Doctor Who: 10 Behind The Scenes Bust-Ups BBC Doesn't Want You To Know
1. John Barrowman Vs. Steven Moffat
The insanely popular Captain Jack Harkness was first introduced in a Steven Moffat story - Series 1's The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. Because of this, it's quite hard to imagine why actor John Barrowman would ever have cause to butt heads with Moffat, and yet, that's exactly what he's been doing over the last several years.
Before Fugitive Of The Judoon aired in early 2020, the last time we'd seen Captain Jack was in the finale of Torchwood in 2011. Despite fans clamouring for him to return, he was nowhere to be seen throughout the 2010s, and according to Barrowman, Moffat is the one to blame for this.
In August 2016, the actor said "as long as Steven Moffat is involved, Jack will not be back", before telling the Radio Times that "certain egos" were blocking a Torchwood revival, which many assumed was another dig at Moffat.
Responding to Barrowman's comments, Moffat stated that he wasn't blocking Torchwood's return, and that he would be "very happy" to see more. It's also worth noting that Moffat wanted to include Jack in the Eleventh Doctor episode A Good Man Goes To War, but scheduling conflicts prevented Barrowman from appearing.
Obviously, something happened here to make Barrowman call out Moffat so bluntly, and it definitely feels like there's more to this story than we know.
But if there's one thing that's clear, it's that Barrowman really isn't a Moffat fan. Even as recently as this year, he continued to pile hate upon the former showrunner - just check out his response when asked why Jack didn't return opposite Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi:
"Well, as much as I would have loved to, I knew it wouldn’t have happened because it’s entirely up to the showrunner at that moment and that showrunner was…um…um…gosh, what was his name?"
Not very subtle, Barrowman. Not very subtle at all.
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Want more Doctor Who drama? We've got actors who were fired, actors who hated working on the show, and poor decisions made by the creators! Blimey, that's a lot.
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