John Barrowman Sounds Incredibly Sad About Not Being Asked To Join Doctor Who’s 50th (So Are We)

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We already pretty much knew John Barrowman was not going to reprise his role of Captain Jack Harkness for Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary but we have to admit, we were still holding out hope. And we aren’t the only ones. 

When we last left this saga, Barrowman had said he would definitely not be in the 50th anniversary episode but we thought perhaps he’d pop up in another special. But from what he said to TV Line, it seems his phone hasn’t rung at all.

“Everyone on Twitter tries to make it like it’s my decision, but the bottom line is I was not asked,” Barrowman told them. “[The Powers That Be] don’t want to put Jack in it. And I know fans are really upset about it, as was I.”

The actor also made sure to point out it wasn’t for lack of trying. “People have tried to say it’s my schedule; it’s absolutely not,” he said. ”I was told by the producers of Arrow that if I was asked to do the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who they’d let me go and do it. It was nothing to do with my schedule. It’s just a matter of fact that I wasn’t asked.”

Similar to some other casting omissions for the special episode, this one really bums me out. “I understand why they did it. They want to move forward, they want to try some different things,” said Barrowman. “I know from how [former EP exec producer Russell T. Davies] approached things, they’re not doing [the special] just for the uber fan; they’re doing it for the wider audience. And if they’re going to bring a character back it wouldn’t be just for the uber fan, it would be foreverybody. So perhaps that’s the thinking they had. I don’t know.”

Barrowman may understand but I’m betting a lot of Whovians won’t. Can we still hope for some type of reference? Maybe the Face of Bo will show up? Probably not.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for your Barrowman fix, you can catch him in his wonderfully evil role on The CW’s Arrow, or follow him on his newly founded Instagram where you’ll find such gems as this:

(TV Line via Blastr)

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Jill Pantozzi
Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."