Torchwood (team)


 * For the television show, see Torchwood. For the original organisation, see Torchwood Institute.

The Torchwood team was a group of surviving personnel of Torchwood Three and newly recruited members that continued to operate after the destruction of the Torchwood Institute in 2009. While the former Institute had formally employed, salaried agents and activities funded by the Crown, for the team which continued to use its name, "Torchwood" was "just a word" which united its members.

Overview
Unlike the original Torchwood Institute, which was created by Queen Victoria to defend the British Empire from otherworldly threats, and which was sponsored by the Crown and had ties to the British government, the new Torchwood team was an international group of individuals that operated independently from any governments and countries.

History
After the defeat of the 456, the Torchwood Institute was left with only two active operatives: Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper, the latter pregnant. Torchwood's activities immediately following the incident are unknown, but six months later Harkness, having spent an unknown amount of time travelling the world on his own, made the decision to leave Earth, leaving Cooper -- now heavily pregnant -- as the last known Torchwood operative. It was at this point that the Institute disbanded (TW: Children of Earth: Day Five)

Jack returned to Earth when the word "Torchwood" was emailed across the world, coinciding with the start of the Miracle Day phenomenon. He used malware to expunge evidence of Torchwood from the Internet, and went to the CIA hard copy records to clear the last of the information. Despite the Torchwood Institute being known to the UK government and UNIT, it appears the CIA was not aware of the organization, as the deletion of the files caught the attention of agents Rex Matheson and Esther Drummond. In Wales, Matheson tracked down Cooper -- now living undercover with her husband and daughter -- and also made contact with Harkness, and he used America's post-9/11 policy of extraordinary rendition to extradite Jack and Gwen to the United States. (TW: The New World, Rendition) It turned out that an organization known as The Families had decided to hunt down everyone with knowledge of Torchwood, including Rex and Drummond, (TW: Rendition) Rex and Esther had no choice but to become members of the new Torchwood team. They were initially based in Washington, D.C., (TW: Dead of Night) then moved west to Venice Beach in Los Angeles. (TW: Escape to LA)

When the CIA discovered a null field generator that allowed Angelo Colasanto to die (the only death recorded during the Miracle), Gwen was deported to the United Kingdom by Allen Shapiro after Jack initially refused to tell Shapiro what it was. Shapiro also attempted at this time to put Torchwood under direct command of the CIA. Jack and Esther went on the run as they escaped with the generator, which Jack considered too dangerous for humanity to use, and Rex rejoined the CIA in order to aid Jack from the inside. (TW: End of the Road) In Swansea, two months later, Oswald Danes demanded to see Jack after Danes had new leads on the Miracle and effectively became a member of the team. The Torchwood team reformed and were led to Buenos Aires and Shanghai, where the Blessing lay. (TW: The Gathering)

Members

 * Jack Harkness
 * Gwen Cooper
 * Rex Matheson
 * Esther Drummond (deceased)
 * Vera Juarez (deceased)

Affiliates

 * Rhys Williams
 * Andy Davidson
 * Oswald Danes (deceased)
 * Mary Cooper