Theory:Timeline - Gwen Cooper

This page lists appearances of Gwen Cooper in the order in which she experienced them. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is assumed that for each novel, comic, audio or television series, their published, broadcast or numbered order is the order they occur in.

Working for the police force

 * AUDIO: One Rule
 * Gwen appears as a police officer alongside Andy Davidson.

Joining Torchwood Three

 * TV: Everything Changes
 * Gwen Cooper is recruited after Suzie kills herself to prevent her arrest for killing three people in her experiments with the Resurrection gauntlet and the Life Knife. Gwen learns of Jack's immortality, and is currently the only team member to know.


 * TV: Day One
 * During Gwen's first day on the job, she accidentally releases Sex Gas from a fallen meteorite.


 * TV: Ghost Machine
 * Set 66 years after 1941. Gwen is still inexperienced with weapons, with Jack giving her her first lesson on handling a gun. Rhys becomes annoyed at Gwen's absences for the first time.


 * Set in Cardiff, 2007. Gwen has recently joined Torchwood. (AUDIO: Army of One)


 * PROSE: Another Life
 * Rhys mentions a co-worker called Lucy who has been on a diet recently, foreshadowing Slow Decay. Gwen has been working for Torchwood for a few weeks now and has experience with weapons, setting this after Ghost Machine.


 * PROSE: Border Princes
 * Set in October 2007.


 * PROSE: Slow Decay
 * Ianto keeps something secret in the hub.


 * TV: Cyberwoman
 * The Torchwood team learn that Ianto has been keeping his cyber-converted girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, underneath the Hub, and they kill her once she leaves herself vulnerable enough after her Cyberman personality takes hold of her. Owen kisses Gwen for the first time.


 * TV: Small Worlds
 * After Estelle Cole rings Jack to view her new photos of fairies, she is killed by them. The fairies also attack Gwen's flat, which is the first time her "work life" has intruded on her "normal life". Jack is forced to surrender Jasmine Pierce to the fairies.


 * TV: Countrycide
 * Owen and Ianto recall the recent events of Cyberwoman, specifically that their last kisses were with Gwen and Lisa, respectively, while Tosh has not been kissed since "last Christmas". After their traumatic experience with the Brynblaidd villagers, Gwen and Owen start having an affair.


 * TV: Greeks Bearing Gifts
 * Using a telepathy pendant, Tosh learns about Gwen and Owen's affair, and hears how Ianto is still recovering from the events of Cyberwoman.


 * TV: They Keep Killing Suzie
 * Set three months after Everything Changes. Susie is temporarily resurrected with the Resurrection gauntlet, but is killed again when Tosh destroys the gauntlet. A sexual relationship is developing between Jack and Ianto.


 * AUDIO: Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4
 * Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Owen and Tosh are all present in the Hub. Jack and Ianto are in a relationship.


 * TV: Random Shoes
 * Apparently set 14 years after 1992, but this can be attributed to Eugene rounding out the years.


 * TV: Web of Lies
 * Set in 2007.


 * One week after The Conspiracy, Gwen Cooper visits a conspiracy theorist possessed by the Committee. Jack is still away investigating the Conspiracy. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)


 * TV: Out of Time
 * Set between 18 December and 26 December 2007. Three people from 1953 emerge from the Rift in a plane, and Owen develops a deep romance with the pilot, Diane Holmes. After her two passengers either leave or die, Diane flies her plane into the Rift in an attempt to return to 1953, leaving Owen distraught. Rhys continues to grow annoyed by Gwen's distancing from him.


 * TV: Combat
 * Still upset by the events of Out of Time, Owen calls off his affair with Gwen and, after a round in the Weevil Fight Club, starts building a connection with the Weevils. Jack and Rhys meet for the first time.


 * AUDIO: Hidden
 * Jack and Ianto are in a relationship, setting this after Broken. The team don’t know that Jack is immortal yet, setting this before Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.


 * TV: Captain Jack Harkness
 * Due to the machinations of Bilis Manger, Jack and Tosh end up in 1941, where they meet the real Captain Jack Harkness, leading Tosh to question Jack's identity. In order to retrieve them, Owen opens the Rift, despite Ianto shooting his shoulder, setting up the events of End of Days.


