Out of Time ( TV story ) Out of Time was the tenth episode of the first series of " Torchwood " . It saw the fracturing of Gwen Cooper ' s affair with Owen Harper even further when he struck a second libido - driven relationship with Diane Holmes , who was removed from a bygone era after passing through the Cardiff Rift . Although Owen meant to use her simply for sexual favours , pleasure gave way to romance and he began falling in love with her . However , Diane chose to part ways with Owen and return to the past through the Rift . The hope of seeing her again later influenced him to spur a disastrous act near the end of the series . Synopsis . When a plane from the 1950s lands in modern Cardiff , courtesy of the Rift , the passengers are reoriented by the Torchwood team , who becomes drawn closely to their lives . Plot . A plane called the " Sky Gypsy " lands on a Cardiff air strip . Out step the pilot , Diane Holmes , and passengers Emma - Louise Cowell and John Ellis . The Torchwood team welcome them . The people on the plane think that they are in the year 1953 . Jack informs them they fell through the rift and were transported over fifty years into their future . The team make it their duty to look after the occupants of the plane until they can adapt to the 21st century . At first , they are fascinated , yet appalled by new items they had never seen before such as tea bags and dirty magazine s . Gwen looks after Emma , since her parents have died . She takes her to her home , where she lies to Rhys that Emma is her cousin and that she came for a visit . The couple take her to a nightclub . They separate Emma from a man she is kissing . Gwen explains that things are different than in the 1950s . Later Emma finds a job as a shop - girl in London . Gwen is hesitant , wanting to get her a job in Cardiff where she can look after her , but she has to change her mind when Rhys discovers that Emma is not Gwen ' s cousin and is upset at just how easily Gwen lied to him . Gwen agrees to let her go and tells her to not talk to strangers when travelling to London . As Emma leaves , they wish each other a happy Christmas . Meanwhile , Jack starts a friendship with John , who wants to find his son , Alan Ellis . Tosh finds him , John pays a visit , but is devastated to find his son is suffering from Alzheimer ' s disease . Severely depressed , John takes Ianto ' s car to kill himself by carbon monoxide poisoning . Jack tries to convince him to stop . John said that he died decades ago . A reluctant Jack joins him in the car as the carbon monoxide slowly kills John . Jack ' s immortality leaves him unaffected ; all he can do is express sorrow at the sight of another life cut short . Owen looks after Diane , who wants to fly , but can ' t because her license expired decades ago . Owen convinces her to go out to lunch with him . They begin a sex ual relationship . As it progresses , Owen falls in love with her . Diane admits to the same feelings . One morning , Owen finds she has gone , leaving a note on his pillow . He rushes to the airfield , where he finds her attempting to take off in the " Sky Gypsy " . Owen tries to convince her to stay , but she is confident that due to the exact weather conditions from where she took off , the rift will open again to take her back to her time . After she kisses Owen goodbye , she takes off and her plane disappears into the clouds . Heartbroken , Owen cries softly . In the end , Jack , Gwen and Owen think back on how the three have touched their lives .