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Torchwood star John Barrowman on why he can't say no to TV job offers
Apr 12 2008 By Paul English
Doctor Who has faced the wrath of the Daleks, fought off the Cybermen and slammed the Slithene but the Timelord has another force to contend with - John Barrowman's sharp tongue.
The Scottish actor, who plays Captain Jack in the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood, has slammed the ninth incarnation of the Doctor - Christopher Eccleston - as miserable.
John, whose career took off after he appeared alongside Eccleston in the returning series of Doctor Who, claims his former co-star had a big chip on his shoulder during his critically acclaimed turn as the Doctor.
Glasgow-born John says: "Chris was always grumpy. You don't always have to be intense. There comes a point when intensity makes you miserable - I think that was the case with Chris.
"I much prefer working with David - he likes to have a bit more fun, he's more charismatic as a person.
"Chris might have been a great Doc but he was darker and had a chip on his shoulder, he was not as much fun on set as David.
"I will give him the credit that he was the first Doctor to bring back the series and made a damn good job of it.
"But I just wouldn't go to the pub with him. On the other hand, David's been to my house, we went to the Madonna concert with our partners - we socialise together.
"He's a lot more fun."
The 41-year-old all-round entertainer is sharing his thoughts on Gallifrey's most famous son and the rebirth of the franchise while nibbling on a flapjack at BBC Scotland.
The fact that he's here is testament to the fact that Russell T Davies' decision to cast him as the bisexual Captain Jack delivered his career an inter-galactic boost.
His return to Scotland to host new show The Kids Are All Right gives him cause to dust down the Glaswegian accent he only uses when back in his hometown. But his American tones are to the fore when he's appearing - as he does a lot - on TV.
The National Lottery. Eurovision: Your Decision. The X Factor. Any Dream Will Do. I'd Do Anything. Doctor Who. Torchwood.
Just a selection of the shows to have featured him over the last 12 months.
Is he over-exposed?
Maybe. But he cares not a jot.
John says: "I don't think like that. But if you're asking me if I am on too much, then no, I don't think so.
"That's negative. I think in a positive realm. There are periods when I'm not on TV. I will take breaks. Last year there were four months when I wasn't on TV.
"My business is entertainment and that either means being on stage, TV or on the radio. I have to run myself like a business.
"I could be the flavour of the month, I'm realistic about that, but that's why I've delved into so many different things.
"It was a business decision on my part, it wasn't just a fluke. When I was in theatre in London's west end for so many years I got involved in kids TV because I knew it would help with box office and would make me a prospect for theatre producers. Five years ago I'd no clue that I'd be on Doctor Who, let alone that the character would be so popular that he'd end up with a series of his own. "But back then I wasn't thinking about where I'd be in five years.
"I was a staple in the west end with dreams and hopes.
"And then they happened," he says. Moving to America with his family and being forced to change his accent to fit in has arguably made him the character he is.
Who's to say whether the world of showbiz would have taken to him as readily had he been talking in native tongue when he came to London as a drama student before breaking into kids TV on Live & Kicking in the early 90s. He makes no attempt to hide his trans-Atlantic slide.
When presented with a Scottish journalist wielding a dictaphone, his chat is delivered in a clear, pleasant west of Scotland tongue.
But when forced to speak to one of his business associates - an agent, a manager, a PR girl - out comes the Yankee drawl that BBC producers obviously think adds a certain other-worldly glamour to their entertainment shows.
Although anyone who heard him talking to the girl from Falkirk on I Can Do Anything might think otherwise...
John simply calls it 'bi-dialectualism'. He says: "It just seems natural for me to talk this way when I'm here, yet when I talk to my partner Scott it's with an American accent.
"Sometimes I need to have some pronunciations of the answers on The Kids are All Right spelled phonetically to make sure I'm saying it right, otherwise I'd look an idiot, wouldn't I?"
What about his internal voice? Does that have a Scots accent or an American one?
"I don't know if I can answer that," he says.
"I've never thought about it. I suppose the next time I dream I should think about what accent I dream in.
"When I speak American I'm not denying being a Scot, I'm so proud of my Scottish background.
"A lot of people when they go to the States to live and work find that they're stronger about their heritage.
"I wore a kilt to my high school prom at a time when they basically thought I was turning up in a skirt - they're just idiots in the American mid-west some of them." The sensibilities of the pro-Bush mid-west might also be offended by John's take on another controversial issue - that of same-sex parenting.
His autobiography, released several weeks ago, is still a big-seller. In it, the singer, actor and TV pundit reveals how former Corrie star Suranne Jones offered to become a surrogate mother to him and his partner Scott Gill.
He says: "One of the things I'd like to do in the future is have kids. Scott and I have dogs at the moment, and I'm not actively pursuing it, but it is something I'd like to do some day."
He denies that working with children in his quiz show - where youngsters' general knowledge is tested against that of adults - has made him clucky, but is adamant that vulnerable kids need love regardless of the sexual preference of their guardian.
"There are a lot of kids who need to be adopted, whether you're adopted by a straight, gay or bisexual couple or whatever. All the kid wants is love and nurturing and to be given a chance. Scott and I have an awful lot to offer."
Could he do it in Scotland?
"Why not?," says the actor. "There will always be narrow mindedness from some people. "That will always be there. But living with two gay men doesn't make you gay.
"That's what I believe. I didn't wake up when I was nine years old and decide I wanted to be gay. I was born that way. Those narrow minded people have a right to their opinions. But they must respect the fact two men or women in that situation are trying to give a child a good chance at life. My nephew is a prime example of that.
"He has spent a lot of time with me and my partner.
"He's 17 and I dressed him in drag at Christmas for a panto and the last party he went to was with Scott and 32 gay guys.
"But, make no mistake, my nephew is as heterosexual as they come."
For now, those plans can wait.
There's talk of a follow-up album to the one he released last year, and his star shows no sign of waning, despite talk about this series of Doctor Who being the penultimate so far as David Tennant is concerned.
"I think that so long as the people watch and enjoy it then Doctor Who should continue - but that's up to the producers of course.
"Torchwood is the biggest hit on BBC America, much bigger than Doctor Who. So I'm sure there will be more of that," says John, the American Scot known fromGlasgow to Gallifrey.
"But I guess you have to bring in change to a show. Whatever they decide to do I'm all for it."
