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Captain Jack Harkness is a character who began appearing on long-running series Doctor Who during the last five episodes of its 2005 season played by actor John Barrowman. Brave, audacious and frequently armed to the teeth, Captain Jack quickly proved a valuable ally, though his image as a time-traveling rebel caused the Doctor some consternation (it seems Jack was too much like himself).

A 51st century man, Captian Jack was seen to flirt with both current female traveling companion Rose Tyler and the Doctor himself.

The character's enormous popularity has earned him a starring role in his own show, Torchwood, which began airing on the BBC on October 22, 2006. In the U.S., BBC America debuted the series in the fall of 2007.

Additional appearances of the character on Doctor Who occurred in the last three episodes of the 2007 season. At least one appearance is planned for the 2008 season.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Early Life

Jack hails from a region known as the Boeshane Peninsula, which is presumably a 51st century human colony on an alien planet. In his role as head of Torchwood Three, Jack has commented that as a boy, he fought an enemy he described as "The worst creatures imaginable". This resulted in tragedy for Jack when his best friend, who Jack had convinced to fight alongside him in the spirit of adventure, was murdered in front of him by their enemy. An earlier attack by the same enemy saw the death of Jack's father and his loss of a younger brother named Gray.

In his first appearances on Doctor Who, it was established that Jack was formerly a Time Agent from the 51st century. In the 2007 Doctor Who episode Last of the Timelords, Jack indicated that he was the first person from the Boeshane Peninusula to join the Time Agents. His good looks quickly earned him the nickname "The Face of Boe," implying a connection to the character of the same name who appeared in the first three seasons of the new series.

In his previous appearances on Doctor Who, the character had indicated that he left the Time Agents when he discovered that they had removed two years of his memories.

The Torchwood Episode Captain Jack Harkness revealed that the former Time Agent had appropriated his "Captain Jack" moniker as an alias. He had simply chosen to use the name of a real officer who he knew to be dead (though he had never actually met the man). His real name remains unknown.

Meeting the Doctor

When the Doctor first encountered him in 2005's "The Empty Child." Jack was in the possession of stolen time ship which was later destroyed.

At that time, Captain Jack (as played by actor John Barrowman) had become a con artist, luring other time travelers (particularly the hated Time Agents) into elaborate scams. He lured the TARDIS to London during the Blitz, only to discover that the Doctor wasn't falling for the con.

The Doctor rescued Captain Jack from the impending destruction of his time ship at the end of his first story and brought him onto the TARDIS. However, when the Doctor regenerated into his tenth incarnation at the end of the season, he seems to have simply forgotten about Jack and left him behind (this time in the far future).

The Torchwood Institute

When next viewers saw Captain Jack, he was leading the Welsh branch (Torchwood Three) of The Torchwood Institute, a present day organization that investigates alien activity and attempts to obtain and exploit alien artifacts. It is soon revealed that, after Rose ressurected him, he is now immortal and is searching for "the right kind of Doctor" to help him. He is a darker character than the one who was left behind by the Doctor and Rose, over the course of the Torchwood TV series he shows that he is willing to kill without a second thought, as well as make other sacrifices in order to protect the planet or his team.

For example in one episode he allows a child to join a group of supernatural beings, despite they being the type of creature the Torchwood Institute is supposed to oppose, after they threatened to kill everyone on the planet. He has also gunned down aggressors who have threatened his team-mates, including former team-mates and on two occasions killed the lovers of team-mates when these lovers posed a threat.

However the Jack of Torchwood is not without compassion, he aided a man to kill himself despite his own misgivings and experience of death showing no afterlife. He also established a relationship with one of his team-mates, was shown as distraught when a former lover (who thought he was his own son due to Jack's time travelling) died, and reciprocated the feelings of a man who he knew was to die the next day despite being upset over the fact he had fallen for a doomed man.

By a strange twist of fate, the aforementioned doomed man was the real Jack Harkness whose identity the familiar "Captain Jack" character had borrowed.