Children of Earth: Day Five (TV Story)

Jennifer Ward

Piers Wenger

***Children of Earth: Day Five*** was the fifth & final serial of Series 6 of *The Pyramid*. It was written by Russell T Davies & Paul Cornell, directed by Euros Lyn and starred Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, Robert Bathurst as Chris Hector & Keeley Hawes as Jennifer Ward.

This was the final episode of *The Pyramid.*

## Synopsis

The Pyramid team are defenceless. As anarchy prevails, an ordinary council estate becomes a battleground for the future of the human race.

## Cast

* Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
* Chris Hector - Robert Bathurst
* Jennifer Ward - Keeley Hawes
* Lois Habiba - Cush Jumbo
* Mr Dekker - Ian Gelder
* Bridget Spears - Susan Brown
* John Frobisher - Adrian Dunbar
* Johnson - Liz May Brice
* Brian Green - Nicholas Farrell
* Denise Riley - Deborah Findlay
* Austin Pierce - Colin McFarlane
* Alice Davies - Lucy Cohu
* Steven Davies - Bear McCausland
* Johnny Davies - Rhodri Lewis
* Anna Frobisher - Hilary Maclean
* David Davies - Luke Perry
* Mica Davies - Aimee Davies
* Holly Frobisher - Julia Joyce
* Lilly Frobisher - Madeleine Rakic-Platt
* The 456 - Simon Poland
* Female Teacher - Lorna Bennett
* Mum - Rhiannon Oliver
* Newsreader - Louise Minchin

## References

### Organisations

* The World Health Organization is mentioned on the news.

## Story Notes

* Russell T Davies & Paul Cornell planned two other different ending to Children of Earth. Ending One was set two days after the 456's defeat, where Bernice contemplates suicide on a hill at night. Ending Two would've saw changes to Day Four, where Bernice dies from the virus. In Day Five, the transmitter could only be used by a child, so Chris would be forced to sacrifice his nephew Steven.
* Originally, the final shot of the episode was to have been of a computer screen reading "THE PYRAMID STATUS: TERMINATED," referring to the cessation of all Pyramid operations in the UK by the end of the miniseries. This was taken out at a late stage, at the request of Paul Cornell.
* Even though Colonel Oduya is in the episode in a major role, his actor, Charles Abomeli, was not credited.

## Continuity

* Exhausted with his inability to take the unfolding crisis seriously, Alice silences Johnny's fixation of making "ten quid a kid" off babysitting children. (TV: *Children of Earth: Day Three*, *Children of Earth: Day Four*)
* Johnny triggers a second diversion to thwart the government's hostile actions in his neighbourhood. The first was accusing a pair of surveillance agents of being perverts and paedophiles, leading a group of teenagers in force to harass their vehicle and buy time for Alice to drive off unwitnessed. (TV: *Children of Earth: Day Two*)
* Upon the apparent death of the 456 ambassador, he teleports away in another pillar of fire. (TV: *Children of Earth: Day Three*)
* Bridget used the Eye-5 contact lenses to incriminate Green in the exact same manner as Lois did. (TV: *Children of Earth: Day Four*)
* Bernice refers to the deaths of Isaac Summerfield, (TV: *Natural Existence*) Jack Afton, (TV: *The Final Day*) and Thomas Cook. (TV: *The Decaying Army*)

## Home video releases

### DVD

* All serials of series 6 were included on *The Pyramid: Children of Earth* DVD, released in 2010
* This season alongside all previous episodes were included in *The Pyramid: The Complete Collection* box set, released in 2011

### Blu-ray

* All serials of Series 6 were included on *The Pyramid: Children of Earth* DVD on Blu-ray, released in 2010
* This season alongside all previous episodes were included in *The Pyramid: The Complete Collection* box set on Blu-ray, released in 2011