List of Torchwood characters

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This television-related article or section describes an aspect of the series in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.

The following is a list of characters in the BBC science fiction television series Torchwood, including supporting characters, and important human villains. Characters with sufficient information to warrant their own article are not included in this list.

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] B

[edit] Tommy Brockless

Thomas "Tommy" Reginald Brockless, portrayed by Anthony Lewis appears in the episode "To the Last Man". A shell-shocked World War I soldier, born in the year 1894, Tommy is brought into Torchwood Three's custody and cryopreserved in 1918 after his future self instructs them to do as such through a time slip. It is these time slips that Tommy is instrumental in stopping. At an unspecified year in the future of 1918, fragments of 1918 and the present will bleed together, potentially destroying the world. Hence, once every year, Torchwood awaken Tommy to check whether his presence is required and to give him a "day out."

It is 2008 when these events eventually begin to unfold. As this begins to happen, Tommy must be sent back to his own time acting as a metaphorical "stitch in time," pulling all of 1918 back to where it belongs. However, during his last day, Tommy falls for Toshiko, making his decision all the more difficult. He is eventually convinced to do so thanks to Toshiko, who encourages him to fix the Rift by referring to him as her 'brave, handsome hero' (quoting Thomas's own words to her). She cannot reveal to Tommy that he will be one of hundreds of shell shock victims executed for cowardice.^[1]

[edit] C

[edit] Gerald Carter

Gerald Carter, portrayed by Roderic Culver, appears in flashback sequences of the episode "To the Last Man" where his backstory is also briefly given.^[1] Trained in military intelligence, he joined the 1910's Torchwood Institute and would later assume the position of leadership at Torchwood Three in Cardiff. According to the Torchwood website, he had been an avid supporter of early "Rift theory", and after controversially being placed in charge of the team in 1907 managed to bring great strides. However, following the death of Harriet Derbyshire, Carter felt responsible and retired to a consultancy position, until his death in 1942.^[2]

[edit] Gwen Cooper

Main article: Gwen Cooper

Gwen Cooper, played by Welsh actress Eve Myles was recruited into Torchwood Three in 2007 by Jack Harkness, in the series premiere episode "Everything Changes". A policewoman, partnered with PC Andy, Gwen would by the second series become elevated to the team's second-in-command. Gwen and her live-in boyfriend Rhys would eventually get married, with Gwen taking the surname Williams. Prior to this, Gwen had been having a sexual affair with teammate Owen Harper, and briefly showed a romantic attraction to her boss, Captain Jack Harkness.

[edit] Aaron Copley

Aaron Copley, portrayed by Alan Dale, is the leader of experimental medical facility "The Pharm" and features in "Reset". When his facility claims to have developed a miracle substance able to cure medically incurable diseases such as diabetes and cancer, the Torchwood team investigate. Martha Jones is sent in by Captain Jack, allowing Torchwood to gain unprecedented access to Copley's files. It is discovered that he has been capturing alien specimens (including a giant mayfly and a weevil) and using their bodily fluids to develop the "Reset" cure. When Copley discovers that Martha knows this, and has herself actually travelled in time and space, he begins to carry out intrusive tests on her. After Martha is eventually saved by the team, and the Pharm's computer records are wiped and the aliens euthanised, Copley follows them outside and pulls a gun on her. Whilst trying to calm Copley down, Owen Harper is shot dead. In an act of revenge, Jack shoots Copley in the head, instantly killing him.^[3]

