L is for... Lynch, Mark

Mark Lynch was a young Cardiff estate agent who ran a secret fight club, frequented by wealthy thrill-seeking individuals. Rather than fight each other, however, Lynch was abducting the savage alien Weevil creatures off the streets and arranging fights between them and the club members. The Torchwood team had begun to notice a number of young men turning up in hospital with tell-tale Weevil wounds. There were even some fatalities. They learned of the club and Dr Owen Harper was sent in undercover to join it, posing as a bored businessman. 

Having recently fallen in love with a temporally displaced pilot named Diane, and then lost her when she elected to return to the 1950's, Owen was depressed and almost suicidal at the time. He became caught up in the club's activities - almost welcoming death. When Torchwood broke up the organisation, Lynch chose to kill himself by locking himself in a cage with a Weevil, rather than return to his old life.

Played by: Alex Hassell. Appearances: TW 1:11 Combat (2006).

• Hassell has recently featured in His Dark Materials, but most of his work has been on the stage - including playing Prince Hal in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Henry IV Parts I & II, opposite Sir Anthony Sher's Falstaff, and the title role in Henry V.