St John Colchester

St John Colchester was a civil servant who joined Torchwood Three sometime prior to 2017.

Early life
St John Colchester came from Hove. (AUDIO: A Kill to a View) He had a sister named Jane who moved to New Zealand. Their mother and father were dead by 2017. (AUDIO: Future Pain)

Colchester was in the British Army, (AUDIO: Herald of the Dawn) where he did special ops training under cover of night. (AUDIO: Escape Room) He fought in the Falklands War. (AUDIO: Eye of the Storm) Although he treated his fellow soldiers like family, some asked if he had to be "so gay", something that the Colchesters also did. (AUDIO: Future Pain)

During the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Colchester once attended eight funerals in one month. He considered the decade to be a difficult time to be gay. (AUDIO: Eye of the Storm)

In the 2000s or earlier, (AUDIO: Orr) he entered into a romantic relationship with Colin Price, whom he later married on a beach in the rain, which had been his decision. (AUDIO: Future Pain) Colin's mother disapproved of their relationship (AUDIO: Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy) and did not attend the wedding. (AUDIO: Future Pain) A cousin of Colin's once sent Colchester a scented candle. (AUDIO: Night Watch) The pair lived together in Hove, although Colchester was often away because of work. (AUDIO: Future Pain) The two had sex in their car on the day that they bought it. (AUDIO: Thoughts and Prayers)

After leaving the army, Colchester took a job where he was passed over for Head of Procurement. (AUDIO: Future Pain) He worked in the Civil Service and knew about Yvonne Hartman and her many achievements, believing that she was brilliant. (AUDIO: Poker Face) By 2017, he had been assigned to assist in the reestablishment of Torchwood Three. (AUDIO: Changes Everything) This required Colchester and Colin to relocate to Cardiff, moving into Ritz Tower after a month on Davenport. (AUDIO: A Kill to a View) He had attempted to leave Colin in Hove for his comfort, but Colin insisted on moving with him.

Jack Harkness had him film a last message not long after he first met him and Gwen Cooper. (AUDIO: Future Pain) In 2017, Gwen Cooper sent him to investigate the Committee, and he went to the retirement home on Cathedral Road hoping he would learn more about them. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)

Sorvix occupation
Colchester helped to investigate the Sorvix activities and ensure stability in Cardiff while it was under the Sorvix rule and suffered from constant terrorist attacks. (AUDIO: Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy, Orr, Superiority Complex)

He worked closely with Gwen Cooper and Jack Harkness in the Hub in order to rebuild it and was present when Ng brought Tyler Steele there for the first time. (AUDIO: Changes Everything)

When he and his husband Colin Colchester-Price moved to the Ritz Towers they encountered Bilis Manger. Colchester broke Andrea's neck and threw Sandra from the roof after they tried to kill Colin, which gave Manger the power to send a message through the Rift (AUDIO: A Kill to a View) to God. (AUDIO: Herald of the Dawn)

After Yvonne Hartman showed up at the Hub and announced that she will depose Harkness and become the new leader of Torchwood, he grew to like her. He then used footage from surveillance cameras and found out that Jack secretly worked with the Red Doors, and was the first to suggest they release Yvonne from the cells. (AUDIO: Poker Face)

While working with Yvonne he started to disapprove of her cruel choices, albeit "for the glory of Torchwood", (AUDIO: Tagged) especially after she sent him and Gwen to investigate an escape room, which nearly killed them and their husbands, (AUDIO: Escape Room) and later showed no sign of compassion whatsoever. (AUDIO: Herald of the Dawn) He also started to suspect that something was off about Gwen. (AUDIO: Escape Room, Herald of the Dawn)

Mr Colchester tried to contain the Rift when it suddenly became unstable. He was shot by the Sorvix assassin sent to kill Tyler Steele, and was present at the Hub when Jack realised that Gwen was not who she seemed to be, and a burst of energy from the Rift separated her from the alien that occupied her body for several months. Tyler and Orr then tried to take the wounded Colchester to the hospital while the Sorvix's god came through the Rift, but he fell unconscious. (AUDIO: Herald of the Dawn)

God's arrival
Colchester died and his funeral was attended by Colin and Tyler. Rhys and Gwen also attended however left before Jack could see them. Yvonne showed his last message on the Torchwood computer to his husband. (AUDIO: Future Pain)

Brent Hayden tried to talk to Mr Colchester on a number of occasions however he would not talk. Brent then theorised that Torchwood killed Colchester, which lead Tyler to betray Brent. (AUDIO: The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood)

Colchester was brought back by God per Tyler's prayers. (AUDIO: Thoughts and Prayers) He returned to find Colin and Jack having an intimate moment in his and Colin's flat to which both Jack and Colin believed that he was a ghost and he was there so that Colin could say goodbye to him. (AUDIO: See No Evil)

Colchester told Colin to use a "gizmo" that he found years earlier to prove he was real, but the device didn’t register him. It also went straight through his hand when he tried to hold it. Colchester eventually realised that he was in a waking nightmare caused by the Night Sun and asked Colin to kiss him. (AUDIO: Night Watch) This proved that he was alive. (AUDIO: Flight 405)

A homeless Tyler confronted Colchester at Cardiff Bay. Colchester did not listen to him and assumed that he was taking recreational drugs. Tyler later tagged him and Ng using the Oblation app, forcing them to help him track down and stop the man behind it. (AUDIO: Hostile Environment)

When God used the Committee's Evolved technology to switch the bodies of the Torchwood team members, Colchester exchanged bodies with Jack. The two argued before Colchester eventually agreed to let Jack continue with Colin's birthday plans to ensure that he had a good day. (AUDIO: Another Man's Shoes)

Colchester offered to go in the Torchwood submersible with Jack and Norton Folgate, but Jack refused to allow him to, keeping him safe from the untrustworthy Norton. (AUDIO: Eye of the Storm) Following the tsunami, Colin helped with the refugee camp at Ritz Towers (AUDIO: A Mother's Son) whilst Colchester and Ng continued with Torchwood, defeating ScrapeJane. (AUDIO: ScrapeJane)

Legacy
In 4421, the Torchwood Archive selected a classic Torchwood theme for Jeremiah Bash Henderson's visit. This included a hologram of Colchester. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)

Behind the scenes

 * His first name is pronounced /ˈsɪnʒən/.
 * James Goss and Scott Handcock revealed that the character was pitched by Russell T Davies, who helped to develop Aliens Among Us for Big Finish Productions. His idea was to bring an older gay character in a stable relationship, the opposite of Tyler Steele in terms of personality and uncommon in science fiction. (BFX: Aliens Among Us 3)
 * Mr Colchester was intended to be Scottish, but when Scott Handcock suggested casting Paul Clayton, he and James Goss decided that he was perfect for the role. (BFX: Aliens Among Us 3)
 * The first name of Mr Colchester remained a mystery for quite some time. (VOR 104) It was first revealed in A Kill to a View, the 6th episode of Aliens Among Us. There, "St John" was used as a safe word between Mr Colchester and his husband Colin to get out from a dinner party, but Colin also called his husband St John at the end of the episode. The name was later unambiguously stated again in the 9th episode, Poker Face.