Theory:Timeline - Torchwood

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This page lists appearances of the Torchwood Institute and Torchwood Three in chronological order. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is assumed that for each novel, comic, audio or television series, their published, broadcast or numbered order is the order they occur in.

Limiting factors

Any story with Gwen, Ianto, Owen and Tosh must be after TV: Everything Changes and before TV: End of Days or after TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and before TV: Exit Wounds. Any story where Owen is dead, but still mobile must be set after TV: Dead Man Walking and before TV: Exit Wounds. Any story where Gwen is married to Rhys must be after TV: Something Borrowed. Any story with Gwen and Ianto must be after TV: Exit Wounds and before TV: Children of Earth: Day One.

Overview

The adventures of Torchwood Three and the related Torchwood team in America that was formed after the destruction of the Hub can be categorised as these original to Torchwood television lineups:

Timeline

Beginnings

Queen Victoria founds the Torchwood Institute in 1879.
John Hart imprisons Jack at Flat Holm, 1887.
Set in 1889. A group of Torchwood operatives attempt to capture the Tenth Doctor in London.
Set in 1893.
25 December 1897. Archie has been working with Torchwood for six months.
Queen Victoria records a 20th anniversary speech of the Torchwood Institute, setting this circa 1899.

After recruiting Jack Harkness

After being killed in a bar fight, Jack is discovered following his resurrection by Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd. They recruit Jack into Torchwood Three while he waits for the Doctor to turn back up in Cardiff. (TV: Fragments)
Set in 17 May 1899. Jack is temporarily seconded to Torchwood One.
In 1900, Nicholas I causes the creation of the Committee. He gifts Object 1 to Victoria who enters it into the Torchwood Archive. Later that year, she gives it to Jack to dispose of, who takes it to Cardiff where he plans to wait for the Doctor.
In 1901, Alice Guppy and Charles Gaskell discover a future Jack buried alive. He instructs them to put him in cryogenic suspension for 107 years. (TV: Exit Wounds)

More Torchwood branches

10 March 1908. Archie uses the knowledge sponge to record information on various objects recovered by Torchwood. He recalls the events of The Victorian Age. Archie retires from Torchwood One and forms Torchwood Two.
In 1909 while travelling through Lahore, Jack witnesses a troop of fifteen men killed by the Fairies after they accidentally ran over a Chosen One the previous week. (TV: Small Worlds)
In 1914, Jack throws the red key into the Rift and causes the creation of the Weevils.
Torchwood India sends Object 1 to Jack in 1924
Jack meets Angelo Colasanto in 1927 New York City. They develop a romantic relationship and Angelo becomes Jack's companion. However after a betrayal of trust, Jack leaves Angelo behind. (TV: Immortal Sins)
Set in August 1941.
Set in 1945.
Norton Folgate came to the 2016 from 1953.
In 1953, Norton Folgate is interrogated by a group of mobsters. He plants Object 1 on the Mandrake Association, on a mission for the Committee.
Set in 1961. Archie, now at 100, is still archiving at Torchwood Two.
In 1965 Jack gives twelve children to the The 456 in exchange for an antidote to a mutated strain of Indonesian influenza. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Four)
Set in the 1970s.
Set on 26 July 1987.

Under Yvonne Hartman's leadership

On 31 December 1999, Alex Hopkins is shown the 456 and The Miracle by The Red Key and then murders his team, leading directly into the Fragments flashback. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive) Alex hands Torchwood Three over to Jack and subsequently kills himself, unwilling to face the threats to come in the 21st century. (TV: Fragments)
Jack has been searching for The Doctor for a hundred years.
In 2003 or 2004, Toshiko Sato is imprisoned by UNIT after stealing plans for a Sonic modulator and building one herself. Jack Harkness rescues her and offers her a job at Torchwood Three, which she accepts. (TV: Fragments)
Ianto Jones joins Torchwood One.
In 2004, Suzie Costello calls Yvonne Hartman to inform her about the Ovid sex dolls. Suzie and Jack plan to get rid of Object 1 by passing it on to Torchwood One. Yvonne speaks to Ianto, setting this after the Blind Summit flashback. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)
Torchwood Three consists of Jack Harkness, Suzie Costello and Toshiko Sato. Rajesh Singh is monitoring the Void Ship and Ianto is working for Torchwood One.
Set a few months after One Rule.
Toshiko Sato covers for Owen Harper during his second week of work and performs an alien autopsy. Set in March 2006.
1097 days to the Glory. Simon is saved by Jack, however it is too late for his wife, Elwyn. Suzie decides not to retcon Simon, calling it an experiment.
Set between Aliens of London and Boom Town so between March and September 2006.
Set six months after Aliens of London. Margaret Blaine is the mayor of Cardiff. Idris Hopper meets Jack Harkness for the first time.
Jack takes Idris Hopper out for dinner a month after the events of Boom Town. He retcons Idris to forget about him and the Doctor.
Suzie's alive, set during 29th November.
Ivan Putin complains about Ovid and their dealing with the committee.
Ianto has worked at Torchwood One for three years.
The Ghost Shifts have started, setting this after Infamy of the Zaross.

