Gwen Cooper

Gwen Elizabeth Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. Gwen Cooper is a former police officer recruited into the Torchwood Institute. She is portrayed by Eve Myles, who previously appeared in the Doctor Who episode "The Unquiet Dead".

Within the series, Gwen is a South Wales Police officer who discovers the mysterious Torchwood Institute into which she is recruited by Captain Jack Harkness. She is now second in charge of Torchwood Three because Suzie Costello commited suicide.

Gwen is introduced in the first episode of Torchwood in 2006, where she – a Cardiff police officer – is witness to Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and his team's interrogation of a dead man. Acting as an audience surrogate, she notices Jack is following her and she is led to investigate him and his team, eventually discovering by following him to his base that they are Torchwood, a team of alien hunters. Jack wipes the memories of her discovery, but they are later triggered by reports of murders committed with exotic weaponry; Torchwood's own Suzie Costello (Indira Varma) is the serial killer. Present at Suzie's attempt to kill Jack, and her ensuing suicide, Jack (who reveals that he cannot die) rewards Gwen by offering her a job in Torchwood. Jack and Gwen's relationship becomes tinged with romantic implications. despite her long-standing relationship with boyfriend Rhys (Kai Owen) and Jack's developing relationship with teammate Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd). Unable to share her experiences at Torchwood with Rhys, Gwen falls into a short-lived destructive affair with teammate Owen (Burn Gorman) for which she is racked with guilt. In the series one finale, it is for her desire at any cost to resurrect a murdered Rhys that she is willing to mutiny against Jack. After Jack is killed by a supernatural demon, Gwen insists that he will come back to life and stays watch over his body, but after a number of days she is talked into leaving. She gives him a kiss and as she leaves Jack whispers "thank you." Not long after Jack revives he abandons the team to reunite with the mysterious "Doctor" from his past.