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{{Infobox Object  
{{Infobox Object  
|image = [[Image:Rift Manipulator.jpg|270px]]
|image = Rift Manipulator.jpg
|Object name = Rift Manipulator
|type = Spacetime manipulator
|type = Spacetime manipulator
|origin = [[Toshiko Sato]] of the [[Torchwood Institute]]  
|origin = [[Cardiff]]  
|appearances = [[TW]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]'',
|first = Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)
''[[End of Days]]''
|appearances = [[TV]]: ''[[End of Days (TV story)|End of Days]]'', ''[[Sleeper (TV story)|Sleeper]]'', ''[[Exit Wounds (TV story)|Exit Wounds]]'', ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]''
|clip = Captain Jack kisses Captain Jack - Torchwood - BBC
}}
}}
Located in [[the Hub]], the '''Rift Manipulator''', was designed to control the [[Cardiff rift]]. It could, to limited degree, stabilize the Rift or it could open the Rift wider. It had very hit-or-miss effects.  
The '''Rift Manipulator''' was one of two objects used by [[Torchwood Three]] which could control the [[Cardiff Space-Time Rift]] to a limited extent.


==History==
== Inside the Torchwood Hub ==
===Motives for creation===
The Rift Manipulator that was located in the Torchwood hub was designed to control the Cardiff Rift. A central piece of Torchwood's activities in Cardiff, it was hidden inside the Water Tower sculpture dominating Roald Dahl Plass, which ran right down to the main hall of the hub itself. If activated, the Water Tower acted akin to an amplifier/antenna for the Rift Manipulator ([[TV]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]'', ''[[End of Days (TV story)|End of Days]]''). It could, to a limited degree, stabilise the Rift or open the Rift wider. It had very hit-or-miss effects.
The [[Torchwood Institute]] first discovered the Rift in [[1879]] at the earliest (the year of the Institute's formation) ([[DW]]: ''[[Tooth and Claw]]'') and [[1913]]. By [[April]] of the latter year, work on the Manipulator had started.


During 1913, the Institute noticed increased Rift activity, which and considered this more justification to commence work on the Manipulator. The increased activity came from "foreshocks" of the use of the Manipulator itself, travelling backwards in time from the widening of the Rift. causing the fracture of the Rift in the early [[21st century]]. Ironically, the Manipulator itself (in the future), had caused the widening of the Rift.
=== History ===
The Manipulator was used to rescue [[Jack Harkness]] and [[Toshiko Sato]] after the Rift sent the two into [[1941]]. [[Owen Harper]], sick and tired of "living in its shadow" decided to use the Manipulator to try and bring them back. Owen first had to find several missing components of the Manipulator, one in the possession of Bilis Manger and the other in the safe in Jack's office. He also had to use the Rift equations which Tosh had written in 1941 and left for her team-mates to find in the future, so that they could rescue Jack and her.


The Rift presented a constant danger, and with the Manipulator, the Institute hoped to minimize that danger.(''[[torchwood.org.uk]]'')
Owen and [[Ianto Jones]] fought. Ianto was certain that Owen should not use the Manipulator. In the fight, he shot Owen in the shoulder, but not before Owen successfully reactivated the Manipulator. With the Rift opened, Jack and Tosh walked through the Rift back to their time period. ([[TV]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]'')


The Rift was the [[Torchwood Institute]]'s justification for locating [[Torchwood 3]] in Cardiff. ([[TW]]: ''[[Everything Changes]]'', ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]''). It was formed in Cardiff as soon as the Institute became aware of the Rift's presence. Torchwood 3 has even been described as merely a "monitoring station" for the rift. (''[[torchwood.org.uk]]'')
Owen's use of the Manipulator caused the Rift to fracture across parts of the entire [[Earth]], causing time slips worldwide. More [[Weevil]]s than ever appeared in Cardiff. With the exception of Jack, the Torchwood Three team saw visions of missing loved ones tempting them to use the Manipulator to open the Rift so that the Rift could undo the damage it was causing. The death of [[Gwen Cooper]]'s love, [[Rhys Williams]], brought Gwen to believe that opening the Rift would bring Rhys back, so she joined Tosh, Ianto and Owen in a mutiny against Jack.