 * TV: End of Days
 * Owen's shoulder has only just recovered from being shot. Bilis Manger prays on the vulnerabilities of Torchwood Three to get them to open the Rift further to free his master, Abaddon. During their coupe against him, Jack's immortality is revealed to Tosh, Owen and Ianto. Jack meets Andy Davidson for the first time, and informs him of Torchwood. After defeating Abaddon, Jack disappears from Torchwood.

Jack's disappearance

 * PROSE: Consequences: Kaleidoscope
 * Set shortly after End of Days with the team arguing over who will take charge in Jack's absence. Tosh is placed in charge as the most senior member, but she defers command to Gwen following exposure to an alien artifact.

Jack's return

 * TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
 * Jack returns to Torchwood Three, with the implication that he has only been gone a short time, and explains his disappearance as him having found "[his] Doctor". While confronting John Hart, a figure from Jack's past, Torchwood Three learn about the Time Agency, and John tells Jack that he "found Gray". Gwen and Rhys are now engaged, and Jack asks Ianto out on a date for the first time.


 * TV: Sleeper
 * Torchwood Three deals with an attack by Cell 114, and are made aware that other sleeper agents are on Earth. Gwen is still planning her wedding, having not set a date yet.


 * COMIC: The Legacy of Torchwood One!
 * Owen sees Jack die and resurrect, setting this after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The comic was released between the airing of Sleeper and To the Last Man.


 * TV: To the Last Man
 * Set on 20 June 2008, 114 years after 1894 and 90 years after 1918. Gwen has her first and only encounter with Tommy Brockless, who has been annually defrosted from a cryogenic coma since 1894, setting this less than a year after Everything Changes. Tommy successfully closes the time shift he was destined to close, returning him back to 1918. Jack and Ianto are now in a relationship, with Jack implying he has fallen in love with Ianto.


 * PROSE: Something in the Water
 * Tosh recalls To the Last Man but Rhys does not yet know about Torchwood, setting this before Meat.


 * PROSE: Trace Memory
 * Set in 2008. To the Last Man is referenced and Rhys does not appear to be aware of Torchwood, setting this before Meat.


 * AUDIO: Everyone Says Hello
 * Set between Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Reset.


 * TV: Meat
 * Rhys uncovers the truth about Torchwood, and joins them on a mission, during which he is shot, though he quickly begins to recover. On Gwen's urging, Jack allows Rhys to keep his memories. All stories where Rhys knows about Torchwood take place after this one. Tosh begins becoming more proactive in flirting with Owen. Rhys implies that a year has passed since Everything Changes.


 * PROSE: Mend Me
 * Set 4 July 2008. Rhys knows about Torchwood, setting this after Meat. However Owen is still alive, setting this before Reset.


 * PROSE: Unplugged


 * PROSE: The Twilight Streets
 * Set in August 2008. 22 months have passed since Jack last encountered Idris Hopper. Rhys is aware of the existence of Torchwood, setting this after Meat. However Owen is still alive, setting this before Reset. Owen recalls the emails he exchanged with Archie in The Torchwood Archive.


 * AUDIO: In the Shadows
 * Jack gives Gwen two plane tickets to Paris, setting this shortly before Adam


 * TV: Adam
 * Gwen has just returned from a trip to Paris with Rhys, who has fully recovered from the wounds he received in Meat. Torchwood Three use retcon to erase two days of their memory to banish a memory-changing entity back into the Void. While their memories are under its sway, the entity forces Jack to think of his brother, Gray, for the first time in "over a hundred and fifty years".


 * COMIC: Jetsam


 * COMIC: Rift War!
 * Rhys knows about Torchwood, setting this after Meat. However, Owen has not died yet, setting this before Reset.


 * PROSE: Black Water
 * Owen has not died yet, setting this before Reset.


 * PROSE: Harm's Way
 * Rhys knows about Torchwood, setting this after Meat. However, Owen has not died yet, setting this before Reset. Gwen and Rhys are getting married in a few weeks time, setting this before Something Borrowed.


