Jack Harkness - Critical Reception and Impact

Critical Reception and Impact

Following the character's initial introduction in the revived Series One of Doctor Who, the character became incredibly popular with fans, to the extent that Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner created a spin-off series, Torchwood, primarily centred around the character. The Times described the undeniable success of the character as having propelled actor John Barrowman to "National Treasure status". For his role as Captain Jack, John Barrowman was nominated for Best Actor at the 2007 BAFTA Cymru Awards, and again for Children of Earth at the 2010 TV Choice Awards, against Eleventh Doctor actor Matt Smith. Harkness was also listed number nine in TV Squad's "Ten Most mysterious characters on television", behind the Tenth Doctor, who was listed number three. John Barrowman, who is himself gay, has ranked in the Independent on Sunday pink list, a list of the most influential gay people in Britain, in 2007, 2008, and 2009 with the Independent commenting that "Proof of his popularity came with the continued runaway success of his bisexual Captain Jack Harkness on Russell T Davies's Torchwood". Part of Jack's mystique was his sex appeal, swashbuckling heroism and sexual appetite. In anticipation of the character's return to Doctor Who in Series Three after a successful run in the first series of Torchwood, mainstream media hailed his return.

Captain Jack has gone on to become a recognisable figure in the British public consciousness, and has attracted some parody. These parodies frequently echo criticisms both of the character and of Barrowman's portrayal. The character of Jack Harkness has been parodied several times on the satirical impressionist television show Dead Ringers. Played by Jon Culshaw, the show pokes fun at his bisexuality and apparent campness, as well his melodramatic personality in Torchwood. In one sketch, he walks bizarrely towards the camera, kissing a policeman as he passes him. In another sketch, he can be seen having a threesome with two Cybermen, a race of cyborgs from Doctor Who. Satirical technology columnist Verity Stob wrote a parody of Torchwood Season One in the style of Dylan Thomas's radio play Under Milk Wood, called Under Torch Wood. This parody described Captain Jack as "the insomniac bicon; snug as a hobbit, pretty as a choirboy, immortal as carbon dioxide, wooden as a horse." Barrowman's ubiquity, however, has even provoked criticism of the character. Jim Shelley of the Daily Mirror, in his review of Children of Earth, said "Unlike David Tennant's Doctor, Barrowman's endless appearances on friendly drivel like Tonight's the Night, The Kids Are All Right and Any Dream Will Do, is so over-exposed, 'Captain Jack' is about as intriguing or alien as a Weetabix and twice as irritating. Unlike Tennant, as an actor he is just not good enough." Television journalist Charlie Brooker, in his Screenwipe review of 2009 criticised Barrowman, with focus on his acting. "Harkness is of course a man of mystery. You can't tell what he's thinking just by looking at his face... no matter how hard Barrowman tries."

The character's recognisability extends outside the UK. In a Halloween episode of the 2008 series of American drama Knight Rider, character Billy Morgan (Paul Campbell) dresses up as Captain Jack, whom he refers to as "the time-travelling bisexual". Jack represents a new character archetype, which other writers have begun to draw from. For example, comic book writer Peter David reflects that in writing Marvel Comics character Shatterstar, he "to some degree... key his personality off Captain Jack Harkness" insofar as he is "swashbuckling, enthusiastic and sexually curious about anything with a pulse". In 2009, Barrowman's variety show Tonight's the Night broadcast a specially written humorous Doctor Who scene scripted by Russell T Davies. In the scene, Barrowman appears initially as Captain Jack confronting an alien on board the TARDIS who claims to be the Doctor. However, David Tennant appears as himself and John Barrowman is revealed as playing Captain Jack in the TARDIS set. Action figures have also been created in the actor's likeness, which Barrowman says was a "longtime dream".

In the media, Jack is described as both the "first openly gay companion" and as a "hunky bisexual". Jack's notability is largely due to his mainstream representation of a bisexual man in science fiction television, for whom sexual identity is "matter-of-fact", and not an issue. The ordinariness with which Jack's orientation is regarded within Doctor Who embodies part of a political statement about changing societal views of homosexuality. The distinct flexibility of Jack's sexuality contributed directly towards the character's popularity and public interest. The overtness of Jack's sexuality broke new grounds, the labels "pansexual" and "omnisexual" being applied to the character on occasion. In "The Parting of the Ways", Jack kissed both Rose and the Doctor on the lips, the latter being the first same-sex kiss in the history of the program. Despite the boldness of the first lesbian, gay or bisexual character in the series' run, there has been very little uproar about the character, although there was some controversy at the time of Jack's introduction. Speculating, Barrowman tries to link Jack's popularity with this portrayal, noting "I think audiences just get Jack because he's honest ... to finally see a character who doesn't care who he flirts with, I think is a bit refreshing."

The presence of the character in prime time television sparked discussion of the nature of bisexuality in a number of outlets where normally it is dismissed or overlooked. Channel4.com cites Jack as a positive role model for gay and bisexual teenagers, where little had been present for this audience in years gone by and subsequently leading to a greater culture of tolerance. Meg Barker writes for the Journal of Bisexuality that although "the b word does not actually get used during the show", Jack is one of the first positive and clearly bisexual characters on British television. She does point out however that Jack retains some elements of bisexual stereotyping, particularly in his "flamboyant" promiscuity. Jack has also been cited in America to contrast the portrayals of non-heterosexual characters in mainstream television in the US and the UK. Gary Scott Thompson, producer of the 2008 revival of Knight Rider, said, "If I could use Jack in Torchwood as a role model—I would absolutely use him as a role model—I love his conflictedness about ... everybody".

Readers of AfterElton.com, an American gay men's website, voted Jack the tenth best gay or bisexual television character of all time, the poll itself ultimately being won by Queer as Folk character Brian Kinney (also the product of Russell T Davies). The website praised Jack—one of only two bisexual characters on the list of 25—for being having both "tough" and "tender" sides to his personality, as seen in the Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness". Amongst science fiction characters, Jack also topped another AfterElton rundown of top characters, beating Hellblazer's John Constantine for the top spot, commenting upon Jack's representation of a "'post-gay' approach to sexual themes" and awarding him a full 10/10 for cultural significance. For the AfterElton 2008 Visibility Awards, Jack won the award for Favourite TV Character. The website commented that "unlike virtually every other TV sci-fi character, lead or supporting, Captain Jack is also openly bisexual. Ironically, this "small" change served to help make the science fiction genre, long the ultimate bastion of straight men, accessible not just to GLBT people, but also straight women, who also enjoy the show’s alternate take on sexuality." The third award won for Torchwood, after Favourite TV Drama and Character, was won by Jack and Ianto for Best Couple, for which the editor commented "Torchwood is revolutionary not just because the producers dare to put openly bisexual (or in Jack’s case "omnisexual") characters in the formerly sacrosanct setting of sci-fi; it’s also that it presents these bisexual characters in such an amazingly matter-of-fact way. There’s no apologising, no minimising, and no moralising—just good, old-fashioned romance and adventure."