Profiles Steven Carter by Alice Diggle

 

Torchwood Archive Character Profile: Steven Carter

 

Name: Steven Carter, born on 4 October 1999, was the son of Joe and Alice Carter. He was also the grandson of Torchwood’s Jack Harkness and Italian Torchwood operative Lucia Moretti.

Species: Human

Status: Deceased aged 10 years old

Significance: See file 456

Bio: The 456 incident

Steven Carter was among the children who were manipulated by the aliens known as the 456 in 2009.

The 456 used their unique abilities to communicate through the children to announce their arrival on Earth. Torchwood operative Jack Harkness is Steven Carter’s grandfather as Steven’s mother Alice Carter is Jack’s daughter. 

Jack has had dealings with the 456 in the past but the current government dealing with them during 2009 did not want his help nor his knowledge of them made public and so Steven and Alice were taken as hostages by Agent Johnson and her team who were working for the current prime minister in order to blackmail Jack Harkness to keep him quiet. This included several attempts on his life. 

Once the intentions of the 456 became known and knowing that they were capable of carrying out their threat of the human race’s destruction, having already killed the occupants of Thames House where a representative for the 456 was being contained, with a deadly poisonous gas, Jack was left no choice but to use Steven as a conduit to reverse the 456 signal that was controlling the children and ricochet it back to kill the visiting representative on Earth, as a warning to the species that he had figured out a way to destroy them.

Steven’s small body could not take the intensified signal and he died within minutes of it being transmitted, leaving his mother completely distraught as she had no idea that Jack would sacrifice his grandson in that way. 

IMPORTANT! Whilst Jack Harkness’s actions were completely abhorrent and led to Steven’s death, we cannot deny that it was a totally selfless action and one that was required to save all of the earth’s children considering the 456’s intentions for them which would have been more horrific than the way Steven died. Steven Carter died saving the world and although he will never forget and never forgive himself, we as parents will be forever in Jack’s debt. 

Other Information:  It is important to note that The Doctor was nowhere to be seen during the 456 invasion and it was left up to Jack Harkness and the Torchwood team to step up to the mark and save the world. 

R.I.P Steven – Brave to the last.