Ianto Jones

Ianto Jones
Place of origin:	Earth
Appearances:	List of Appearances
Main actor:	[[actor::Gareth David-Lloyd|Gareth David-Lloyd]]

Ianto Jones is Torchwood Three's "support man". His job entails manning the reception desk in the Information Centre that acts as a cover, administering the computer systems, serving coffee and tea, receiving reports and cleaning up loose ends – such as covering up deaths and destroying information that could trigger retconned memories. While he primarily functions as an administrator for the team's headquarters, Ianto does frequently accompany the team on investigations.

Character history

Before joining Torchwood Three in Cardiff, he worked in Torchwood One, based in Canary Wharf, London. During the events of Doctor Who episode "Doomsday", his girlfriend, Lisa Hallett, was partially converted into a Cyberman. He took Lisa to Torchwood Three, hiding her in the basement until a "cure" for the partial cyber-conversion could be found. However, Lisa's Cyberman personality asserted itself over her human emotions and she tried to take over the Hub, intending to use it as a staging area for a new Cyberman army. Viewing her incomplete conversion to cyber form as "flawed", Lisa transplanted her own brain into the body of a pizza delivery girl to begin the process anew together with Ianto, but her new body was shot and killed by the rest of the team ("Cyberwoman").

In "Everything Changes" he hacks into Gwen Cooper's computer and erases a document containing information about Torchwood. Aside from his quiet efficiency, little is initially revealed of Ianto's personality. He is the only Torchwood agent not shown as having taken an alien artifact home in "Everything Changes", and his personal page on the Torchwood website was originally empty except for an apology for not updating. After "Cyberwoman" aired, the page now contains instant messenger and online counselling session transcripts (the latter dated incorrectly as 2006), as well as pictures of him and Lisa prior to the events of "Doomsday".

The others appear to take the quietly efficient Ianto for granted; during the events of "Cyberwoman", they pay little attention to him before the mayhem starts. When interrogated on what else he is hiding from the team, Ianto bitterly replies that he just "cleans up [their] shit... no questions asked" and that they never ask him about his life. At one point he calls Jack a monster and threatens to leave him to die if given the opportunity to save him. Although the Cyberwoman incident places strain on his relationship with the rest of the team, he returns to work the next day with Jack's tacit approval. In an attempt to show he has put the incident behind him, Jack tries to be friendly and even pats Ianto on the back in "Small Worlds", although the conversation about the teams' last kisses in "Countrycide" reveals that there is still some lingering tension between the two over the incident.

In the episode "Countrycide", Ianto starts to take a more active role. He describes to Toshiko Sato his inability to comprehend the adrenaline rush she and the other Torchwood members share in the face of danger. Like Gwen, his humanity is highlighted, but he makes attempts to actively fight alongside his colleagues.

In the episode "Out of Time", he is able to calculate the amount of money for food that Emma has left, quickly in his head, even when she grabs multiple chocolate products after finding out that she has some money left over.

In the closing scenes of "They Keep Killing Suzie", it is hinted that Ianto may be having a sexual relationship with Jack. This is supported by an instant messenger conversation between him and Jack on the Torchwood Institute website that suggests that like teammates Jack, Toshiko and possibly Owen and Gwen, Ianto is bisexual; Ianto also explains he would not resurrect Lisa with a second resurrection gauntlet. This is confirmed in the first part of the season finale, "Captain Jack Harkness", when Owen makes remarks about the sexual nature of Ianto and Jack's relationship and the conclusion, "End of Days" when Jack kisses Ianto after returning to life.

In "Captain Jack Harkness", Ianto and Owen spar for leadership of the team with both Jack and Toshiko trapped in the 1940s, although Owen asserts he is second-in-command, replacing Suzie Costello who previously held the title. However, Ianto displays authority in Jack's absence that Owen was not aware he had. Ianto goes as far as to shoot Owen in the shoulder to prevent him using the Rift Manipulator. In "End of Days", an apparition of Lisa convinces Ianto to side with Owen against Jack. After believing Jack was dead, a distraught Ianto breathes in the scent of his coat, in a scene reminiscent of Brokeback Mountain, and seeing Jack alive at the end of the episode, the two kiss upon reunion.

After Jack's disappearance he, along with the rest of the Torchwood Three team, was dispatched on a "wild goose chase" to the Himalayas by Mr. Saxon.

By the second season premier "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" Ianto has apparently taken on a more active role in the Torchwood Team (taking part in field missions) to compensate for the space left by Captain Jack. When Jack returned, he asked Ianto out on a date, which Ianto accepted. This is followed by another on-screen kiss between the pair in the episode " To the Last Man." The existence of the relationship is confirmed verbally in a conversation Ianto has with Martha Jones in the episode "Reset", and in another conversation Ianto has with Owen Harper in the episode "A Day in the Death".

In "Adam", it is revealed that Ianto keeps a paper diary, which he uses to write down interesting Rift activity as well as more personal concerns. When he confronted 'Adam' about his role in the Torchwood team, the alien gave Ianto false memories of killing three women, which affected him deeply. He was eventually able to rid himself of these memories when Jack retconned the team to purge the alien's influence. The entire Torchwood Three team lost a total of 48 hours. In "Something Borrowed", Ianto reveals that his father was a master tailor, the first real clue to Ianto's background we have had yet in the series. At the end of Something Borrowed is the first public display of Ianto and Jack's relationship, when they dance together at Gwen's wedding. In "From out of the Rain", Ianto tells Gwen and Owen that he used to go to the Electro movie theatre with his father as a child.