Doctor Who Actor’s Show Cancelled After Sexual Misconduct Allegations
A Doctor Who actor has seen his show cancelled after allegations have risen.
This article is more than 2 years old
The sexual misconduct and bullying allegations against former Doctor Who star, Noel Clarke, have been only increasing in number ever since the explosive expose by The Guardian. And now, that the total number of his alleged victims stands at 25, the broadcaster Sky has taken the decision of axing the fourth season of the actor’s popular series, Bulletproof.
Initially, Bulletproof was renewed for a fourth season, which was going to have eight episodes, just days after its third season premiered in January this year and filming was due to begin sometime later this year. But that was before The Guardian’s in-depth investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against the series creator and star, Noel Clarke, who is best known for his recurring role of Michael Smith on BBC’s famous show, Doctor Who.
Following the first article against Doctor Who star, which included accusations from 20 women who had worked with Clarke, Sky had suspended any further work on the fourth season and the CW had pulled Bulletproof from all its streaming services. Meanwhile, Sky had been trying to find ways to continue the series without its lead character, Aaron Bishop, played by Clarke, and even considered recasting the character. The police procedural series had debuted on Sky One back in 2018 before being picked up by the CW in 2019. Clarke played the character of Bishop, a National Crime Agency detective along with Ashley Walters’ Ronnie Pike Jr.
But as per a recent news report by Deadline, Sky is no longer considering the possibility. According to a spokesman, the broadcaster “will not be proceeding with any further series of Bulletproof.” Variety has also reported that Sky made the decision to cancel the fourth season based on the findings in an internal investigation.
After the April 29 article in The Guardian, where 20 women who have worked with Noel Clarke accused him of verbal abuse, bullying and sexual harassment, the publication presented another major expose on 7th May 2021. Five more women accused the actor of sexual harassment on the sets of Doctor Who as well as during a promotional event of the show. An anonymous actor shared that Clarke “made advances on me” and regularly asked her if she “wanted a piece of his dark chocolate”. When she turned down his vulgar offers and denied his advances, he allegedly spoke ill of her to people in the industry.
The report also includes allegations by Joanne Hayes, a costume assistant on Doctor Who, who alleged that Clarke sexually harassed her in his trailer after she assisted him with his costume. She didn’t make any attempt to report the incident as “at that time, the culture was very different”. Clarke continues to deny all the allegations against him.
Noel Clarke is not the first Doctor Who star who has accused of repeated sexual misconduct on the set of the show. John Barrowman, another actor from the show, recently faced resurfaced accusations of repeatedly exposing himself to co-workers on two BBC productions, which raises some serious concerns about BBC’s culture on its sets during the mid-2000s and whether it knowingly allowed such gross behavior to continue.
