torchwood-official

Up to date by 1/9/08

A summarise of Torchwood's History

Torchwood employees

1879–2006
The Institute was founded by Queen Victoria in 1879, following the events of the Doctor Who episode "Tooth and Claw".While staying at Torchwood House, the Scottish estate of Sir Robert MacLeish, the Queen was attacked by a werewolf, in reality an alien intelligence that planned to infect her with its consciousness by biting her. The werewolf was ultimately dispelled, thanks to the efforts of the Tenth Doctor and the sacrifice of Sir Robert.

Torchwood House, after which the Torchwood Institute is named.Having discovered that "Great Britain had enemies beyond imagination", Victoria decided to establish the Torchwood Institute in memory of Sir Robert. She also decided that the Doctor was dangerous, and declared that if he ever returned, Torchwood would be waiting. The Doctor's name was written into the Torchwood Foundation's charter as an enemy of the Crown. In 1882, Victoria expanded Torchwood's role to include the acquisition of alien technology, creating the policy that "if it is alien, then it is ours".

Not long after the foundation of the Institute, a spacetime rift was identified in Cardiff and as a result, a smaller branch of the Institute was formed there to monitor and exploit the Rift.

The activities of the Torchwood Institute during the 20th century have not yet been revealed. It is known that the organisation "flourished down the decades, becoming stronger" and grew "more arrogant".Whilst the organisation was public enough in 1953, by 2006, the existence of Torchwood was apparently a secret known only to the British military and police. Torchwood's activities during the time the Third Doctor was exiled to earth (during either the 1970s or 1980s depending upon one's point of view) have yet to be revealed. Knowledge of Torchwood was supposedly kept even from Prime Minister Harriet Jones and the United Nations. However, Jones did know about its existence anyway, and ordered Major Richard Blake of UNIT to prepare Torchwood for the impending arrival of the Sycorax on Christmas Day.

In 1983, Torchwood became the sole proprietor of H.C. Clements, a security firm, while in 1996 a "Jathar Sunglider" flew into British airspace and was shot down by Torchwood. From its remains, an energy weapon was installed in London. On Jones's command, Torchwood used the weapon to destroy a Sycorax ship on Christmas Day 2006 2007-2008
The Doctor discovered the existence of Torchwood in the 2006 series' two-part finale, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" set in 2007.At this time, Torchwood operated software which blocked access to Internet searches about UFO activity ("School Reunion"). The TARDISODE for "Army of Ghosts" showed Torchwood agents abducting a journalist who was investigating the Institute and arranging to admit him to a psychiatric institution.

While investigating the manifestation of "ghosts" on Earth, the Doctor traced their origin back to Torchwood Tower, known publicly as One Canada Square, where Hartman placed the Doctor in custody and confiscated the TARDIS. To Torchwood, the Doctor was a source of vast information and familiarity with alien technology which they could exploit to further the organisation's aims.

The interior of the Torchwood Tower, as seen in "Army of Ghosts".Torchwood Tower had been built to reach a spatial breach 660 feet above sea level. Unbeknownst to Torchwood, the breach had been caused by the entrance into the universe of a "void ship", a vessel designed to travel through the void between parallel universes. Torchwood had been conducting experiments on the breach, in an attempt to harness its energy and reduce Britain's reliance on Middle Eastern oil, but these experiments had caused the breach to widen. The "ghosts" turned out to be Cybermen from an alternate universe, which were using the widening breach to travel between universes.

A small advance force of Cybermen infiltrated Torchwood, upgrading or subverting Torchwood personnel, before eventually seizing control and opening the breach wide enough for ghost like creatures around the world to manifest fully as millions of Cybermen.

However, the void ship was nothing to do with the Cybermen, and had in fact been created by the Daleks, four of whom had used it to escape the Time War. Caught between warring Daleks and Cybermen, many Torchwood workers were either killed, or "upgraded" by the Cybermen (including Hartman herself - although she retained some semblance of her identity). It is known that in the wake of these events, referred to as the "Battle of Canary Wharf", the Institute feels it must "learn by heart" a lesson about its own arrogance.It was later revealed that the London branch of Torchwood, referred to as Torchwood One, lost 796 members of staff and was ultimately ordered to close by Queen Elizabeth II.

In "The Runaway Bride", it is revealed that the London-based security firm "H. C. Clements" (which employed secretary Donna Noble, who inexplicably materialised in the TARDIS just as she was about to get married) was a front company for the Torchwood Institute.On a restricted basement level of the company situated beneath the Thames Barrier was a secret laboratory which the Institute used to recreate ancient "Huon particles". Over a period of months, H. C. Clements' Human Resources Manager, Lance Bennett, had courted and poisoned Donna with Huon particles, intending to sacrifice her to the Empress of the Racnoss. It would appear that Lance was not acting on behalf of the Institute, and the lab was in disuse since the Battle of Canary Wharf and the Queen's official closure of Torchwood One.

