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John Barrowman interview 2007 - Radio Times, June 2007 |
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The actor who brings the charming Captain Jack Harkness to life chatted to Nick Griffiths about his long-awaited return to Doctor Who.
NG: You're back for the last three
episodes [of Doctor Who]. Is it the same
Captain Jack?
JB: Exactly the same Captain Jack
you knew before he left [Doctor
Who]; it's not the Captain Jack
from Torchwood. He's not angsty,
he's not moody; he's determined,
but in a different way.
Captain Jack
from Doctor Who is a little more
light-hearted, because he's back
where he wants to be. Although he
loves the Torchwood team, one of
his main objectives over the past
couple of years has been to find the
Doctor, to figure out why Jack is the
way he is. Now he's there, he can let
the Doctor take the responsibility
for everything and he can sit in the
background a bit.
Does Jack prefer less
responsibility?
It's not that he prefers it; it's just…
nice. Before Jack met the Doctor, he
had responsibility for himself, but on
meeting the Doctor that changed to
responsibility for humanity. Now
he's with the Doctor, he realises
it's the Doctor's gig, let him take
responsibility. Jack will help. He'll do
the things the Doctor won't do.
Such as?
Fight. Jack will kill. And the Doctor,
in a way, knows that, so he lets Jack
do it. I'd say Jack's the companion-hero.
I like that term!
How does Jack take to Martha?
He checks her out at first, to see how
she's going, and they seem to gel
really well right from the start.
The previous Doctor
(Christopher Eccleston)
abandoned Jack at the end of the
first series. Is that issue tackled?
It is. I can't explain how, because
that would ruin the show. But yes,
throughout the next three episodes it
will be explained to you where Jack
went after Satellite Five, what he did,
why he got involved with Torchwood
and how long he's been back on
Earth.
Presumably, the imminent
season finale is going to be
world-saving stuff…
As always, the season finale will be
something of a spectacular size and
catastrophic events will happen to
humanity… I so can't say!
You must get used to saving
the world.
I love it. I absolutely love it. What
better job could you have than to get
up in the morning to come to work,
to fly spaceships or to travel through
time to fight aliens and stuff like that?
It's amazing.
I'm the Star Wars
generation. I'm the original Battlestar
Galactica and Doctor Who. All that
stuff. So I'm a huge fan of this genre
and I absolutely love saving the world.
How many people can put that on
their résumé? I've saved the world
about 15 times! Yeah, whatever,
push that button, save the world.
Do you get recognised more for
Torchwood or Doctor Who?
People say they love Torchwood and
people ask, "When are you back on
Doctor Who?" But most recognise me
as Captain Jack. So it's not so much
the show as the person.
And will we see Jack back in
Doctor Who after this season?
I don't know. The beauty of Captain
Jack, and one of the reasons why
I think, as an actor, I've landed on
my feet, is that he's popular with
one audience in Torchwood and
with another in Doctor Who. So
there is always room and space for
Captain Jack to come back.
**
Read our 2005 interview with John Barrowman - or take a look at our full Doctor Who guide.
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