Killed By Torchwood
Torchwood has a nasty habit of killing off its main characters – a trend it set in its very first episode. So we take a look at those members of Torchwood who paid a very high price for their involvement with the Institute.
Suzie Costello (Indira Varma)
The publicity for Torchwood in the run-up to its launch seemingly made out the character of Suzie Costello, Jack’s (John Barrowman) deputy, was a season regular. However, Suzie was shockingly killed off in the first episode when it was revealed she was responsible for a series of murders in Cardiff being investigated by WPC Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles). Suzie was briefly resurrected later on in the season when her ‘plan b’ was put into operation and she tried to steal the life force of Gwen – a woman who, in Suzie’s eyes, had stolen her life at Torchwood. Sadly Suzie hasn’t been resurrected since her second demise which is a shame because such a scheming, psychotic characters deserves to come back and plague the Torchwood team some more.
Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori)
Dr. Toshiko Sato first appeared in Doctor Who in 2005 in a small role before coming a regular in Torchwood – something briefly noted in her final episode. Tosh held a torch for her colleague Owen but never had the courage to tell him until it was too late – mainly because Owen was too busy sleeping with Suzie and later Gwen. Toshiko was killed off in the shocking season two finale when she was gunned down by Jack’s vengeful brother Gray. In her dying moments she tried to save the love of her life, Owen who was trapped in a nuclear bunker elsewhere in Cardiff.
Owen Harper (Burn Gorman)
Owen was killed off during the course of the second season when he was shot during an investigation. Jack was determined to save his colleague – feeling responsible for Owen’s death – and used the resurrection technology previously used to revive Suzie. Owen was brought back to life but as a dead man walking. It took Owen time to adjust to his new life especially given the notion if he was injuried in anyway his body would not heal itself. In the season two finale Owen was also written out when he was locked in a nuclear basement where he presumably died or is still alive but locked in forever.
Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd)
Perhaps by far the most shocking of the Torchwood deaths and certainly the most controversial with fans is that of Ianto Jones who was killed off in the mini-series Children of Earth. Ianto, the lover of Jack, was a hugely popular character with fans so killing him off with a bold move by producers and it certainly produced a huge response from fans – with campaigns launched to try and revive the character. Ianto died in the arms of Jack after the 456’s, aliens, released a deadly virus in the building they were in. Ianto’s death meant that Gwen and Jack were the only original Torchwood characters left at the start of series four.
Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur)
Perhaps not strictly speaking a member of the Torchwood team Vera never-the-less assisted them. Vera was the Doctor who treated Rex (Mekhi Phifer) after his car accident in the first episode of Miracle Day and later helped Rex cure Jack when he was poisoned. Dr. Juarez further assisted Torchwood by keeping PR woman Jolly Kitzinger (Lauren Ambrose) busy while Gwen downloaded the contents of her computer. Vera later left Washington and joined the Torchwood team in Los Angeles where she went undercover in an “overflow” camp to try and discover the truth of the ‘miracle’. While undercover at the camp she was shot and later burnt by one of the camp’s officials.
As it’s been noted several times within Torchwood itself being a member of the institute means life expectancy is drastically reduced with most members being killed in the line of duty.
