We’ve heard Russell T Davies saying that he will not be part of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary next year. Which is sad, as we would have loved him to be part of it. Maybe bringing back some of the companions and characters he created. With him refusing this, and the BBC refusing the novel he planned, Mr Davies is out of the picture.
So where does this leave us with one of Davies’ most iconic “NewWho” characters: Captain Jack. Played by John Barrowman, Jack was extremely popular with children as well as adults. Even more when moving on to Torchwood, a Who spin off.
Fans keep asking for his return, but so far he has not been seen.
A source tells us that there are whispers at the Who Camp that it is the BBC who are trying to keep our Captain from our screens: “After Torchwood Miracle day, the BBC was worried about the image of Jack. He had become too adult -read too much gay sex in the series- and didn’t fit in the new family friendly Who canon. In a way the BBC have been trying to sever the link between the Davies Who/Torchwood series and the new Moffat ones for some time. You’d be surprised how many people complain about even the slightest of “gay” references on the show [Doctor Who] these days. It’s amazing they have allowed for the lesbian couple [to feature.]”
After some of the more stranger remarks from T Davies in recent interviews: him having to pitch his new show “Wizzards vs Aliens” to the BBC again as if he were a beginner and the BBC refusing his Who novel (as we reported yesterday) it looks like there is atleast some truth in the source’s quote. And it explains what Barrowman said earlier this year:
“I think it would be a shame if Captain Jack wasn’t involved in the 50th anniversary, because he was such a big figure and a big presence within the show itself and also within Torchwood,”
He revealed he had discussed the matter with Matt Smith and Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat and that they both thought it was ‘a great idea’.
Then he added that he wasn’t convinced that Moffat and Smith wanting him back would be enough to persuade the BBC to have him back and suggested viewers should crank up the pressure on the broadcaster.
‘It’s not up to me, it’s up to the executives, and it’s also kind of up to the fans, because if they want it, all they have to do is get on those keyboards and start writing. You have been known to change things,’ Barrowman added.
We have also been told that Captain Jack was supposed to have been involved in last seasons “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”, written by Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall, but that this was changed to the Edwardian explorer John Riddell in the later stages of the writing for the series.
A few weeks ago there was the rumour of Jack being changed to a younger incarnation of himself. As far as we know this idea has been shelved.
And what about Torchwood itself? Russell T Davies told Graham Northon yesterday: “I loved making it over there (in the USA), and I would have carried on if circumstances hadn’t brought me back to this country, so it’s kind of in limbo for me at the moment. I’m not working on it at the moment, I’m only working on Wizards vs Aliens – when I get back to work one day, I don’t know, it’ll be old news to the BBC! It’s not officially (cancelled), it’s in a nice limbo where it can stew – those shows can come back in ten, twenty years time.”
A bit of a confusing answer, isn’t it? And twenty years? That would make John Barrowman somewhere round 64 if Torchwood ever returned, wouldn’t it? So it looks like that at this moment we, in all fairness, know … Jack.
We hope that John Barrowman atleast gets to sing “The Doctor and I” on the anniversary, as there is no song more fitting.
