It’s only been two days since the Doctor Who immersive experience Time Fracture announced actor John Barrowman’s role as Jack Harkness would be removed from the exhibition. Now, another upcoming Barrowman project has disappeared. The audio adventure publisher Big Finish has cancelled the upcoming series Torchwood: Absent Friends, which would have reunited Harkness and the Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant.
Big Finish’s announcement was succinct, and did not give any reason for the cancelation: “Big Finish has taken the decision to remove Torchwood: Absent Friends from the Monthly Range release schedule and has no plans to publish this title at this time.” However, this obviously stems from the resurfaced 2014 convention video of Noel Clarke — currently in the news for some awful allegations of sexual harassment — where it was discussed how Barrowman would take his penis out during the production of Doctor Who.
Barrowman made an official response, saying these events were “only ever intended in good humour to entertain colleagues on set and backstage” and “with the benefit of hindsight, I understand that upset may have been caused by my exuberant behaviour and I have apologised for this previously. Since my apology in November 2008, my understanding and behaviour have also changed.”
The 2008 apology he refers to came after he dropped his pants during a live BBC Radio 1 broadcast where he and the hosts were discussing Barrowman’s predilections for exposing himself. Clarke had left Doctor Who before that point, but they did both made appearances in the 2008 episode and season four finale, “Journey’s End.”
While many cast and crewmembers have long discussed Barrowman’s behaviour, it is worth noting as far as we know, there have been no new allegations against the actor since his original public apology and an admonishment from then Doctor Who executive producer Julie Gardner.