 * TV: Reset
 * Martha Jones visits Torchwood on loan from UNIT, and Jack introduces her to the rest of Torchwood Three. Tosh and Owen agree to go on a date. After Martha helps bring down the Pharm, Aaron Copley attempts to kill her, but Owen is shot protecting her, leading Jack to kill Copley. Despite Martha's efforts, Owen dies, leading directly into Dead Man Walking.


 * TV: Dead Man Walking
 * Owen is resurrected by a second resurrection gauntlet, but with no life signs, effectively becoming a reanimated corpse. He is 27-years-old.


 * TV: A Day in the Death
 * Set three days after Reset. Martha returns to UNIT.


 * PROSE: Mrs Acres
 * Gwen is engaged, setting this between Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Something Borrowed.


 * PROSE: The Beauty of Our Weapons
 * The team know that Jack is immortal, setting this after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.


 * PROSE: The Book of Jahi
 * Owen is undead, setting this after A Day in the Death. Gwen is about to get married, setting this before Something Borrowed.


 * PROSE: Requiem
 * Set on 31 October 2008.


 * PROSE: Pack Animals
 * Begins on 31 October and continues into early November. Owen is undead, setting this after A Day in the Death. However Gwen and Rhys are finalising plans for their wedding, setting this before Something Borrowed.


 * TV: Something Borrowed
 * Gwen and Rhys get married, despite a Nostrovite interrupting the ceremony.


 * PROSE: Plant Life
 * Set on Gwen's first day back at work following her honeymoon with Rhys.


 * PROSE: Skypoint
 * Gwen and Rhys have just returned from their honeymoon and two weeks have passed since Something Borrowed. Toshiko is working on the Time lock. Gwen has been with Torchwood for roughly a year. Two years have passed since Owen joined Torchwood, while a couple of months have passed since Reset. It is mentioned several times that it is September, however this conflicts with several other dates given.


 * TV: From Out of the Rain


 * TV: Adrift
 * 15-year-old Jonah Bevan was born in 1993, which would set this during 2008. Gwen and Tosh discover that the Cardiff Space-Time Rift is capable of stealing people, and that Jack was aware of it upon finding the hospital on Flat Holm Island, leading to Torchwood Three to begin questioning their trust in Jack. Andy has become interested in joining Torchwood.


 * PROSE: Monster
 * Owen is undead, setting this after A Day in the Death. The team know that people can be taken away by the rift, setting this after Adrift.


 * AUDIO: Believe
 * Gwen mentions the Nostrovite, placing this story after Something Borrowed. The team haven't been able to trust Jack recently, setting this after Adrift.


 * TV: Fragments
 * Set 21 months after the Battle of Canary Wharf, according to Ianto's flashback. Jack, Owen, Tosh and Ianto are caught in a trap set by John Hart, who reveals he has Jack's brother, Gray, as a hostage after Gwen and Rhys save them, leading directly into Exit Wounds. Rhys learns about Jack's immortality.


 * TV: Exit Wounds
 * Upon confronting John, Jack leans that Gray is actually holding John hostage in a plan for revenge on his brother for losing him. Gray buries Jack in 27 AD, but he is dug up by Torchwood in 1901 and frozen for 107 years to get back to Gray in 2008. Jack is able to knock Gray out to be placed in suspended animation, but not before Gray kills Tosh and Owen is atomized in a nuclear meltdown, effectively killing him.

Coping without Tosh and Owen

 * AUDIO: Lost Souls
 * Martha meets Jack for the first time since Owen and Tosh's funeral. In the real world, The Large Hadron Collider was switched on, on the 10 September 2008 which was also the date this story was released. However no dialogue in the story supports this placement and it conflicts with other dates given.


 * PROSE: Almost Perfect


 * PROSE: Who by Fire


 * PROSE: Gordian


 * PROSE: Closing Time


 * PROSE: Stakes on a Plane


 * PROSE: I May Be Some Time


 * PROSE: They Keep Killing Andy
 * Andy is still a PC. 1909 was "nearly one hundred years ago", setting this around 2008.


 * PROSE: Flotsam and Jetsam


 * COMIC: Fated to Pretend


 * PROSE: Happy New Year
 * Jack, Gwen and Ianto celebrate New Year's Eve together.


