1879–2006 The institute was founded by
Queen Victoria in 1879, following the events of the
Doctor Who episode "
Tooth and Claw". While staying at Torchwood House, the Scottish estate of Sir Robert MacLeish, the Queen (
Pauline Collins) was attacked by a werewolf, in reality an alien intelligence that planned to infect her with its consciousness by biting her. The werewolf was ultimately dispatched, thanks to the efforts of the
Tenth Doctor (
David Tennant) and the sacrifice of Sir Robert. Having discovered that "Great Britain had enemies beyond imagination," Victoria decided to establish the Torchwood Institute in memory of Sir Robert (who lived on the Torchwood Estate). She also decided that the Doctor was a potential threat and declared that if he ever returned (against her orders never to return), Torchwood would be waiting. The Doctor's name was written into the Torchwood Foundation's charter as an enemy of the Crown. Her Majesty states in the Torchwood Charter 31 December 1879 that "Torchwood is also to administer to the Government thereof in our name, and generally to act in our name and on our behalf, subject to such orders and regulations as Torchwood shall, from time to time, receive from us through one of our Principal Secretaries of State". In 1882, Victoria expanded Torchwood's role to include the acquisition of alien technology, creating the policy that "if it's alien, it's ours". In 1888, Victoria reiterated the secrecy policy of the Torchwood Institute, protecting her subjects from the "evils that [Torchwood] fight[s]". Not long after the foundation of the institute, a
spacetime rift was identified in
Cardiff, and, as a result, a smaller branch of the institute (Torchwood Three) was formed there to monitor and exploit the Rift. and Emily Holroyd in 1899 As shown in the episode "
Fragments",
Jack Harkness (
John Barrowman) came to the attention of Torchwood Three in 1899, due to visiting the rift and talking about the Doctor. He was coerced into working for the organisation. Captured by two Torchwood agents—Alice Guppy (
Amy Manson) and Emily Holroyd (
Heather Craney)–Jack was subjected to torture and interrogation regarding the Doctor before being put to work for the Institute as a
freelance agent for over a century. A few years later (1901), whilst this Harkness was in Torchwood's employ, Guppy and Charles Gaskell (
Cornelius Macarthy) found and disinterred another Harkness
on a different timeline, who instructs them to immediately "cryofreeze" and store him for 107 years to avoid him meeting his other self – they comply with his request. The activities of the Torchwood Institute during the 20th century are, for the most part, yet to be revealed. It is known that the organisation "flourished down the decades, becoming stronger" and grew "more arrogant." Some insights into the
World War I-era organisation (such as their progressive policies regarding women's civil rights) were offered in
Torchwood episode "
To the Last Man". Torchwood Three's progressive stance is also shown in the episode "
Exit Wounds", where a black Torchwood member called Charles Gaskell is shown in 1901,
an era of widespread
racial prejudice. Other events in the 20th century have attributable dates. At the time of the
British Raj, Torchwood also maintained a branch in
Delhi. This was shut down in 1924, Torchwood anticipating Indian independence; agent Jack Harkness was sent to recover all their artifacts. In 1983, Torchwood became the sole proprietor of H. C. Clements, a security firm. In 1996 a "Jathaa sunglider" flew into British airspace and was shot down by Torchwood. From its remains, an energy weapon was installed in London On the command of Prime Minister Harriet Jones, Torchwood used the Jathaa sunglider weapon to destroy a Sycorax ship on Christmas Day 2006. The threat is ended when the Doctor and Rose Tyler use Torchwood One's equipment to banish the Daleks and Cybermen into the Void between worlds and end the invasion. In "
The Runaway Bride", it is revealed that the London-based security firm "H. C. Clements" (which employed secretary
Donna Noble (
Catherine Tate), who inexplicably materialised in the TARDIS just as she was about to get married) was a front company for the Torchwood Institute. On a restricted basement level of the company situated beneath the Thames Barrier was a secret laboratory which the Institute used to recreate ancient "Huon particles". Over a period of months, H. C. Clements' Human Resources Manager, Lance Bennett (