The Battle of Canary Wharf

The Ghost shifts have already started, setting this shortly before Army of Ghosts. A journalist investigates the history of Torchwood, only to be apprehended by them before he can reveal their existence to the public.
The Tenth Doctor investigates the Ghost shifts caused by Torchwood One. The Void Ship opens to reveal the Daleks inside. Ending leads directly into Doomsday.
A Newsreader reports on the Cyberman Invasion as it happens, but is quickly cut off by a Dalek attack.
Most of Torchwood One is wiped out during the Battle of Canary Wharf including Yvonne Hartman, who is converted into a Cyberman.
Ianto Jones searches for Lisa Hallett in the wreckage of Torchwood One. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive) He finds her partially cyber-converted and pulls her from the wreckage. (TV: Cyberwoman)

Under Jack Harkness's early leadership

After the Battle of Canary Wharf, Ianto Jones seeks out a new job at Torchwood Three. Initially he is rejected by Jack, but after Ianto helps to capture a rogue Pterodactyl, Jack welcomes him into the team. (TV: Fragments)
Set after Ianto joins Torchwood, but before Gwen Cooper is recruited in Everything Changes.
Gwen is recruited.
Gwen's first day on the job.
Gwen is still inexperienced with weapons. Set 66 years after 1941.
Set in Cardiff, 2007. Gwen has recently joined Torchwood. (AUDIO: Army of One)
Rhys mentions a co-worker called Lucy who has been on a diet recently, foreshadowing Slow Decay. Gwen has been working for Torchwood for a few weeks now and has experience with weapons, setting this after Ghost Machine.
Set in October 2007.
Ianto keeps something secret in the hub.
Ianto first enters the ferret the night after Lisa dies. A few days later Jack takes Ianto out to hunt Weevils. Later when Ianto returns to the Ferret, he is given advice by Mandy. The next day, Jack is contacted by Estelle Cole and takes Gwen with him instead of Ianto, leading directly into Small Worlds. (AUDIO: Broken)
Jack and Ianto fight Scorchies at the Millennium Centre. Ianto opens up to Jack about his life before the battle of Canary Wharf and how the loss of Lisa has affected him. This leads to him being invited on a mission to the Brecon Beacons for a few days, leading into Countrycide. (AUDIO: Broken)
Horrified by what he witnessed in Countrycide, Ianto attempts suicide before being talked down by Mandy. He returns to work the following day. (AUDIO: Broken)
Ianto visits the Ferret on the night that Jack killed Mary. Jack enters the Ferret on the same night investigating rift activity. (AUDIO: Broken)
Tosh has recently discovered what her friends really think of her and recently had a bad relationship, setting this shortly after Greeks Bearing Gifts.
Set three months after Everything Changes.
The events of Cyberwoman are recent and Ianto is in a relationship with Jack.
Set 14 years after 1992, can be attributed to rounding.
Captain Jack Harkness places this story in the week ending December 24th.
Jack is kidnapped while he and Gwen are on patrol.
Owen is visibly upset by the events of Out of Time in this story. He calls off his affair with Gwen.
Jack and Ianto are in a relationship, setting this after Broken. The team don’t know that Jack is immortal yet, setting this before Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Continues where Captain Jack Harkness left off. Jack disappears from Torchwood.

Jack's disappearance

Set shortly after End of Days with the team arguing over who will take charge in Jack's absence.
537 days to the Glory. Gwen dreams about Jack and Ianto, but no longer knows who they are. Meanwhile Simon brings Elwyn back through the Rift, however she dies shortly after.
513 days to the Glory. Simon is still treating Elwyn as if she is alive.
502 days to the Glory. Gwen witnesses Simon preaching in the streets, however no one listens to him.
479 days to the Glory. Simon begins to gather his followers.