 * PROSE: Photo Finish


 * COMIC: Ma and Par
 * Its still early in the new year.


 * PROSE: Into the Silence
 * Torchwood meet Nina Rogers.


 * PROSE: Bay of the Dead


 * PROSE: The House That Jack Built


 * TV: The Stolen Earth
 * Set in 2009, between May and June. Jack, Gwen and Ianto join with Martha, Sarah Jane Smith, and Harriet Jones on the Sub-Wave Network to summon the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble to Earth after it is moved to the Medusa Cascade by the New Dalek Empire. After Harriet is killed by the Daleks, Jack uses his vortex manipulator to join the Doctor for battle, while the Daleks begin an attack on the Hub with Gwen and Ianto still inside, leading directly into Journey's End.


 * TV: Journey's End
 * The Dalek attack on the Hub is prevented by a time lock Tosh had installed before her death, but also leaves Gwen and Ianto trapped inside. The time lock is destroyed with the Daleks when the Metacrisis Tenth Doctor destroys the Crucible. Torchwood Three then assist in returning the Earth to its proper location, andJack returns with Martha and Mickey Smith.

After the Dalek invasion

 * Gwen attempts to send a message to Owen and Tosh in the afterlife. She recalls the events of The Stolen Earth and Lost Souls. (AUDIO: In the Shadows)


 * AUDIO: The Sin Eaters
 * The door to the Hub has been repaired since sustaining damage in the Dalek attack. Torchwood Three have a boat called the Sea Queen. It is destroyed by the end of the story.


 * AUDIO: Asylum


 * AUDIO: Golden Age


 * AUDIO: The Dead Line


 * PROSE: The Last Voyage of Osiris
 * Preview to Risk Assessment.


 * PROSE: Risk Assessment
 * Set in 2009. Torchwood Three have replaced the Sea Queen with the Sea Queen II.


 * PROSE: The Undertaker's Gift


 * PROSE: Consequences: The Wrong Hands


 * PROSE: Consequences: Virus


 * PROSE: Consequences: Consequences
 * Nina Rogers recalls the Dalek Invasion. She is 21 years old and Ianto is still alive, setting this at some point between July and September 2009.


 * PROSE: Postcards from the Rift


 * PROSE: Reflections


 * PROSE: Rare Earth


 * PROSE: The Package


 * PROSE: Ashes to Ashes


 * PROSE: Rift-Raff


 * PROSE: Lockdown


 * PROSE: Everything's True


 * COMIC: Somebody Else's Problem: A Gwen Cooper Story


 * PROSE: The Secret of Crow Island


 * PROSE: Red-Handed


 * PROSE: Cultural Firsts
 * Ianto has done Opera, setting this after Into the Silence.


 * COMIC: Broken
 * Takes place 140 years after 1869 setting this in 2009.


 * COMIC: Hell House


 * PROSE: The Mind's Eye


 * PROSE: We All Go Through
 * Simon Peters feeds Jack and Ianto to the Rift, erasing them from history. This creates an alternate timeline where Gwen has been running Torchwood alone for years. With the help of Andy and Rhys, she investigates recent disappearances in Cardiff, leading her to Simon's gathering at the Millennium Stadium. Nina Rogers is present and believes that Gwen looks familiar. Simon feeds his followers to the Rift, and Gwen remembers Torchwood. Three days later, Gwen lures Simon to Flat Holm and kills him, before taking Retcon to forget. She returns to Cardiff where Jack and Ianto appear in the Hub, having escaped the pocket dimension using Jack's Vortex manipulator.


 * AUDIO: Department X


 * Rhys makes a delivery for the Committee. He keeps receiving deliveries of fridge parts, setting this shortly before Ghost Train. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)


 * AUDIO: Ghost Train


 * AUDIO: The Devil and Miss Carew


 * AUDIO: Submission


 * AUDIO: Outbreak
 * Norton Folgate is aware that Ianto will die soon.


 * AUDIO: Dissected
 * A long time has passed since Reset, and quite some time has also passed since Exit Wounds. Jack and Ianto are referenced, setting this before Children of Earth. Martha missed a Torchwood Christmas Party that she was invited to after Tosh and Owen's deaths.