[edit] Suzie Costello

Suzie Costello, portrayed by Indira Varma, is a principal character in the first episode, "Everything Changes".^[4] The second-in-command of Torchwood Three, the Cardiff-based wing of the Torchwood Institute, she has been researching a piece of alien technology, a glove which has the ability to resurrect creatures that have recently died, but only for a short period of time. It is revealed later in the episode that she has been murdering people in order to create test subjects for the Glove, having become obsessed with trying to make it work permanently. While confessing her crimes to Gwen Cooper, she prepares to shoot Gwen in order to cover up her crimes when Jack arrives. Suzie shoots Jack in the head, but he rises again due to his inability to die, and she commits suicide by placing the muzzle beneath her chin and shooting herself instead. In "They Keep Killing Suzie", the Torchwood team brings her back to life using the Resurrection Gauntlet (wielded by Gwen) and the "Life Knife". Unknown to the team, this was part of a plan that Suzie set up months before her death. She appears to be resurrected permanently and unable to be killed. However, this is because the gauntlet is continuing to transfer life energy between her and Gwen. Suzie feels inferior to and resents Gwen for "replacing" her in all areas, including having a relationship with Owen Harper. When asked what she experienced while dead, she initially claims that she remembers nothing but darkness, but later tells Jack that she sensed something in the darkness that is coming for him. Suzie manipulates Gwen into freeing her from the base and subsequently murders her own father. Expressing regret over Gwen's impending death but still willing to sacrifice her to remain alive, Suzie continues draining Gwen's life energy and remains alive even after Jack shoots her multiple times, until Toshiko Sato destroys the gauntlet, breaking the energy transfer and finally killing Suzie once more. Jack tells Ianto Jones to record the multiple causes of death as "Death by Torchwood".^[5]

[edit] D

[edit] PC Andy Davidson

Police Constable Andy Davidson (credited in the episodes as PC Andy), played by Tom Price, is Gwen Cooper's former police partner, first appearing in "Everything Changes".^[4] Although the surname does not appear in the programme credits, the surname "Davidson" has been used on the BBC website in an audio message recorded by Tom Price and also appears in a spin-off novel.^{[citation needed]}

After Gwen joins Torchwood, she meets Davidson again outside a nightclub where a man has been killed by a "sex monster"-possessed host ("Day One").^[6] Like Gwen's boyfriend Rhys, he initially believes that she has been promoted to "Special Ops". Davidson later reappears to begrudgingly assist Gwen in "End of Days",^[7] and "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang".^[8] Andy comes to understand that Gwen's work for Torchwood involves "spooky", likely extraterrestrial situations, and later asserts his jealousy for her special ops position.

In "Adrift", Davidson calls Gwen to investigate sudden disappearances in Cardiff. During this, he reveals his affection for her and jealousy toward Rhys, which Gwen discovers to be his excuse for not attending her wedding. It is revealed he still has a soft spot for Gwen and has a childish crush on her.^[9]

During "Exit Wounds", he and Rhys help to coordinate the police department's response to the bombs planted by Gray and Captain John Hart.^[10]

Gwen and Andy meet in the novel Another Life at the scene of Guy Wildman's death.^[11] He also features in a flashback in the novel Trace Memory.^[12]

[edit] Harriet Derbyshire

Harriet Derbyshire, portrayed by Siobhan Hewlett, appears in flashback sequences of the episode "To the Last Man" where her backstory is also briefly given.^[1] She was recruited directly from the University of Oxford (where she observed physics lectures) into Torchwood Three. According to the Torchwood website, she is one of the notable employees whose bodies are stored in the cryogenics area.^[13]

[edit] F

[edit] Fortune teller

See Little Girl

[edit] G

[edit] Gray

Gray (surname unknown) portrayed by child actor Ethan Brooke in "Adam",^[14] and as an adult by Lachlan Nieboer in "Fragments" and "Exit Wounds",^[15][10] is Captain Jack's younger brother. First mentioned in series two premiere "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" the character first appeared onscreen in the episode "Adam", in flashback sequences.

In "Adam", Jack's memories of his brother are brought to the surface by an alien who is meddling with the teams' memories. Jack recalls letting go of his brother's hand during an alien invasion in their homeplace of the Boeshane Peninsula and losing track of Gray, an action that he still regards as the worst thing he ever did. Young Jack (portrayed by Jack Montgomery) searches for Gray but is never able to find him, his grief made even worse when he returns home and discovers his dead father. When the alien is defeated, he taunts Jack that he will lose these memories of his brother, indicating they had been lost or repressed prior to their recent resurgence.^[14] In "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", Jack's former partner John Hart states that he "found Gray", implying that Gray may be alive.^[8]