Torchwood Three grows closer

Gwen has started taking charge more in Jack's absence, in comparison to Captain Jack Harkness, where Owen was said to be second-in-command. Gwen is now engaged to Rhys.
444 days to the Glory. Gwen dreams about Jack, Tosh and Owen attempting to talk a man called Bryn out of suicide.
Torchwood deals with an attack by Cell 114, and are made aware that other sleeper agents are on Earth.
Set after Sleeper, Jack and Ianto spend a period of some weeks undercover to destroy the last of Cell 114.
Occurs on Friday 20th of June, 114 years after 1894.
Tosh recalls To the Last Man but Rhys does not yet know about Torchwood.
Set in 2008. To the Last Man is referenced and Rhys does not appear to be aware of Torchwood.
Set between Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Reset.
Set 4 July 2008. Rhys knows about Torchwood, setting this after Meat. However Owen is still alive, setting this before Reset.
Jack has left Torchwood before.
One week after The Conspiracy, Gwen Cooper visits a conspiracy theorist possessed by the Committee.
Jack is currently missing.
Jack decides to return to Torchwood Three.
Anne Hartman mourns Yvonne on the anniversary of her death.
Neil Redmond was investigated by the KVI, setting this shortly after Uncanny Valley. Toshiko is working on the Time lock. Anna Volokova says she was born in 1930, with Tosh then exclaiming that she must be 78 years old.
A week after her visit to Russia, Tosh has reversed the effects of the Bad Penny. She tosses it into another dimension.
Eve Trent confesses to her involvement with the Committee.
Set after Zone 10 but months before Exit Wounds.
Set in August 2008. 22 months have passed since Jack last encountered Idris Hopper. Rhys is aware of the existence of Torchwood, setting this after Meat. However Owen is still alive, setting this before Reset
Jack gives Gwen two plane tickets to Paris, setting this shortly before Adam
Gwen has just returned from a trip to Paris with Rhys.
Archie takes a call from Owen Harper in the 21st Century.
The Bad Penny arrives through the rift again at Torchwood Three. It is then stored in The Torchwood Archive by lanto Jones.
Rhys knows about Torchwood, setting this after Meat. However Owen has not died yet, setting this before Reset.
Owen has not died yet, setting this before Reset.

Owen's undeath

Continues where Reset left off. Owen is resurrected, but with no lifesigns.
Set three days after Reset.
Owen and Andy work together representing Torchwood and the police respectively to investigate a cold case with suspected alien involvement. Owen died recently, setting this shortly after Reset. Owen and Andy develop a friendship over the course of the story.
Owen and Andy are friends, setting this after Corpse Day.
336 days to the Glory. Gwen dreams that she and Jack recover Elwyn's body from Simon's house.
Gwen is engaged, setting this between Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Something Borrowed.
The team know that Jack is immortal, setting this after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Owen is undead, setting this after A Day in the Death. Gwen is about to get married, setting this before Something Borrowed.
Set Halloween, 2008.
Set on Halloween night and into early November. Owen is undead, setting this after A Day in the Death. However Gwen and Rhys are finalising plans for their wedding, setting this before Something Borrowed.
193 days to the Glory. Simon preaches the coming of the Glory to his followers while Gwen dreams of herself, Jack and Ianto discovering a spike in Rift activity in Cardiff.
Gwen and Rhys get married.
Set during the first day after Gwen’s return from honeymoon.
Gwen and Rhys have just returned from their honeymoon and two weeks have passed since Something Borrowed. Toshiko is working on the Time lock. Gwen has been with Torchwood for roughly a year. Two years have passed since Owen joined Torchwood, while a couple of months have passed since Reset. It is mentioned several times that it is September, however this conflicts with several other dates given.
Rhys recalls an alien appearing at his wedding, setting this after Something Borrowed.
Gwen mentions the Nostrovite, placing this story after Something Borrowed.
Set in 2009. [disputed statement] Owen is undead, setting this after A Day in the Death. The team know that people can be taken away by the rift, setting this after Adrift.
At least 21 months after the battle of Canary Wharf, according to Ianto's flashback.
Continues where Fragments left off. Owen and Tosh die. In 1901, Jack asks to be frozen for 107 years so that he'd wake up in what he'd consider 'the present', setting this in 2008.
Months after their previous encounter and after hearing about a series of explosions in Cardiff, Stephen Heinz calls Tosh to check up on her and reveal his feelings for her. He gets no response. (AUDIO: torchwood_cascade_CDRip.tor)

Coping without Tosh and Owen

Martha meets Jack for the first time since Owen and Tosh's funeral. In the real world, The Large Hadron Collider was switched on, on the 10 September 2008 which was also the date this story was released. However no dialogue in the story supports this placement and it conflicts with other dates given.
The events of Exit Wounds are recent. Jack and Ianto are left to run Torchwood alone while Gwen is holidaying in Tenerife.
Andy is still a PC. 1909 was “nearly one hundred years ago, setting this around 2008.