In "The Sound of Drums", Jack indicates to the Doctor that with Torchwood One gone, less than ten staff remain (between Wales and Scotland). He mentions that he rebuilt the Institute "in [the Doctor's] honour", with a new regime and a less aggressive stance. Outside the Institute's small workforce, journalists such as Vivien Rook of The Sunday Mirror investigate controversial figures such as Mr Saxon on behalf of the Institute. Saxon sent Torchwood Three on a 'wild goose chase' to the Himalayas to prevent them from helping Jack or the Doctor. Torchwood One, London

One Canada Square, the hidden location of Torchwood One.Torchwood One was Torchwood's head office and operated out of Torchwood Tower, located within One Canada Square, the tallest of the three Canary Wharf skyscrapers, although it carried out operations across London, including beneath the Thames Barrier and through front organizations such as "H. C. Clements".The beam which destroyed the Sycorax ship was fired from several locations around London, suggesting a number of properties are owned by Torchwood One in the area. The tower installations were destroyed during the events of "Doomsday". According to the Torchwood website, there were 823 members of staff, of which only 27 were known to have survived. In the wake of the "Battle of Canary Wharf", Her Majesty ordered the immediate closure of Torchwood One.Some of the notable employees included:

Yvonne Hartman (director)
Dr. Rajesh Singh (scientist)
"Samuel" (scientist)
Lisa Hallett
Adeola Oshodi (scientist)
Ianto Jones Torchwood Two, Glasgow

All that is known about the Glasgow division of the Torchwood Institute is that what is described as a "very strange man" works there and that it is presumably active. Torchwood Three, Cardiff

Roald Dahl Plass, the exterior of Torchwood Three.Torchwood Three, also known as the Torchwood Hub, primarily serves as a monitoring station for the Cardiff spacetime Rift.Whereas the London branch staffed hundreds of individuals, the Cardiff branch is considerably smaller and only staffs a small team of experts, hired by Captain Jack and described as a "renegade outpost".It is located beneath Roald Dahl Plass, and may be entered via an "invisible lift" in the Plass, or through a run-down Tourist Information Centre nearby.
employees :

Captain Jack Harkness (leader)
Gwen Cooper (police liaison)
Ianto Jones (general support) Torchwood four?
This Torchwood base is missing and even Captain Jack doesn't know where it is. One day they'll find it, hopefully...

Name - Unknown but he uses Captain Jack Harkness
Date of birth - Unknown (He is at least 150)
Facts - Met the doctor, rode in the tardis, been married, worked for torchwood for over 100 years,eaten alien meat
Quote - "The 21st century is when it all changes, and you gotta be ready."

Name - Ianto Jones
Date of birth:02/12/82
Facts - worked at torchwood 1&3, makes a good cup of coffee', 'his colour' is red, Makes the best coffee in the universe
Quote -'They know more about this place than I do. NOBODY knows more than I do!''

Name - Gwen Cooper
Date of birth - 16/08/78
Facts - Full name Gwen Elizabeth Cooper, married to Ryhs Williams, used to be a police officer
Quote - “We’re the only ones who know the truth. We CAN help them. We don’t have to be this hard.”

Name - Toshiko Sato
Date of birth -
Facts - Has been in Torchwood & Doctor who, Has made a primative sonic screwdriver, has had more romances than any other employee in the spance of series 1 & 2, Has saved Gwen & Ianto with her tech after her death
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Name - Owen Harper
Date of birth -
Facts - Has died & lived, has weevil power, has had a fiancé, used to be a Doctor
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Name - Suzie Costello
Date of birth - Unknown
Facts - Used to be 2nd in charge at torchwood 3, has died, lived & died, is a criminal mastermind, sees Gwen as her replacement
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Torchwood A-Z

A – Amnesia pill
B – Binoculars (captain jacks from empty child doctor who episode)
C – cryo-chamber
D – Data scanning device
E – earpiece
F – firing stock 15 rifles
G – ghost machine
H – HD CCTV
I – Invisible lift
J - Jack
K – ‘kissing at. Work, I just wasn’t expecting it’ (Owen quote, Adam)
L – life knife
M – mind probe
N – 'No, no, no, I can’t keep the secret anymore. My mum said to me “sieze the day”, so I am seizing it and, you know I’ve got so much LOVE to give you Tosh, and you know, you won’t know that unless I tell you so here I am, telling you that I LOVE YOU!' (owen quote, adam)
O – organic computer
P - portable prison cell
Q - Quay
R – risen mitten
S - SUV
T – time agent wrist strap
U - UNIT
V - video camrea
W - weevil
X - x-ray
Y - 'Your eyes are older than your face.' (Christina quote, from out of the rain)
Z - zygon 3rd eye

Piczo