10. Vortex Manipulators

Cheap and nasty time travel, the vortex manipulator has been used by various rogues over the course of the Whoniverse. But here’s a fun fact that most people don’t realise; for the first two years of its existence Jack’s time machine never had a name. The term vortex manipulator was first mentioned in Family of Blood, and Jack never called his device by its proper name until Utopia. Furthermore, the term is never used by any character during the first three series of Torchwood, Captain John Hart simply refers to it as a “wrist strap”.

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Note that a lot of these vortex manipulator props have been reüsed over the various shows whenever one was required. For the purposes of the Years Used subheading I will only be counting occasions when a vortex manipulator that is canonically Jack’s appears, rather than Jack’s prop being used as one owned by another character.


Section Index:
    10.1. Mark Cordory original (2005-2010)

    10.2. "Evil" Ted Smith Miracle Day (2011)

    10.3. Nick Robatto replica (2013*, 2020-2021)

10.1. Mark Cordory original:
Years Used: 2005-2010
This original prop was created by Mark Cordory and was used in all of Captain Jack’s appearances from The Empty Child to The End of Time.

The prop as seen in its pristine condition in 2005.

Only one prop was made, which explains why after Rhys spent £50 to have the leather part replaced in Children of Earth: Day Five it still looked worn. During its use in the Eccleston era the prop had silver buttons, but by the time the first series of Torchwood was being filmed the paint had worn off onto the underside of the leather cover, exposing the black primer underneath. The leather of the prop also seemed to darken with age, probably as a result of absorbing oils from being handled and fed.

By the first series of Torchwood, the prop was starting to look more broken in. The wear is visible in this photo.

Jack receiving the canonically newly re-strapped vortex manipulator in Children of Earth: Day Five. Notice the unusual trapezoid shaped brass buckle that is unique to the Mark Cordory prop, the polished finish of this buckle can make it look silver coloured in some lighting conditions.

The prop went on to be used as River Song’s vortex manipulator in Matt Smith’s era, though canonically this one is implied to belong to an unspecified (but handsome) Time Agent rather than Jack. Unfortunately, it went missing following its 2012 appearance in The Angels Take Manhattan.

The Mark Cordory prop as seen in the fifth series of Doctor Who.

Despite being a 51st century piece of technology, Jack’s portable time machine used a directional pad from a 2001 Samsung A300 flip phone.

Over the years, various replicas have been made of this prop. The most accurate one can be purchased from Little Shop Props.


10.2. "Evil" Ted Smith Miracle Day:
Years Used: 2011
Given the original prop’s was retained by the BBC (Miracle Day was an Anglo-American coproduction with Starz) a new prop was required. Three new vortex manipulators were created by Ted Smith (nicknamed Evil Ted), of which one was made with a red LED and the other two with a blue LED.

Note the smaller size and upside down orientation.

The design of this version was actually based on the model worn by Captain John Hart. As that character made no appearances after the second series of Torchwood, his prop was cannibalised and replicated to produce Jack’s Miracle Day props.

Shots of the prop posted to the RPF by Evil Ted.

Compared to the original 2005 prop, this one is slightly smaller in size (Jack canonically mentioned this about Hart’s one in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) and was made with black buttons on the faceplate and a silver grate. The brown leather part that was created for Miracle Day was different too, instead of the cover being secured by four press studs it was held in place by two press studs in one side and magnets on the other. Presumably this was to allow it to open and close more easily, however the magnets were installed on the wrong side, resulting in the prop having to be worn upside down in order to open easily. Unlike the original prop’s brass buckle, this version uses a more generically shaped silver coloured one. Furthermore, the underside of the cover is black as opposed to the natural cream colour of the original.

Shots of the blue LED version from when it was sold by Propstore a few years back.

If you want a canonical explanation for these differences, the strap could be explained away as being the new one that Rhys had made. As to why the whole thing is smaller… I’ve got nothing. Don’t get me started about the 1920’s scenes from Immortal Sins.

Shots of the red LED version from when it was sold by Propstore a few years back.

Once again, for those looking for a replica Little Shop Props created a wonderful replica. It seems that they have discontinued selling this version, but perhaps they could be persuaded to make another batch if there was interest.


10.3. Nick Robatto replica:
Years Used: 2013*, 2020-2021
Many years before Captain Jack’s return, Nick Robatto of RubberToe Props (which became RubberToe Replicas in 2013) created a vortex manipulator for The Day of the Doctor. Although Barrowman does not appear in this episode, it is stated to have been bequeathed to the Black Archive by Captain Jack, establishing it as canonically the same item. This prop went on to be used by Missy in the following season, though is not intended to be Jack’s narratively for that appearance.

Jack's vortex manipulator as seen in the 50th anniversary special. This prop looks especially large here given how petite Jenna Coleman is.

Robatto made a second prototype (that was later used by Krasno in 2018’s Rosa, then Captain Jack in 2021’s Revolution of the Daleks) prior to the main production run. Barrowman was gifted vortex manipulator #1 from this limited batch of 200. It’s not clear whether John ever used his personal one in-character for his other Whittaker era appearances, but either way they’re all RubberToe.

Shots from Revolution of the Daleks. I'm not sure why the prop is upside down in the image on the right. In a behind the scenes shot from his appearance the previous year, the prop also appears to be upside down.

This vortex manipulator is intended to be a replica of the original from 2005. There are various differences however, the most obvious of which are the dimensions, as this one is noticeably larger than the previous two. Furthermore, the leather is a darker shade of pre-distressed brown, which isn't like the original prop when it was first made but works if replicating an older version of it. In terms of hardware, the buckle has reverted to brass again, albeit a more generic shape and on the production model it was a centre bar roller buckle design. On this RubberToe version the press studs’ female part has a significantly wider diameter. On the faceplate, the gold grate has noticeably larger scale perforations. In addition, as the silver buttons themselves aren’t functional, the blue LED is activated by pressing a tiny black button that has been drilled into the fixed fake button.

One of the vortex manipulators from RubberToe's original production batch. The black activation button can be seen on the top right of the panel.

It is worth noting that RubberToe did a version two of these sometime around 2020, with 300 produced. Compared to the V1 production run, these were much more accurately sized to the original prop, and had a functional while silver button rather than a tiny black one drilled into the mould. The rest of the design remained much the same as the V1 prop however, so although this one is more accurate to the original, it is less accurate to the one used on-screen from 2013 onwards.

Left to right: Character Options toy, RubberToe V2, RubberToe V1.