...it's Doctor Who, context only makes it worse.
However, that was the plan of the werewolf: to start an "Empire of the Wolf" and change the course of human history from the throne of England. So, our what if is going to answer the question: what happened if it had succeeded? What if the Doctor and Rose, in their bantering, were unable to activate the telescope in Torchwood House's observatory? To answer this question, we'll be heading to the most obvious of starting points - the present day of 2007 from the perspective of one Captain Jack Harkness.
...yeah, I maybe felt a little bad about how much of a bad wrap I've given Jack in my "What if the Doctor never met Rose Tyler?" what if, so maybe this will help me even things out. This is the Jack we all know and love, with Tooth and Claw being the first break in the timeline. In the proper timeline, Jack's inability to die is explained by the Doctor as that he is now a fact. Therefore, when time changes, Jack doesn't. This is important to remember.
Jack Harkness wakes up in the Torchwood Hub feeling that something isn't quite right, but being unable to place it until he feels a display showing the United Kingdom flag...with a wolf's head emblazoned on the front. Feeling that something's very wrong here and, remembering his training as a Time Agent, he begins to look into the historical records Torchwood has. He looks back across Doctor Who history and sees several events that he knows happened, but that happened quite differently in this timeline: such as werewolves slaughtering the Slitheen family during an attempted coup of the world's governments, or gas-masked werewolves during World War II that were taken out by a bomb dropped by the Germans.
If we want to get really fanservice-y, something about a Cyberman invasion being stopped by the wolves or the Loch Ness monster being exposed and turned into an engine of war for the Empire.
Either way, things are not right and more than a little werewolf-y than Jack remembers them being. He attempts to trace things back and finds the earliest of the inconsistencies: the attack on Torchwood House and the founding of the organization by Queen Victoria. Unlike in the proper timeline, this didn't happen, at least not the causes that led to the same reason. The interlopers known as the Doctor and Rose were defeated by the Wolf and the Empire continued on as planned. Jack attempts to figure out what happened to either of them or the TARDIS, but finds his access restricted.
It seems, in this timeline, that he's not the head of Torchwood Three: Yvonne Hartman is. The Battle of Canary Wharf also never happened in this timeline. Yvonne has picked Jack out as committing some suspicious activity and orders him to be brought in. Captain Jack being Captain Jack sees him fight his way through swarms of agents who try to fulfill that order. It seems he'll be overwhelmed until Ianto and Gwen come to his aid. Even in this timeline, they still have some loyalty to Jack and help him escape, locking Yvonne in her office for good measure.
After they escape, hiding in a warehouse much like in The Sound of Drums (we'll be getting to it soon enough with Series 3), Jack explains that something has gone very wrong and that the timeline they're in is not the one he remembers. They are skeptical but, again, are loyal to Jack and want to help him out. Jack knows from his timeline that, if the Battle of Canary Wharf didn't happen, all of Torchwood's main files would be kept in London. They make their way there, managing to avoid both human and werewolf patrols.
Meanwhile, Yvonne has gotten out of her office and is conversing with the Emperor. The figure is never seen in full, giving an air of enigma. The voice of the Emperor tells her that she has made a grave error in letting Jack Harkness escape and, if she does not correct this, she will be severely punished. Yvonne puts on a stoic face as she accepts the order, but once the feed is cut off, she falls to her desk in a panicked heap.
Jack and company, meanwhile, get to Canary Wharf. With some luck and a few well-placed knocked out guards, they eventually get into the files and manage to locate the TARDIS, in the former UNIT's Black Archives in the Tower of London, supposedly under heavy guard. Jack quickly gets the location and prepares to head out to locate it. With any luck, even if the Doctor isn't around anymore, Jack can at least try to figure out what went wrong and maybe even find something to restore the timeline.
However, the twist comes in. Ianto rather abruptly shoots Gwen in the stomach and turns his gun on Jack, demanding that he surrender in the name of the Empire of the Wolf.
...and that's where we're going to leave off for now. Will Jack be able to escape and use the TARDIS set things right again? Is Gwen really dead? What happened to the Doctor and Rose? All this and more will be revealed in Part 2...whenever I get around to writing it! Until then, see ya!
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