Cardiff
Cardiff was the capital and largest city of Wales. A spacetime rift is located near Roald Dahl Plass and Torchwood 3 were located there, also near the Plass.
History
Founding of the City
In 27 CE, the city of Cardiff was founded. Jack Harkness, the leader of Torchwood 3, had travelled back to that time period at the insistence of his brother Gray. Gray and his unwilling accomplice John Hart, buried him. The immortal Jack would remain underground until 1901. (TW: Exit Wounds)
St James
In the 15th century, Cardiff was a small parish called St James. Some of the earliest depictions of the Grim Reaper originated from this small community, especially from wood carvings dating back to 1479, when Duroc walked the Earth.
When the townspeople heard about the Black Death, they built a large wall around the town. Sadly, this did not save the life of a little girl named Faith. According to legend, the town's priest brought her back to life using a metal glove, but Faith brought Duroc with her. The entity needed to kill 13 people in order to gain a permanent hold on the Earth, but Faith managed to stop it at 12. (TW: Dead Man Walking)
19th century
The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler encountered Charles Dickens and the Gelth on here on Christmas Day 1869. (DW: The Unquiet Dead) Torchwood Cardiff, a branch of the Torchwood Institute later called Torchwood 3, was established here. (TW: Fragments)
20th century
Torchwood Cardiff continued to exist. During World War II, refugees from the London Blitz in London travelled through here, changing trains at Cardiff Station. (TW: Ghost Machine)
21st century
2000s
"Margaret Blaine" was elected as Lord Mayor of Cardiff following her escape from the destruction of 10 Downing Street. She planned to demolish Cardiff Castle and to construct the Blaidd Drwg (English: Bad Wolf) nuclear power station. She planned on using a tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator as a pan-dimensional surfboard to escape the solar system after Earth's destruction. (DW: Boom Town)
Circa September 2006, the Doctor, Rose and Jack Harkness, travelled to Cardiff to refuel the Doctor's TARDIS and to meet up with Mickey. The group discovered this plot. The rift partially opened, causing a small earthquke (DW: Boom Town)
By this time, humans living in Cardiff had started to notice and take advantage of the alien presence on their world. Illicit merchants for alien artefacts traded in the city and profited off them. These included the "Ghost Machine", which had fallen through the Rift (TW: Ghost Machine). An underground "fight club" where the alien Weevils fought humans also briefly existed. (TW: Combat)
Not knowing exactly how to use it, part of Torchwood 3 team used the Rift Manipulator in order to rescue two of their number out of the past. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness) The resulting disturbance caused disruptions in time to occur all over Earth, especially in Cardiff. Then, persuaded by Bilis Manger, Torchwood 3 used the Rift Manipulator to repair the damage, but also released Abaddon, a demonic being which killed dozens in the city. (TW: End of Days) Three days later, the Tenth Doctor and Martha stopped in Cardiff to refuel, whereupon Jack Harkness, having just left Torchwood 3, hitched a ride on his ship.
Geography
Cardiff Bay
- Roald Dahl Plass, under which Torchwood 3 was situated, was a public plaza located in Cardiff Bay.
Splott
- Splott was the suburb of Cardiff in which Sean 'Bernie' Harris lived. (TW: Ghost Machine)
- Gary used Splott as an example of where Eugene Jones could have potentially met the bidder for his Dogon's sixth eye (TW: Random Shoes)
Real world
- Brian Badcoe was born in Cardiff.
- Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures are filmed in Cardiff.
