Gwen Cooper

] "Everyone Says Hello" written by Dan Abnett and narrated by Burn Gorman,cite video |people=Dan Abnett (author), Burn Gorman (narrator) |date2= 2008-02-04|title=Everyone Says Hello |medium=Audio book |publisher=BBC Audio] released February 2008, and forthcoming "In the Shadows" by Joseph Lidster, due for release in September 2008.cite video |people=Joseph Lidster (author)|month2=September |year2=2008 |title=In the Shadows |medium=Audio book |publisher=BBC Audio] Joseph Lidster also wrote a Radio 4 "Torchwood" drama, "Lost Souls" which aired in Summer 2008 as an Afternoon Play featuring the voices of John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and Freema Agyeman (Martha). Set after the events of the 2008 series, Gwen and the team make their first international adventure to CERN in Geneva, as part of Radio 4's special celebration of the Large Hadron Collider being switched on. [cite web |url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkpAkZFFkZpKezjobI&tmpl=newsrss&style=feedstyle |title=Torchwood comes to Radio 4 |accessdate=2008-04-27 |author=Jarrod Cooper |date=April 26, 2008 |work=The Doctor Who News Page] cite web|title=Torchwood: Lost Souls|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bigbang/torchwood.shtml|accessdate=2008-09-10] The special radio episode's plot focuses on the Large Hadron Collider's activation and the doomsday scenario some predicted it might incite, as well as the team's mourning of Toshiko and Owen's recent deaths.cite episode |title=Lost Souls|series=Torchwood|credits=Joseph Lidster, Kate McAll (producer/director)|network=BBC Radio 4|airdate=10-09-2008|minutes=43:47]

Characterisation

Eve Myles characterises Gwen as an ambitious and feisty young woman who at the same time embodies many aspects of the girl next door archetype. [cite news
first=Paul
last=Rowland
url=http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=16741728%26method=full%26siteid=50082%26headline=welsh%2dactress%2deve%2din%2ddoctor%2dwho%2dspin%2doff%2d-name_page.html
title=Welsh star in Doctor Who spin-off
publisher=The Western Mail
date=2006-02-24
accessdate=2006-03-22] On the [http://www.torchwood.org.uk interactive "Torchwood" website] , Gwen is described by Owen Harper in a psych evaluation as "socially responsible and empathetic" and possessing a lot of "unfulfilled potential". [ [http://www.torchwood.org.uk/html/gwen/psych.shtml Gwen Cooper psychological evaluation] ] Throughout the series, Gwen's character is at the centre of several themes regarding human nature.

Gwen's compassion plays an integral part throughout the series. In "Day One", she is the only one, initially, to see the infected Carys as a person, and not just another case. Her research into Carys' background wins the approval of Jack and perhaps ultimately contributes to Carys' salvation. "Ghost Machine" showed Gwen becoming over-involved in her determination to prevent the future, which ultimately led to her failure to do so, and the involuntary manslaughter of another, which deeply affected her. In subsequent episodes, she refused to believe that Jack would have killed Ianto or that he was able to sacrifice a young girl to save the world and in the episode "Countrycide" her inherent humanity was once again highlighted - her violent physical reaction to one of the corpses, and her intense need to understand how, and why, the villagers could commit such atrocities, acting as examples of this. In "Greeks Bearing Gifts", she is quick to forgive Toshiko for her telepathic intrusion, noting it is not her place to judge as she has been having an affair with Owen and admits she has no intention of stopping.

She is determined to understand the motivation of a cannibal in "Countrycide", and the revelation that he does it because it "makes [him] happy" leads her to pursue an affair with Owen, which she laments. She blames her experiences at Torchwood for "changing her", and it is apparent that it saddens her; this begins an insight into darker elements of her character. In "Out of Time", Gwen is amazed by her own ability to lie so convincingly and easily to Rhys. She also implies to Emma, an out of time young woman, that Rhys is not the best sex she has ever had, and it is inferred from the dialogue that he is not the "Mr. Right" that Emma believes a woman should wait for. The accompanying website features also suggest that Gwen has feelings towards Owen, [ [http://www.torchwood.org.uk/html/diane/im.shtml Gwen/Owen conversation] ] although in the same episode he cheated on her and explained he had never felt emotionally connected to any of his previous partners. Owen breaks off the affair in "Combat" and Gwen confesses it to Rhys, although she also gives him an amnesia pill so he will not remember her confession.

In "They Keep Killing Suzie", it became apparent that Suzie Costello is a parallel, a foil to Gwen. Like Gwen, she was in a relationship with Owen, was the only one who held the empathy required to use the resurrection gauntlet but unlike Suzie, Gwen has the strength to retain her sanity. Her early mastery of the glove is an apparent testimony to the incredible degree of compassion required to operate it.

In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang she shows enough compassion to be willing to sacrifice herself to save others. She also shows signs of being in love with Jack- a fact that she admitted to in "Adam", although their memories of her confession were subsequently wiped-, but it is also revealed that since the finale of season one and the opening of season two she and Rhys have become engaged to be married.

Eve Myles previously appeared in the "Doctor Who" episode "The Unquiet Dead" as Gwyneth, a clairvoyant servant girl from the 19th century.cite web| title=Team Torchwood| work=BBC "Doctor Who" website| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/tw.shtml| accessdate=2006-03-22] In response to a question about the supposed similarity between their names, showrunner Russell T Davies denied that the characters were connected at all, stating, "Maybe it's a Welsh thing, but those are completely different names to me. We're not about to reveal that she's a parallel-Gelth-ghost-from-the-Time-Rift, or something; just two names beginning with "G"." [cite journal|author =Cook, Benjamin|date=2007-01-31|cover date|title=Whoops, Apocalypse|journal=Doctor Who Magazine|issue=378|pages=p. 34] However, the "Doctor Who" episode "Journey's End" later alluded to a familial relationship between the characters, explaining their physical resemblance as the result of "spatial genetic multiplicity". Eve Myles said of the characters' relation, "I played Gwyneth, and it was a beautiful part. It was fantastic. Four years later, to be playing a character who's connected to Gwyneth, to be a relation of hers, is just incredibly clever, I think. It was never on the cards as such, but something in the back of my head always said that they were going to be connected somehow."cite journal|date=2008-08-20|title=Local Hero|journal=Doctor Who Magazine|issue=398|pages=28|accessdate=2008-08-03]

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/gwen.shtml Gwen Cooper on the BBC's "Torchwood" website]
* [http://www.torchwood.org.uk/html/gwen/ Gwen Cooper on the BBC-created Torchwood Institute website]