AYE AYE, CAPTAIN
Jack is back for the Doctor Who Christmas special, and DANIELLE DE WOLFE discovers he’s not the only familiar face returning
NOT only do we have the return of the Daleks but John Barrowman’s Captain Jack is back for the Doctor Who Christmas special. And as well as welcoming familiar faces, we will also be saying goodbye to some, as Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole make their final appearances as the Doctor’s companions.
Bradley says viewers should
“expect a lot of poignancy” from the episode.
John Barrowman’s return took some planning, says Doctor Who head writer and executive producer, Chris Chibnall, 50.
“We knew he’d be coming back for this special... that was cooked up over lots of phone calls and secret meetings, and not-so-secret meetings at John Barrowman concerts and things like that,” reveals Chris.
“He smuggled me backstage and we had a secret conversation. Early 2019. So yeah, I put in a call to John, I really wanted Captain Jack to meet the 13th Doctor and it had been a long time since he’d been on screen in Doctor Who, so well overdue.”
John is delighted to be part of the festive special, and says Jack is the same cheeky character.
“Yes. Captain Jack is a little older. He’s still fun. He still very much has a joie de vivre, a lust for life and a passion for saving people and humanity, as does the Doctor,” he says.
“You can expect cheeky lines. You can expect a couple of… shall we say a few sparks between he and somebody. He plays along to wind that person up. Jack always seems to find somebody who has a heart and Jack then has a lovely chat with… I’ll just say someone he finds in team TARDIS who has a very big and open heart.”
Revolution Of The Daleks will see viewers pick up where the 12th series left off, as the Doctor finds herself in outer-space prison after being captured by the Judoon police.
“Some time has passed, she has been in prison for a very long time and she’s struggling there,” says Chris of the forthcoming episode. Back on Earth, Yaz and Graham and Ryan are struggling to figure out their lives without the Doctor.
“It’s been 10 months for them since they’ve seen the Doctor, and at the beginning of this, they discover the presence of a Dalek.”
Tosin, who plays Ryan Sinclair, was thrilled to get a chance to be in an episode with the Doctor’s most famous enemies.
“Working with the Daleks is sort of like working with Doctor Who royalty,” he says. “You have to respect them because they are so iconic.”
Jodie Whittaker, 38, who plays the 13th Doctor, is quick to explain that “the journeys that we all go on aren’t necessarily Doctor-led”.
“That’s what makes it really exciting as well, because it’s definitely a team effort throughout.”
But as Yaz, played by Mandip Gill, struggles back on Earth, it becomes clear she is putting in far more effort than her male companions when it comes to tracking the Doctor down.
“Yaz has a really complex and, I suppose, different connection to the Doctor than the two boys, for loads of personal reasons,” says Mandip, 32.
“She loves being in Sheffield, but there’s just something about space and the Doctor that’s just not being fulfilled yet. So there’s more of a sense of urgency with Yaz trying to find the Doctor.”
In this festive special we also say goodbye to Graham O’Brien, played by Bradley, and Ryan.
“It is very, very dramatic. It is very sad. It is quite sad, and poignant is the word. You can expect a lot of poignancy from the episode,” says Bradley, 60.
“There are some very moving movements in the show, and working with Jodie, Mandip and Tosin is a dream come true. They are all so, so talented and all the crew too. For me it was very emotional.”
It’s a view backed up by Jodie, who feels just as emotional as her co-stars about the twist in the storyline.
“Just purely when knowing it was (the) last scenes for myself with those actors, both of them had to carry me to my trailer; I’ve not cried like that for such a long time,” she says.
“Brad couldn’t cope with it all, could he? Tosin was like: ‘I really can’t cope with you getting so upset.’
“So I think that sums up how I feel.”
Doctor Who: Revolution Of The Daleks is on BBC1, New Year’s Day at 6.45pm.