Doctor Who: Jack Harkness Story Canceled After John Barrowman Allegations Resurface

Titan Comics has canceled an upcoming Doctor Who comic starring Captain Jack Harkness following [...]

By Jamie Lovett

Titan Comics has canceled an upcoming Doctor Who comic starring Captain Jack Harkness following renewed attention on allegations about John Barrowman's behavior on the Doctor Who and Torchwood sets. Those same allegations led Big Finish Productions to cancel its upcoming Torchwood: Absent Friends audio drama, which would have reunited Harkness with fan-favorite Doctor Who star David Tennant. The planned comic book release was known only as Doctor Who 2021 Event. Distributor Penguin Random House removed the comic from its website. Titan Comics told RadioTimes.com in a statement, "We have no plans to publish this comic collection at this time."

Doctor Who 2021 Event would have tied in "directly with episode two of the hotly-anticipated series 13." That may mean that there were plans in place for Barrowman to return to Doctor Who in the coming season after playing Captain Jack in the 2020 Doctor Who holiday special. The BBC has not announced the next appearance of Captain Jack, but Barrowman has been eager to return to the role again.

Titan Comics holds the exclusive license to publish Doctor Who comics. Here's the synopsis for the Doctor Who 2021 Event:

"In the midst of kicking alien butt – and looking good doing it – Captain Jack Harkness is suddenly transported through a time-window to 19th Century Cardiff… again!

"Realising there's more than one thing afoot, he sets out to uncover what the Victorian-era Torchwood Institute team are up to behind closed doors, hoping to solve the mystery of why time-windows are cropping up everywhere. But what he finds is very unexpected, and will certainly leave him needing a hand from some old friends…"

The allegations say that Barrowman routinely exposed himself on Doctor Who and Torchwood's set as a prank. The allegations first surfaced in 2008. With Barrowman's former Doctor Who co-star Noel Clarke is under investigation for sexual misconduct, a clip of Clarke describing Barrowman's behavior during a convention panel received renewed attention. No new allegations have come up since a BBC producer reprimanded Barrowman in 2008.

"I met with John and reprimanded him [to] make it clear to both John and his agent that behaviour of this kind would not be tolerated," Doctor Who/Torchwood executive producer Julie Gardner told The Guardian. "To my knowledge, John's inappropriate behaviour stopped thereafter."

How do you feel about Titan Comics canceling Doctor Who 2021 Event? Let us know in the comments. Doctor Who is currently filming its thirteenth season.

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