Theory:Timeline - Owen Harper

This page lists appearances of Owen Harper in the order in which he 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.

Early years with Torchwood

 * ( FLASHBACK )
 * Circa March 2006, after his fiancée, Katie Russell, is killed by a tumour alien, Owen is recruited into Torchwood Three as the resident medic by Captain Jack Harkness. (TV: Fragments)


 * ( NOTE )
 * During his second week with Torchwood, Owen is assigned to perform an autopsy on the Space Pig at Albion Hospital, but Tosh has to cover for him due to him having a hangover. (TV: Aliens of London)


 * ( REFERENCE )
 * For a single day in September 2006, Jack confines the team to the Hub to stop them contaminating his timeline by meeting his past self. (PROSE: The Twilight Streets'')


 * AUDIO: Iceberg
 * It has been eighteen months since Owen joined Torchwood, setting this circa September 2007.

Gwen joins the team

 * TV: Everything Changes
 * Gwen Cooper is recruited after Suzie Costello kills herself to prevent her arrest for killing three people in her experiments with the Resurrection gauntlet and the Life Knife.


 * TV: Day One


 * TV: Ghost Machine
 * Set sixty-six years after 1941.


 * PROSE: Another Life
 * Set between Ghost Machine and Cyberwoman.


 * PROSE: Border Princes
 * Set circa October 2007.


 * PROSE: Slow Decay


 * TV: Cyberwoman
 * The Torchwood team learn that Ianto has been keeping his cyber-converted girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, in the basement of 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 Brynblaidd

 * TV: Countrycide
 * Owen and Ianto recall the recent events of Cyberwoman, specifically that their last kisses were with Gwen and Lisa, respectively". After their traumatic experience with the Brynblaidd villagers in the Brecon Beacons, Gwen and Owen start having an affair.


 * TV: Greeks Bearing Gifts
 * Tosh learns about Gwen and Owen's affair while using a telepathy pendant.


 * AUDIO: Ex Machina
 * Set over a two week period. The events of Cyberwoman are still fresh on Ianto's mind.


 * ( REFERENCE )
 * Owen and the rest of Torchwood Three, sans Tosh, investigate activity in Brecon. (AUDIO: Drive)


 * TV: They Keep Killing Suzie
 * Set three months after Everything Changes.


 * AUDIO: Hidden
 * Torchwood Three don't know that Jack is immortal yet, setting this before End of Days, and Owen recalls the events of Ghost Machine.


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


 * AUDIO: The Last Beacon
 * Ianto recalls the events of Cyberwoman, and feels he is being trusted again by the team.

Torchwood Three in crisis

 * 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 leave and die, Diane flies her plane into the Rift in an attempt to return to 1953, leaving Owen distraught.


 * 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.


 * TV: Captain Jack Harkness
 * Due to the machinations of Bilis Manger, Jack and Tosh end up in 1941. In order to retrieve them, Owen, who is still emotional over the events of Out of Time, 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: Kaleidoscope
 * Set shortly after End of Days, with Torchwood Three arguing over who will take charge in Jack's absence. As the most senior Torchwood operative, Tosh is placed in charge, but she defers command to Gwen following exposure to an alien artifact.


 * AUDIO: Lease of Life
 * Set before "Reset", as Owen still alive. Moreover, he breaks his leg and it is put in a cast, likely setting this between a gap where he has six-to-eight weeks to recover before the next televised episode.


 * ( SEGMENT )
 * Prime Minister Harold Saxon sends Torchwood Three on a wild goose chase to Tibet shortly before 8 June 2008. (TV: The Sound of Drums'')

Jack returns

 * 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 proper date for the first time.


 * COMIC: The Legacy of Torchwood One!


 * TV: Sleeper


 * TV: To the Last Man
 * Set on 20 June 2008, one-hundred-and-fourteen years after 1894 and ninety 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.


 * PROSE: Something in the Water
 * Gwen and Tosh recall the recent time shift with 1918, setting this shortly after To the Last Man.


 * AUDIO: Everyone Says Hello
 * Jack recalls the events of Utopia, which happened during his disappearance from Torchwood.


