Mary Cooper
Mary Cooper was the mother of Gwen Cooper and wife of Geraint.
Retconned after almost being killed by a Nostrovite at Gwen and Rhys Williams's wedding, Mary eventually learnt the truth about her daughter's job and supported her and Rhys in their hiding despite it meaning she rarely saw her granddaughter. She lost her husband when the Miracle ended and was ultimately murdered by Ng.
Biography
Early life
Mary was born in the 1940s (TV: Ghost Machine) and married Geraint Cooper (TV: Something Borrowed) with whom she had a daughter, Gwen in 1978. (TV: Children of Earth: Day One, The New World) She shopped at Timothy Whites (TV: Children of Earth: Day One) and once took Gwen to G. R. Owen's as a treat. (AUDIO: Department X)
Whilst Gwen lived in Cardiff with Rhys Williams, (TV: Everything Changes) Mary and Geraint lived in Swansea. (TV: Something Borrowed) The young couple attended Mary's sixtieth birthday in the 2000s and dressed up smart per her wishes. (TV: Ghost Machine) Although Geraint and Barry Williams got on fine, Mary did not get on with Brenda. (TV: Something Borrowed)
Kept in the dark
Gwen joined Torchwood and told Mary and Geraint only that she had a new job which demanded a lot of her time. She had minimal contact with them after joining the organisation as a result and rarely made phonecalls, also having to cancel several plans to meet up with them. (TV: Something Borrowed)
Mary called Gwen and Rhys at Christmastime and told Rhys that she had no idea who Emma-Louise Cowell, whom Gwen claimed was her aunt's stepdaughter, was. (TV: Out of Time)
Mary was surprised to learn that Gwen was pregnant hours before her and Rhys's wedding, but told her that she could not wait to see the look on Brenda's face and promised that she and Geraint would be there for their grandchild, unaware that it was a Nostrovite. She and Brenda greeted one another at the hotel with backhanded compliments and she told Gwen not to listen to the Nostrovite mother when it threatened to kill her. After the ceremony, Jack Harkness had the guests retconned. (TV: Something Borrowed)
After Earth was moved to the Medusa Cascade, Gwen asked Rhys to telephone Mary and tell her to take her pills and go to sleep. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
Anwen's birth
Gwen eventually told Mary and Geraint of the true nature of her job at Torchwood, some time before Brenda learnt the truth. She and Rhys went on the run whilst she was pregnant (PROSE: First Born) and told the Coopers that it was because they were not safe in Cardiff where they could be seen. (TV: The New World)
Gwen and Rhys met up with Mary and Geraint in a service station car park (PROSE: First Born) the day that Anwen was born. (TV: The New World) Mary dressed up for the occasion, wearing a new hat, and cried, even moreso when Gwen handed her her granddaughter. They parted ways (PROSE: First Born) and Mary told Gwen to stay away no matter what for her own safety. (TV: The New World)
The Miracle
Family reunited
On Miracle Day, Geraint had a mild heart attack followed by a more serious one and Mary went with him to St Helen's Hospital for emergency treatment. She told Gwen that she was silly for returning to Cardiff with Rhys and Anwen despite the danger, but was happy to see her granddaughter again and surprised by how much she had grown. Before Gwen went back into hiding, Mary asked her about what she thought the Miracle was, but she had no answers. (TV: The New World)
Gwen was extradited to the United States (TV: Rendition) and Rhys and Anwen were moved with police supervision to stay with Mary. (TV: Dead of Night) Mary dressed Anwen up in pink and found that, unlike Gwen at her age, she slept through the night. (TV: The Categories of Life) When the overflow camps opened, Rhys got Geraint moved to Cowbridge Overflow Camp. (TV: Escape to LA)
Upon learning that the overflow camps were controlled by PhiCorp, Mary researched the camp outside Cowbridge and tasked Gwen, once she returned to Wales, with getting Geraint out. Rhys told Mary to let Gwen relax before discussing the mission, but Gwen saw the research shortly after arriving and Mary filled her in. (TV: The Categories of Life)
Hiding Geraint
Gwen and Rhys managed to save Geraint and get him home, after which Gwen returned to the United States. Mary, Rhys and Anwen were held hostage (TV: The Middle Men) by order of Olivia Colasanto to blackmail Gwen into delivering Jack Harkness, but they were saved by Andy Davidson and armed police who had been alerted to what had happened by Rex Matheson and Esther Drummond. Mary commented on Andy's late timing. (TV: Immortal Sins)
Mary's experience having a gun held to her head made her encourage Gwen to go after the Three Families, but she gave the message through Rhys rather than tell her herself. She told Rhys to tell Gwen the truth when she asked about Geraint, who was rarely conscious but could not receive medical care due to him being Category 1. Gwen was deported by Allen Shapiro (TV: End of the Road) and returned to Swansea. When the camps reopened, the family hid Geraint in the basement to keep him from being burnt.
