Time Agency The Time Agency was an organisation founded to fill the vacuum of power left by the Time Lord s after the Last Great Time War . ( COMIC : " Weapons of Past Destruction " ) It originated around the 49th century and was shut down some time after the 52nd century . ( TV : " Kiss Kiss , Bang Bang " ) The Agency employed human s called Time Agents . The Agents used vortex manipulator s which enabled them to travel through time for missions of an unspecified nature . The Agency dealt with time loops by containing them in bubble universes . ( AUDIO : " Month 25 " ) One account stated that , " The Agents ' purpose is to change without interfering , to leave an effect with no evidence of cause . To be untraceable , undetectable , invisible . To all intents and purposes , the Agents do not exist . " ( PROSE : " Sometime Never . . . " ) History . To fill the power vacuum left by the Time Lord s ' disappearance after the Last Great Time War , ( COMIC : " Weapons of Past Destruction " ) the Time Agency was set up at some point after the 42nd century , as the Agency set up time treaties back in time up to the 42nd century . ( AUDIO : " The Time Machine " ) A group known as the Time Agents were used by the Council of Eight to manipulate history and remove " Rogue Elements . " ( PROSE : " Sometime Never . . . " ) Magnus Greel , a war criminal from the 51st century , lived in fear of Time Agents , initially suspecting the Fourth Doctor of being one until Li H ' sen Chang mentioned the Doctor had asked questions . " A Time Agent wouldn ' t have asked questions ! " exclaimed Greel . " A Time Agent would " know " . " ( TV : " The Talons of Weng - Chiang " ) Greel had only heard about the Time Agents from the Fifth Doctor . To avoid revealing his identity before Greel encountered him in the late 19th century , the Doctor claimed he was a Time Agent . ( AUDIO : " The Butcher of Brisbane " ) Kala and Jode were Time Agents sent from the 49th century to recover a weapon sent back in time to 1933 . ( PROSE : " Eater of Wasps " , " Trading Futures " ) Sabbath recruited several Time Agents into his crew , including Roja and Jaxa . ( PROSE : " Trading Futures " ) Adam Mitchell sent a distress signal through time using Cyberman technology . Neal Shaw was sent to investigate the signal , but was frozen in time by Mitchell . The Eleventh Doctor freed Shaw , and Shaw returned to duty after giving the Doctor a way to track his vortex manipulator through time . ( COMIC : " Mystery Date " , " The Choice " ) Jack Harkness , a member of the Time Agency , was from the Boeshane Peninsula . This was a matter of great pride to the other citizens of the Peninsula , as he was the first of them to join the agency . They began calling him the " Face of Boe " . ( TV : " Last of the Time Lords " ) As an Agent , he worked with John Hart , also known as " Captain John " . ( TV : " Kiss Kiss , Bang Bang " ) After the Agency wiped two years of his memory for unknown reasons , he left the Agency and struck out on his own as a con man and freebooter . ( TV : " The Doctor Dances " ) He later became a companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor and leader of Torchwood Three . His vortex manipulator proved instrumental in his adventures . ( TV : " The Doctor Dances " , " Everything Changes " , " Utopia " et all ) The Family of Blood somehow got their hands on a Time Agent ' s vortex manipulator and used it to track the Doctor through time . ( TV : " Human Nature " , " The Family of Blood " ) At the time Hart caught up with Jack again , Hart stated that the Agency had only seven Agents left and had subsequently been disbanded . ( TV : " Kiss Kiss , Bang Bang " ) In 5145 , River Song acquired a vortex manipulator from the black market that was " fresh off the wrist of a handsome Time Agent " . The wrist - strap was presented still " on " the wrist , until Dorium Maldovar had it removed . The vortex manipulator ended up proving vital to saving the universe , and was used by both River and the Eleventh Doctor . ( TV : " The Pandorica Opens " , " The Big Bang " ) Despite being imprisoned in Stormcage Containment Facility , River somehow hung onto the manipulator and used it during her further travels . ( TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " , " The Angels Take Manhattan " )