The Torchwood Trio

Jack, Gwen and Ianto celebrate New Year's Eve together. This story conflicts Fragments being set in 2009.
Its still early in the new year.
Two months have passed since the events of Voyage of the Damned, setting this in February 2009. Jack is reunited with The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones.
Torchwood meet Nina Rogers.
Gwen attempts to send a message to Owen and Tosh in the afterlife. She recalls the events of The Stolen Earth and Lost Souls. (AUDIO: In the Shadows)
The door to the Hub is still damaged from the Dalek attack. Torchwood Three have a boat called the Sea Queen. It is destroyed by the end of the story.
Preview to Risk Assessment.
Set in 2009. Torchwood Three have replaced the Sea Queen with the Sea Queen II.
Nina Rogers recalls the Dalek Invasion. She is 21 years old and Ianto is still alive, setting this at some point between July and September 2009.
Ianto has done Opera, setting this after Into the Silence.
Takes place 140 years after 1869 setting this in 2009.
20 days to the Glory. Simon feeds Jack and Ianto to the Rift, erasing them from history.
7 days to the Glory. Gwen meets Andy at a café and discusses her theory about people disappearing in Cardiff.
5 days to the Glory. Gwen and Rhys investigate the Millennium Centre.
4 days to the Glory. Gwen and Andy look into Gwen's theory at Andy's flat.
3 days to the Glory. Gwen turns to Yvonne for help with her theory.
The day of the Glory. Simon gathers his followers at the Millennium centre. Andy warns Gwen about this and the two of them, along with Rhys go to investigate. Nina Rogers is present and believes that Gwen looks familiar. Simon feeds his followers to the Rift, and Gwen remembers Torchwood.
3 days after the Glory. Gwen lures Simon to Flat Holm and kills him, before taking Retcon to forget. She returns to Cardiff where Jack and Ianto appear in the Hub, having escaped the pocket dimension using Jack's Vortex manipulator.
Norton Folgate is aware that Ianto will die soon.
Jack is watched by The Committee while he plays with his dog, Untitled.
In 2009, Andy goes on a date and attempts to brag about Torchwood.
Rhys makes a delivery for the Committee.
A long time has passed since Reset, and quite some time has also passed since Exit Wounds. Jack and Ianto are referenced, setting this before Children of Earth. Martha missed a Torchwood Christmas Party that she was invited to after Tosh and Owen's deaths.

The 456 return

Ianto is killed after The 456 Flood Thames House with a virus that kills everyone inside the building.

Torchwood disbanded

Jack and Gwen attend Ianto's funeral.
Set one month after the 456 incident, in October 2009. Suzie is briefly resurrected for a second time.
Six months have passed since Ianto died, setting this in March 2010. Jack decides to leave Earth.
In March 2010, six months after the 456 incident, Jack leaves Earth. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Five)
Set shortly after Ianto's death.[1]
The Doctor sets Jack up with Midshipman Alonso Frame.
Begins around March 2010 with Gwen seven months pregnant, and continues through to about May of the same year, with the birth of Anwen Williams.
Set nine months after Children of Earth, placing this around June 2010.

Miracle Day epidemic

Jack returns to Earth.
Set on the first day of The Miracle.
Jack and Gwen are taken to America. According to the date on Rex's phone, it is 22 March 2011.
Jack and Gwen return to the UK, along with Esther after End of the Road. The New World through End of the Road flow into one another.
Takes place a two months after End of the Road.
Continues where The Gathering left off. Esther's funeral takes place a few weeks after the main story. According to a date on Rex's phone, it is September 2011.
Post-Miracle, Holly kept a bag of Jack's blood.

After Miracle Day

Gwen and Rhys are still in America following Miracle Day. Gwen gives Sarah Drummond a small fortune.
Gwen and Rhys are still in America.
Jack visits Cotter Paluni's World and has a vision of Gwen dying.
Set shortly after Red Skies with Jack returning to Cardiff to check on Gwen following his vision. Gwen and Rhys have returned to Swansea. The events of Fallout were weeks ago.
The Miracle ended a few months ago. Andy recalls the events of Fallout while Gwen and Rhys still live in Swansea. Jack joins the crew of the Ice Maiden.