===The Rift equations===
The mutinying team took [[retinal scan]]s of themselves and of Jack to unlock the Rift Manipulator, and successfully activated it and opened the Rift, unintentionally releasing [[Abaddon]] in the process. ([[TV]]: ''[[End of Days (TV story)|End of Days]]'')
At some point, [[Toshiko Sato]] developed equations which would serve as guidelines to use to operate the Manipulator. With the possible exception of [[Jack Harkness]], who had come from a more technologically advanced future time period, out of all of the Torchwood 3 team in [[2007]], Tosh seemed to have the greatest understanding of how operate the machine. ([[TW]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]'')


:''We have no knowledge, direct or indirect, as to whether Jack knows how to operate the Manipulator.''
Captain [[John Hart]] used the Rift Manipulator to cause a Rift surge at [[Cardiff Castle]] to send himself and Jack to [[27]] [[AD]] [[Cardiff]], where Jack was to be [[burial|buried]] beneath the city as it grew on top of him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Exit Wounds (TV story)|Exit Wounds]]'')


[[Image:Equations1.jpg|right|thumb|125px|The first half of [[Toshiko Sato]]'s Rift equations (''[[torchwood.org.uk]]'')]]
The Rift Manipulator was later used by Jack, Ianto and Gwen in conjunction with [[Mr Smith]] to manipulate the Rift and boost the signal of [[Martha Jones]]' superphone and contact the [[Tenth Doctor]], who was outside of the [[Medusa Cascade]] as a result of the Earth being stolen. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'')


[[Image:Equations2.jpg|right|thumb|125px|The second half of [[Toshiko Sato]]'s Rift equations (''[[torchwood.org.uk]]'')]]
The Manipulator was subsequently used again to send the Rift's energy to the TARDIS for a tow rope for the Earth to be taken back to where it belonged. With the energy looped around the TARDIS by Mr Smith, this plan worked. ([[TV]]: ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]])''


===Missing components===
In [[2009]], the Rift Manipulator was destroyed when a [[bomb]] detonated in the Hub. ([[TV]]: ''[[Children of Earth: Day One (TV story)|Children of Earth: Day One]]'') However, parts from the Rift Manipulator were later salvaged by Torchwood, using them to create a tracker to trace residual [[space]]-[[time]] holes following the closure of the [[Cardiff Space-Time Rift]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[More Than This (audio story)|More Than This]]'')
Two parts of the Manipulator, both crucial to its activation, remained absent. One, kept in Jack's safe, the other in the possession of [[Bilis Manger]], inside a [[grandfather clock]]. ([[TW]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]'')


:''We do not know how Manger acquired the part or why he hid it. As Manger had special powers, however, he could have had much trouble stealing the component.''
=== The Rift equations ===
[[Toshiko Sato]] developed equations to serve as guidelines to operate the Manipulator. With the possible exception of [[Jack Harkness]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]'') and [[John Hart]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Exit Wounds (TV story)|Exit Wounds]]'') who had come from a more technologically advanced time, of all of the Torchwood Three team, Tosh seemed to have the greatest understanding of how to operate the machine. ([[TV]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]'')


===Use of the Manipulator===
=== Missing components ===
The only known use of the Manipulator was to rescue Jack Harkness and Toshiko, who had fallen through the rift into [[1941]]. [[Owen Harper|Owen]], sick and tired of "living in its shadow" decided to use the Manipulator. Owen first had to find several missing components of the Manipulator, one in the possession of [[Bilis Manger]] and the other in the safe in Jack's office. He also had to use the Rift equations which Tosh had written in 1941 and left for her team-mates to find in the future, so that they could rescue herself and Jack.
Two parts of the Rift Manipulator, both crucial to its activation, remained absent: one, kept in Jack's safe, the other in the possession of [[Bilis Manger]], inside a [[grandfather clock]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]'')


Owen and [[Ianto Jones]] fought, Ianto certain that Owen should not use the Manipulator. In the resulting fight, Ianto shot Owen in the shoulder.
== Portable Rift manipulator ==
A portable device called a Rift Manipulator was used as a key to stitch together two [[time shift]]s occurring in [[1918]] and the [[21st century]].


