Entertainment
John Bishop in trouble with Doctor Who bosses for breaking the ‘cardinal sin’ and revealing details about his new role
Comedian John Bishop broke the cardinal sin when he divulged details about his new role on Doctor Who.
John’s character was previously unveiled in a special teaser at the end of New Year’s special Revolution of the Daleks.
Appearing on The Graham Norton Show this week, the comedian revealed that he had taken part in an online workshop for drama students and let slip that his upcoming character was also from Liverpool.
The full details aren’t meant to be revealed until the 13th season of the much-loved sci-fi programme airs, which is why show producers gave him a call.
‘So I’m the new companion to the Doctor. I’m allowed to say that, but that’s about it,’ he told Graham.
‘I did a thing for some drama students in Liverpool, a big Zoom thing, and it was a Q&A just talking about acting, how you get into it, how you get into stand-up comedy.
‘One of the questions was, “Can you tell us anything about your character in Doctor Who? Where does he come from?”,’ he said.
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John explained there was no hiding the fact that his character was from Liverpool and spoke with a Liverpudlian accent.
‘I went, “Well where do you think he comes from? Have a guess!” I’m not Tom Cruise, I can act as long as the character happens to look and sound a lot like me,’ he said.
‘So, I just mentioned that the character was from Liverpool which then, somewhere on a Doctor Who website, someone picked it up – “There’s a new character and he’s from Liverpool, the story’s based in Liverpool”.’
Cue a hurried phone call from the BBC.
‘Then the BBC phoned me up and said, “You’ve broken the cardinal sin, you’ve told them something about Doctor Who”. And I went, “I haven’t told them anything! Anybody who looks at me knows he’s from Liverpool, let’s be honest!”‘
According to a BBC statement, his character Dan will become ‘embroiled in the Doctor’s adventures’ and ‘quickly learn there’s more to the Universe(s) than he could ever believe’.
Previously John turned down the Doctor Who part before he had time during lockdown to reconsider.
Showrunner Chris Chibnall pitched the character to him back in February 2020 but because of John’s touring commitments, the dates didn’t work.
‘He’d seen me in a few things, and he wanted to know if I’d be interested in Doctor Who. I was flattered but the problem was I was on tour when they were meant to be filming. So although I fancied it, I had to say no,’ reported Cultbox.
‘And then the whole COVID thing happened! Lockdown arrived so I made a phone call and fortunately they had moved their filming dates. It now fits in perfectly – I’m doing Doctor Who up until July and then I go on the road again in September.’
Doctor Who returns to BBC One in late 2021.
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