{"id":24384,"date":"2022-10-23T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1725987"},"modified":"2022-10-23T22:41:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T20:41:25","slug":"doctor-who-special-writes-out-john-bishop-as-dan-lewis","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-who-special-writes-out-john-bishop-as-dan-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who special writes out John Bishop as Dan Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 23 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Doctor Who bid farewell to all three of its lead actors in tonight\u2019s centenary special, with John Bishop exiting the series as Dan Lewis alongside Mandip Gill as Yaz Khan<\/a> and, of course, Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bishop was the first of the trio to take a final bow, appearing in a reduced role in The Power of the Doctor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The episode\u2019s epic pre-titles sequence saw Bishop\u2019s character Dan \u2013 who first stepped aboard the TARDIS in 2021\u2019s six-part serial Flux<\/a> \u2013 caught up in a clash with the nefarious CyberMasters, on top of a speeding bullet train on the edges of a distant galaxy.<\/p>\n

During the confrontation, Dan was struck by one of the monsters\u2019 laser blasts, shattering the visor of his protective spacesuit and leaving him in danger of suffocating \u2013 worse still, the blast knocked him off-balance and he comes within inches of falling away into oblivion, only saved by Yaz grabbing his ankle.<\/p>\n

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Dan (John Bishop) in the Doctor Who Centenary special<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC Studios\/James Pardon<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Though the Doctor subsequently returns Dan home expecting to collect him again in 24 hours, he\u2019s clearly been left shaken by his near-death experience and tells his friends that he wants to remain on Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was one hand away from flying off into space and suffocating \u2013 I don\u2019t want to push me luck any further,\u201d Dan explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, all this\u2026 all this is amazing, and I\u2019ve had the most incredible time. But it\u2019s not my life \u2013 and my life\u2019s far from perfect, but I need to get back to it. I need to attack it. And I can now, \u2019cause I\u2019ve been with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepping off of the TARDIS one last time, Dan realises that the first problem he\u2019ll need to \u201cattack\u201d on his return to civilian life will be finding a new home, with only an empty space where his house used to be. (In case you\u2019d forgotten, Dan\u2019s house was collapsed by Karvanista in his debut episode, The Halloween Apocalypse<\/a>.)<\/p>

This isn\u2019t quite the last we see of Dan, however \u2013 Bishop returns for another brief sequence near episode\u2019s end, as it\u2019s revealed he\u2019s somehow come into contact with another former TARDIS traveller, Graham O\u2019Brien<\/a> (Bradley Walsh), who has set up something of a support group for friends of the Doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019m not on the verge of being exterminated anymore,\u201d Dan tells the group, which includes a number of classic Doctor Who companions<\/a>. \u201cBut I do miss her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following transmission of The Power of the Doctor, Doctor Who is entering a bold new era for its 60th anniversary and beyond under returning showrunner Russell T Davies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more about Doctor Who:<\/strong><\/p>\n