With Geraint in serious pain, Gwen had to steal diamorphine which Mary injected him with. Mary had to use all of her strength to keep Geraint quiet when Ralph Finch searched the house for Geraint and was shocked when Oswald Danes arrived that night, taking Anwen out of the room. Later, Geraint was found by Finch and Mary had to sign a tablet as he was taken away in an ambulance, saying goodbye. (TV: The Gathering)
Miracle's end
Geraint was taken back to the overflow camp and Andy was able to get a hold of a single police visa for Rhys to visit him before he was to be burnt, but Mary said that she would not visit the camp anyway. When Rhys called Gwen and told her to end the Miracle and let Geraint die, Mary did not disagree and said that she had better come back alive from Shanghai. Rhys put his mobile phone to Geraint's ear and allowed Mary to say her final farewell to her husband as death returned to the world. (TV: The Blood Line)
Widowhood
Gwen, Rhys and Anwen lived in Washington DC for some time after Esther Drummond's funeral (AUDIO: Army of One, Fallout) but they eventually returned to Wales and moved back in with Mary. (AUDIO: Mr Invincible) Gwen and Rhys decided to have no computers or Internet inside of the house to prevent them from being tracked or watched as Torchwood were by the Central Intelligence Agency. The Miracle left Mary wary of the authorities and hospitals as well.
After Gwen started suffering from the masochistic madness and Jack shot her, Rhys called Mary and gave her as few details as possible about what had happened and Jack waited for her to get home. Mary visited her frequently in the hospital and distracted herself from worrying by giving tea and coffee to those cleaning up after an Earth tremor, but she was angry when Gwen escaped the hospital and told Jack that she wished that Gwen had never met him. Jack managed to find her and he and Rhys agreed that it was best not to tell Mary until she had been cured. (PROSE: Exodus Code)
Mary babysat Anwen when Gwen and Rhys travelled to North Wales to visit Bryn Offa Residential Home after receiving a telephone call from Jack. She called Gwen up when Anwen apparently started speaking in fluent Welsh, having actually had her mind swapped with Elunedd's, but Gwen told her not to phone a doctor and that she had probably learnt it at school. (AUDIO: Forgotten Lives)
Because Mary had been looking after Anwen all week so that Gwen and Rhys could go to North Wales, Gwen decided to stay home with Anwen whilst Rhys visited Brenda at St Helen's Hospital, not wanting to push her luck by asking Mary to babysit again. (AUDIO: Visiting Hours)
When the Jordia made Rhys believe that he did not have any signal as he and Gwen were attempting to return home from a holiday camp south of Llanelli, he accidentally called Mary as well as his Auntie Bev. (AUDIO: We Always Get Out Alive)
Death
Gwen became possessed by Ng and Mary noticed that something about her daughter had changed. Weeks after Gwen's possession, Mary babysat Anwen and found herself asking Gwen how she liked her tea despite having been making her tea for thirty years, leading Ng to drop her act. Mary asked her who she was and Ng shot her. (AUDIO: Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy)
Legacy
Mary's funeral was attended by Ng and Rhys. Ng allowed Gwen to say goodbye to her mother (AUDIO: Orr) and went on to use her death as an excuse for her change of behaviour. (AUDIO: Love Rat)
Because of all the losses that she had suffered, Gwen left Cardiff with Rhys and Anwen after she was split from Ng. (AUDIO: Herald of the Dawn) She eventually confronted Ng about how she used her body to kill her mother. (AUDIO: Misty Eyes)
Personality
Gwen had a more frosty relationship with her mother than she did with her father Geraint. At her daughter's wedding Mary was seen to be somewhat of a snob, nagging her husband Geraint and taking pleasure in scoring points against Rhys' mother Brenda Williams. (TV: Something Borrowed) After Mary met Gwen for the first time since her exile, she teased Gwen about her "frugal" lifestyle, asking if she'd been feeding Anwen lard. (TV: The New World) Upon returning to Wales, and her mother, Gwen made a joke about America's superiority in allowing people to divorce their mothers, which evoked a sense of discord between the two. Mary liked to dress Anwen in a way that displeased Gwen, who saw the exclusively pink outfit as frivolous. (TV: The Categories of Life) When Gwen spoke to Rhys at the Colasanto residence, Mary told him to tell her daughter that she wasn't available to speak personally because she was watching TV even though she wasn't. (TV: End of the Road)
Although the relationship between Gwen and Mary was at times strained, Mary actively encouraged her daughter's missions during Miracle Day. (TV: End of the Road, The Blood Line) She showed a softer side when she had to rely on her daughter for emotional support after restraining Geraint in the basement, sobbing onto her shoulder. (TV: The Gathering) When Gwen was in Shanghai attempting to put an end to Miracle Day, Mary told Gwen not let anything happen to herself. (TV: The Blood Line) Even when held hostage by an alien Nostrovite, Mary not only remained calm but actively encouraged her daughter not to give herself up, showing a willingness to sacrifice herself for Gwen. Gwen had no intention of submitting herself, however; as soon as the alien released Mary, Gwen shot it several times with a gun hidden in her wedding bouquet and Mary hugged her daughter in thanks. (TV: Something Borrowed)
She also enjoyed looking after Gwen's daughter Anwen. (TV: The New World, The Categories of Life, The Blood Line)
Behind the scenes
- It was initially suggested by Russell T Davies that Andy Davidson be the one who was killed by "Not Gwen", but James Goss and Scott Handcock felt it would be too much, as the character is very much loved by the whole team and the fans, and so Mary was killed off in his place. (BFX: Aliens Among Us 3)
