Agnes Havisham
Miss Agnes Havisham was charged by Queen Victoria to watch over the future of the Torchwood Institute. Whenever there was a crisis at any of the Torchwood stations, she awoke, monitored the situation and, if necessary, intervened.
Biography
Early history
Agnes Havisham was born under another name. She used "Agnes" as a pseudonym for Torchwood. Her mother was Scottish and an alcoholic. Her father wanted a boy and trained her from a young age to use guns. Neither were particularly pleased with her choice to join the Torchwood Institute. She also had a younger sister named Tilly, but Agnes was unable to find out what happened to her after Agnes became Torchwood Assessor.
Around the turn of the 20th century, she helped set up Torchwood Three, feeling that the Cardiff Space-Time Rift posed a threat to the world. Around this time, she fought the undead, encountered Elizabethan era plague doctors and met Alice Guppy. She also met George Herbert Sanderson, whom she fell in love with.
Around 1901, a probe from "Planet X" was found with a faster-than-light drive. George Herbert built it into a spaceship and planned to visit Planet X. Even with this drive, the trip would take over a hundred years. Agnes agreed to become the Torchwood Assessor, meaning she would be kept in cryogenic stasis when not needed and would be able to able to see him when he returned. They were still able to communicate with each other occasionally.
As Torchwood Assessor, her job was to check if Torchwood was running properly. If it wasn't, it could be shut down with the Cowper Key. She would reanimate when Torchwood was in significant danger. When not awake, she remained cryogenically frozen in a storage unit in Swindon. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
20th century
During her time as the assessor, Agnes was woken up four times. She wasn't woken up in time for the disappearance of Torchwood Four or the destruction of Torchwood One, possibly because they were destroyed too fast. She met Jack Harkness on several occasions, though they had mixed feelings for each other.
At some point, George arrived on Planet X and contacted Agnes. During their conversations, she mentioned the Cardiff Space-Time Rift and the native xXltttxtolxtol were able to find a way to use it for even faster transport. They claimed they were peaceful, but they were actually planning to invade Earth. Agnes worked out a plan to transport a group of xXltttxtolxtol pods to Earth. She believed that Torchwood would interfere, so she hid her plan from everyone. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
21st century
In 2009, the xXltttxtolxtol pods and George's ship arrived on Earth, waking up Agnes. Coincidentally, a fragment of the Vam in the rift attached to the pods. Agnes headed to Torchwood Three and pretended not to know why she was woken up. She helped kill two Weevils and investigated the Vam.
When the Vam grew large enough to be a threat, Agnes also helped to try to defeat it. She had done research on the present day and when she learned that the Vam was effectively made of oil, she tried to negotiate with it so Britain would have a never-ending supply. The Vam had no interest in being a servant and ate her, but she was protected by a personal force field. Instead, Jack had to kill it, accidentally spreading the remains over Cardiff. It was at this point that George sent down a pod to warn Agnes about the xXltttxtolxtol. When Gwen Cooper arrived at the pod before Agnes, she knocked Gwen out and sent her back to the ship.
Two days later, Agnes decided to activate the xXltttxtolxtol pods. They revealed their true plans and tied up Agnes, Jack and Ianto while they converted the pods into a portal. With no further use for George's ship, they also shot it down. Taking advantage of the crash, George and Gwen aimed the ship at the portal, contacted Rhys Williams for a pickup and evacuated the ship. Agnes, Jack and Ianto broke free in time, using Agnes' rum to break down the sap binding them. When the ship crashed, it lit the remains of the Vam on fire, utterly destroying the xXltttxtolxtol.
Following their adventures, Agnes drugged Torchwood with Retcon and left with George. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
Undated adventures
- Around the time of the coronation of Edward VII, a group kidnapped an alien, which they planned to eat in a soup. She killed them and freed the alien. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- In one encounter, the Torchwood carriage was attacked by Weevils when Agnes Havisham and George Herbert were riding in it. They drove them off by releasing a flare, though George accidentally released it inside the carriage. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- Agnes was captured by Slyrr and his human associate. She stole his gun and shot them both. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- Around the 1930s, a village-sized threat was contained by a massive energy shield brought back from Torchwood India. Agnes barely escaped being trapped inside the field. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- Agnes was involved with an incident where she had to rescue Professor Hess from horned creatures which he had accidentally brought to a symphony. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- An employee of Torchwood was brought back from the dead and turned into a mechanical soldier. He hated his new form and planned to destroy London using the anomaly over Canary Wharf. It tried to take Agnes hostage, but Jack Harkness saved her and destroyed it. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- Agnes encountered a Torchwood training base where plastic targets came to life and attacked the employees. She helped Professor Jenkins escape. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- Agnes and Jack Harkness had to fight people infected with an alien disease, turning them into zombie-like creatures. They did this at Swedish roller-discothèque, while wearing roller-skates. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
- In the 1970s, she drove in a Mini Cooper and encountered a dragon. This was her last time out of stasis until 2009. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
Personality
Agnes was arrogant and condescending, with a constant sense of patriotic superiority. She did have a soft side, and tried to help the xXltttxtolxtol out of concern. Though she learned quickly, she assimilated inconsistently; she quickly figured out the oil crisis of the 20th century and the usage of the Vam, but she continually wore old-fashioned clothing. She always carried a copy of Little Dorrit, which had been hollowed out to store a bottle of rum. (PROSE: Risk Assessment)
Behind the scenes
Agnes notably did not appear to have helped with the destruction of Torchwood Three in Children of Earth: Day One.
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