John Bishop says he joined Doctor Who “in the wrong year”

Doctor Who is going through some major changes over the course of the next year. Really feeling the brunt of that is John Bishop, who plays one of the two current companions to the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker). Since we are entering a new era of the series with Whittaker on her way out, it looks like Bishop is reflecting on the choice he made to join the series when he did.

The subject came up this past weekend on Bishop’s ITV series The John Bishop Show. As Bishops and his guests (Courtney Cox and Hugh Bonneville) were talking about their biggest roles. “When we’re talking about a global franchise, you got Friends, you got Downton Abbey. Doctor Who is, you know, for me, a big deal, and it’s brilliant that I got into it, but I got into it in the wrong year.”

"The year that I got into it was the Covid year, and we had big scenes with me like my whole character is basically running around with a wok knocking these aliens called Sontarans. I mean Doctor Who, I’ll do a year in Doctor Who, and then I spoke to people who have been in it and said, ‘What do you do?’ Because, obviously, it is miserable in January and February, you go off to South Africa or somewhere to create a new landscape of a new alien world. I got it during Covid years, Merthyr Tydfil, I spent two weeks in a cave in Merthyr Tydfil. That was my experience of shooting on location."

I mean, the guy isn’t wrong. Perhaps if he had held off a year and came on when former showrunner Russell T Davies returns for season 14, things would have been different. Then again, you answer the call when it comes.

John Bishop on joining Doctor Who “in the wrong year”

It’s not ideal to do a show like Doctor Who, which is famous for exploring an immersive and expansive universe, at a time when there are so many filming restrictions in place. I imagine it takes away from the joy of filming a show like this!

Nonetheless, Bishop has shared on his social media that he has loved being a part of this series and he wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world. Regardless of the circumstances he filmed in, this is Doctor Who, and even if your time on it is short-lived or compromised, it’s still an honor to be a part of such a magnificent franchise.

Let’s see how Bishop takes his final bow when the remaining two specials of the Whittaker/Chibnall era of Doctor Who air later this year!

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h/t Express