Children of Earth

 * TV: Children of Earth: Day One
 * Set in September 2009. Martha is on her honeymoon with Mickey Smith, and Ianto is still "new" in his relationship with Jack. Jack looks to recruit Dr. Rupesh Patanjali as Torchwood Three's new medic, unaware that he is trying to influence the team as a government spy. The 456 announce their return by controlling the children of the Earth, as well as Clement McDonald. Jack makes contact with Lois Habiba shortly before the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, John Frobisher, and Prime Minister Brian Green order Torhwood to be destroyed to keep the 1965 incident hidden. Patanjali and Agent Johnson place a bomb in Jack, and Patanjali is killed by Johnson to ensure Jack remains unaware. Gwen learns she is pregnant, but the Hub is destroyed by the bomb planted in Jack almost immediately afterwards.


 * TV: Children of Earth: Day Two
 * Jack is captured by Johnson as he regrows himself, while Gwen and Ianto go into hiding. Gwen collects Rhys, and informs him of her pregnancy while they travel to London to meet Lois. Ianto meets up with his sister, Rhiannon Davies, and uses her laptop to track Jack's body to Ashton Down. Lois guides Gwen and Rhys to Ashton Down, and they join Ianto in freeing Jack. The 456 use to children to announce they shall return the next day.


 * TV: Children of Earth: Day Three
 * Torchwood Three sets up a base in an empty Torchwood One warehouse. Gwen convinces Lois to use the Eye-5 contact lenses to spy on the government for Torchwood, and brings Clem back to the warehouse after she finds him in hiding. Jack's daughter, Alice Carter, is captured by Johnson, along with her son, Steven, just as the 456 ambassador arrives at Thames House. With Lois acting as their eyes, Torchwood Three spy on John Frobisher's meeting with the 456's ambassador, and hear it demand 10% of the Earth's children. Clem reveals to Gwen and Ianto that Jack was involved in the 1965 incident.


 * TV: Children of Earth: Day Four
 * Through Lois, Torchwood Three see the government plan to give away underachieving children to the 456, and try to use the information to gain control of the situation, only to end up angering the 456's ambassador, who floods Thames House with a virus that kills nearly everyone inside the building, including Jack and Ianto, with only Dekker managing to survive. Clem is also killed by the ambassador using a signal. Jack revives the following morning, just as Gwen arrives to grieve for Ianto.


 * TV: Children of Earth: Day Five
 * While Gwen and Rhys return to Wales to inform Rhiannon of Ianto's passing, Jack is able to kill the 456 ambassador with the aid of Johnson and Dekker by sending the signal that killed Clem back at the ambassador, though he has to sacrifice Steven to launch the signal, resulting in Alice cutting all ties with her father.

Torchwood disbanded

 * COMIC: Shrouded
 * Jack and Gwen attend Ianto's funeral.


 * In March 2010, six months after the 456 incident, Jack leaves Earth after Gwen retrieves his vortex manipulator for him, hoping onto a coldfusion cruiser at the edge of the solar system when they open their transport dock, despite Gwen urging him not to "run away". (TV: Children of Earth: Day Five)


 * PROSE: First Born
 * Begins around April 2010 with Gwen seven months pregnant, and continues through to about June of the same year, with the birth of Anwen Williams.

Miracle Day

 * TV: The New World
 * Jack returns to Earth.


 * TV: Rendition
 * Jack and Gwen are taken to America. According to the date on Rex's phone, it is 22 March 2011.


 * TV: Dead of Night


 * TV: Escape to LA


 * TV: The Categories of Life


 * TV: The Middle Men


 * TV: Immortal Sins


 * TV: End of the Road
 * Jack and Gwen return to the UK, along with Esther after End of the Road. The New World through End of the Road flow into one another.


 * TV: The Gathering
 * Takes place a two months after End of the Road.


 * TV: The Blood Line
 * Continues where The Gathering left off. Esther's funeral takes place a few weeks after the main story. According to a date on Rex's phone, it is September 2011.


 * AUDIO: Army of One
 * Gwen and Rhys are still in America following Miracle Day. Gwen gives Sarah Drummond a small fortune.


