Retcon

Not to be confused with the real world concept of retroactive continuity.

Retcon, also known as the amnesia pill and occasionally by its more precise name, Compound B67, induced amnesia in anyone that took it. (TW: They Keep Killing Suzie) It was used by Torchwood 3 to keep its operations secret from civilians. A side-effect of the pill was induced unconsciousness though it took a while for this to occur. (TW: Everything Changes) Retcon appeared capable of erasing selective memories, or implanting false memories. When given to the party following alien disruption of the wedding of Gwen Cooper and Rhys Williams, it did not result in a large group of people forgetting that Gwen and Rhys were married. (TW: Something Borrowed)

Retcon could erase memories, but didn't remove any other physiological effects; for example, retcon could remove the memory of taking a drug, but had no effect on the addiction, causing an addiction without an obvious reason. (TWN: Kaleidoscope) It was possible to regain memories and people were still capable of experiencing Deja Vu as when Gwen Cooper knew she had seen Suzie Costello somewhere before but only remembered the details after Suzie committed suicide. (TW: Everything Changes)

References

• Suzie Costello gave retcon to Max Tresilian once a week for two years. (TW: They Keep Killing Suzie)
• Jack Harkness gave retcon to Gwen Cooper when they first met, but she later regained her memories. (TW: Everything Changes)
• Torchwood gave retcon to Danny Dillard to remove his memories of the Rehabilitator. He retained his addiction to it and turned to drugs to try to relive it. (TWN: Kaleidoscope)
• Gwen gave retcon to Rhys Williams after confessing her affair with Owen Harper. (TW: Combat)
• Jack Harkness told Gwen to give Rhys retcon after he learned about Torchwood, but she refused. (TW: Meat)
• The members of Torchwood 3 took retcon to forget Adam Smith, killing him. (TW: Adam)
• Torchwood 3 gave retcon to the guests at Gwen and Rhys' wedding. Rhys and Gwen were also offered the pills, but chose not to take them. (TW: Something Borrowed)
• Idris Hopper took two retcon tablets to forget about Jack, Torchwood and the Ninth Doctor. (TWN: The Twilight Streets)
• Jack Harkness gave the drug to Esther Drummond so that she would forget what she had learned about Torchwood when they met. (TW: The New World)
• Jack forced a man who was watching Gwen's house to take retcon, so that he would forget that he saw Jack. (TW: The Gathering)

Similar materials

• Irving Braxiatel had access to a similar drug which caused a person (particularly a human) to lose the last twenty-four hours of their memory. (MA: The Empire of Glass)
• The U.S. military possessed retcon gas, but it often caused subjects to go insane. (DW: Dreamland)
• The Families used a gaseous form of retcon on Gwen Cooper and Jack Harkness in Chernobyl (TW: Web of Lies).

Behind the scenes

• "Retcon" stands for Retroactive Continuity and has been used for some time, mainly in relation to roleplaying games and comics. It refers to changing events from the past in order to make them fit with the current storyline.