In "Fragments", Captain John returns with Gray seemingly in tow, and shows Jack a hologram of a person he claims to be Gray.^[15] Appearing again in the series 2 finale "Exit Wounds", Gray is a damaged character who has endured a lifetime of unspeakable torture; having learnt cruelty from his captors, Gray is a vengeful sadist. Gray returns to Jack only to reveal that he blames him for the torture he has endured over the course of his life. Seeking to punish his brother, Gray buries Jack alive in the Cardiff of the year AD 27, placing him in a permanent cycle of death and resurrection. In present day, Gray wreaks havoc across Cardiff, and even murders Torchwood member Toshiko Sato, who had been attempting to prevent a nuclear explosion which Gray had triggered. Jack re-emerges from his sleep (having been found by Torchwood in 1901, asking to be cryogenically frozen), saying he forgives Gray and asks for his brother to say the same. Gray refuses to absolve Jack, who sorrowfully chloroforms his younger brother. At the end of the episode, Jack places Gray inside a cryogenic chamber, knowing he may never awake.^[10]

[edit] Alice Guppy

Alice Guppy, played by Amy Manson, is an employee of Torchwood Three during the end of the 19th Century and early 20th Century. She appears in flashback sequences in “Fragments” and “Exit Wounds”, in 1899 and 1901 respectively, both from Jack’s point of view.^[15][10] She holds the aggressive attitudes of Torchwood at the time, killing a Blowfish in cold blood in “Fragments”, her moral justification being that it was “a threat to the Empire”. She has a noticeable Scottish accent, despite being based in Torchwood Three, which is in Cardiff. According to the Torchwood website, she is one of the notable employees whose bodies are stored in the cryogenics area.^[13] A diary extract on the website also expands on Guppy's backstory: recruited by later partner Emily Holroyd, she had put in jail for attacking another woman in a laundry room. Holroyd explained that Guppy had been selected because "the skills [she] had demonstrated as a thief would be put to better use in Espionage; not only [her] stealth, but [her] attitude towards violence."^[16]

[edit] H

[edit] Lisa Hallett

Lisa Hallett, played by Caroline Chikezie, is a 26-year-old employee of Torchwood One in London and girlfriend of Ianto Jones. During the "Battle of Canary Wharf" ("Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday"), the Cybermen need more troops fast and begin directly converting people rather than transplanting their brains into Cyberman shells. Lisa is in the midst of this conversion when Ianto rescues her, taking her and part of a conversion unit as a support system to Torchwood Three where he keeps her in a basement until he can restore her humanity ("Cyberwoman").^[17]

However, once freed from the unit, her Cyberman personality asserts itself and she attempts to take over the Hub in order to use it as a base for a new Cyberman army. Seeing how far Ianto has gone to protect her, she transplants her brain into the body of a pizza delivery girl so they can be together. Still claiming they could both be upgraded, her new body is shot and killed by the rest of the Torchwood team.

What appeared to be Lisa's spirit reappears in "End of Days", urging Ianto to open the Rift.^[7]

[edit] Beth Halloran

Beth Halloran, played by Nikki Amuka-Bird, appears in the series 2 episode "Sleeper".^[18] She is one of four alien sleeper agents in Cardiff belonging to Cell 114, but is totally unaware of this. She and three others were created and given human lives and memories to learn all they could about humans before her alien programming was activated, to commence their attack of Earth. After helping the team to track down the final agent, she pretends to intend on killing Gwen to provoke Torchwood into suicide by cop so that she does not one day experience the dehumanisation of having her alien consciousness awoken. Like all sleepers of her species, Beth's arm can transform into a blade-like weapon and can deploy explosive devices, in addition to this she possesses a tight-knit protective force field (which also projects false humanoid vitals) and superhuman strength. According to the Torchwood website, her body is stored in the cryogenics area.^[13]

[edit] Captain Jack Harkness

Captain Jack Harkness, played by American actor Matt Rippy, is seen in the episode "Captain Jack Harkness".^[19] When Torchwood's Jack Harkness falls back in time to 1941 he meets him, the real Captain Jack Harkness.

