WPC Gwen Cooper is at the scene of a brutal murder, when the "special ops," known only as Torchwood, arrive. After witnessing the group bring the dead man back to life, Gwen goes in pursuit of this mysterious organisation, only to see weirder things than she could ever imagine existed. Soon after, she begins to regret giving in to her curiosity, when she meets Captain Jack Harkness.
It's Gwen's first day on the job, and it's not going very well. After accidentally releasing a mysterious gas from a comet that landed, a new type of alien is let loose on the streets - an alien that's addicted to sex. Torchwood must find the inhabited body, and prevent anymore deaths from the violent form of sex.
Whilst chasing a man, Gwen retrieves an unusual machine that allows the user to see back into the past. It is considered dangerous, and no members of Torchwood are permitted to use it. But Owen has other plans, and witnesses a violent murder that took place over forty years ago. Using the information he gathered, Owen starts to track down the still-living murderer.
A Ianto themed episode
Jack catches up with a very old friend of his, who is investigating fairy sightings in the local wood. After having visited her, Torchwood are informed of a man's mysterious death in a prison cell. Then, Tosh uncovers a series of localised, extreme weather patterns. Nobody at the organisation is sure of these events, or how they may be connected. Except Jack, who has witnessed the creatures causing this, almost a century ago.
Whilst investigating a group of unexplainable deaths in a village, the Torchwood team are separated. Discovering further, Jack, Gwen and Owen find a scared man, hiding from the thing responsible for the murders. But Tosh and Ianto go that one step extra, and locate the killer, who wants them as their next victims.
A Toshiko themed episode
A Suzie themed episode
Eugene Jones wakes up, finding himself lying on the middle of a road. He then discovers that he has been the victim of a hit-and-run incident, and is, now, not only dead, but invisible. Eugene recalls events leading up to his death, involving a mysterious alien eye. Simultaneously, Gwen investigates the suspicious circumstances around his fatality.
Three passengers from 1953 arrive in modern day Cardiff, when their plane flies through the Rift. With no means of travelling back, each person must adapt to their new life, starting personal relationships with the separate members of Torchwood.
An Owen themed episode
A Jack themed episode
With the Rift having been opened, people and objects throughout time are falling through it, and being spread across the world. "The thing in the darkness" has finally come, and Jack realises that he is the only one who can save planet Earth from the destruction that "the son of the Beast" will cause.