Doctor Who: Was Torchwood the reason why Jack didn’t meet Twelve?
By James Aggas
On television at least, Captain Jack Harkness never got to meet Peter Capaldi’s Doctor in Doctor Who. But there might be a solid reason for that – and it’s tied to one of Torchwood’s biggest stories…
At the end of January, over a decade since his last appearance on the show, Captain Jack Harkness finally returned to Doctor Who during the episode Fugitive of the Judoon. It was quite the surprise, and despite his relatively small role, fans were more than happy to see him again.
Naturally, actor John Barrowman himself was happy to return. He’s also clearly disappointed that he didn’t get to meet the Eleventh or Twelfth Doctors, as he discusses in this interview with Entertainment Weekly:
"Well, as much as I would have loved to, I knew it wouldn’t probably have happened because it’s entirely up to the showrunner at that moment and that showrunner was…um…um…gosh, what was his name?"
Naturally, he’s referring to former showrunner Steven Moffat. It’s understandable why he’s disappointed, after missing out on meeting two whole Doctors. Still, it’s worth mentioning that, in the case of Matt Smith’s Doctor, Jack did come close to meeting him in A Good Man Goes to War, but Barrowman was busy filming Torchwood at the time.
Still, surely the Captain could have met the Twelfth Doctor, right? Well, looking back, there might be a good reason why Moffat decided not to bring these two together – one that ties into Torchwood itself…
Torchwood: Children of Earth
As we all know, the Twelfth Doctor wasn’t Peter Capaldi’s first role in the Doctor Who universe. In fact, it wasn’t even his second. His previous two appearances included the character of Caecilius in Tenth Doctor episode The Fires of Pompeii, and the tragic John Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth. One of these previous appearances was directly acknowledged during the Twelfth Doctor’s eras. One of these definitely wasn’t. And it’s not hard to see why.
John Frobisher was a rather crucial character in Children of Earth. A civil servant put in an extremely difficult position, he tries to cover up a horrific secret of the British government – going so far as to destroy Torchwood itself to keep it buried.
By the end of the story, Frobisher killed his entire family before killing himself. He did it not out of cruelty, but as a form of mercy, as he found out that his children had been selected for a fate far worse than death.
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The Frobisher problem
Now, you can probably see why it would’ve been problematic for Jack to meet Twelve. Jack had known Frobisher very well, and had even met him face to face. Frobisher had helped to destroy so much of Jack’s life and put into motion events that would lead to Jack killing his own grandson.
Now imagine Captain Jack’s reaction to meeting the Twelfth Doctor. Imagine him meeting a man who looked exactly like Frobisher. “Awkward” wouldn’t even begin to cover it.
Admittedly, it’s possible that Moffat could have ignored it. But then it would have come across as him deliberately ignoring a huge Torchwood story. Barrowman has thrown plenty of shade at Moffat in the past. Several times, he made the unlikely claim that Moffat was blocking Torchwood‘s return. We can only imagine how he would have reacted to Moffat choosing to bring Jack back only to blatantly ignore one of Torchwood‘s biggest storylines.
This is pure speculation, of course. But it does provide a solid reason why Moffat decided not to bring the Twelfth Doctor and Jack together on television, at least. Jack seeing his friend looking exactly like someone who murdered his wife and kids wouldn’t have provided the most family-friendly drama. Perhaps we’ll get to hear them meet up one day in a Big Finish audio, and we’ll get to discover Jack’s reaction then. But in this case, I think Steven Moffat made the right decision in choosing not to bring Jack back during Capaldi’s era.
Next. Torchwood crosses over into Eighth Doctor series Stranded. dark
What do you think? Do you think Torchwood: Children of Earth could have been a major reason why Moffat decided not to bring Jack back during the Twelfth Doctor’s era? Or do you think there were other factors as to why Jack didn’t come back sooner? Let us know in the comments below.