Don Gilet), had courted and poisoned Donna with Huon particles, intending to sacrifice her to the
Empress of the Racnoss (
Sarah Parish). It would appear that Lance was not acting on behalf of the institute, and the lab was in disuse since the Battle of Canary Wharf and the Queen's official closure of Torchwood One. In 2007, following Torchwood One's closure, Torchwood Three leader Captain Jack Harkness allows former Torchwood One researcher
Ianto Jones (
Gareth David-Lloyd) to join his team and is no longer working under the authority of the headquarters in London; he is the
de facto leader of the entire organisation. This team worked together until later the same year, when the hiring of policewoman
Gwen Cooper (
Eve Myles) coincided with the suicide of second-in-command Suzie Costello. In "
The Sound of Drums", Jack indicates to
the Doctor that, with Torchwood One gone, fewer than ten staff remain (between Wales and Scotland). He mentions that he rebuilt the Institute "in the Doctor's honour", with a new regime and a less aggressive stance. Outside the institute's small workforce, journalists such as Vivien Rook (
Nichola McAuliffe) of
The Sunday Mirror investigate controversial figures such as Harold Saxon (
John Simm) on behalf of the institute. Saxon sent Torchwood Three on a 'wild goose chase' to the
Himalayas to prevent them from helping Jack or the Doctor. although new member
Rex Matheson notes at one point that 'Torchwood' is essentially just a name given their current renegade status. In the
Doctor Who episode "
Fear Her", set in 2012, Torchwood is public enough to be mentioned in a television broadcast during the
London 2012 Olympics.
The future In the future seen in the novel
Twilight Streets, Torchwood is no longer a private organisation and has branches all across the Torchwood Empire. At the center of the organisation's new image is the Cardiff branch, a new building in the center of the city. The Rift Manipulator has been moved to the new building and has been plugged into a permanently comatose Jack Harkness, whose immortality allows the Rift to be held open safely, thus allowing two-way travel. The radio drama "
Asylum" also suggests that Torchwood might gain control over the Rift in the near future, using it to send a half-alien girl back to the present day. Torchwood was also mentioned in the
Doctor Who episode "Bad Wolf" when Rose is forced to play on a game show and one of the questions is about the remains of a Torchwood location. In the 42nd century, the Torchwood Archives sent a group of explorers to investigate a mysterious power source that kept a planet in stable orbit around a
black hole. By the 2002nd century, the Great
Cobalt Pyramid has been built on the ruins of the Torchwood Institute.
Parallel universe In "
Rise of the Cybermen", a parallel Earth Torchwood Institute is referred to. It is public enough for a survey carried out by it to be reported in a news item, and for someone to be publicly asked about their work there. Prior to "Army of Ghosts", a group led by
Pete Tyler (and including
Jake Simmonds and
Mickey Smith), which worked for the alternate world's People's Republic, took over the parallel Earth Torchwood. The people of this alternate universe discovered what was going on at Torchwood and it became a re-developed organisation run in full view of the public. In "
Doomsday", it is revealed that the parallel Earth Torchwood had also been conducting experiments on the spatial breach, which led (between "
The Age of Steel" and "
Army of Ghosts") to it being infiltrated by the Cybermen, who used the breach to travel to Rose's universe. Following the events of "Doomsday",
Rose Tyler, confined to the alternate world, goes on to work for the reformed organisation. From this accelerated parallel universe, Rose's Torchwood becomes aware of "the darkness" causing the stars to go out, mentioned in the episode "
Journey's End", and returns in "
Turn Left" and "
The Stolen Earth" to defend London and find the Doctor in his reality. She is followed shortly by Mickey and Jackie, armed with Torchwood-developed anti-Dalek weaponry, in "Journey's End". ==Divisions of Torchwood==