Gwen Cooper

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Torchwood character

Gwen Cooper
Affiliated with South Wales Police
Torchwood Institute
Race Human
Home planet Earth
Home era Early 21st century
First appearance Everything Changes
Portrayed by Eve Myles

Gwen Elizabeth Cooper (born 16th August 1978) is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. Gwen Cooper is a former police officer recruited into the Torchwood Institute. She is portrayed by Eve Myles, who previously appeared as Gwyneth in the Doctor Who episode "The Unquiet Dead".[1] Russell T Davies has stated the two characters are not related.[2]

Within the series, Gwen is a South Wales Police officer who discovers the mysterious Torchwood Institute into which she is recruited by Captain Jack Harkness. Gwen's character is used as an audience surrogate in the introduction to the show's mythos, much like the typical "companion" character in Doctor Who.

Contents

[edit] Characterisation

Eve Myles characterises Gwen as an ambitious and feisty young woman who at the same time embodies many aspects of the girl next door archetype.[3] On the interactive Torchwood website, Gwen is described by Owen Harper in a psych evaluation as "socially responsible and empathetic" and possessing a lot of "unfulfilled potential".[4] Throughout the series, Gwen's character is at the centre of several themes regarding human nature.

Gwen's compassion plays an integral part throughout the series. In "Day One", she is the only one, initially, to see the infected Carys as a person, and not just another case. Her research into Carys' background wins the approval of Jack and perhaps ultimately contributes to Carys' salvation. "Ghost Machine" showed Gwen becoming over-involved in her determination to prevent the future, which ultimately led to her failure to do so, and the involuntary manslaughter of another, which deeply affected her. In subsequent episodes, she refused to believe that Jack would have killed Ianto or that he was able to sacrifice a young girl to save the world and in the episode "Countrycide" her inherent humanity was once again highlighted - her violent physical reaction to one of the corpses, and her intense need to understand how, and why, the villagers could commit such atrocities, acting as examples of this. In "Greeks Bearing Gifts", she is quick to forgive Toshiko for her telepathic intrusion, noting it is not her place to judge as she has been having an affair with Owen and admits she has no intention of stopping.

She is determined to understand the motivation of a cannibal in "Countrycide", and the revelation that he does it because it "makes [him] happy" leads her to pursue an affair with Owen, which she laments. She blames her experiences at Torchwood for "changing her", and it is apparent that it saddens her; this begins an insight into darker elements of her character. In "Out of Time", Gwen is amazed by her own ability to lie so convincingly and easily to Rhys. She also implies to Emma, an out of time young woman, that Rhys is not the best sex she has ever had, and it is inferred from the dialogue that he is not the "Mr. Right" that Emma believes a woman should wait for. The accompanying website features also suggest that Gwen has feelings towards Owen,[5] although in the same episode he cheated on her and explained he had never felt emotionally connected to any of his previous partners. Owen breaks off the affair in "Combat" and Gwen confesses it to Rhys, although she also gives him an amnesia pill so he will not remember her confession.

In "They Keep Killing Suzie", it became apparent that Suzie Costello is a parallel, a foil to Gwen. Like Gwen, she was in a relationship with Owen, was the only one who held the empathy required to use the resurrection gauntlet but unlike Suzie, Gwen has the strength to retain her sanity. Her early mastery of the glove is an apparent testimony to the incredible degree of compassion required to operate it.

In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang she shows enough compassion to be willing to sacrifice herself to save others. She also shows signs of being in love with Jack- a fact that she admitted to in "Adam", although their memories of her confession were subsequently wiped-, but it is also revealed that since the finale of season one and the opening of season two she and Rhys have become engaged to be married.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Television

Gwen Cooper was born to Geraint and Mary Cooper ("Something Borrowed"). She is introduced in "Everything Changes" as a police constable in Cardiff. Much like the character of Rose Tyler in "Rose", she serves to introduce the audience to the concepts of the show as her character discovers them. In the first scene of the pilot, Gwen is called in on a murder scene, only to encounter a mysterious team of individuals known only as "Torchwood". To satisfy her own curiosity (especially after witnessing the killing of a hospital porter by a Weevil), she tracks down the team and discovers the truth behind the organisation.

Despite having her memory wiped by the team leader, Jack Harkness, Gwen manages to leave a reminder to herself, linking a trace memory to the reconstructed murder weapon, and ends up exposing the murderer, Suzie Costello, Jack's second-in-command. When Suzie commits suicide, Jack offers Gwen a position with Torchwood and she accepts. Gwen believes that the team has been working with aliens and alien technology for so long that they have become hardened and have lost touch with humanity. She acts as the moral centre of the team, reminding them that they are in a position to help people, not just to scavenge technology.

Unlike her colleagues who have let their professional lives consume them, Gwen maintains a life outside the Institute. She lives with her boyfriend (later husband), Rhys Williams, who is a transport manager. He believes any alleged alien interference with Earth over the past two years are actually mass hallucinations caused by terrorists putting psychotropic drugs in the water supply, a theory that when put to Jack by Gwen makes him deride her boyfriend as stupid. Before she dated Rhys, she was going out with a Bruce, and Owen speculates she simply settled for Rhys.[6]

In "Ghost Machine" she is taught to use guns by Jack, and there appeared to be some sexual tension, but any developing feelings were apparently negated when she returned home and the "ghost machine" showed her memories of her relationship with Rhys. However, in "Cyberwoman" she and Owen kissed passionately whilst hiding from a female Cyberman, followed by further sexual tension with him in the episode "Countrycide", and the eventual revelation that she has embarked upon an affair with Owen, largely because she cannot share her supernatural and extraterrestrial experiences with her boyfriend, Rhys, even though she does care for him.

