Save Ianto Jones

Save Ianto Jones was a fan campaign dedicated to memorializing and resurrecting the character Ianto Jones on the TV series Torchwood. Fans wrote letters and shipped coffee to the BBC, wrote about their grief on social media, raised money for charity, and even built Ianto's Shrine in Mermaid's Quay, Cardiff. While the campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, the interest surrounding the campaign resulted in many spin-off Torchwood media producing Ianto-themed content, including an audiobook where Ianto was resurrected. In addition, Ianto's Shrine was officially recognized by the management of Mermaid's Quay with a plaque, and remains standing as of March 2019.
== Context ==
Ianto Jones was a well-liked character, and seen as important representation to the queer community. While TPTB hadn't invested much in Ianto, the fandom spent a large amount of time investing in Ianto's character, to the extent that some of their headcanons and fanon made it into the show.Labours Of Love: Affect, Fan Labour, And The Monetization Of Fandom by Jennifer Spence, on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository, 2203, in 2014 But by the end of Series 2, things had taken a darker turn with Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato's deaths. Ianto soon followed, and died during Torchwood: Children of Earth Day Four, leaving only Gwen Cooper and Captain Jack Harkness left alive in Torchwood. Despite the hurt of the deaths of Tosh and Owen, it was Ianto's death (and its avoidability) in particular that angered fans, and by the airing of the episode, Ianto Jones' death was trending higher than Michael Jackson's death on Twitter.Tarnished Heroes, Charming Villains and Modern Monsters: Science Fiction in Shades of Gray on 21st Century Television by Lynette Porter, page 69, published by McFarland, in 2014 Soon afterwards, the Save Ianto Jones campaign was born in an effort to resurrect him.
== Manifesto ==
==Projects==
===The Flat Ianto Project===
The Flat Ianto project was a project directly influenced by the American Flat Stanley Project. Fans were encouraged to take photos of a printout of Ianto or of Ianto action figures while on their travels, to show others that Ianto hadn't died, he'd just been traveling. Ianto's adventures were then uploaded online. Fans took photos of their Flat Ianto's all over the northern hemisphere, from Finland to the UK, to the USA, to Turkey, and beyond.
===Fundraising for Children in Need===
Ianto died trying to save the children of Earth, and fans therefore found it fitting to donate to the UK charity Children in Need. In July 2009, a JustGiving page was set up in Ianto's memory, soliciting donations for Children in Need in memory of Ianto. By October 2012, the page had raised £15,965.50 in memory of Ianto.Coffee Boy on JustGiving, archived October 13th, 2012
In March 2010, an auction had been set up in order to raise money for Children In Need. Fans offered fannish crafts, such as badges, buttons, fanvids, beaded pendants, cookies, and knitwear in exchange for donations to the Save Ianto JustGiving page for Children in Need.Ianto Jones for Children in Need on LiveJournal, accessed February 10th, 2019. (archive)
== Direct Action ==
===Letterwriting Campaigns===
The Save Ianto Campaign encouraged fans to write to the BBC, with sample postcards available to send via physical post. Fans got in touch to express their grief and anger both via letters and on social media, and also took part in polls to express their disappointment. Below is an example of an email sent.
Some fans reacted much more aggressively than others - James Moran asked fans to tone down the vitrolTorchwood: Children of Earth: The Aftermath by Kirsty Walker for EndOfShow, on June 12th, 2009, and there were other reports of abusive or vitrolic messages from fans, although Moran noted that "[...]even though many of them are upset, angry and shocked, they have managed to express that without making it personal." Is Torchwood Homophobic? Fans Debate by Charlie Jane Anders for io9, on 17th July, 2009. (archive) As a result of fannish grief over Ianto's death, the BBC received more than 7,600 emails petitioning for Ianto's resurrection.100,000 Torchwood fans campaign to bring back Ianto for the South Wales Argus, on 21 December, 2009. (archive)
===The Great Coffee Protest===
Sending coffee was one of the ways the Save Ianto Jones campaign intended to petition the BBC to resurrect Ianto. It was initially sent only to the BBC, but when Starz LLC collaborated with the BBC for Torchwood Series 4, fans began sending coffee to them too.
The campaign listed three ways fans could ship coffee to TPTB:
*Directly shipping it to the companies in cards, letters and boxes.
*Donating to chryssalys to ship Resurrection coffee in bulk from Ravens Brew directly to the companies.
*Shipping coffee via Red Monkey Coffee, and putting the BBC address as the shipping address.
Russell T Davies claimed that only nine bags of coffee ever made their way to the BBCWe Asked Russell T. Davies Our Most Pressing Doctor Who Question by Charlie Jane Anders for io9, on 28th July 2009. (archive), but a fan post tallying the shipments records the number as much higherFans campaign for return of Ianto after Torchwood death by David Bentley for the Coventry Telegraph, on July 31st, 2009. On the Save the Coffee Boy LiveJournal, it states that "every month, the Save Ianto Jones campaign clubs together to send a 20 bag batch of Ravens Brew "Resurrection" coffee to the BBC".The Save Coffee Boy News Bulletin and Code of Conduct by a_silver_story on LiveJournal, posted on 11th July, 2009 In June 2010, 20 bags of Resurrection coffee were returned to Raven's Brew after failing to be delivered to the BBC, and as a result, a 40 bag shipment of Resurrection coffee was instead shipped to the head office of Starz LLC.Resurrection Coffee Update by Chryssalys on LiveJournal, posted Jun 15 2010 (archive)
=== The Cardiff Shrine ===
Following Ianto's death, a small shrine began on the lower walkway of Mermaid's Quay in Cardiff, where Ianto's tourist shop was set. The shrine was then advertised by the Save Ianto Jones campaign, which allowed it to grow bigger and bigger as more fans attended the site and left gifts. Some fans offered to print and attach material to the shrine that other fans wanted to add, but couldn't make it to the physical shrine itself. In 2010, Gareth David-Lloyd (the actor for Ianto) attended the shrine himself, and over the years other actors such as John Barrowman also made the pilgrimage.
== Aftermath ==
Ianto was not resurrected in the new Torchwood series, and the project died in late 2010. However, producers of associated Torchwood material such as magazines and audiobooks capitalized on Ianto's death, and produced reams of Ianto-themed content. This co-opting of fannish grief did not sit right with some fans, and some commented that the BBC seemed to be openly disparaging Ianto fans whilst also attempting to benefit financially from their labour. Labours Of Love: Affect, Fan Labour, And The Monetization Of Fandom by Jennifer Spence, on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository, 2203, in 2014.
A later Torchwood audiobook resurrected Ianto and gave him a better death, which gave fans some much needed closure.
==References==
Category: Torchwood Category: 2010Category:2019 Featured Articles