Torchwood returns

Gwen hasn’t seen Jack for five years. The Miracle is mentioned. Gwen decides to set up Torchwood operations in Cardiff again.
Roughly 10 years have passed since Day One, but Torchwood has been forgotten in the space of four years.
Set in 2016. Almost 10 years have passed since Gwen Cooper joined Torchwood and she has recently started trying to set up operations in Cardiff again.
Set during the winter. Gwen and Rhys have a place to store aliens, suggesting that they now have use of the Hub, placing this after More Than This.
Gwen is acting-head of Torchwood Three, while Jack is serving with the crew of the Ice Maiden. Ending leads directly into Station Zero.
Ending leads directly into The Culling.
Jack and Gwen part ways once again after defeating the Vervoids.
Gwen runs Torchwood. Mary Cooper is alive.
Rhys mentions Roger Pugh from More Than This.
To Bilis' disbelief, Torchwood do not interfere in this story, meaning he is familiar with them, setting this after his meeting with them in Captain Jack Harkness. Bilis says he repairs clocks, referring to Captain Jack Harkness. Bilis has been trapped by The Comittiee.
Gwen gets a phone call from Rhys, and she mentions Anwen.
Trinity Wells has given up news reporting, setting this after any story where she can be seen news reporting. She ultimately takes charge of Piscatek making a return to news reporting unlikely.
Gwen keeps in contact with Rhys over the phone and mentions Anwen, setting this after Gwen decides to start running Torchwood alone following Forgotten Lives.

Aliens Among Us

Having been "dumped" by the crew of the Ice Maiden, Jack has returned to duty at Torchwood Cardiff.
Gwen murders a suspicious Mary Cooper.
Gwen and Rhys attend Mary's funeral. Torchwood meet Orr for the first time. Changes Everything was a few weeks ago.
After helping Torchwood investigate a new hotel, Orr joins the team permanently.
Orr has only just joined the team. Rhys believes that Gwen hasn’t been herself for weeks, since before Mary died. Colchester encounters Bilis Manger.
In 2017, Mr Colchester visits the Committee. He briefly speaks with Orr.
Bilis Manger says that he is going to see some old friends, suggesting this takes place just before A Kill to a View.
Anwen Williams is seven years old, setting this after June 2017.
Ending leads directly into Poker Face.
A few months have passed since Changes Everything. Poker Face was a few days ago.

God Among Us

Set a few weeks after Herald of the Dawn.
Set a few weeks after Herald of the Dawn. The Mayor of Cardiff has gone missing, setting this after Future Pain. Brent Hayden is still around, setting this before The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood. Flight 405 went missing in 1957 and has been circling Cardiff for 60 years, setting this around 2017. Proper Grub is advertised on the radio, setting this before The Green Life.
Jack teams up with Jo Grant to defeat BOSS and shut down Proper Grub, setting this after Cardiff Unknown.
Gwen has quit Torchwood, and she’s trying to live a normal life with Rhys, however Torchwood is still running and has a team that can be called in to deal with alien threats.
Ending leads directly into Night Watch.
Set weeks after Future Pain. Ending leads directly into Flight 405.
The Empty Hand took place the previous year. Set weeks after Flight 405.
Set around two months after Eye of the Storm.
Colchester died "A few months ago".
The Hub is destroyed again, and Torchwood go on the run from The Committee.

Continued operations

Yvonne Hartman sends a message to the people of the United Kingdom, as head of Torchwood, urging them to self isolate.

Far Future

McMillen sends Captain Walker on an expedition to Krop Tor.
Following Walker's death, Curt searches through his belongings and discovers a notebook filled with satanic writing and is subsequently possessed by The Beast.
Zachary Cross Flane, representative of the Torchwood Archive leads Sanctuary Base 6 following the death of Captain Walker. Ending leads directly into The Satan Pit.
Zachary Cross Flane escapes Krop Tor with the surviving members of Sanctuary Base 6.
Jeremiah Bash Henderson visits the Torchwood Archive.

Unplaced

Set in March.
Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Owen and Tosh are all present in the hub. Jack and Ianto are in a relationship.
Stars Owen, thus before Fragments.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/vortex/pdf/124
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