Ianto Jones

Ianto Jones was Torchwood 3's "support man" and "tea boy".

Early life
Ianto was born on 19th August 1983. (TW: Fragments) He is from Cardiff. (TW:From Out of the Rain) Ianto's father, a master tailor, had a shop in Cardiff (TW:Something Borrowed); he enjoyed taking his son to the cinema (TW: From Out of the Rain)

At Torchwood 1
Originally, Ianto worked in Torchwood 1, based in Canary Wharf, London. During the Battle of Canary Wharf, as Cybermen looked for reinforcements to fight off the Daleks Lisa Hallett, was partly converted into a Cyberman. Hoping that her cyber-conversion process could be reversed, Ianto smuggled Lisa to Torchwood Three, hiding her in the basement, until a "cure" for the partial cyber-conversion could be found. (TW: Cyberwoman)

Joining Torchwood 3
Now in Cardiff, Ianto tracked down Jack Harkness to try to find work with Torchwood 3, despite the latter's reluctance. He assisted Jack in capturing a stray Pteranodon. (TW: Fragments)


 * Jack had, at this time, already recruited Suzie Costello, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato, though not Gwen Cooper.

Duties
Ianto acted to support the main team. He staffed the mock tourist information booth located above the Hub and in general acted to "clean up their [Torchwood]'s shit... no questions asked". (source?) For example, he hacked into Gwen Cooper's computer and erased a document containing information about Torchwood. (TW: Everything Changes) Though not precisely one of his duties, he also kept a detailed journal of day-to-day operations (TW: Adam

Career
Lisa's Cyberman personality asserted itself over her human emotions and she tried to take over the Hub, intending to use it as a staging area for a new Cyberman army. Viewing her incomplete conversion to cyber form as "flawed", Lisa transplanted her own brain into the body of a pizza delivery girl to begin the process anew together with Ianto, but her new body was shot and killed by the rest of the team (TW: Cyberwoman). The others appear to take the quietly efficient Ianto for granted; they pay little attention to him before the mayhem starts. When interrogated on what else he is hiding from the team, Ianto bitterly replies that he just "cleans up their shit... no questions asked" and that they never ask him about his life. At one point he calls Jack a monster and threatens to leave him to die if given the opportunity to save him. The Cyberwoman incident places strain on his relationship with the rest of the team. Ianto is "temporarily suspended from active duty" and is allowed to return to work four weeks later with Jack's tacit approval. ("The Captain's Blog" BBCAmerica)

In an attempt to show he has put the incident behind him, Jack tries to be friendly and even patted Ianto on the back (TW: Small Worlds). Although the conversation about the teams' last kisses reveals that there is still some lingering tension between the two over the incident. (TW: Countrycide)

Ianto started to take a more active role. He describes to Toshiko Sato his inability to comprehend the adrenaline rush she and the other Torchwood members share in the face of danger. Like Gwen, his humanity is highlighted, but he made attempts to actively fight alongside his colleagues. (TW: Countrycide)

It is hinted that Ianto may be having a sexual relationship with Jack. This is supported by his instant messenger conversation between with Jack that suggested that like teammates Jack, Toshiko and possibly Owen and Gwen, Ianto is bisexual (Torchwood website); Ianto also explained he would not resurrect Lisa with a second resurrection gauntlet. (TW: They Keep Killing Suzie)

Owem made remarks about the sexual nature of Ianto and Jack's relationship (TW: Captain Jack Harkness) Jack kissed Ianto after returning to life. (TW: End of Days)

Ianto and Owen sparred for leadership of the team with both Jack and Toshiko trapped in 1941, although Owen asserts he is second-in-command, replacing Suzie Costello who previously held the title. However, Ianto displays authority in Jack's absence that Owen was not aware he had. Ianto goes as far as to shoot Owen in the shoulder to prevent him using the Rift Manipulator. An apparition of Lisa convinced Ianto to side with Owen against Jack. (TW: End of Days) After believing Jack was dead, a distraught Ianto breathed in the scent of his coat. The two kissed upon reunion. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness)

After Jack's disappearance he, along with the rest of the Torchwood 3, was dispatched on a "wild goose chase" to the Himalayas by Mr. Saxon.

Ianto has apparently taken on a more active role in the Torchwood Team, taking part in field missions to compensate for the absence of Captain Jack. (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) When Jack returned, he asked Ianto out on a date, which Ianto accepted. This is followed by another on-screen kiss between the pair. (TW: To the Last Man). The existence of the relationship is confirmed verbally in a conversation Ianto has with Martha Jones (TW: Reset) and in another conversation Ianto has with Owen Harper (TW: A Day in the Death).

It is revealed that Ianto keeps a paper diary, which he uses to write down interesting Rift activity as well as more personal concerns. When he confronted 'Adam' about his role in the Torchwood team, the alien gave Ianto false memories of killing three women, which affected him deeply. He was eventually able to rid himself of these memories when Jack retconned the team to purge the alien's influence. The entire Torchwood Three team lost a total of 48 hours. (TW: Adam) Ianto reveals that his father was a master tailor, the first real clue to Ianto's background we have had yet in the series. At the end of Something Borrowed is the first public display of Ianto and Jack's relationship, when they dance together at Gwen's wedding. (TW: Something Borrowed) Ianto tells Gwen and Owen that he used to go to the Electro movie theatre with his father as a child. (TW: From Out of the Rain)

When the team was lured to an abandoned warehouse, it is soon discovered to be a trap laid by John Hart and the team ends up trapped. (TW: Fragments) The team eventually escaped alive and makes it back to the Hub where rift activity is located in three separate locations. He and Toshiko make their way to the central server building for a phone company where they are confronted by three cloaked men with scythes who advance on the duo of Torchwood agents. Toshiko and Ianto quickly dispose of them with their pistols and later make their way to the roof of the building to observe a series of explosions rock Cardiff. When it is revealed that the city's nuclear power station is entering a meltdown, Ianto and Toshiko were originally on their way to intervene until a group of Weevils swarmed past them and Owen decided to take up that task himself, allowing the duo to return to the Hub where they were subsequently locked in Weevil cells by Gray. They are later freed following Gray's capture at Jack's hands and Ianto later discovers the final logout of Toshiko following her death at Gray's hands and mourns for the loss of both Owen and Toshiko. (TW: Exit Wounds)

When the Earth was stolen by Davros and the New Dalek Empire and transported to the Medusa Cascade. Ianto ended up assisting Gwen and Jack utilise the Rift Manipulator in conjunction with Mr Smith to boost the signal of Martha Jones' superphone in order to contact the Doctor. This plan suceeds and the Doctor makes his way to the Earth. At this point, Jack obtains the missing digit of a code for his Time Agency wrist strap and leaves Ianto and Gwen to meet with the Doctor. After he had left, Gwen and Ianto are confronted by a Dalek entering the Hub and open fire with machine guns. (DW: The Stolen Earth)



Donna's World
If Donna Noble had never met the Doctor, Ianto, along with Gwen Cooper and Jack Harkness, rather than Luke Rattigan, would have teleported aboard the Sontaran Flagship to destroy it as save Earth. In this reality, Ianto and Gwen died and Captain Jack teleported to the Sontarans' homeworld, Sontar. (DW: Turn Left)