Two Doctor Who Actors Accused Of Sexual Harassment On The Set
Another Doctor Who actor has been accused of sexual harassment while on the show's set. It's painting a disturbing picture of the production
This article is more than 2 years old
Doctor Who fans aren’t going to want to hear this latest news with details coming out recently about potential inappropriate behavior happening on the set of the show. Former show star Noel Clarke has been embroiled in allegations of repeated and frankly, rather disturbing, behavior and actions while on the set of the show and also on other productions as well. And now, The Guardian is reporting that another cast member, John Barrowman is facing allegations of his own. These stem from reports that the latter exposed himself to others while on set. This is a story that is most definitely picking up steam with more and more people speaking out about the behaviors of the two actors.
Both Noel Clarke and John Barrowman worked on Doctor Who starting in 2005 during the show’s revival on the BBC. This iteration had Christopher Eccleston starring as the Ninth Doctor. While Eccleston would exit the program after just one season, both Clarke and Barrowman would stay on through multiple iterations of the Doctor including both the David Tennant and Matt Smith versions of the character. Clarke played Mickey Smith, a character who became popular among fans and Barrowman played Captain Jack Harkness who also had a role in Torchwood as well.
The most recent allegations against Barrowman involve the actor apparently exposing himself multiple times on the Doctor Who set to those in the cast and production crew. It’s worth noting that in this most recent report, when asked for comment, Barrowman doesn’t necessarily deny the actions though drums it up to what defined as “tomfoolery” on the set. Apparently, others in the crew called the incidents “pranks” rather than overt attempts at sexually explicit behavior with others as the target. I’m not sure the distinction will help him in this case with more and more allegations piling up for those previously involved in the show.
These allegations follow on the heels of Noel Clarke being accused of numerous counts of sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviors. In a massive Guardian story from last week, the actor/ writer/ director was accused of a wide range of behaviors including taking inappropriate photos of female subordinates, making sexually explicit comments, engaging in inappropriate physical behavior, and other actions that have been deemed “predatory’. Clarke had used his time on Doctor Who to launch a career on the BBC and beyond with a trilogy of successful movies and a current show Bulletproof which airs on the network.
One of the incidents involving Noel Clarke was from his time on Doctor Who and allegedly involved a woman hired to be his driver while they were filming the show. She’s accusing Clarke of touching her inappropriately while they were alone together and also making sexually dude comments as well. She’s chosen to remain anonymous.
This is a story that continues to gain steam and obviously paints a disturbing picture of the work environment on Doctor Who in the early 2000s. With more and more people coming forward telling their stories of the behavior of these two actors, there’s a good chance this isn’t the end of it. Over the last week or so only more information has come out. And with an anonymous Doctor Who actor corroborating many of the stories as well as detailing some of their own, this isn’t going away. It’s an upsetting series of events for those who were made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe around the two actors.