With the rift opened Jack and Tosh walked through the rift back to their time period, [[2008]]. ([[TW]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]'')
=== History ===
In 1918, [[Gerald Carter]] and [[Harriet Derbyshire]] were given instructions by a future version of [[Tommy Brockless]] to send Tommy into suspended animation so he could use the portable Rift Manipulator to close the time shifts and prevent the two times from happening simultaneously at the moment he was in both times.


Owen's use of the Manipulator had fractured the Rift, causing other time zones to bleed through to the present. More [[Weevil]]s than ever appeared in Cardiff. With the exception of Jack and Gwen, the Torchwood 3 team saw visions of missing loved ones tempting them to use the Manipulator to close the Rift. Manger murdered Gwen's love [[Rhys Williams|Rhys]] and she believed that if the Rift closed that Rhys would return to life.
In the 21st century, Tommy awoke and gave Gerald and Harriet their message. After doing this, Tommy returned to 1918, but entered a state of [[shell shock]]. Toshiko Sato projected a psychic image of herself and reminded Tommy to turn the mechanism. He did so, stopping the time shifts. ([[TV]]: ''[[To the Last Man (TV story)|To the Last Man]]'')


The team had to have [[retinal scan]]s of every one of the team members in order to activate the Manipulator. Torchwood 3 mutinied against Jack, shot him to death and used a retinal scan off of his corpse. A blue-white column of light shot from the Manipulator, the Rift closed and in doing so, freed [[Abaddon]], as Manger had planned all along. Jack, who had the power of immortality, had by then, returned to life. ([[TW]]: ''[[End of Days]]'')
== Behind the scenes ==
The [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|series 1]] version of the Torchwood website had a "rift memo", dated 13 April 1913. It alerted the "chief" that on that day there was a sudden increase in Rift activity that manifested as "a series of small ground tremors". It was concerned about Robertson's conclusions from the data: it seemed to be a ripple from a "much bigger" event, or "[a]n aftershock washing back to towards us through time – call it a preshock, if you will." Robertson calculated that it orginated at some point in the 21st century. The memo claimed that Cardiff has "got about a century to go before the rift tears it apart." It said it "might be an idea" to increase safeguards on the rift manipulator. <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.torchwood.org.uk/html/endofdays/memo.shtml |title=End of Days - Rift memo, 1913 |date of source=13 April 1913 |website name=[[Torchwood website]] |accessdate=25 July 2013 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070827003607/http://www.torchwood.org.uk/html/endofdays/memo.shtml |archivedate= 27 August 2007}}</ref>


==Observations==
== Footnotes ==
*The column in the center of the Rift Manipulator looks very like the [[central column]] of a [[TARDIS]]. Both pulse with light when activated.
{{reflist}}


:''A TARDIS, or at least [[the Doctor]]'s, could power itself from a temporal rift, meaning, perhaps that the very rift that the Manipulator could control, also gave it power.''
[[Category:Torchwood Three's items]]
 
*At the time of Owen's original use of the Manipulator, it could activate without a retinal scan. ([[TW]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]''). Shortly after, the retinal scan device had gotten installed. ([[TW]]: ''[[End of Days]]'')
 
[[Category:Torchwood items]]
[[Category:Time technology]]
[[Category:Time technology]]
[[Category:Torchwood Institute]]

Latest revision as of 19:27, 9 April 2024

The Rift Manipulator was one of two objects used by Torchwood Three which could control the Cardiff Space-Time Rift to a limited extent.

Inside the Torchwood Hub[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Rift Manipulator that was located in the Torchwood hub was designed to control the Cardiff Rift. A central piece of Torchwood's activities in Cardiff, it was hidden inside the Water Tower sculpture dominating Roald Dahl Plass, which ran right down to the main hall of the hub itself. If activated, the Water Tower acted akin to an amplifier/antenna for the Rift Manipulator (TV: Captain Jack Harkness, End of Days). It could, to a limited degree, stabilise the Rift or open the Rift wider. It had very hit-or-miss effects.

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Manipulator was used to rescue Jack Harkness and Toshiko Sato after the Rift sent the two into 1941. Owen Harper, sick and tired of "living in its shadow" decided to use the Manipulator to try and bring them back. Owen first had to find several missing components of the Manipulator, one in the possession of Bilis Manger and the other in the safe in Jack's office. He also had to use the Rift equations which Tosh had written in 1941 and left for her team-mates to find in the future, so that they could rescue Jack and her.

