Agnes Havisham Miss Agnes Havisham was charged by Queen Victoria to watch over the future of the Torchwood Institute . Whenever there was a crisis at any of the Torchwood stations , she awoke , monitored the situation and , if necessary , intervened . Biography . Early history . Agnes Havisham was born under another name . She used " Agnes " as a pseudonym for Torchwood . Her mother was Scottish and an alcoholic . Her father wanted a boy and trained her from a young age to use guns . Neither were particularly pleased with her choice to join the Torchwood Institute . She also had a younger sister named Tilly , but Agnes was unable to find out what happened to her after Agnes became Torchwood Assessor . Around the turn of the 20th century , she helped set up Torchwood Three , feeling that the Cardiff Space - Time Rift posed a threat to the world . Around this time , she fought the undead , encountered Elizabethan era plague doctor s and met Alice Guppy . She also met George Herbert Sanderson , who she fell in love with . Around 1901 , a probe from " Planet X " was found with a faster - than - light drive . George Herbert built it into a spaceship and planned to visit Planet X . Even with this drive , the trip would take over a hundred years . Agnes agreed to become the Torchwood Assessor , meaning she would be kept in cryogenic stasis when not needed and would be able to able to see him when he returned . They were still able to communicate with each other occasionally . As Torchwood Assessor , her job was to check if Torchwood was running properly . If it wasn ' t , it could be shut down with the Cowper Key . She would reanimate when Torchwood was in significant danger . When not awake , she remained cryogenically frozen in a storage unit in Swindon . ( PROSE : " Risk Assessment " ) 20th century . During her time as the assessor , Agnes was woken up four times . She wasn ' t woken up in time for the disappearance of Torchwood Four or the destruction of Torchwood One , possibly because they were destroyed too fast . She met Jack Harkness on several occasions , though they had mixed feelings for each other . At some point , George arrived on Planet X and contacted Agnes . During their conversations , she mentioned the Cardiff Space - Time Rift and the native xXltttxtolxtol were able to find a way to use it for even faster transport . They claimed they were peaceful , but they were actually planning to invade Earth . Agnes worked out a plan to transport a group of xXltttxtolxtol pods to Earth . She believed that Torchwood would interfere , so she hid her plan from everyone . ( PROSE : " Risk Assessment " ) 21st century . In 2009 , the xXltttxtolxtol pods and George ' s ship arrived on Earth , waking up Agnes . Coincidentally , a fragment of the Vam in the rift attached to the pods . Agnes headed to Torchwood Three and pretended not to know why she was woken up . She helped kill two Weevil s and investigated the Vam . When the Vam grew large enough to be a threat , Agnes also helped to try to defeat it . She had done research on the present day and when she learned that the Vam was effectively made of oil , she tried to negotiate with it so Britain would have a never - ending supply . The Vam had no interest in being a servant and ate her , but she was protected by a personal force field . Instead , Jack had to kill it , accidentally spreading the remains over Cardiff . It was at this point that George sent down a pod to warn Agnes about the xXltttxtolxtol . When Gwen Cooper arrived at the pod before Agnes , she knocked Gwen out and sent her back to the ship . Two days later , Agnes decided to activate the xXltttxtolxtol pods . They revealed their true plans and tied up Agnes , Jack and Ianto while they converted the pods into a portal . With no further use for George ' s ship , they also shot it down . Taking advantage of the crash , George and Gwen aimed the ship at the portal , contacted Rhys Williams for a pickup and evacuated the ship . Agnes , Jack and Ianto broke free in time , using Agnes ' rum to break down the sap binding them . When the ship crashed , it lit the remains of the Vam on fire , utterly destroying the xXltttxtolxtol . Following their adventures , Agnes drugged Torchwood with Retcon and left with George . ( PROSE : " Risk Assessment " ) Personality . Agnes was arrogant and condescending , with a constant sense of patriotic superiority . She did have a soft side , and tried to help the xXltttxtolxtol out of concern . Though she learned quickly , she assimilated inconsistently ; she quickly figured out the oil crisis of the 20th century and the usage of the Vam , but she continually wore old - fashioned clothing . She always carried a copy of " Little Dorrit " , which had been hollowed out to store a bottle of rum . ( PROSE : " Risk Assessment " ) Behind the scenes . Agnes notably did not appear to have helped with the destruction of Torchwood Three in " " .