Captain Jack is a young American serving as an RAF Group Captain stationed in Cardiff. He is in a heterosexual relationship, and is eventually revealed to be attracted to the Torchwood's Jack (who adopts the assumed name of Captain James Harper after Captain Jack first introduces himself). During his time with Jack and Tosh, he is shown to be a compassionate man, backing up Jack's story of Tosh working as a decoder for the government and bonding with Jack over their mutual grief over the responsibility of having to witness those they care for die while they survive. He is distressed at the idea that the woman he is dating while stationed in Cardiff is in love with him, unhappy to lead her on. After some indecision, and after Torchwood's Jack hints that he would soon die, he eventually strikes up the courage to dance with Torchwood's Jack in front of a party of servicemen and their guests. Before Torchwood's Jack leaves to return to the present, the two kiss passionately, leaving both in tears. The next day, Captain Jack Harkness dies fighting German fighters. In the present day, Toshiko Sato comforts Torchwood's Jack by telling him that 1941's Captain Jack would be proud that he had taken his name, carrying it on as he saves the world.

Con man Jack Harkness (birth name unknown), who had served during World War II, had assumed the original Captain Jack's identity after his death, prior to his first appearance in the Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child". At that point in his personal timeline, he has not met the original Jack or joined the Torchwood Institute. Therefore, he knows of the original Jack's fate before he meets him, but is not aware of what he looked like.

[edit] "Captain Jack Harkness"

Main article: Jack Harkness

Captain Jack Harkness, played by Scottish-American actor John Barrowman is the leader of Torchwood Three. A former Time Agent born in the 51st century, Jack lost two years of his memories and subsequently became after a time serving a con man operating in the 20th century, where he stole the name of "Captain Jack Harkness"; his real name is unknown. Jack reformed, changing his ways after becoming a companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors in Doctor Who. Jack in Torchwood has become the head of the Torchwood Institute's Cardiff branch, which he joined in the 19th century on Earth having become immortal. As a result of this, Jack has lived a long life in which he has seen the loss of his brother Gray, countless deaths and many different lovers over the years, both men and women.

[edit] Dr. Owen Harper

Main article: Owen Harper

Doctor Owen Harper, played by British actor Burn Gorman is Torchwood Three's medical officer. Having lost his fiancée to an alien parasite, Owen's genius is recognised by Captain Jack and he is recruited into the Institute. Owen would go on to have many short-lived sexual relationships with women such as Suzie Costello and Gwen Cooper, but remained largely indifferent to the affections of colleague Toshiko Sato. In Torchwood series 2, Owen is killed by Aaron Copley, and having been resurrected with alien technology is left in a state of living death; cheating death would ultimately prove short-lived, as Owen was seemingly vapourised in a surge of radiation in the series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds".

[edit] Captain John Hart

Captain John Hart, played by American actor James Marsters is a rogue Time Agent of the now disbanded Time Agency and former partner of Jack Harkness, both professionally and sexually. He has been in rehab for drink, drugs, sex and murder. He first appears in the first episode of the second series, entitled "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang".^[20] Marsters also alludes to being willing to appear in a series 3 of Torchwood.^[21]

Captain John Hart appears through the the Rift and asks Jack Harkness for help in locating three radioactive cluster bombs, apparently scattered across Cardiff; Jack Harkness tells the team he can't be trusted but agrees to help him. True to Jack's word, Captain John is lying and seizes the containers, trying to kill Gwen using a paralyzing lip gloss, shooting Owen and pushing Jack off the top of a building, thinking he's dead. However the containers, which are supposed to contain the location of an Arcadian diamond hidden by the lover he murdered, instead contain an explosive which latches on the DNA signature of her killer. Superficially altering his DNA using that of the Torchwood crew, Jack and Owen are able to save John's life before forcing him back through the Rift.^[8]

