actually, that was what I was wondering about. I don't check on his website very much, but I've noticed that the posting dates stop right before CoE began airing. I don't know if he's particularly busy or is keeping quite because 1) He's worried that being seen as 'difficult' could damage his chances for other work or coming back to the Who-/Torchwoodverse or 2) The contracts the actors agreed to prevent them from talking about CoE until after it has broadcast in all the countries where Torchwood is shown, which would mean waiting 'til the end of the month at the earliest for his reaction. I saw on the site that he, John, and Eve will be signing DVD copies in London and Cardiff this Friday, and I'm hoping that some of the fans (angry, sad, or other) will ask questions of the actors. I'm pretty pissed off with some of the things said at conventions and interviews that set viewers up to be crushed. I also looked at Russell T. Douchebag (That's my new name for him)'s site, and I think that his moderator only allows positive or congratulatory messages to be posted. What address are you sending your coffee to? I've seen two addresses and am not sure which is better.

That's why the DVD signings may probably offer more than any con as long as RTD is there. Love the name for him by the way! LOL

The actors are probably contractually bound to not give away anything and may also not be allowed to make any disparaging remarks.

The address on www.saveiantojones.com

Can't remember it off the top of my head ...

I agree with the RTD site and only positive remarks. They must have to spend ages filtering those through ...

(deleted comment)

Can you link me to it? I can't find!

hey i am in RTD's page right now and contrarily to what i have also thought the messages there have not been filtered

That's good news. I think that I will have to go over there and give him a piece of my mind. Not only am I a Torchwood and Doctor Who watcher, but I'm also one of those Yanks that Russell has decided he needs to try and win over. I'd rather give him a swift kick in ass, or arse if you prefer.

i've been lurking for anything on GDL's page and there is a post now where he thanks everybody for the support thru the past years to his character, and that he is looking forward to new projects or so. needless to say no more ianto. now i really feel devastated...

The season 3 DVD set appears to be as chock full of features as the season 2 DVD set [sarcasm added]. Nice.

I don't think our boy RTD knows what he's in for in the US. Unless he has a new project to keep him busy, they will eat him up and spit him out. It's been a while since QAF and us Yankie Doodles have the memory span of gnats.

Poor thing. Once he gets spit out, we'll send him back by parcel post on the slow boat. We even promise to cut a hole in the box for air!

You know its a good thing RTD is gone, because I didn't think he would care about the fans protests, the petitions, and coffee sending campaign would bother him at all.

I had to laugh when I read the description of the DVD as "PACKED with extras." Apparently, they're on the AU version of the DVD. BTW - GDL has an interesting note on his website www.garethdavid-lloyd.co.uk. If you haven't seen it, you should.

I've just read it now ...

hmmmm.

I dunno if it's wishful thinking - but does he know something we don't?

And what are his new projects? I know he recently shot a short film in may (can't remember what it's called right now) but I don't think I've heard of anything else other than Cinderella in December (which I will hopefully get to see as Preston is quite near me. YAY)

Dunno. His schedule's pretty full through the first of the year and I think Barrowman's is even worse. I think in the best of worlds we were always looking at end of next year for Torchwood 4.
I hope I'm not turning into a crazed conspiracy theorist, but do you suppose that message was GDL's idea, or did the Beeb contact him in a panic? "You've got to do something! Your fans are crazed!"
I was also thinking that, if GDL got a decent job in a film, or in a show I can watch on BBCA, I'd have less trouble moving on. He really is a fine actor. Then I can be like, "RTD, who?"
This Panto is not a tradition we have here. Please go. Please send pictures.

Oh. My. God.

Pantomimes are one of the best things about the end of the year!!!

I tried to get to "Peter Pan" last year because it had Kai Owen in it, but I couldn't go.

They're seen as the bottom end of theatre, but everyone loves doing them because they're so much and such a laugh.

If I can go and if I can post pictures, I most certainly shall!

I sort of liked the whole Ianto montage thing, don't have any particular views of James Blunt to be honest but the words seemed to be appropriate.
However, on Russel T Davies' webpage there is a video of Jack and Ianto to the sounds of John Barrowman singing 'I know him so well' with some lovely footage.
Having said all that, I agree that the DVD extras were poor. I had thought they were bad enough of Series 2 DVD, but these are even worse. But I've felt for some time that the BBC didn't want to put as much effort into the show as they have in previous years. I felt this years website was disappointing as well. And I made sure I told them so when one of their 'do you have a couple of minutes to tell us what you think of this website' surveys popped up. Couple of minutes? Oh, I could give you a couple of hours!

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SPOILER ALERT: Torchwood: Children of Earth DVD Review

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