Owen and Ianto Jones fought. Ianto was certain that Owen should not use the Manipulator. In the fight, he shot Owen in the shoulder, but not before Owen successfully reactivated the Manipulator. With the Rift opened, Jack and Tosh walked through the Rift back to their time period. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness)

Owen's use of the Manipulator caused the Rift to fracture across parts of the entire Earth, causing time slips worldwide. More Weevils than ever appeared in Cardiff. With the exception of Jack, the Torchwood Three team saw visions of missing loved ones tempting them to use the Manipulator to open the Rift so that the Rift could undo the damage it was causing. The death of Gwen Cooper's love, Rhys Williams, brought Gwen to believe that opening the Rift would bring Rhys back, so she joined Tosh, Ianto and Owen in a mutiny against Jack.

The mutinying team took retinal scans of themselves and of Jack to unlock the Rift Manipulator, and successfully activated it and opened the Rift, unintentionally releasing Abaddon in the process. (TV: End of Days)

Captain John Hart used the Rift Manipulator to cause a Rift surge at Cardiff Castle to send himself and Jack to 27 AD Cardiff, where Jack was to be buried beneath the city as it grew on top of him. (TV: Exit Wounds)

The Rift Manipulator was later used by Jack, Ianto and Gwen in conjunction with Mr Smith to manipulate the Rift and boost the signal of Martha Jones' superphone and contact the Tenth Doctor, who was outside of the Medusa Cascade as a result of the Earth being stolen. (TV: The Stolen Earth)

The Manipulator was subsequently used again to send the Rift's energy to the TARDIS for a tow rope for the Earth to be taken back to where it belonged. With the energy looped around the TARDIS by Mr Smith, this plan worked. (TV: Journey's End)

In 2009, the Rift Manipulator was destroyed when a bomb detonated in the Hub. (TV: Children of Earth: Day One) However, parts from the Rift Manipulator were later salvaged by Torchwood, using them to create a tracker to trace residual space-time holes following the closure of the Cardiff Space-Time Rift. (AUDIO: More Than This)

The Rift equations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Toshiko Sato developed equations to serve as guidelines to operate the Manipulator. With the possible exception of Jack Harkness (TV: Captain Jack Harkness) and John Hart, (TV: Exit Wounds) who had come from a more technologically advanced time, of all of the Torchwood Three team, Tosh seemed to have the greatest understanding of how to operate the machine. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness)

Missing components[[edit] | [edit source]]

Two parts of the Rift Manipulator, both crucial to its activation, remained absent: one, kept in Jack's safe, the other in the possession of Bilis Manger, inside a grandfather clock. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness)

Portable Rift manipulator[[edit] | [edit source]]

A portable device called a Rift Manipulator was used as a key to stitch together two time shifts occurring in 1918 and the 21st century.

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

In 1918, Gerald Carter and Harriet Derbyshire were given instructions by a future version of Tommy Brockless to send Tommy into suspended animation so he could use the portable Rift Manipulator to close the time shifts and prevent the two times from happening simultaneously at the moment he was in both times.

In the 21st century, Tommy awoke and gave Gerald and Harriet their message. After doing this, Tommy returned to 1918, but entered a state of shell shock. Toshiko Sato projected a psychic image of herself and reminded Tommy to turn the mechanism. He did so, stopping the time shifts. (TV: To the Last Man)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The series 1 version of the Torchwood website had a "rift memo", dated 13 April 1913. It alerted the "chief" that on that day there was a sudden increase in Rift activity that manifested as "a series of small ground tremors". It was concerned about Robertson's conclusions from the data: it seemed to be a ripple from a "much bigger" event, or "[a]n aftershock washing back to towards us through time – call it a preshock, if you will." Robertson calculated that it orginated at some point in the 21st century. The memo claimed that Cardiff has "got about a century to go before the rift tears it apart." It said it "might be an idea" to increase safeguards on the rift manipulator. [1]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ End of Days - Rift memo, 1913. Torchwood website (13 April 1913). Archived from the original on 27 August 2007. Retrieved on 25 July 2013.
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