In "Fragments", Captain John returned in holographic form, stating that he is going to destroy Jack's life, revealing a holographic image of Gray.^[15] Continuing in "Exit Wounds", Captain John is revealed to have rescued Jack's brother Gray from his old captors, only to learn too late that Gray had been driven insane over the years. Molecularly bonding a bomb to John's wrist to force him to obey his orders, Gray had John set off multiple bombs throughout Cardiff before taking Jack back in time to 27AD, where he had Jack buried alive at the site that would become Cardiff in the future. However, John betrayed Gray by leaving a tracking device on Jack in the shape of a ring, thus allowing Jack to be recovered by the Torchwood Institute and frozen in the morgue, escaping at the right moment to stop his brother. Having frozen Gray in cryopreservation, unwilling to witness any more death that day, Jack offers to help pinpoint another Rift event to allow John to leave, but John instead states his desire to travel the world, commenting that he'd like to learn what Jack finds so fascinating about this time period.^[10] Writer Chris Chibnall and actor James Marsters discuss the role of this episode in developing John's character, and perhaps placing him on a redemptive path.^[22]

Head writer Chris Chibnall had originally conceived the idea of a "rogue Time Agent" character during the production of Torchwood series 1, but the idea never made it to TV screens. It wasn't until James Marsters got in touch with executive producer Russel T Davies about appearing in Torchwood that the character of "John Hart" began to take shape, and Chibnall immediately produced the script for "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" which introduced the character. The character shares many similarities with Marsters' Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel character, Spike, with Marsters commenting "In a lot of ways, this role is very much like Spike was in my first three episodes of Buffy."^[23] The Torchwood writers conceived John as a classical nemesis for Captain Jack, with Chibnall commenting, "In seeing John you see the way Jack could have gone, and probably did, for a little while."^[24] James Marsters further discussed ways in which John is a doppelgänger or foil to Captain Jack: both are pansexual time travellers, with their key difference being that John never reformed. The character exaggerates many of Jack's qualities, for example displaying zoophilic attraction to non-humanoids such as poodles, in addition to men and women.^[25] John and Jack's intentional similarities extend to their penchant for period war clothing:

He's got a jacket from fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. He's got a snakeskin sword from Korea that I think he had to kill someone for, his boots are from Italy circa 1640 and he's got gun holsters from the American West."

—James Marsters, RadioTimes Interview (January 2008)^[25]

[edit] Diane Holmes

Diane Holmes, played by Louise Delamere is a character who first appears in "Out of Time". She is a pilot and early feminist from 1953 who becomes stranded in 2007 due to the Cardiff Rift. She enters a relationship with Owen, and he falls in love with her. After staying with Owen for a short time, and admitting her own love for him, she says farewell to a distraught Owen. Diane flies off in her plane, feeling the Rift will open again for her and bring her somewhere new.^[26]

Diane is seen in flashback clips in "Combat",^[27] "Captain Jack Harkness",^[19] and "A Day in the Death".^[28] She reappears briefly to Owen as a vision created by Bilis in "End of Days", insisting he do whatever he can to save her; the encounter leaves him in tears.^[7]

[edit] Alex Hopkins

Alex Hopkins portrayed by Julian Lewis Jones is a former Torchwood Three leader, whose term ended on the turn of the year the second millennium (Midnight New Year's Day, 1999) when he murdered his entire team and committed suicide. Before killing himself, he made freelance agent Jack Harkness the head of Torchwood Three, rewarding him for a century of loyal service. Having been shown an image of the future, Alex felt his team was grossly unprepared to deal with what was to come. His last words prophesied that the world was not ready for the changes the 21st century was to undergo, and Jack has taken this warning to heart.^[15]

According to the Torchwood website, he is one of the notable employees whose bodies are stored in the cryogenics area, along with his entire team.^[13] The website also credits him in a letter with designing the Torchwood SUV; it had been his idea to have "TORCHWOOD" written across the side of it, despite concerns it would "compromise [Torchwood's] status as a clandestine quasi-governmental organisation."^[29]

[edit] J

[edit] Janet

Janet is a Weevil who is held captive in the Torchwood Hub. Named by Captain Jack, Janet is often used to interrogate suspects in the Hub and to further study the Weevils. Janet appears in many episodes, and it is through her the Torchwood team have come to better understand the Weevils, for example learning that Weevils are telepathic, empathetic, time-sensitive and adapt readily to toxins. Like all the Weevils in Torchwood, Janet is portrayed by Paul Kasey in costume.

[edit] Eugene Jones

Eugene Jones, played by Paul Chequer appears in the Torchwood episode "Random Shoes".^[30] When he was younger, his science teacher gave him an alien eye. As he got older, he started to get interested in aliens, approaching Torchwood a number of times. They paid no attention at all to him. He was described as a loser, a failure, a geek and an ordinary guy.

