Time Agency

Time Agency
Also called:	Intergalactic Defense League, IGDL, IGSL
Affiliation:	Chula
Bases:	Earth
Leader:	The Council, Maglin Shank
Notable members:	Sabbath Captain Jack Harkness Captain John Hart Captain Scott Thrower Neal Shaw Maglin Shank
First mentioned in:	The Talons of Weng-Chiang
First appearance:	Eater of Wasps
Appearances:	PROSE: Trading Futures PROSE: Sometime Never... TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang TV: Exit Wounds COMIC: The Choice AUDIO: The Time Machine COMIC: Station Zero AUDIO: The Stuff of Nightmares AUDIO: Month 25 PROSE: Time Lapse

The Time Agency was an organisation founded to fill the vacuum of power left by the Time Lords after the Last Great Time War. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction) It originated around the 49th century and was shut down some time after the 52nd century. (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) The Agency employed humans called Time Agents. The Agents used vortex manipulators which enabled them to travel through time for missions of an unspecified nature.

The Agency dealt with time loops by containing them in bubble universes. (AUDIO: Month 25)

One account stated that, "The Agents' purpose is to change without interfering, to leave an effect with no evidence of cause. To be untraceable, undetectable, invisible. To all intents and purposes, the Agents do not exist." (PROSE: Sometime Never...)

History

To fill the power vacuum left by the Time Lords' disappearance after the Last Great Time War, (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction) the Time Agency was set up at some point after the 42nd century, as the Agency set up time treaties back in time up to the 42nd century. ^{[statement unclear]} (AUDIO: The Time Machine)

A group known as the Time Agents were used by the Council of Eight to manipulate history and remove "Rogue Elements." (PROSE: Sometime Never...)

Magnus Greel, a war criminal from the 51st century, lived in fear of Time Agents, initially suspecting the Fourth Doctor of being one until Li H'sen Chang mentioned the Doctor had asked questions. "A Time Agent wouldn't have asked questions!" exclaimed Greel. "A Time Agent would know." (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang) Greel had only heard about the Time Agents from the Fifth Doctor. To avoid revealing his identity before Greel encountered him in the late 19th century, the Doctor claimed he was a Time Agent. (AUDIO: The Butcher of Brisbane)

Kala and Jode were Time Agents sent from the 49th century to recover a weapon sent back in time to 1933. (PROSE: Eater of Wasps, Trading Futures)

49th century Free Colony Movement terrorist Silas expected Time Agents to follow him through his trip back in time to the 20th century. (PROSE: The Man Who Dreamed of Stars)

Sabbath recruited several Time Agents into his crew, including Roja and Jaxa. (PROSE: Trading Futures)

Adam Mitchell sent a distress signal through time using Cyberman technology. Neal Shaw was sent to investigate the signal, but was frozen in time by Mitchell. The Eleventh Doctor freed Shaw, and Shaw returned to duty after giving the Doctor a way to track his vortex manipulator through time. (COMIC: Mystery Date, The Choice)

Jack Harkness, a member of the Time Agency, was from the Boeshane Peninsula. This was a matter of great pride to the other citizens of the Peninsula, as he was the first of them to join the agency. They began calling him the "Face of Boe". (TV: Last of the Time Lords) As an Agent, he worked with John Hart, also known as "Captain John". (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) After the Agency wiped two years of his memory for unknown reasons, he left the Agency and struck out on his own as a con man and freebooter. (TV: The Doctor Dances) He later became a companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor and leader of Torchwood Three. His vortex manipulator proved instrumental in his adventures. (TV: The Doctor Dances, Everything Changes, Utopia et al.)

The Family of Blood somehow got their hands on a Time Agent's vortex manipulator and used it to track the Doctor through time. (TV: Human Nature, The Family of Blood)

At the time Hart caught up with Jack again, Hart stated that the Agency had only seven Agents left and had subsequently been disbanded. (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)

In 5145, River Song acquired a vortex manipulator from the black market that was "fresh off the wrist of a handsome Time Agent". The wrist-strap was presented still on the wrist, until Dorium Maldovar had it removed. The vortex manipulator ended up proving vital to saving the universe, and was used by both River and the Eleventh Doctor. (TV: The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang) Despite being imprisoned in Stormcage Containment Facility, River somehow hung onto the manipulator and used it during her further travels. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War, The Angels Take Manhattan)

Other information

The 51st century war criminal Magnus Greel erroneously believed that after he had fled to Victorian London in his "time cabinet", a Time Agent (in the form of the Fourth Doctor) had pursued him. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang, AUDIO: The Butcher of Brisbane)

The Family of Blood once stole a Time Agent vortex manipulator. (TV: Human Nature)

Jack stated that the Time Agency had a large war fleet. (PROSE: The Stealers of Dreams)

The Time Agency and Hokrala Corp were both involved in the sinking of Atlantis. The event was considered a failure for the Time Agency. (PROSE: The Undertaker's Gift)

The Agency used time capsules before the invention of the Vortex Manipulator. (AUDIO: The Time Machine)

The Monk stated that Time Agents wore uniforms. (AUDIO: The Blame Game)

Behind the scenes

• Time Agents make an appearance in the Decide Your Destiny book, The Time Crocodile, where they are shown to have the authority to arrest people. Because the book has no definite storyline — readers determine the story's outcome — it is hard to say with absolute certainty that the event occurred.