10 Soul Crushing Torchwood Moments That Left Us Traumatised
3. Jack Sacrifices His Grandson - Children Of Earth: Day 5
That's right, the horrific moment in which our beloved hero and central protagonist brutally murders his nine-year old grandson whilst his daughter watches on, screaming, takes a humble third place. If that's not a testament to how upsetting this show is, nothing is.
After the chilling revelation that the 456 want humanity's children because they give off chemicals that give them a good hit, you think that the series has reached peak levels of f***ed up. Not so. Because Captain Jack Harkness is in town and he's going to save the world the only way he knows how: by being a complete, merciless b*****d. In the closing moments of this legendary miniseries, Jack realises that he can stop the 456 before it's too late by tapping into the frequency that they use to communicate through the children, blowing them up like a hot-pocket that's been in the microwave for too long.
To do this, he will need a child, and that child will have to die a grisly death. How lucky, then, that his innocent grandson Steven happens to be to hand. Jack's daughter Alice begs him not to make the call, but he does, and as she is restrained, Steven is seized and bought to Jack. Going ahead with the plan, Jack watches on, utterly defeated, as his only grandson's brain is turned to soup. Alice stands by, helpless and screaming, and the performance she gives is harrowing.
After her initial meltdown, she walks away from Jack without saying a word. She doesn't need to speak, because Jack already knows that if she ever sees him again, she will kill him. Once again, we see Jack left entirely alone in the world. Unable to continue with Torchwood, he turns his back on the organisation, officially disbanding the team and running off to space to drink his sorrows away in some seedy bar. This is the most grim conclusion imaginable to a story that could not have ended any other way, and a moment that would, for many fans, change their perception of Jack forever - it's a far cry from the campy, cocky time agent we met in The Empty Child, that's for sure.