In the present, he is killed in a hit-and-run accident. When he discovers that he is still "hanging around" he stays with the team, particularly Gwen, as they investigate his life. Reminiscing on his past, Eugene recalls how, one day, he tried to sell the eye on eBay. The bidding flew up to £15,005.50, but two of his mates had actually set it up, making it go higher just to cheer him up; the previous bid was only 50p lower, and Eugene was convinced that the alien had been trying to get his eye back. When the eye is removed from his body, he briefly becomes solid and saves Gwen from an oncoming car, before disappearing in a bright light.

[edit] Ianto Jones

Main article: Ianto Jones

Ianto Jones, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd is Torchwood Three's support man. Ianto's job initially involves clean-up operations concerning Torchwood's activities and providing tea and coffee, although his role later expand to accompanying the team on field missions. Having transferred to Torchwood Three from the head branch in London (Torchwood One), Ianto's motives were simply to house is partially cyberconverted girlfriend Lisa Hallett, who in "Cyberwoman" would break loose and be exterminated by the team. While still mourning Lisa, Ianto would later fall in love with Torchwood Three's leader, Jack Harkness.

[edit] Martha Jones

Main article: Martha Jones

Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman is a returning Doctor Who character that first appears in Torchwood in the second series episode "Reset". A friend of Jack's, she is likewise a companion of the Tenth Doctor. Since preventing the end of the world alongside Jack, she has become a Doctor of Medicine and a medical officer for international extraterrestrial response agency U.N.I.T., and is drafted into Torchwood by Jack to assist in solving a series of mysterious deaths around Cardiff. Later, she becomes involved in assisting the team following the death and resurrection of Torchwood's own medic, Owen Harper in the episodes "Dead Man Walking" and "A Day in the Death".

[edit] L

[edit] Little Girl

Credited only as Little Girl, the mysterious fortune teller is a psychic, ageless tarot card reader; portrayed by child actress, Skye Bennett in two episodes. Outwardly a little girl, she is seen in both the 19th and 21st centuries as appearing roughly the same age. In her first appearance, "Dead Man Walking",^[31] she leads Jack to the location of the second Resurrection Gauntlet but promised it would bring further complications. Appearing for a second time in a 19th century flashback, in the episode "Fragments", she approaches Jack to read his cards and tells him he will have to wait a century before meeting The Doctor once again.^[15]

[edit] M

[edit] Bilis Manger

Bilis Manger, played by English actor Murray Melvin, appears in the episodes "Captain Jack Harkness",^[19] and "End of Days".^[7] Bilis has the ability to walk through time and teleport at will, manipulating the Torchwood staff into a situation where they would have to completely open the Rift and release the deity he worships.

In "Captain Jack Harkness", he is shown to be the manager of a 1941 dance hall, and in the present day remains its caretaker, ostensibly co-operating with Gwen when she visits the now derelict venue searching for Jack and Toshiko. However, he scuppered Toshiko's plans back in 1941 to send the full second half of the equations needed to bring back her and Jack more safely, by scratching away the last part of the equation. He took photographs, though, to ensure that the team would locate them in the past and have to open the rift to rescue them. In "End of Days", he reappears, first as an apparition to Gwen, then, in his shop, A Stitch in Time, where he reveals that he is able to travel between eras at will. He then infiltrates the Torchwood base, stabbing Rhys, spurring Gwen to once more open the rift to save everyone's lives, however, this full opening unwittingly releases Abaddon. Moments later, Manger is found outside by the members of the team, telling them that his plan all along was to release Abaddon, which had been "chained under the rift", before vanishing again.

The Torchwood website hints that Bilis had already been involved with the Torchwood Institute at least once, drugging Owen with sodium pentathol (a truth serum and sedative) and retcon in order to get information about the institute.^[32] Indeed, he was seen in the series with a file folder marked 'Torchwood' in his 1941 desk.