On the Torchwood website, Gwen has a conversation with Ianto which suggests that she might have feelings for Jack.[7] In "Random Shoes", she is the only one to hear Eugene (although she didn't know that it was him at the time), this could be the first signs of advanced mental ability that was seen in Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead", although it could just be the case that Gwen was the only one Eugene attempted to talk to, with the Torchwood Declassified accompaniment stating that he became more audible and corporeal as time passed.[original research?]

At the beginning of "End of Days", Gwen jokingly tells Rhys she is using telepathy on him. Throughout the episode, her emotions are played with as Rhys' life is threatened then taken away, eventually leading a coup with Owen to overthrow Jack and open the Rift, believing it will resurrect Rhys. While ecstatic when eventually Rhys is returned at the price of Jack, who battled with Abaddon and remained dead for days, Gwen stayed by his side for the entire time, unwavering in her belief in him, before he is finally resurrected, and thanks her after she kisses his dead lips. After Jack's disappearance she, along with the rest of the Torchwood Three team, was dispatched on a "wild goose chase" to the Himalayas by Mr. Saxon ("The Sound of Drums").

Gwen took charge of the team in Jack's absence, and there was tension when Jack finally returned (for the beginning of Season 2). Gwen had also become engaged to Rhys in the intervening time ("Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"). In the episode "Meat", Gwen reveals the the true nature of her job to Rhys. As of "Something Borrowed", she has become Mrs. Rhys Williams, but still uses the name Cooper.

She was extremely affected by the death of colleagues Tosh and Owen, stating that she didn't know if she could carry on.

Like most characters in Torchwood, Gwen has had a same-sex encounter, passionately snogging Carys (albeit unintentionally) in "Day One" while Carys was possessed by the Sex Gas.

[edit] Literature

Gwen appears in the first six of the Torchwood novels, published by BBC Books. The first wave, Another Life by Peter Anghelides,[8] Border Princes by Dan Abnett,[9] and Slow Decay by Andy Lane,[10] were published in January 2007.

Published in March 2008, and tying in with the concurrently airing second series of Torchwood, Gwen appears in the novels Trace Memory by David Llewellyn,[11] The Twilight Streets by Gary Russell,[12] and Something in the Water by Trevor Baxendale.[13]

Gwen also appears in the first two Torchwood audio books, Hidden by Steven Savile, narrated by Naoko Mori (who plays Toshiko).[14] and Everyone Says Hello by Dan Abnett, narrated by Burn Gorman (who plays Owen).[15]

In the novel Border Princes, Gwen had an affair with James Mayer during a difficult time with Rhys. Gwen's first day with PC Andy Davidson as her partner is portrayed in a flashback in the novel Trace Memory. As with all Doctor Who and Torchwood spin-off media, the canonicity in relation to the television series is unclear.[16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Team Torchwood. BBC Doctor Who website. Retrieved on 2006-03-22.
  2. ^ Cook, Benjamin (2007-01-31 cover date). "Whoops, Apocalypse". Doctor Who Magazine (378): p. 34.  "Is there a special link between the similarly named characters of Gwen and Gwyneth? 'None at all,' says Russell. 'Maybe it's a Welsh thing, but those are completely different names to me. We're not about to reveal that she's a parallel-Gelth-ghost-from-the-Time-Rift, or something; just two names beginning with "G". It could have been worse: I could have called her Gina. Or George.' "
  3. ^ Rowland, Paul. "Welsh star in Doctor Who spin-off", The Western Mail, 2006-02-24. Retrieved on 2006-03-22. 
  4. ^ Gwen Cooper psychological evaluation
  5. ^ Gwen/Owen conversation
  6. ^ Torchwood External Hub Interface - Gwen-Owen Instant Messenger Transcript
  7. ^ Gwen/Ianto conversation
  8. ^ Anghelides, Peter (January 2007). Another Life. BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-48655-8. 
  9. ^ Abnett, Dan (January 2007). Border Princes. BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-48654-1. 
  10. ^ Lane, Andy (January 2007). Slow Decay. BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-48655-8. 
  11. ^ Llewwellyn, David (March 2008). Trace Memory. BBC Books. ISBN 184607438X. 
  12. ^ Russell, Gary (March 2008). The Twilight Streets. BBC Books. ISBN 1846074398. 
  13. ^ Baxendale, Trevor (March 2008). Something in the Water. BBC Books. ISBN 1846074371. 
  14. ^ Steven Savile (author), Naoko Mori (narrator). (2008-02-04). Hidden [Audio book]. BBC Audio. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  15. ^ Dan Abnett (author), Burn Gorman (narrator). (2008-02-04). Everyone Says Hello [Audio book]. BBC Audio. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  16. ^ Stephen Gray. "The Whoniverse Guide to Canon", Whoniverse.org. Retrieved on 2006-12-30. 

[edit] External links

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Jack Harkness • Gwen Cooper • Owen Harper • Toshiko Sato • Ianto Jones
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