Doctor Who fans got the shock of their lives when a beloved character returned to the show this past weekend.
When Doctor Who returned to tv in the mid-2000s, after being off the air for nearly two decades, the titular character made a friend and ally in Captain Jack Harkness. Harkness, played by John Barrowman, is a Time Agent who travels through time and space much like The Doctor. On top of that, one event in the show’s 2005 season led to Harkness gaining a long lifespan and invulnerability.
On top of having Barrowman’s wit and charm, Jack Harkness also gained the love of fans due to his sexuality. Captain Harkness was the first non-heterosexual character on Doctor Who, a tribute to having the show be helmed by Queer as Folk, Banana, and Cucumber creator Russell T. Davies. The pansexual character then got his own spin-off in Torchwood, which resulted in the character getting a romance. Unfortunately, that show was canceled in 2011. But thankfully, that’s no longer the last we’ve seen of Captain Harkness.
After the release of this week’s episode, “Beware the Lone Cyberman,” Doctor Who fans walked away bewildered, excited, and elated. There were even whisperings of the episode being the best in a long time. Part of that reason is for the sudden return of Barrowman as Jack Harkness (as well as the first Black iteration of The Doctor being introduced).
In terms of Barrowman, he shared with Radio Times that he initially had a hard time hiding the fact that he was returning to the show.
“I felt bad but I had to think of something to throw people off the path of what I was doing in Cardiff,” he explained. “Because I was being seen all over the place. And people are like ‘Well what are you doing here?’ and I just said ‘Well I’m renovating one of the properties that we have.’”
That said, his personal torment ended up being unnecessary. No one even bothered to guess that he was filming for Doctor Who.
“I always want to build that excitement as much as I possibly can,” he added. “I’m going to try and throw people off the path. But nobody guessed! Nobody had a clue.”
But will Barrowman and Captain Jack Harkness have more to do on Doctor Who? We currently don’t know. What we do know is we’re excited to see what will happen next.
Source: Radio Times