The character returns in the spin-off novel The Twilight Streets by Gary Russell, apparently sponsoring the advertisement of a newly developed area of Cardiff.^[33] During this encounter, it is revealed that not only is he on the staff of Torchwood despite lacking any employee information- his hand print is granted full access in all Torchwood bases, but there is no record of his employment or specific role in the Institute- but also that his actions in releasing Abaddon were fundamentally benevolent, as Abaddon was required to stop sentient particles known as 'the Dark' that would corrupt the Torchwood team and drive them to turn against Jack to find a way of using the Rift to gain access to advanced technology. With the aid of the Torchwood team, Manger manages to defeat the Dark, and is last seen leaving on a train with a box that apparently contains Abaddon's ashes.^[34] Like all Torchwood spin-off media, the canonicity of this novel in relation to the television series remains unclear.

[edit] Mary

Mary was an alien exiled to Earth, and who appeared in the Series 1 episode Greeks Bearing Gifts (Torchwood). She is played by Daniela Denby-Ashe. She introduced herself to Toshiko Sato and gave her a pendant that allows the wearer to hear other people's thoughts. Her and Tosh then formed a relationship. Mary then ordered Tosh to 'get her into Torchwood'. Tosh does so, but the rest of the team find out, and a confrontation ensues. JAck then tells Mary he will send her home, but has actually reprogramed the ships coordinates to the centre of the sun. Jack murdered her.

[edit] "James Mayer"

See also: The First Senior

"James Mayer" appears in the spin-off Torchwood novel, Border Princes by Dan Abnett.^[35]

James Mayer (real name, The Principal) is an agent of The First Senior - an agency similar to Torchwood, based on a different planet at one of the Rift's alternate anchor points. He was inserted into Torchwood with the aim of gathering intelligence about similar "Rift Guardians." To aid with his integration, his memory was wiped and a false consciousness was implanted into both his mind and those of the team. During his stay, he strikes up an affair with Gwen when she temporarily split up with Rhys.

[edit] P

[edit] Henry Parker

Henry Parker was an avid collector of alien artefacts from the series 2 episode A Day in the Death. He is played by Richard Briers. He owned something called the Pulse, which he believed was keeping him alive. Torchwood believed it was a form of bomb. Henry Parker is filed under the 'Mostly Harmless' category, and is compared to Howard Hughes.

[edit] S

[edit] Toshiko Sato

Main article: Toshiko Sato

Toshiko Sato, played by Japanese actress Naoko Mori, is Torchwood Three's technical expert and computer specialist. Toshiko is quiet, fiercely private and professional but harbours a crush on colleague Owen Harper. A fantastic genius, she was recruited into Torchwood after being imprisoned by a similar organisation, UNIT, from whom she stole design plans for a "sonic modulator" in a bid to free her captured mother. Working for Torchwood Three, Toshiko perfected the "Rift Manipulator" device for the organisation. The character first appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London", although is was not established what she was doing (on a mission, covering for team medic Owen) in that episode until her final appearance in the Torchwood episode "Exit Wounds", where she is shot and killed by Jack's brother Gray.

[edit] "Adam Smith"

"Adam Smith", an alien who feeds and survives off memories, appears in the episode "Adam" played by Bryan Dick.^[14] Previously trapped in the extradimensional Void, Adam is drawn to the Torchwood team due to the team's unique memories and manages to escape The Void through the Rift. In less than 48 hours he is able to plant false memories in the team, posing as a three-year member of Torchwood. It is this belief in him that allows him to survive.

Accompanying the survival instinct, Adam also shows a tendency to use his powers recreationally and maliciously. He provides a drastic role-reversal for both Toshiko, now a promiscuous extrovert who shares a passionate relationship with Adam, and Owen, now a shy geek with unrequited feelings for Toshiko. Adam also provides Jack with a resurgence of the repressed memories of the last pleasant memories of his family before his father's death and his brother's disappearance. Side effects of an increase in memories, however, forces others out, leading Gwen to totally forget Rhys.

