8. Captain Jack Kills His Grandson Torchwood: Children Of Earth
For four days, Torchwood: Children of Earth did what Russell T Davies drama does best; it built suspense wonderfully for the catastrophe around the corner, and it was excellently written. It was perhaps the best set-up of any story he'd been a part of, until of course the fifth episode saw all that hard work ruined. The government are about to hand over 10% of the world's children to the 456, a group of slimy aliens who plan to use the kids as a recreational drug. Jack Harkness is hailed as the only technological genius who can save the day the Doctor's not around by the way, no-one really knows why and he doesn't mention it later and so he searches for a way to stop the monsters. In the end, he reverses a radio signal, and channels it through his grandson. It kills the child stone-dead with a bloodcurdling scream, and Jack's daughter never speaks to him again. We know that Torchwood's basically just Doctor Who for adults, but did Children of Earth have to end quite so horrifically? That aside, the final half hour of the series felt utterly rushed; why would a radio signal do anything? What's to stop the 456 returning for revenge? Let's just hope that next time, the Doctor's on hand to sort Jack's mess out.