 * AUDIO: Fallout
 * Gwen and Rhys are still in America.


 * PROSE: Exodus Code
 * The Miracle ended a few months ago. Andy recalls the events of Fallout while Gwen and Rhys still live in Swansea. Jack joins the crew of the Ice Maiden.

Rebuilding Torchwood Three

 * AUDIO: Forgotten Lives
 * Gwen hasn’t seen Jack for five years. The Miracle is mentioned. Gwen decides to set up Torchwood operations in Cardiff again.


 * AUDIO: More Than This
 * Roughly 10 years have passed since Day One, but Torchwood has been forgotten in the space of four years.


 * AUDIO: Made You Look
 * Set during the winter. Gwen and Rhys have a place to store aliens, suggesting that they now have use of the Hub, placing this after More Than This.


 * COMIC: World Without End
 * Gwen is acting-head of Torchwood Three, while Jack is serving with the crew of the Ice Maiden. Ending leads directly into Station Zero.


 * COMIC: Station Zero
 * Ending leads directly into The Culling.


 * COMIC: The Culling
 * Jack and Gwen part ways once again after defeating the Vervoids.


 * AUDIO: We Always Get Out Alive
 * Rhys mentions Roger Pugh from More Than This.


 * AUDIO: Night of the Fendahl
 * Gwen gets a phone call from Rhys, and she mentions Anwen.


 * AUDIO: Smashed
 * Gwen keeps in contact with Rhys over the phone and mentions Anwen, setting this after Gwen decides to start running Torchwood alone following Forgotten Lives.

Possessed by Ng

 * AUDIO: Changes Everything
 * Having been "dumped" by the crew of the Ice Maiden, Jack has returned to duty at Torchwood Cardiff.


 * AUDIO: Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy
 * Gwen murders a suspicious Mary Cooper.


 * AUDIO: Orr
 * Gwen and Rhys attend Mary's funeral. Torchwood meet Orr for the first time. Changes Everything was a few weeks ago.


 * AUDIO: Superiority Complex
 * After helping Torchwood investigate a new hotel, Orr joins the team permanently.


 * AUDIO: Love Rat
 * Orr has only just joined the team. Rhys believes that Gwen hasn’t been herself for weeks, since before Mary died.


 * AUDIO: Zero Hour
 * Anwen Williams is seven years old, setting this after June 2017. Gwen has been working from home since the events of Love Rat.


 * AUDIO: The Empty Hand
 * Jack has been missing for a few weeks. Ending leads directly into Poker Face.


 * AUDIO: Poker Face


 * AUDIO: Tagged


 * AUDIO: Escape Room


 * AUDIO: Herald of the Dawn
 * A few months have passed since Changes Everything. Poker Face was a few days ago. Gwen leaves Torchwood and Cardiff with Rhys and Anwen after separating from Ng.

Living a normal life

 * AUDIO: Future Pain
 * Gwen and Rhys briefly return to Cardiff for Colchester's funeral.


 * Following the 2021 Dalek revolution, Jack makes contact with Gwen. Gwen now has a son and tells Jack of her Dalek encounter. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)

Holographic afterlife

 * AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive
 * In the far future, a hologram copy of Gwen resides in the Torchwood Archive.

Alternate Timeline

 * AUDIO: The Death of Captain Jack

Unplaced

 * After Day One ~ Before Fragments


 * PROSE: Something in the Water
 * PROSE: Trace Memory
 * COMIC: The Legacy of Torchwood One!
 * COMIC: Jetsam
 * COMIC: Rift War!
 * PROSE: Harm's Way
 * PROSE: Black Water
 * PROSE: Mrs Acres
 * PROSE: The Beauty of Our Weapons
 * PROSE: The Book of Jahi
 * COMIC: Captain Jack and the Selkie
 * PROSE: Who by Fire
 * PROSE: Gordian
 * COMIC: Broken
 * COMIC: Fated to Pretend
 * TV: Web of Lies
 * COMIC: The Return of the Vostok
 * AUDIO: Dissected
 * AUDIO: Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4
 * Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Owen and Tosh are all present in the hub. Jack and Ianto are in a relationship.