When Adam is found out after Ianto looks over his diary for information about an alien artifact and discovers absolutely no reference to Adam, he attempts to escape by torturing Ianto with the guilt of memories of a serial killer lifestyle, only for Jack to see through the lie thanks to his knowledge of Ianto's personality and subsequently capture Adam. Although Adam tries to threaten Jack by altering his few happy memories of his childhood, Jack nevertheless deals with Adam's existence by giving everyone in the team 48 hour amnesia pills. Forgetting Adam causes his death and leaves the team puzzling the loss of the last 48 hours, with only a bunch of flowers geek-Owen sent Tosh as an apology remaining as a slight clue.

[edit] W

[edit] Rhys Williams

Rhys Alun Williams, portrayed by Kai Owen, is Gwen's live-in boyfriend and later her husband. He is a transport manager of Harwood's Haulage and initially unaware of the nature of Gwen's job at the Torchwood Institute, believing she is working in "Special Ops". He and Gwen marry in "Something Borrowed", in which his parents Barry and Brenda Williams are introduced.^[36]

Over the course of the first series Rhys shows increasing irritation with Gwen's evasiveness and long hours. He states displeasure at Gwen's ease and readiness to lie to him.^[26][37] Unknown to Rhys, Gwen establishes a sexual relationship with Owen at the end of "Countrycide" to help herself deal with her two lives at home and at work.^[38] She confesses the affair after it ends in "Combat" but also slips Rhys an amnesia pill so he will not remember her confession.^[27] In "End of Days" Rhys is stabbed by Bilis Manger and dies, however when the Torchwood Team open the Rift this event is erased from history, bringing Rhys back to life again with no memory of the incident.^[7]

In "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", it is revealed that Rhys proposed to Gwen sometime between the two series.^[8] In "Meat" Gwen reveals to Rhys the truth about her alter-life at Torchwood. Rhys then becomes involved in a mission to uncover and destroy an alien meat-trading racket, a mission in which he takes a bullet for Gwen. Once the relatively successful operation is over and Rhys is treated for his wounds by Owen, Jack orders Gwen to drug Rhys to make him forget the recent past. After hearing of Rhys' fascination with this whole new world of extraterrestrials and time travellers, Gwen cannot bring herself to drug him. Jack allows this with reluctance.^[39]

After Adam Smith rewrites Gwen's memories in "Adam" she forgets Rhys, much to Rhys's distress. Her memories begin to return over the course of the episode however Gwen admits she loves Rhys, but 'not in the same way' as she loves Jack. She forgets she made this statement when she takes an amnesia pill in order to forget about Adam Smith.^[14]

When Rhys and Gwen's wedding finally arrives in "Something Borrowed", the wedding is nearly jeopardised when Gwen is infected with a Nostrovite egg, thus giving her the appearance of being pregnant. Although they initially try to conceal the truth by claiming that Gwen is naturally pregnant, the attack of the female Nostrovite forces Gwen and Rhys to reveal the truth to their families. While Jack keeps the Nostrovite occupied, Rhys uses the Singularity Scalpel to remove the egg from Gwen. At the wedding reception, Jack slips Retcon into the champagne to erase the memory of the nostrovite attack, but Gwen and Rhys decline the offer of further pills for themselves.^[36]

During the events of "Fragments" and "Exit Wounds", Rhys plays a particular role in the team's campaign against the returned Captain John Hart and the insane Gray, helping Gwen rescue the others after they are caught in an exploding building and subsequently working with Andy to help keep the attacking Weevils out of the police station.^[15][10]

In the spin-off novel The Twilight Streets, an alternate future is shown where Toshiko, Owen and Gwen are corrupted by the sentient particles known as 'the Dark', driving them to imprison Jack and use the energies released when he dies as a means of controlling the Rift to gather advanced technology. Knowing that Gwen is under alien control, but unable to do anything himself, Rhys helps Ianto gain access to the new Torchwood facility while Gwen gives birth, Ianto and Jack subsequently sacrificing themselves to stop the Dark. With Gwen now freed from the Dark's influence, Rhys suggests that the two of them start a new Torchwood to make a safe world for their new son, whom he names Jack Ianto Geriant Williams.^[33] As with all spin-off media, the canonicity of these events is unclear.^[40]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of Torchwood monsters and aliens
• List of Doctor Who supporting characters
• List of Doctor Who villains
• List of The Sarah Jane Adventures minor characters

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