Characters
Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones
Played by Gareth David-Lloyd
Appearances: Series 1, Series 2, Series 3

"Like you care! I clear up your ****. No questions asked. That's the way you like it. When did you last ask me anything about my life!?"

Ianto Jones was once the innocent 'tea boy' of the team, whose job was to run around after the others, answering to their every whim and cleaning up after the messes they got into. He was the one who provided the cover stories for the alien disturbances in Cardiff, after working at Torchwood One in London with his girlfriend, Lisa.

Whilst the rest of the team received thanks and credit for their efforts, Ianto went unnoticed and was seen as inferior to the rest of his team mates. It was because of this that he didn't trust them with his secret regarding Lisa, who had been partially converted by the Cybermen when he found her in the wreckage of Torchwood One at Canary Wharf. He managed to save her and hid her beneath the Hub, calling in a Japanese specialist to help him bring her back and make her human again. He risked his teammates' lives to protect Lisa before finally admitting defeat.

Following her death, Ianto became a much darker, more depressed character, over time leading him to make his feelings about his limited position on the team known. It was an image of his girlfriend that eventually prompted him to help Owen open the Rift. Prior to this, he had shot Owen in the shoulder to try and stop him from opening it to bring Jack and Tosh back, realising that all that Owen really wanted was Diane. When the team realised he was more than just a tea boy, he's promoted to a much higher status within the group, one which allows him to follow the others into danger and, for the first time, deal with alien situations first hand.

Ianto and Jack
"A thousand year's time, you won't remember me."

Following a series of signs and clues that suggest Ianto is in a sexual relationship with Jack, it is revealed that they now consider themselves to be a 'proper couple', yet it's clear that Ianto is finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact he's in a gay relationship. He appears tense and is angered whenever he's referred to as being gay. Quick to deny the fact he's homosexual, he claims that it's not men in general he's attracted to, but just Jack.

After Jack and Ianto arrive at Thames House to speak to the 456 for themselves, the creature releases a virus inside the building as an act of war and Ianto is killed. Just before he dies, as he lies in Jack's arms, Ianto tells the Captain that he loves him and begs him to never forget him, and Jack promises him that he never will.