 * PROSE: Trace Memory
 * Gwen recalls the events of Slow Decay, while Owen recalls the events of Out of Time. Rhys does not appear to be aware of Torchwood, which would set this before Meat.

Torchwood Three grows closer

 * TV: Meat
 * Rhys uncovers the truth about Torchwood, and joins them on a mission. 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 on 4 July 2008. Also set between "Meat" and "Reset", with Rhys aware of Torchwood and Owen still alive.


 * AUDIO: In the Shadows
 * Rhys recalls the events of Slow Decay, and Jack gives him and Gwen two tickets for a trip to Paris for the weekend, setting this shortly before Adam.


 * TV: Adam
 * Torchwood Three use retcon to erase two days of their memory to banish a memory-changing entity back into the Void.


 * COMIC: Jetsam


 * GAME: Torchwood Mission Game
 * The Pharm is in operation, setting this before Reset.


 * PROSE: Black Water
 * Set between "Meat" and "Reset", with Rhys aware of Torchwood and Owen still alive.


 * COMIC: Rift War!
 * Set between "Meat" and "Reset", with Rhys aware of Torchwood and Owen still alive.


 * PROSE: Unplugged


 * AUDIO: Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4
 * Owen appears to be alive, setting this before Reset.


 * PROSE: The Twilight Streets
 * Set circa August 2008, between "Meat" and "Reset", with Rhys aware of Torchwood and Owen still alive, though Bilis Manger frequently implies he will die soon. Owen recalls the emails he exchanged with Archie in The Torchwood Archive.


 * COMIC: The Return of the Vostok


 * PROSE: Harm's Way
 * Set between "Meat" and "Reset", with Rhys aware of Torchwood and Owen still alive. Rhys and Gwen's wedding is due to happen in only a few weeks' time, setting this before Something Borrowed.

A living death

 * 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.


 * ( SEGMENT )
 * Circa July 2008, Gwen, Jack, Tosh and an undead Owen attempt to talk a man called Bryn out of suicide. (PROSE: We All Go Through)


 * PROSE: Mrs Acres
 * Gwen has not yet married Rhys, setting this before Something Borrowed.


 * PROSE: The Beauty of Our Weapons


 * PROSE: The Book of Jahi
 * Set between "A Day in the Death" and Something Borrowed, with Gwen unmarried and Owen a reanimated corpse.


 * PROSE: Requiem
 * Set on 31 October 2008.


 * PROSE: Pack Animals
 * Begins on 31 October and continues into early November. Gwen and Rhys are finalising the plans for their wedding, setting this shortly before Something Borrowed.

A new normal

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


 * PROSE: SkyPoint
 * Set two months after Reset and roughly two weeks after Something Borrowed. Gwen and Rhys return from their honeymoon in Cuba. Gwen has been with Torchwood for roughly a year, while two years have passed since Owen joined Torchwood.


 * PROSE: Plant Life
 * Set concurrently with SkyPoint.


 * 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.


 * AUDIO: Corpse Day
 * Representing Torchwood and the police, Owen and Andy work together to investigate a cold case with suspected alien involvement, developing a friendship. Owen knows that people can be taken by the rift, setting this after Adrift.


 * AUDIO: Believe
 * Torchwood Three have not been able to trust Jack recently, setting this shortly after Adrift.


 * PROSE: Monster
 * Torchwood Three know that people can be taken away by the Rift, setting this after Adrift.


 * AUDIO: The Hope
 * Owen and Andy are friends, setting this after Corpse Day.


 * AUDIO: The Three Monkeys
 * Owen and Andy are friends, setting this after Corpse Day.


 * AUDIO: Gooseberry
 * Owen and Andy are friends, setting this after Corpse Day, though have a falling out that ends their friendship.

Owen's last day

 * 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.


 * 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. After Gray displaces Jack in time, John joins forces with Torchwood Three. Owen is sent to prevent Turnmill Nuclear Power Station from going into meltdown, but he is unable to escape the minimised implosion and is atomized, effectively killing him.