Gareth Robert Owen

Gareth Robert Owen, or G.R. Owen, was the former employee of Torchwood and later, the founder, owner and proprietor of G.R. Owen's department store. (AUDIO: Department X)

At some point before 1910, G.R. Owen became a freelance operative for Torchwood. Jack Harkness noted that he was highly skilled at his job. Upon leaving the job, he bonded with an alien lifeform that was destined for a life on the battlefield. Together, they became a new person.

Soon after leaving, G.R. Owen founded a department store in Cardiff and then vanished. By 2009, his disappearance had become Torchwood's oldest unsolved case. Led by Jack, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones went undercover in the store as employees to find out more information. Unbeknownst to Gwen and Ianto, Jack's real mission was to locate the alien lifeform that Gareth had stolen from Torchwood and return it to base.

A rival institution by the name of Firestone Finance, had bought the department store, thus officially owning G.R. Owen himself. By this time, G.R. Owen had become a 'nasty', according to Jack, needing to murder innocent people to sustain itself, whilst ironically emptying his shop. Under threat, Gareth poured the creature into Mr Absalom's mouth. (AUDIO: Department X)